EXTRAORDINARY MURDER AT MARSEILLES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 200, 22 August 1872, Page 2

EXTRAORDINARY MURDER AT MARSEILLES.

The recent murder of a merchant of Marseilles by three other merchants of that city, as related by the correspondent of The Times, reads more like a tale of sensational romance than a3 the narrative of a fact occurring in a modern commercial town. The account is as follows : — The trial of Toledano, Sitbon, and Nissim for murder, which has been con-

cluded ot Marseilles, and which has resulted in the condemnation of tho two former to, death, and of the latter to the galley s for life, has created 'an {intense excitement in that city, not merely from the social position of the authors of the crime, but from the deeply tragical character of the circumstances by which it was surrounded. As I happen to Imve a friend who was well acquainted with the principal murderer, I have beard eren more details in regard to the murder than those which transpired at the trial, but while it lasted I have refrained from cutering into them. Toledano, Sitbon, and, Grego were three Tunisian merchants, resident, at Marseilles, and belonging to, that nondescript Christian race which inhabits the shores of the Levant, talks lingua Franca, and doe's so much in the 'matter of money-making, Grego, the murdered man, represented the house of Samamß, of Tunis. Ha was 25 years, of, age. Toledn.no, the principal instigator of the crime, was a young man of only 20, of good appearance and address, and spoke French well, but with a slight Spanish accent. During the war he made sundry attempts to become a contractor for the supply of chassep6!s to the French. Had he succeeded in making his fortune then, Grego would probably be alive now. Sithon was- a needy merchant without credit, also quite a youtb, and who was jealous of the more fortunate Grego. Nissim, formerly the servant of ToledaWs uncle* was a, man of brutal and violent passions, and, as the result proved, was' leady to commit any crime for the sake of money. Grego, without having a fortune of his own, was often in possession of large sums belonging to his employers, and it was this fact which led his two friends to determine upon his death. The. idea seemed to develope itself gradually i in their minds; it became the subject of their constant conversations, and they discussed it for weeks beforehand, down to its minutest detail. So taken up did they seem with the prospect of founding a great establishment, and so familiar did they become with the plan by which this desirable end was to be achieved, that they ceased to feel any remorse or apprehension in regard to it. They only differed as to the way in which their diabolical design might best be carried out. First they thought of taking a quiet moonlight walk with their friend Grego on the Prada, murdering him in some, obscure coruer, and throwing him into the sea, but they were afraid of coastguardsmen discovering him in their rounds. Then they thought of hiring a garden, deluding their friend into it, murdering him and burying him, but they could find only one suitable garden, and thß proprietor was connected with the police; so this plan seemed hazardous. They ultimately decided on hiring a warehouse, inveigling Grego into it, and assassinating him. They found one which was exactly suitable in the Rue des Tonneliers. The street is a very silent and deserted one; the houss in question was isolated, so that the cries of the victim were uofc likely to h>3 audible to the neighbors. The house was

hired in the: name of Sitbon &" Co. Ifc was Toledano who suggested with horrible irony the word "Co." as a means of inspiring confidence. The method of the murder was now to be decided on. It appeared that the three assassins were as careful and elaborate in these discussions ns if they were a board of directors of a limited company. They actually held meetings for many successive days on the subject. The mode finally decided on was strangulation, with simultaneous blows with a life-preserver on the head. Each jnau's part was carefully told off to him. Grego was to bo invited to the house on a pleasure party ;• Nissim was to throw the rope round his neck; Toledano was to strike him on the head with a lifepreserver; Sitbon was to keep an eye on the street, and lend a helping hand ,if necessarjr. This programme was punctually carried out. Toledano and Sitbon bought successively a hempen rope, a silk cord, a whistle to. .give signals, and candles. Rendezvous was given for Tuesday the 16th January last, at the Cafe on the Place of the Palais d& Justice. Toledano arrived the first, Grego the second, Sitbon the last. Nissirn was waiting for them in the Rue des Tormeliers. There is something, appalling in the thought of that walk, and the cold-blooded deliberation with which theße two respectable young Marseilles merchants were luring their young friend and companion to the fearful fate that was awaiting him. They arrive, and Nissim explainsthe silenceof thehouse by Eaying that the rest of the guests are at the back of the warehouse. They enter the dimly-lighted unoccupied rooms. Grego is without a suspicion, when suddenly Nissim seizes him by the throat. At the same instant Sitbon throws the rope round bis neck, and Toledano smashes in bis head with a life preserver. Tho victim never makes a sound. A few dull, heavy strokes, and it is over. They now take his watch and the keys of his stife, and locking the door of the house, they go to to the house of Sitbon, ia order to remove the bloodstains with which they are covered. They then go quietly to Grego's house, plunder his . c afe, which, to their only contains £2000, which they go to divide afc Toledano's, the latter keeping the lion's share for himself. "At this moment Sitbon discovers that he is wearing by mistake Grego's hat. By this time it is 10 o'clock' in the evening ; nevertheless he goes and buys a bat, and then, in order not to excite suspicion, he calmly smokes his cigar, and plays his usual game of billiards. Nest morning he pays a cheque for 237 f., which had been protested, explaining to his surprised creditor that he is able to do so in consequence of some debts having been paid to him. During this day the assassins consult what to do with the body, which is still lying locked up in the house in the Rue des Tonneliers. They decide to put it into a trunk and throw it into the sea. The largest procurable trunk is purchased, and Nissiro, who has charge of it, leaves it in the street at the door of a butcher, whom he asks to look after it till his return. A passer-by , and acquaintance of the butcher, is struck with the size of the truck, and in reply to liis inquiries received the explanations of the butcher in regard to. it. In the afternoon Nissim drives in a carriage, in which are Toledano and Sitbon, and picks up the trunk. Meantime they have ordered a sack to be made expressly to receive the body. They put the body in the sack, and the whole into the trunk, but the corpse, now stiffened, is too long for the trunk. Toledana and Sitbon are obliged, therefore, to go and borrow § saw, with which they saw off the legs. They now. empty a bottle of eau de Cologne into the trunk over the body, and lock it up. Nissim. goes and finds a carter to transport the trunk to the quai, while Toledano borrows a boat from a Greek captain. They, put the trunk into the boat, and Bend the boy in charge to buy cigars;; while he is gone, Toledano and Sitbon shove off. When they have got a sufficient offing they throw the trunk overboard.. To, their horror and dismay, they have forgotten to weight it, and it, swims. They now t;ry and get it back into the boat. In doing so they break a: hinge, and finally are ; unable to succeed. In desperation they let it fall backinto the t water and watch: it for some" time with anxious dread, hoping that it may sink, % but . night comes on, and they : return, feeling sure that before .morning it will have disappeared ;; but in the morning it is, discovered by some i -fishermen, who open it and bring the body] ashore,' where it is exposed in the Morgue. That morning the town is alive with, the news,, and, according to an old ) custom, the criers proclaim it; in; the streets. Sitbon, in a t pani|c, jisteQs^t'o^the-.lhorri'.ble wprdß, and 'witncijut a moment's hesitation takes flight, : toj' England,- where it; seems he •was,;,be*girii^ bußinefs. /•;^^T^ledaho, on the other, -hand, with, more nerve.^'gges^ weculatfon^^

_ . . - the m order. But he. forgot -how jc any witnessesthere jwere to rise pp.agaipstbitn'^ when once the police, got upon the track, "for during the three days the assassins had hired a shop, bought a hempen cord, a silk cord, a whistle, a hat, a trunk, had a eack made, put the trunk at the butcher's, taken a carriage, hired a.carfc, borrowed a caw, and borrowed a boat. Here were fourteen or fifteen witnesses at once. The roan who had seen the trunk at the butcher's had been struck by its size, went to see the body at the Morgue, and recognised the trunk there as the one the butcher had told him had been left iv his charge by Nissim. The clue thus obtained, the rest was easy, and on the 19th Toledano and Nissira were arrested, and Sitbon was claimed and sent over under the extradition law. In court they displayed the most reckless and hardened conduct, not attempting to deny the main facts — indeed, the above details are taken chiefly from their own depositions — but endeavouring to throw on each other the blame of being the instigators and of having used violence. Meantime, as the horrible details transpired, they produced various tragical , consequences. Toledano's own servant, having had to give evidence in regard to the bloodstains he observed on his master's trousers, and the suspicions they excited in his mind, became so distressed' by the idea that his evidence would be fatal to his master, that; he went, home and committed suicide by cutting his throat. The mother of Toledano, and his aunt, Madame Semela, overwhelmed by the anguish of the exposure, have both lost their reason, and one is in confinement ; the father is not expected to live. They were present during- the trial, and it would appear that the most heart-rending scenes were witnessed. Notwithstanding the apparent audacity and indifference of the murderers on their trial, when sentence of death was pronounced on Toledano, he fainted, and had to be carried from the court on a stretcher. Nissim, although riot condemned, also fainted. Sitbon, condemned to death, showed more courage, though now ifc is reported that Toledano, in the belief that his sentence will not be execute^, has recovered some of his former assurance.