A FRENCH POISONER.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1224, 14 August 1885, Page 3

A FRENCH POISONER.

A topic which has oast that of the Bona* parte family entirely into the shade (says the Paris correspondent of the S. M. Herald) is that of a man named Pel, who for a year has been awaiting his trial on Ihs charge of murdering his first wife, and also a woman named Elise tsochmer. The case is surrounded with such extraordinary circumstances toat it will certainly rank among causes eelebres. By all Englishmen the im* priaomnent of this man for a whole year, without trial, must be regarded a« an act of flagrant injustice. Nevertheless, if the English judicial system were in force in this country, it is highly probably that one of the most dangerous criminals who have ever preyed upon the city would now be at large I instead of being in safe custody. Only time and a vast amount of patient investigation could have made justice a match for the cunning of this man. The story of his career, or rather so much as we know of it, would he considered too improbable for fiction. Pel was born in Savoy, and his pirents having separated, he accompanied his mother to Paris about 14 years ago, and she set him up in business as a watchmaker. His ruling passion, however, was in the direction of chemical experiments, and he showed a vast amount of inventive genius. Toxicology was his chief delight. It was his bori't that he had studied poisons to such purpose that he could kill a person in such a manner as to render detection impossible. Tnirteen years ago his mother was seized with vomiting and colic, and die I. It is now supposed that she was his first victim, but Pel is not charged with her murder. Thera is evidence to the effect that he showed no regret at his mother’s death, but hurried on the funeral with indecent haste. In 1879 he was living in an isolated cottage and passing himself off as a doctor. He took an old woman in to his service, and it is supposed that he experimented upon her, for she was seized with colic, and was taken to a hospital apparently in a dying state. She, however, recovered. He next took into bis service a young woman named Eugenie Meyer, who had been an actress. She ’complained of colic, but soon afterwards disappeared, and no trace of her has yet been discovered. Theatrical costumes which belonged to her were, however, found in Pel’s possession after her disappearance. During this girl’s illness he would allow no one to enter the house. In 1880 ha married a Mdlle Bafforeau, who possessed 4000 francs. She, too, suffered from colic and vomiting, and died shortly after her marriage. The doctor who was called in was much puzzled. At first he thought the woman had been eating poisonous mushrooms, but when she assured him that she had eaten no mushrooms, he came to the conclusion that her complaint was gastric derangement. Her remains have recently been exhumed, and traces of arsenic have been found in them. Pel’s explanation of this discovery is that his first wife was in the habit of taking Fowler’s solution of arsenic. The next year Pel married again, and his fresh mother-in-law lived for a while under his roof ; hut when she had allowed herself to bo induced by him to make a will in his favour, she began to suffer badly from colic. Being a sagacious woman, she considered the symptoms sufficiently suspicious toueeesitate a change of air. She accordingly loft her son-in-law and her health improved immediately afterwards. Pel now took into his service Elise Boehmer, of whom his wife (luckily for her) soon became extrem ly jealous. Tho wife surrendered the ground to the mistress, and the latter was seized with colie,, and disappeared. It was the gossip of tho neighbours respecting the mysterious disappearance of this woman, of whom no tidings have yet been heard, which led to tho arrest of Pel. It should bo stated that soon after the disappearance of Elise Boehmer, the neighbours wore greatly annoyed and perplexed by a smell of burnt meat (so they described it), which continued for 24 hours. When the police entered tho house they discovered some of the clothing of tho j lost woman, and in tho ashes underneath

the small stove considerable traces of animd grease. A hatchet was also found with blood stains upon ic ( and poison enough to kill the population of an entire village, A few weeks since an unclaimed corpse was burnt at the morgue in a stove identical to the one found in Pel’s house, to ascertain if a body could be got rid of in such a way in 24 hours. The experiment was considered quite satisfactory from the police point of view. These are the leading facts of the case. It is almost impossible to believe that in the face of such evidence Pol will be acquitted ; but it is not improbable that his crimes will be attributed to homicidal mania.