RUSSIAN PRINCE'S WILL

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 77, 17 August 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

RUSSIAN PRINCE'S WILL

CHARGE OF DESTRUCTION. REMARKABLE LAWSUIT. The domestic drama unrolled before the Russian public in the St. Petersburg Circuit Court in connection with the disappearance of the last will and testament of Prince Valdbolsky reminds one of the other celebrated case of forging the will of Prince Oginsky, which was tried last year before the same tribunal. For the latter crime the fashionable young guard officer Vonliarlarsky, with one or two others, was sent to prison after a long and sensational trial. In the present case no forgery or falsification was necessary, as the object of the concealers of the Valdbolsky will was simply to prove that the testator died intestate, so as to enable his niece, Madame Katchaloff, who is charged with complicity in the concealment, to assert her claim as legal heiress of the deceased. For this purpose it was only necessary to get rid of an existing will, which, according to the prosecution, was made out in favor of a Frenchwoman. The Valdbolsky family trace their origin back to the most ancient ruling class in Russia, being descended from Rurik, the invited Sovereign of the Russians 1000 years ago. The late Prince Peter Valdbolsky, a retired colonel in the army, the theft of whose will forms the subject of the present trial, appears to have led a wretchedly and niggardly existence, considering his great wealth. According to the bill of indictment, he was uncommunicative, cunning, harsh and .egotistical, a confirmed bachelor, but very fond of the other sex. In everything else except this he was stingy and mean. Although a millionaire, he lodged in a back street, and hired other people's furniture. He had come to the conclusion that he was too ugly to get married. He was constantly engaging fresh housekeepers, who were always young women. The only male creature in the world that Prince Valdbolsky cared for wag one of his brothers, and when that brother died he transferred his affection to the brother's daughter, Madame Katchaloff, with whom, it is said, he became quite infatuated. These friendly relations between uncle and niece did not last long. They were soon embittered through a dispute over property left by Madame Mansuroff, a sister of the Prince, and widow of Professor Mansuroff. This lady bequeathed all her property, over 500,000 roubles', to Russian charities, including a large sum to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and some years before her death she lodged her will to that effect at the Chancery Court in Moscow for greater safety. UNCLE AND NIECE. Madame Mansuroff openly told her relative that she intended to leave them nothing, and this was well known to Prince Valdbolsky and Madame Katchaloff. Nevertheless, when Madame Mansuroff died, near Mentone, in 1902'. Prince Valdbolsky and his niece were most active in endeavoring to acquire possession of the property,' and they eventually succeeded. At this juncture Prince Valdbolsky became enamored of a young French'girl, aged 17. whom he first saw at Nice. This girl, Mary Messi, was invited to St. Petersburg, where she soon found herself installed as full mistress of the Prince's domestic establishment. Her uncle's new attachment alarmed Madame. Katchaloff. and at this point a distant relative of the family, named Diatkoff, a railway engineer, appeared on the scene as mediator between uncle and niece. The Prince mistrusted Diatkoff, as. in fact, he did everybody. He at once saw through the design of this combination, but he took delight in deceiving Diatkoff into believing the contrary. When Diatkoff, for instance, persuaded him to build a house, the Prince sent him bogus plans of a building which he never intended to have erected. Diatkoff hovered about the Prince all the time, doing his best to restore Madame Katchaloff to the good opinion of her offended uncle, but in vain. Prince Valdbolsky was over head and ears in love with his new French housekeeper, although, as stated in court by Prince Avenir Valdbolsky, a cousin of the deceased, Mary Messi was occasionally turned out of the house on account of her rude and irritating behaviour. In 100!) Prince Valdbolsky fell ill, and Diatkoff urgently pressed him to go to be nursed by Madame Katchaloff, who resided at Warsaw, but the Prince preferred to go into the Wylie Hospital (founded in St. Petersburg by a Scotch physician, Sir James Wylie,' in 1800). where he underwent an operation. While lying in the hospital he made a will, , leaving the great bulk of his property to his French favorite, Messi. On returning to his apartments in the Officersky street, he took his will with him, and kept it under lock and key in one of the drawers of his writing table. This table now stands in the court as an important piece of material evidence, and experts have been called to examine the locks and keys.

THE MAN ON THE SPOT. On March 25, 1910, Prince Peter Valdbolsky. aged 75, expired rather suddenly in the arms of Messi. Diatkoff happened to be present in the lodging at the time. Messi. having been exhausted by night watching during the Prince's illness, fainted, and saw nothing of what Diatkoff did immediately after the Prince had drawn his last hreath. but. from evidence of servants and a Russian female companion of Messi, it appears that Diatkoff at once took a bunch of keys from beneath the dead Prince's pillow, and began to rummage amongst the papers in the writing-table. He also telegraphed the news to Madame Katchloff at Warsaw. About a month later Mary Messi received a visit from another relative of Prince Valdbolsicy. who. on behalf of Diatkoff and Katchloff. offered Tier 25.000 roubles to renounce all claims, but this compromise she also refused. On the strength of this evidence Diatkoff. aged 58. is now arraigned for stealing the will, and the widow of Captain Katchnloff, aged 40. for aiding and abetting him. When Mary Messi. under examination, was asked to state the exact circumstances in which she first made acquaintance with Prince Valdbolsky at Nice, she declined to answer, except with closed doors, and at the moment of the court being cleared, she swooned, and subsequently obtained leave to absent herself from the proceedings for one day.

When tlie time came for the prisoners to say their last word, both protested their innocence, and Madame KatchlofT. in a trembling voice, referred to the anguish which she had undergone during the last two years. The jury took three hours to consider their verdict. They acquitted Madame TCafclialoff. while Diatkoff they found guilty of destroying the will in order to deprive Mary. Messi of the property. The Court sentenced Diatkoff to one year and four months' imprisonment, minus 10 months of preliminary detention already undergone. Besides the swooning of Messi. one of the jurymen was also affected in the same way, and during the summing up the Judge another juryman went into hysterics, find had to be removed and attended to by a doctor.