A YOUTHFUL MONSTER.
A fearful example of criminal precocity is afforded by a case which recently came before the Assize Court of St. Peter, Martinique, A boy named Emilien Dema, aged 11, was accused of having deliberately murdered Paul Sarpoon, a child about years. On being asked how he despatched his victim, he answered, “I killed him intentionally. I got him to come and play with me. He followed me, and we played together at first, and then I led him to the edge of a cliff and pushed him over. I next jumped down after him, feat and kicked him, bit him in the neck, and finished him off with a stone.” Wishing, as he said, to assure himself of having really “ finished off,” this young monster stated that he then d lagged the body to a pool af water and effectually prevented any return to life by placing a heavy stone on the head. The Presidnnt of the Court i quired of Dema why he had taken the child’s life, to which he replied, “ Because I hated him for having had me punished by my mother.” The child-criminal, who had given his evidence throughout most impassively, displayed no feeling of any kind on being sentenced to tqe maxi-
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Temuka Leader, Issue 241, 9 March 1880, Page 2
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210A YOUTHFUL MONSTER. Temuka Leader, Issue 241, 9 March 1880, Page 2
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