EXTRAORDINARY CONFESSIONS OF MURDER IN PARIS.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1809, 8 December 1879, Page 3

EXTRAORDINARY CONFESSIONS OF MURDER IN PARIS.

The Paris correspondent of the “Standard” telegraphs that the great social event of the day is the confession of the policeman Prevoat, who murdered a hawker of jewellery named Lenoble a few weeks since, and who was suspected of having committed a similar crime nearly four years ago. Anything more fearful than the nature of these murders, and the cool, revolting way in which they wore perpetrated, could scarcely be imagined. As regards Lenoble, it may be remembered that the prisoner under the pretence of buying some jewellery induced the deceased, with whom he was on intimate terms, to come to his lodging, where he assassinated him and cut up the body into pieces, which he threw in the Seine and down the sowers. A part of the remains, however, was found a few days afterwards, and this discovery, joined to the disappearance of Lenoble, led to an inquiry, which resulted in the arrest of Prevost. At first ho denied all knowledge of the deed, but gradually, as proofs of his guilt accumulated, he made a full confession. This crime then brushed up the memory of the police concerning the sudden disappearance on Shrove Sunday, in 1876, of a woman named Adele Marguerite Blondin, who was at that time the mistress of Prevost. The prisoner acknowledged having seen the woman on that day, but he said he knew nothing of what had become of her afterwards. However, a search at his lodgings in the Rua Riquet at Belleville led to the discovery of various articles having belonged to his mistress, while at the same time a second-hand clothes dealer produced a shawl recognised as deceased’s property, which Prevost had sold her for twenty francs. Questioned as to this property, the policeman declared that it had all been given to him by bis mistress. But he became confused when bo was asked by the examining judge where he found the money to buy furniture when he left his hotel room to take an apartment in the Rue de la Rose, a fortnight after the disappearance of hie mistress. On reading this statement one cannot help asking how it was that such a suspicious fact was overlooked by the police at the time. But the final discovery had yet to be made. The examining judge let the prisoner remain quiet tor a few days during which he extended his enquiry to the room in the small hotel in the Rue de’lEvangile, occupied by Prevost on Shrove Sunday, 1876. The examination led to the discovery of stains of blood on the walls, the bed and the floor. Prevost was then taken out of Lis prison cell and conveyed to the spot in a closed carriage. On alighting in front of the hotel he grew pale and trembled. He was led into the room and shown the spots of blood, which had been partly washed out, hut which, thanks to the aid of chemistry, had been revived. The sight was too much for him, and, falling in a fainting fit into a chair, ho exclaimed, “ Yes, yes, it is of no use disguising the fact any longer, as I am sure to be guillotined for murdering Lenoble it was I who killed Marguerite Blondin.” He then confessed that she came to see him on Shrove Sunday in question. After breakfasting together at a neighboring restaurant they returned to the room, where, while she was standing by the side of the bed, he grasped her neck and strangled her. He then cut the body into pieces, which he threw into the drains at different parts of the town and buried the head in the ditch of the ramparts. At the time of the crime he thought his victim had about 28,000 francs in securities on her person, as she was in the habit of carrying her fortune about with her secreted in her stays, but be says ho found only six thousand francs there, and it was with that money ho bought bis furniture. The prisoner was then taken back to his coll, where it is said he had sufficiently recovered from the confession to be able to eat a good dinner. The head of the woman was found in the spot indicated by the murderer. The same correspondent narrates that in the following week Paris was startled again by the perpetration of another fearful crime, this time in the aristocratic Faubourg Saint Honore, and not far from the English Embassy. Most visitors to Paris know the Place Bsauvau, where the Minister of the Interior resides. By the side of the entrance to the Ministry is a chemist’s shop, kept by a M. Lagrange. One morning the man servant opened the shop as usual, but was astonished not to see his master, who invariably rose early. Ho mentioned the fact to the neighbours, who said it was very likely TVT- Lagrange had gone to see his wife in the country. But suddenly the man servant remarked the absence of the female servant and one of the assistants,’ and ultimately it was resolved to enter the private apartment of the chemist. The first thing that met the eye was the iron chest of Lagrange, which lay on the floor, rent open and emptied. No trace of the missing parties being found in the rooms, the manservant, accompanied by a Commissary of Police, descended into the cellar, where an awful sight awaited them. Two bodies lay on the ground with their skulls smashed in ; they were those of M. Lagrange and his female domestic. The police at once proceeded to make an inquiry. It was found that the murders had been committed by the chemist’s assistant, a young man named Walder, of Swiss origin, and the next morning Mdme. Lagrange received a letter from him dated from Orleans. He says he asked hia master on Sunday morning to lend him three thousand francs, M. Lagrange refused, whereupon he resolved to murder him. Having committed the deed, he seized all the money and valuable ho could find on the premises. He asks Madame Lagrange to forgive him, and concludes by saying that by the time she receives his letter he will havo reached the frontier, nnd got beyond the clutches of the law. From further enquiry, it appears that the murders were perpetrated between five and six o’clock, while the shop was open. A nephew of M. Lagrange called there a little after six o’clock for the purpose of dining with his uncle. Ho was received by Arnold Walder, who said to him, “ You are very unlucky, M. Lagrange has just gone out to dine with a friend. I am alone, so I should advise you to dine at home.” But the nephew insisted on stopping, and Walder then offered j to share his dinner with him. They cooked I half-a-dozen eggs. Walder said he could not ! offer the nephew any Bordeaux wine, as M. I Lagrange had taken the keys of the cellar ’ with him, so they drank some Malaga wine

which was in the shop, and the nephew left at seven o’clock. Oa Sunday afternoon Waldor bought a railway guide at a bookseller’s close by. He is said to have left the Western Railway Station for Havre at eleven o’clock on Sunday night, probably with the intention of taking the packet for Now York. Ho was seen leaving the shop shortly before that hour, with a large bundle under his arm. Ho is described as a powerful young man of gentlemanly appearance.