THE LANDRU CASE.

Hokitika Guardian, 6 December 1921, Page 4

THE LANDRU CASE.

The police story of Lnndru, which has no parallel in French criminal history, was as follows:—After the mysterious disappearance of several women, the gendarmes, aided by information furnished by friends of the missing women. arrested on suspicion, on April 12th, lilltl, one Lucien Guillet, Paris. Guillel turned out to he Laudni. As soon as the arrest became public and ids photograph had been printed in the newspapers witnesses camo to tlie police, among them inhabitants of Galilluiis, where Lnndru had rented a villa. Detectives searched the villa. They discovered feminine objects supposed to heftmg to the missing women—letters, jewellery, and articles of clothing. They also found a notebook of accounts which indicated that Landru had written down the amounts he had received from the sale of the effects ot his many fiancees. Further investigation unearthed debris of half-calcinated bones, fragments of skulls, human teeth, and pieces of hone which had been sawed from larger hones. Physiologists studied the hones, and concluded that they were human fragments, hut under the law were unable to state whether 1 hov were those of men or women.

Such was Landrit’s power ovei the weaker sex, that many of his fiancees had heroine his mistress in anticipation of marriage. Eleven women he is alleged to have lured to the villa at (iamhais. ami all the time lie had a legal wife and two grown sons. La mini’s alleged victims were mostly widows or divorcees who were women of some little means, and after the French custom were willing to combine their fortunes with those of a new husband. They read the appeal of Landru, the police assert, ill various publications of matrimonial bureaux, among them the well-known column in •■La Vie Pariesienne.” According to all the evidence, he then pioceeded to charm them with his mysterious personality and politeness, with such success Unit from lill I to mill he gained the combined fortunes of Ins eleven victims, who successively dropped lmni sight.

During more than thirty months in prison Landru lias baulked the prosecution many times in its efforts to bring him to trial. \A lien it appeared that all the preliminaries were arranged, he lias cited some trifling legal technicality which lias gained him more delay. In March last lie was aide to have all the preliminaries up to t.hat dale declared null, and forced the courts In grant him a change of venue from Paris to Versailles. Again the prosecution made its arrangernciil, and again came Lnndru with a mass of technical objections. However, in August last the courts ruled against him, and his trial at Versailles was lined for November.

The contention of Fteneh judicial authorities that Landru could match his wits against any legal talent has been borne out to an astonishing degree in the notable trial that lias just elided.