EXTRAORDINARY TRIAL.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1089, 21 September 1883, Page 2

EXTRAORDINARY TRIAL.

At the recent assizes held at Pan, two young peasants, named Dermit and Balhaburu, were tried for the murder of the latter’s father, and the strangest feature in the case was that the alleged motive for the murder was that Barthaburu was anxious to be in a position to escape serving in the army under the plea of being the eldest son of a widow. Dermit was accused of having aided in the commission of the murder to oblige his friend. The murder was committed nearly three years ago. No evidence was obtained by the police until last summer, when a man who said, he had witnessed the murder, and who had been afraid to speak, came forward and described the scene, stating that the son strangled the father while Dermit. held him down. After this witness had given his evidence a fortune teller of Bayonne was placed in the box. This old woman stated that a few days after the murder

the two prisoners called to see her, and asked her to fell their fortunes. She was much struck by their despondent appearance, and supposing that they had recently lost some near relative, she said, “1 see by the cards you have had a death in the family.” Demit said, “Yos, we have killed the old man !” Thu fortune teller at first, thought they were indulging in some sinister joke, but they, apparently regretting their hast}' utterance, forced her to go upon her knees and solemnly swear that she would never divulge their story She alleged that, fearing to share the fate of the murdered man, she took the oath, and that they then told her the whole story. She kept her oath for two years, but hearing that one of the two had been arrested on suspicion, she came forward to tell what she knew. Other witnesses stated that the dead man’s son had for some time since flic murder been a prey to the most terrible hallucinations, and this perhaps was the reason why the jury gave him the benefit of extenuating circumstances, and so saved him from the scaffold, the sentence being penal servitude for life.