EXTRAORDINARY TRIAL FOR POISONING.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1804, 2 December 1879, Page 4

EXTRAORDINARY TRIAL FOR POISONING.

A somewhat remarkable ease of circumstantial evidence has come to a close at Vienna. On the 26th of July last an unmarried seamstress in that city, Leopoldine Hnensel, sent for a neighbour, Juliano Halkiewicz, to ask her to be sponsor to the child of which she expected to be delivered in a few weeks. She was in good spirits, showed her the baby linen she had prepared, and as she was about to leave took a flask from the cupboard, poured out a liqueur-glass full, and invited Juliane to drink it. The latter, after some pressing, put her lips to it, but set it down again, saying that it smelt disagreeable. Leopoldine said, “He,” meaning her lover, had given her the flask and she drank it off at one draught. She then exclaimed, “It has a queer taste ! When I last drank it on Thursday (two days previously) it was good. It must have got bad from settling.’ Sbe took some water to get rid of the taste, but in a few minutes complained of feeling ill, fell into her friend’s arms, became unconscious, and shortly afterwards expired. The theory of suicide being excluded by her offering the liqueur to her friend and all the circumstances, the police searched for the lover, whom she had described as a journeyman tailor working in a particular establishment, as being married, but without children, and as having the Christian name of Leopold. Their suspicions fell on Leopold Winkeler, who perfectly answered this description, whose trepidation and language on his arrest seemed to foreshadow a confession, but who denied all knowledge of the deceased. A number of witnesses, however, proved that ho had repeatedly visited her, and had sent her a New Year’s card, with a request that soe would not send her own in return. Two neighbors also stated that a few hours before the poisoning he visited the dec.-ased, and was alone in her room for a few minutes while she fetched water and a bottle of wine. The putting of the poison into the liqueur being thus fixed to a particular day and hour, the accused attempted an alibi, but without success, and various witnesses testified to his miserly habits (17,000f1. in bonds were found in his possession), and to his quarrels with his wife After a three days’ trial, he was convicted by a majority of eight to four, and sentenced to death. He received the verdict at first with composure, but was presently overcome, just as when arrested, and was removed unconscious to his cell, but, on recovering, was taken back to hear the sentence. But for the deceased having drunk the liqueur in the presence of a friend, to whom she had first offered it, her death would doubtless have been attributed to suicide, and the murderer could not have dreamt of so unlikely an accidental means of detection.