Boys’ Terrible Crime:Murder for 2/-

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 720, 20 July 1929, Page 18

Boys ’ Terrible Crime:Murder for 2/-

h? M U R D E R mystery V‘W which has been puzzling ”$9,? the police for some a ”A n time past was cleared {(7. ‘fi up recently by one of . (s_o) ~ the most amazing confessions in modem French criminal history. Mme. Barry, 80 years of age. who had lived alone in a. cottage at Vaucresson village, near Versailles, was discovered dead in bed. Her head had been battered with a. Nece or steel piping which lay on the bed.

Police investigations had no result until one day they learned that a. boy of 14, Emile le Guel. a shop messenger, had disappeared from Vaucresson. Search was made {or Emile. and it was discovered that he and another youth (Louis Helie. aged 16) were in prison in Paris. having been arrested as young vagabonds. Le Guel. diallking work, and with 200 francs from his master's till, left

Vaucresson “to enjoy himself In Paris.” Here he met Helie, who had been a messenger in a Rouen cafe and had also come to Paris for a. similar reason.

They quickly spent the 200 francs. Then Helie suggested that they must carry out some coup to secure some more money. '

Le Guel told him of Mme. Barry—how she lived alone, must have just drawn her pension, and always had money in the house. “Our coup,” Le Guel calmly told the police. “was the murder of Mme. Barry. Yes, we did it!” The two youths were taken to Vaucresson "to reconstruct the crime”—according to French police custom.

On the spot, Le Guel was asked to tell his story—which he did with complt‘e‘tf‘calm: . _‘ __ 7 7

“ii‘rvivei go} here about 9.30 on Tuesday night.

“I opened the garden gate—like that ——and we went quickly into the garden. “There we found a. piece of steel piping. “W'e entered by placing a ladder against a. window. Once in the house we lit a. candle.

“The light awakened the old Woman, and Helie, with the piece of piping in his hand, dashed toward the bed, and struck Mme. Barry with all his strength on the head. “Then we searched the room for the money.

“While we were doing so the old woman became conscious and Helie attacked her again, hitting her on the head with the piping—twice ten times and twenty times.” “How much money did you find?” asked an inspector. "Only 12 frames” (about 25), said Le Guel coolly. “Then we, fled and went by train to Paris, where we were arrested, as we had no papers and no money.”