Under seal of Confession

Feilding Star, Volume XIII, Issue 144, 2 June 1892, Page 3

Under seal of Confession

A " convict"- of an extraordinary kind was liberated from New Caledonia the other day, and returned to France. He was the Abbe Dumoulin, a priest of the archdiocese of Aix, who three years, ago was convicted of the murder ot a Madame Blanchard, a wealthy and benevolent lady. 'I he abbe was convicted upon purely circumstantial evidence. The facts were that Madame Blanchard had occasion to call at ;he presbytery occupied by M Dumonlin in order to receive from him a sum ot IAOQ which lay in his hands to the credit of a religious society with which the lady was connected. The time was midday. In approaching and returning trout the presbytery Madame Blanchard had to pass through a ruined and deserted monastery. It was known that the lady saw the priest and received the money from him, but she did not return home that day: Four days afterwords her dead body was discoverßdi'in one of the cells of the old monastery. The remains bore several r stabs of 'a knife, and there was no money upon the person of the murdered r lady. A table knife, stained with human blood, and a pocket handkerchief which \ hod belonged to Madame Blanchard were found- in the presbytery. -Ibe Abbe was the JBst person, known; to have seen the unfortunate lady alive. < He was arrested, convicted,: and &entenced to transportation for life. Five months aeo the sexton of. M. Doumoulin's church, a man named Kloser, confessed that he waylaid and murdered Madame Blanchard) and that on the day her body was discovered he went to confession to the abbe and acknowledged his crime. When, however, the priest was arrested and condemned, Kloser had not: the courage to publicly acknowledge his guilt. Upon Kloser avowing his crime to the authorities the Supreme Court ordered a new trial of the abbe, by way of form, when he was acquitted, and returned to his cure in the diocese of Aix, where he was received by his people, with great rejoicing.