SHOT BY MISTAKE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8444, 17 May 1907, Page 3

SHOT BY MISTAKE.

RUSSIAN GIRL'S POLITICAL CRIME. Although the crime took place so long ago as last September, it was not until the end of March that the old„Swisß town of Thun was the scene of a remarkable murder trial, in which the tragedy of a girl revolutionist's mistake was mixed up with the drama of Russian political assassinations. The prisoner was TatianajLeontieff, a pallid, slender girl, with brown hair and bright, dark-blue eyes. Amongst these in court were her father and mother, the former having been a governor of a Russian province. Tatiana Leontieff committed the sensational murder on September Ist last, at the Jungfrau Hotel, Interlaken. Her victim was a Frenchman named Muller, a well-known Parisian, aged seventy-three. While the dining-room of the hotel was crowded with guests she suddenly drew a revolver and shot him dead. She was staying at the hotel under an assumed name, and stated, after she had been deprived of her weapon, that the man she had killed had been condemned to death by the Russian Revolutionary committee. It caused some surprise that M. Muller should have been mixed up in Russian politics, but it subsequently transpired that the woman had mistaken him for M. Dumovo, Russian Minister of the Interior, who had been staying a month previously at Interlaken, but at a different hotel. As to her own identity, the assassin re- . fused any information, but the police discovered that she was the daughter of M. Leontieff, Vice-Governor of Tourgai. Tatiana ha<T been known to the police in Russia, but was permitted to leave the country, in order to enter a sanatorium in Switzerland. At school she was an intelligent . highly-gifted pupil. She was also a pretty and charming girl. Between the ages of 15 and 16 she came into contact with a number of Russian students and refugees at Lausanne, and imbibed revolutionary ideas. ' During the winter 1904 05 Tatiana was at St. Petersburg, staying with her uncle, who is a Court Chamberlain. There she was an eye-witness of the terrible scenes of January 22nd, Vladimir's day, when Father Gapon's workmen were massacred before the Palace. At that time the murder of General Trepoff was being plotted. Tatiana was personally acquainted with the Tyepoff family, and took an active part in procuring, bombs for his destruction. THE TRIAL. , After the story of the crime had been related, in court, prisoner gave evidence. She said she was a member of the Russian revolutionary party, and the task had been assigned ( her of assassinating M. Durnovo. I The President 1 : "Do you regret 1 having killed an [innocent man in M. I Muller?" I "Yes, but I do not take'it to heart, for M. Muller was a capitalist and no j friend of the people," answered prisoner. Some Russian students had intended to garland the bench on which prisoner was to sit with flowers, but were prevented. A sensation'was caused by the prisoner declaring that she had refused to make» any statement at the preliminary enquiry into the murder because she had been ill-treated. According to her statement the examining magistrate wished to have her photographed for the tenth time and she refused. Whereupon, in spite of all she could say, the magistrate and all the gendarmes tore off her dress, the gendarmes holding her hands, while the magistrate took her by the throat. She then spat in the magistrate's face, and" said that she Would answer no questions. A gendarmery corporal explained aa she resisted being photographed force was used, and it had been necessary to hold her hands. The next witness was the magistrate Lauener himself. He first denied using violence towards the girl. "Why did you not mention the incident in the dossier?" asked the president of the court.—Lauener was so confused by the question that he could give no reply. "Did I not spit in your face?" .demanded the girl.—"Certainly not," replied Lauener. The, girl drew herself up in the dock, and in tones of contempt exclaimed, "I would like to rupeat the operation, you coward." The president hastily interposed with the remark, "I consider J the act was done," and added that he would report the conduct. The magistrate retired from the witness-box discomfited, and his place was taken by the governor of the prison, who said that Lauener ordered the girl to |be deprived of water andj books, including i the Bible. Mile. Masson, of Lausanne, gave details of the mental condition of the ' accused. :: She said that*Leoniteff ini formed her that once when Jshe saw on a table a bouquet of roses she could not restrain herself from eating' them. A painful sensation 'was cased by the prisoner's heart-broken parents breaking down under the strain. Tatiana Leontieff was then found guilty of the murder of M. Muller, the retired Parisian banker. The jury added, however, that there were extenuating circumstances and that she acted in a condition of "diminished freedom of will"—referring to the plea that she was controlled byj a revolutionary organisation. Accordingly, a sentence of four years' imprisonment was passed, to date from the time of her arrest, so that only three and a half years remain, with banishment from the canton for twenty years, and a nominal fine of one franc. Although the family of M. Muller demanded no compensation, a civil process for the nominal damages of one franc was necessary, in order that they might be represented at the trial.