TRAGIC PARTING

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 5, 28 March 1927, Page 7

TRAGIC PARTING

SHOTS ON STATION COMTESSE’S DEMENTIA BARONET’S SON WOUNDED By Cable.—Press Association. —Copyright LONDON, Saturday. A sensational drama occurred on a Paris railway station just as a Channel train, bearing many English passenger's, was about to depart. Mr. Raymond de Traft'ord, youngest son of Sir Humphrey de Trafford, Bart., had boarded a train on his way to London. Later he was found shot, as also was the 'Comtesse de Janze, an American by birth. Both are now in hospital in a serious condition. It is stated that the comtesse shot de Trafford just before the train was due to depart. She then turned the revolver on herself. According to the police, the comtesse, who is believed to be separated from her husband, went to the station for the purpose of bidding farewell to de Trafford, and was so affected by the parting that she decided to kill both de Trafford and herself. The baronet’s son was found in a second-class compartment, and the comtesse in a first-class. They were conveyed to the hospital in the same ambulance. The comtesse immediately asked: “Where is my dog; for pity’s sake give me an injection, I am in such pain.” De Trafford only had strength to stagger out of the compartment, and collapsed on the platform. The shooting caused a panic on the station, which was filled with passengers going to London.

It is stated that the two children of the comtesse are at present in charge of the comte. Further accounts of the affair state that the carriage doors were being slammed when two shots rang out. Those who rushed to the aid of the comtesse were confronted by a big German sheep dog, which barked and dared them to approach. French police state that the comtesse did not possess a passport or a railway ticket. Passengers who have arrived in London talked of nothing else but the tragedy. One said he was about to enter a compartment on the train when he‘saw a well-dressed woman fire a revolver at a man. A moment later he heard another shot. De Trafford is well known in London and in Paris. He has entertained freely when he has been in this country. He started his career in the Grenadier Guards, and later went to Kenya, where he engaged in farming. There he met the comtesse. He had recently increased his holding by 20,000 acres. He owns a beautiful flat in London, and is a member of six clubs.—A. and N.Z.