Could He Forget?

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 134, 27 August 1927, Page 10

Could He Forget?

Man Who Murdered His Wife ACQUITTED BY FRENCH COURT “Is it possible for a man in his senses to kill his wife, firing six revolver shots at her, and afterwards to be unable to remember the circumstances of his crime?” Such was the question put in the Paris Assize Court to a mental specialist, Dr. Fleury, in the case of M. Conguy as “a man liable to profound dressmaking establishment there, who was charged with the murder of his wife. Mine. Conguy, who was employed In the same establishment as her husband, was a very beautiful woman. The couple had been married for a few years, but while Conguy had apparently a great passion for his wife, she did not reciprocate his love. After flirting with an advertising agent, she went away with him one day iast autumn. On meeting his wife again at the dressmaking establishment, Conguy accused her of having deserted him. A sharp reply from the woman resulted in the husband pulling out his revolver and firing at her. While she was dying on a sofa, the repentant man threw himself at her feet, crying bitterly, and imploring her pardon. MEMORY GONE, AS IN WARTIME Discussing Conguy’s statement, “I do not remember anything,” Dr. Fleury said tlyit it was quite possible he was sincere. Dr. Fleury described M. Conguy as “ a man liable to profound emotion; a thoroughly good man, who once saved a child at the peril of his life, but alas! who had loved with a great passion.” Dike a slave of love, Dr. Fleury added, he had a true adoration for his wife, and he suffered terribly when he discovered that she was unfaithful to him. He suffered so much, and bore so long, that when at last the revelation came it resulted in a nervous disintegration and mental confusion, which robbed him of consciousness of his acts. “We had.” continued Dr. Fleury, “a number of similar cases of loss of memory during the war. I do not believe this man is telling a lie. His criminal deed was the unconscious act of a human beast, and the recovery of his senses must have been terrible for him.” TEARS AND SCENES Conguy wept bitterly while the doctor was giving evidence, and again when the manager of a Vichy hotel stated that Mme. Conguy had stayed with a lover at his hotel—a fact, 'till then unknown to the husband. After an incident on a point of law which caused an uproar among the fashionably dressed public, the Judge suspended the sitting and had the court cleared. When the proceedings were resumed the Public Prosecutor demanded sentence of death, but a verdict was ultimately given that Conguy was not guilty. He was acquitted.