RUSSIAN PRINCE'S WILL.

Evening Star, Issue 14932, 19 July 1912, Page 5

RUSSIAN PRINCE'S WILL.

CHARGE OF DESTRUCTION. REMARKABLE LAWSUIT. Tho domestic drama unrolled before the Russian public in the St. Petersburg Circuit Court in connection with the disappearance of tho last will and testament of Prince Valdbolsky reminds one of the other celebrated case of forging the will of Prince Oginsky, which was tried last year before the same tribunal. For the .latter crime the fashionable young guard officer Vonliarlarsky, with one or two others, was sent to prison after a long and sensational trial. , In the present case no forgery or falsification was necessary, as the object of the concealers of the Valdbolsky will was simply to prove that the testator died intestate, so as to enable bis niece, Madame Katchaloff, who is charged with complicity in the concealment, to assert her claim as legal heiress of the deceased. For _ this purpose it was only necessary to get rid of an existing will, "which, according to the prosecution, was made out in favor of a Frenchwoman. The Valdbolsky family trace their origin back to the most ancient ruling class in Russia, being descended from Kurik, the invited Sovereign of tho Russian 1.000 years ago. The"late Prince Peter Valdbolskv, a retired colonel in the army, the theft of whose will forms tho subject of the present trial, appears to have led a wretchedly secluded and niggardly existence, considering his great wealth. According to the bill of indictment, ho was uncommunicative, cunning, harsh, and egotistical, a confirmed bachelor, but very fond of the other sex. In everything else except this he was stingy and mean. Although a millionaire, ho lodged in a back street, and hired other people's furniture. He had come to the conclusion that he was too ugly to get married. Ho was constantly engaging iresh housekeepers, who were always young women. Ihe 'only male creature in ths world that Prince Valdbolsky cared for was one of his brothers, and when that brother died ho transferred his affection to the brother's daughter, Madame Katchaloff, with whom, it is said, he became quite infatuated. Theoc friendly relations between uncle and niece did not last long. Ihey were soon embittered through a dispute over property lott by Madame Mansuroff, a sister of tno Prince, and widow of Professor Mansurolf. This lady bequeathed all her property, over 5UJ,000 roubles, to Russian charities, including a largo simi to the Society for tho Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and some years before b.er death she louged tier will" to that etfect at tho Chanceiy Court in Moscow for greater safety. —Uncle and Niece.— Madame Mansuroff openly told her relative that she intended to leave them nothing, and this was well known to Prince Vukloolsky and Madame Katcnaloff. Nevertheless, when Madame Mansuroff died, near Mentone, in 1902, Prince Valdbolsky and his niece were most active in endeaVoring to acquire possession of her property, and they eventually succeeded. At this juncture Prince Valabolsky became enamored of a young French girl, aged 17, whom he first saw at Xice. 'lids girl, Mary Messi, was invited to St. retersburg, where she soon found herself installed as full mistress of the Prince's domestic establishment. Her uncle's new attachment alarmed Madame Katchaloff, and at this point a distant relative ot the family, named i)iatkotf, a railway engineer, appeared on the scene as mediator between uncle and niece. The Prince mistrusted Diatkoff, as, in fact, he did everybody. He at once saw through the design of this combination, but he took delight in deceiving Diatkoff into believing tho contrary. When Diatkoff, for instance, persuaded him to build a house, the Prince sent him bogus plans of a building vhich he never intended to have erected. Diatkoff hovered about tho Frince all the time, doing his best to restore Madame Katchaloff to" the good opinion of her offended uncle, but in vain. Prince Valdbolsky was over head and ears in love with his new French hou-sekeepcr, although, as stated in court by Prince Avenir Valdbolsky, a cousin of•the deceased, Mary Mcsm was occasionally turned out of the house on account of her rude and irritating behaviour. In 1909 Prince Valdbolsky fell ill. and Biatkcft' urgently pressed him to go to be nursed by Madame Katchaloff, who resided at Warsaw, but the Prince preferred to go into tho Wylie- Hospital (founded in St. Petersburg by a Scotch physician, Sir ' Jymes Wylie, in 1800). where he underwent an operation. While lying in the hospital he made a will, leaving tho great bulk of I his property to his French favorite, Messi. On letumihg to his apartments in the i Onlcersky street, he took this will with him, a.nd kept it under lock and key in ono of the drawer*? of his writing table. This table now stands in the court as an important piece of material evidence, and experts have been called to examine the locks and keys. —The Man on the Spot.— On March 25, 1910. Prince Peter Valdbolsky. azed 75. expired rather suddenly in the arms of Messi. Diatkoff happened to be piese.nt in the lodging at the time. Messi. having been exhausted by night watching during the Prince's illness, fainted, and saw no'hing of what Diatkoff did immediately after the Prince had drawn his hist 'breath, but, from evidence of servants and a Russian female companion of Messi, it appears that Diatkoff t-t once took a bunch of keys from beneath the dead Prince's pillow, and began to rummage amongst, the pa.pers in the writing" table. He also telegraphed the news to Madame Katchaloff at Warsaw. About a month later Mary Messi received a visit from another relative* _of Frince Valdbolsky. who. on behalf of Diatkoff and Katchaloff, offered her 25,000 roubles to renounce all claims, but this compromise she also refused. On tho strength of this evidence Diatkoff, aged 58, is now arraigned for stealing the will, and the widow of Captain Katchaloff, aged 49, for aiding and abetting Aim. When Mary Messi, under examination. was asked to "state the exact circumstances in which she first made acquaintance with Prince Valdbolsky at Xice. she declined to answer, except with closed doors, and at the moment of the court being cleared for her statement she swooned, and subsequently obtained leave to absent herself from the proceedings for one day. When tho time came for the prisoners to say their last word, both protested their innocence, and Madame Katchaloff, in a tremblinz voice, referred to the anguish which she had undergone during the last, two years. The jury took three hours to consider their verdict. They acquitted Madame Katchaloff, who was quite overcome and had to be carried out of the court, while Diatkoff they found guiltv of destroying the will in order .to deprive Mary Messi of the property, adding, however, that he wns entitled to clemency. The Court then sentenced Diatkoff *to one year and four months' imprisonment, minus 10 months of preliminary detention already undergone. One of "tha most extraordinary features of this trial, in which there was nothing to affect the feelings of anybody the accused, has been the cases of fainting anion.f witnesses and jurors. Besides tho swooning of Messi. one of the jurymen was also affected in this way, and during the simmtner up of the Judge another juryman ivent into hysterics, and had to be removed and attended to by a doctor.