THE PARIS SENSATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 November 1921, Page 5

THE PARIS SENSATION.

AMAZING TRIAL OF LANDRU. WOMAN'S DRAMATIC STORY. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received Nov. 23, 8.10 p.m. Paris, Nov. 22. At the Landru trial a stove was exhibited in the court, and also a handful of alleged bones. Landru, very tired and haggard, came into the dock on the arm of a gendarme. The sensation of the day was the appearance of Mademoiselle Segret, with whom Landru was living at the moment of his arrest. She is a comely girl, with well modelled features, and tastefully dressed. After a preliminary breakdown, necessitating an adjournment of the court, she described how she met Landru in a tram. He courteously offered her his seat, and ended by making a suggestion to meet him in the Bois de Boulogne next day. She did not mean to go, but his pleasant manners persuaded her. When they met they went boating on the lake. Witness said she was so much struck with his affection and charming manners that she broke off her engagement with another man. Mademoiselle Segret said her marriage with Landru was delayed on various pretexts, including prisoner’s statement that he had not enough money now the war was over. Here Mademoiselle Segret burst into tears- and collapsed, crying: “O God, this is too cruel; I cannot tell more.” Landru was also overcome and buried his face in his hands. He appeared to be weeping. The president suspended the sitting for half-an-hour. Resuming. Mademoiselle Segret, sobbing passionately, said accused had “always been very good to me; for this I must always honor him; I was madly in love with this man, and I love him still.” The woman’s avowal was the most tragic moment of the trial. An even bigger surprise was to come when the girl finished her story. The president commenced to cross-examine, and elicited answers which unmistakably favored the prisoner. She said she visited Gambais six or seven times with Landru. She did the cooking on the stove and cleaned it frequently. She never saw any bones, and was sure there were no bones there. This caused a sensation in court. Prisoner’s counsel: “Then if the police say they recovered a skull and some bones from the stove they must have been put there after you and Landru left for the last time?” Witness replied: “That is evident.” The apparent honesty of the witness and her frankness created a marked im-pression.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.