TITLED THIEF

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 714, 13 July 1929, Page 11

TITLED THIEF

Big Shock For German Society YOUNG COUNTESS ARRESTED German society has just received two violent shocks. The first was the arrest recently of the beautiful 23-year-old Countess Helga von Monroy, on a charge of stealing jewellery valued at £5,000 from her aunt, Countess von Hermersberg. The second was the discovery recently that Captain Fritz von Wedel, the countess’s 43-year-old fiance, had shot himself dead in the Grunewald, the wooded region on the outskirts of Berlin. The young countess is stated to ha've made a confession after her arrest. She declared, it is alleged, that she had committed the theft so that von Wedel should believe her possessed of means and should see no obstacle to their marriage. Money for Betting The police thereupon summoned von Wedel to give evidence. He asserted that he had no idea that his fiancee had obtained her money by such means as were alleged. It is possible, however, that he suspected disbelief on the part of the police, for he had to admit that she had furnished him with money for betting at horse races and to pay the bills at fashionable restaurants they visited. When found later he had a bullet through his brain. The countess is in custody. Although very indignant at being arrested, she slept soundly and, at first, the fate of her lover was not communicated to her. Circus Rider Aunt The countess’s aunt, Countess von Hermersberg, was formerly Oceana Hager, a circus rider. On her marriage to the late Prince Hugo Hohen-lohe-Oehringen he relinquished his rights as a prince and adopted the Wurttemberg title of Count von Hermersberg. The countess will appear to answer the charge against her after the evidence has been fully marshalled.