Rensselaer Union, Volume 1, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 May 1869 — WHO WAS THE MURDERER? [ARTICLE]

WHO WAS THE MURDERER?

> VHOM THK SiadfAK. ‘ * I 1-*” T.* ,W (U-. •„ i »,«sU ■ gUOrfrOlw quarter St. .Paris, jmreboEMEhrronrthefetmfaMers e/4 terrible cry of distf^ a the little. sfas soon astir. At was three o'clock fa ..the morning as the startled neighbors* harried together' in fqanv off, 4 narrow tfosrstorttit house, from’thfe wWmNRor bf Whips tlie Awful; cries were stiff "ieeufag. Withithe shrink, or yell-of‘apparent agony there were soundrt as if from the feet’tit Several per-I sons. engaged in j| delpetate "struggle. and “My-Godff .The elcitedpeigWormlnW cndeavdted BX few etn qfarance into the house. The dporß aodi,windows were all fast on the inside." The s whole leweY part of the building seemed deserted: No OtA stilted' there |fabP a'gteMn ofWht’fras viMblfr. ~T>.d»A‘L " <> awf?“l‘MJWws4®*?’-aye and her, daugfitur,’, aaw W' ajthe nimble tongue of Pfe ire Morens, theutobaccftnist. “I have kdnwnitM'Ulie.i thls'fong time. They get thdfr shtfffifrorf'tntf'' The moth er is a forUfaq-tefler, and''his some fine customers, I'erf teflybu. SJie must have saved a pretty, sum this time. The ladies have hp, .acquamtasces at all, as I know of, except busipsss ones; anil they live in the house entirely alone'. They would rather let their rooms Ke empty than have them ruined by tenants. *We have had a sad., experience with tenants, dear Monsieur Moreau,’said madame to me only: yesterday, as she wss buying a franc's worth of fay best rapprfe. The lower Story, and the third and fourth, are not so muph as furnishedand all the SS7JBKa*^ l a t X , .“’£ : back rtfotfeaMKM neeitemfalbl > thets the ladies have faeirfrviug apartment, They have never kept T servant, wj'Jt is very seldom any one goes into the house.” M6anwhfle, s<rtne twenty pereeite wete frying to farce,..an entrance... But’.the doors add windoy.ahufljrii Were shaken and poundrir -fa vita.’Borne ten mfffates had already passed,yet still from that upper room rang out nporuibe early,mere ing air the same horribleerythat had first - startled the deep. jegq*£>{ the street, and an d Btrug ’ the silver-worker; J ’he Will find a way in, niheMHMW . « 1 ' The gendarme was ready andr prompt. 'WrWimet W W this dofflfrnb gavajt a sudden Wreath, and the lock was sprung. Fallowed by the <owd. yie bcave Muaet, his bayonet, at the cututge, pasted ihand Btermed-htaway, »JMe staircaris.,, - j vs'lh.O .2" ! * As yet the* was no-cessation to th»t thfiW anA > r<«ng 4Mtk c« terror or tion with' it, the deep and' hearty voice, with its angry ‘t-ouised” and “devul” TheetM#e»e n<v <«tach accents tn that ehrielte-thiawao'ceriam.' Some' thought ' the®r 'wwsld . dimidgnisb ‘ltaliauJ’ others Bpenish'and English werds. l tfai no one Mar Witfrwrtainly whether the sifril-tWVoiae-btelbhged to a fasn dr to a*woman lere coutd be "no doubt aMwt-a-’nffither of the voices had tne*sHghtest resemblance to those* W Madame I’Espafaye and her driighter. " Bud<ieqfy # were now Htard th a tack chambeSAhe bed-room of'the Wvo Women. MusefrrgtibfMtadW. '■lmmediatelyall><jam<rsi*W^**‘’{ 'M* ad ‘«» Uw< dooj. and tlfttay4fJ«tdß, t Uw.«w»d»*aa’ hadArecouraefo. Ms, toyom* wUktheswne isfalW But, fr> the MtbmshmenlM every pne, the room was ftnply. Mot a soul to be wen; no-mangled corpse on the floor 1

Mld«i dfaorder. lirokbi fuluit uye, «Jmt jßhrediflobfciß'ghßseß, frngmeiu of plot urea and torn bca-clothea and wearing apparel lay scattered over the floor. Along with these evidences of some frightful struggle, they found four bright Napoleons-d’or, a IjlOQd rtaiuod ear ring with topazes, ttveral Silver spoons and twb bags contailing some four thousand francs in gold The money appeared to have bfeen taken frbm'b small iron cash-box that stood open on the bed. On achait IdMan open razor covered with blood, and m the grate were found three long, blood matted locks of human i'nere had evidently both robbery and murder, But where were the victims—it here the perpetrators of the dbttble ■'crimfc 1 ? The fastenings of -the dooA ahd wfndbwrt wfere apparently intact. Certainly no-fone could Jkaye OS caped through these.. For a moment all wereibowilflered—gpnfbunded. But the hair found"ro The grate suggested to Mu‘mt that perhabHhe murderer might bite tied by the chimney. Examining tne •«rate once thore, he found on the hearthplate a heap of newly-fallen soot He crawled into the fire place and felt up Hie chimtirty. i ' * ' , FAh I" he exclaimed, “ here is something soft! It is hair—the long hair of a woman, and my. hands are wet with something. Oh, poor womaml J feel her face; wet top. vMy GodJ itmust be blood! IJer neck and'snoulden art! still warm;. stir,her,sMiaWbdgsd so fast in the chimney.” by their united effortt, they succeeded in \yithflrjwtng' the frwa the ■flUe-tal sad* and; finflitnil jpectagie—the mangled and disMfred. Corpse of-poor Lu SRrT I’lafraratK. y fak T* a W**< Her fece and ne3wA>SwA!Pd -with deep scratches and round purple Spots at 4eMtls&W r vals. TbettrkfftS’ qf 'strangled, and- that’by some, one possessed of superhuman stfefafth, /The; bf the ten fingernails were plainly visible. Tee, it must something more than human ifrongth that W draggqd'the poor girl so ngnny into the chimney that it required the united efforts of four men to draw her body out again. ffut'what had become of her mother T At Jeast, where was hv corpse, for no bne etpectedHd find her alive. Meanwhile, the police bad been alarmed and were now flocking to the scene. In vain was the house thoroughly explored from cellar to garret Not a trace of eitper Madame I’ESparayq or the mur*At length’, on the pavemeht of the back yard of court, they found a bloody, mangled heap, in which could scarcely be discovered a resemblance to the human form. It was the .body Of the miserable fortuneteller, crushed out of all shape, every limb broken, and with a frightful gash across the throat—a gash that must have been madh by powerful 1 hands, for as they has tened tb lift thb inahlnwte mass, the head ofthe poor woman was found to have been cbmpletely severed from her body.jd The physicians'summoned to examine into the case declared that Ludmilla I’Rs parade had beqn strangled by one or more persons, but that her mother had been knocked down by powerful blows from some., blupt instrument, either of wood dr iron, and her head bad then been severed from her body, by a strong and dexterous, hand, with the razor found, as before mentioned, in the unfortunate woinan’s bed chamber. Again and again the police explored every hook and corner of the house, but nottnO slightest clue to the mystery ofthe affair rewarded their efforts. The famous polioe.of Paris were for once completely helpless. The Rue Morgue, the quarter 'Bt. Roche; indeed the entire city, became feverishly excited over this tragedy, as inexplicable as it was terrible. .* -The great question was, “Who is the murderer t” —NHW •Madame PEsparaye for several years past bad had for her banker Monsieur Jules Migrand, of the firm of Mi grand & Son, in the Rue Deloraine. The police thought it necessary, therefore, to take the deposition of Monsieur Jules Migrand. The banker deposed that Madame I’Es paraye possessed a fortune of ten thousand francs, and hhu been connected with him in business for eight years; that she very frequently brought her savings to* him to be added to her capital; and that three dayA beforcher*death»liyh*d come to him and'drawn out the sum of four thousand, francs in gold. She had hot stated for what purpose she wanted the’money. He had directed'his clerk, Adolphe le Bon, to accomnanv her home with the money. He knew regard to tSerdnfortunate woman. . ( - Of coursp, now found in Monsieur le Bon an object for their special examination. They alstetufined to give that life 4n the presence of the police, their dark and hinikter faces infusing a species Of redbed torture into their searching questions, turned pale with fright, and stood With chattering teeth and trembling knees before the dread tribunal His answers were £(Ven hesitatingly, but he finally stammered out that he had accompanied Madkmh I’Rspartye home, carrying two b«ga for her containing four thousand francs, and that at the door the madame, tanking him, had taken one of the bags and tnadenfoisalle t|ie other, and then %cfth hadLrery politely bid him«good-bye. As he hoped for salvation, this waa all be knew apottt the matter. v Nttun tte; young fellow certainly seemed innocent enough, and so timorous that, it was donbtfol whether he- could have mustered up sufficient courage to decapitate ' a chicken. Stiff, after certain preliminary “ hum’s*’ and “ha’s," and various profound reflee tfonsas to the depth of still waters and the short-sightedness of mankind in general the police arrived at the satisfactory oondlesion that it could not result, in the least inconvenience to them it, Monsieur >le Bon Vera to be kept in close confine -ment for a few week* ,l ' And so Adolphe was taken to prison for farther examination. In vain did the magistrates torture him with sharp croasqwwtioffings; in vain did the police trace but? step by step, every act of the clerk on the daiy/if- tffe murder; not the slighth* evidence, not even a new ground of suspicton. could be found against him. ' "AUat ojice tbe ever open and attentive ears nl the police became sensible of a whisper floating about on the atmosphere of public opinion: “The murder must have been oommitted by a chimneysweep ; nonb. but a ehlmney-sweqp could have ehtored pm house, with Ua bolted 0 .Jt 1 ” .MwAJMadb . . •?■£*. .'K v- • ,» • •-■

shutters and Iqcked doors; nohe bdf a chimneysweep could have dragged the body of that poor girl so Up' fffe. cHlmney. z , ■. ■ “ Ah, those foolish peopje'are wiscr.this time than we pupils of Mjon«icur Vldpcq. Why, of course, none but a chimney-sweep could have done the murder., ua lpok, then, among the most suspicioua chimneysweeps of Paris.” And so saying, the police went among the chimney-sweeps. They found thf very one who had lart*Wß|A£MMMie I'Esparaye’s chimney—Francois Hamel! He, they learned farther "had. oft tlpMtty day of the murder, cleaned yjb,|Chiipfify of a house in the Rue Mergufr in the iml mediate neighborhood of that occupied by madame and her daughter. The police were in high spirits..,There could be no doubt now. They had vltidi: cated their reputation. Arresting Raitfel, they gave Adolphe le Bgq They had a more promising cand*d*ie for the guillotine. « But their triumph was dqiqjuqa .to jbi shortlived. Nevertheless,-every day they discovered fresh grounds of' suspicion against the chimney swesp! a Ojl k clwi examination of his person, they found on his arms and legs, but especially-was his knees, many littje scratched wppmiji-r from the finger-nails of the ifietiins of his murderous frenzy I ■ - ' “ How did you come by these scratchrts; Francois?" < “They are not scratches peverychim-ney-sweep has such marks always. ” We get them from slipping and clithbliispq narrow flues where the soot is sharp.” Bah l that is a poor makeshift Whbt were you doing at three o’clock on the night of the murder?”. •, . . ’■ ’ “ I was at home asleep in my bed.” •. “Can you prove it?.” > “Oh—oh—well, I really believe—l don’t just know—but the truth is, no one saw me’in bed, for everybody fa the house was asieep too.” , “ Very good, my friend. We know you. You arc the Very man. Yoh have already been punished twice ,for fighting—eyidently with intent to kill—and your ungovernable temper wad on both oc casions the cause of the difficulty. Come now; you see the police miow everything, so be brave and confess that you mur dered Madame I’Esparaye and her daughter. There is no use in lying. Come, out with the truth I” But the chimney-sweep, Francois Ramel, was without doubt a most hardepd ?innar. He stoutly persisted in asserting his innocence, declaring that he had never so much as set eyes on either of the murdered women. The abandoned miscreant was thereupon thrustinto solitary confinement, and dai ly subjected to a sharp cross-examination. Week after week passed away, but the prisoner showed no signs of yielding. No confession could be extorted from him. All Paris was shocked by his obduracy. Nevertheless, Paris consoled itself with the reflection that he would certainly be condemned and executed. «. « * ,■ • « * * Several weeks subsequent to the terrible murder—the mystery, of which, since the chimney-sweep, though strongly suspected, still adhered to his fl: st story, was yet unexplained—the Parisians read in a morning issue of the Monde the following advertisement: “ APTURED—EarIy en th« morning of the •V 15th of Joly, a very large, dark-vellow or»ng-outHng. The lawful owner ean obtain poeacaaton of the animal on the payment of all cha vee. Including rhe coat of this adverUeement, by applying at No 97 Rue de Faubourg 8U Germain, third story, lefhhand door.” In the evening of the same day, a man, apparently still young, was thpughtfully pacing the floor in the apartment designated in the advertisement given above. Every now and then he Would stop at the head of the stairs and listen, as if expecting some ona Hearing nothing, he would resume Ms promenade.. Plainly ye| neatly and tastefully clad, there was a quiet unobtrusiveness in his appeerguce which nevertheless was in. itself.an The people in the house calffyl, him Many sieur Allard, and only knew qlhun that a great portion of bis time w# takff»«p in reading learned books. Any fafther than, this with icspeet'to their teHttrn lodger they had not troifotedalAfiP l^6 ’ to find out. i Soon After the occuttenoi" of the mysterious tragedy in the -Rue. MWW.; Monsieur Allard waa frequently to be seen m that ill feted street, inapeeffw with the ufr most minuteness every;sflpt of.-Ijlood, every stick, every straw, ever fragment of Mwu? jPh4w I# Xha i police looked upon Mm arlA ordirarty’ciriosity'i hunter, but illdfred him frF gA through the house otfhfe permission .to ab so, \ ■ J What had.been umfottpeiTTw the, crafty pupils of- Vidocq, Mensieur Award’s ckajar examination revealed i a wapow behind the bedttiad Ooffld W taitafFklmost by' a feather’s welghti.the bolt, w*fch’wwß yet is very probaßW tUWtkStnhtderer T'otln at this winflrt# »hff«Wit'»«*taMs»>,r»cuM MonsteflH ’hftMlMrvWtth the utmost care and nicetj*4wWinaioed thq wounds- -of the victims and then their hands, looking foz sonfe trace of the* fearful struggle they-had made tn of their lives. A few short yelfow train* atill adhered to the finger-nails of the "mother. These Allard carefully folded in paper hnd put in his pocket Of the sark blue spots on the daughter's neck' he made a close and accurate drawing. Undoubtedly .tan sharp finger-nails had been BrcsseAdqpply ’ into the flesh. Allard fried tq. pfecq hi« own nails in the .nail marks drawift-upon the paper, but he eeffid -nek ,It must have besa the •Iron grasp of a'gtant by which the wretched- young women had suffered strangulation. Allard next examined the exterior well of the hourte tinder the window through which alone he inferred- the murderer could have made his esdkjfe. It was high and perfectly sufooth J rto man, Without a ladder, could have scaled* it * But hold I Yonder at the corner of the hduse 'rtkfle* lightning rod. ‘ A person of more than ordinary, strength and activity, such as the murdbrer of toe L’Etpareyea evidently >asmore than had been SfendAlfirf had his own thoughts is he re*turned, to kfe quiet room in the Rue de Faubourg 8u Germain, Taking down his Buffon and Cuvier, till late in the sight he studied the natural history of. the apes. Then and there, aad from that Mme on, rang loudly ia his oars the sbriUcrgrof agony or terror, such M those precoat on . that night of blood at the home of Madame L’Espsraye had heard and described it. • ’ His studies in natural history compelled him gradually to the convicUoa that the

’Strength and Scnvity an t Its tbkfedtMMy-ferodty-i and 'Mi* dowsnrdf mdtai.ien,> could'atone- hwvtat-been vtbe of.th?JJE»Mrayre, iThW»»WM a savageness about the tragedy, scarcely-.possible-even for the mbst cruel and depraved of men. And would any man, after committing the murder, have so uselessly wasted time and strength in dragging the young woman’s body into the chimney, only at last, to leave the four thousand francs lying upon the floor ? had been so plainly heard, did that els > belong to mr brangViutang, Monsieur Allard? .No, probably to the ape’s owner. But first let us look for the orang-outang, some *bQBQ bhort, yellow hair was left far the MadameL’Esparaye. * : '

A»d4»fr after; day>AU*rd patiently read over the Paris papers in search of an adiwrtteansnt«M9ft toe fosta-erMg-outitog. - But he* saw none. “ Very well,* said he •to firtiffselr “ wtf•ttusT'lMw-ffiiverdae an .be the pmnpr sos the orang outang, which I am sure must in •anyeevent :have made its escape,.is innocent he will undoubtedly be on the lookout for his precious apimaL” And thereupon; without making h soul a sharer jp his suspicions or his investigations, hb published the advedlieXJtant which appeared in the Monde. ‘ At length, one evening, he heard a heavy step upon the stairway. There was a bright gleam of joy in his eyes as he glanced ihto the side pocket of his boat. His revolvbr fras all right. " . There was a.timid, hesitating, knock at the door. “ Come in !'* said AHard in a friendly, yet listless tone. 17 A tall, powerful fellow, with sun-brown-ed face almost hidden i» a long, -black beard, in the garb and wffh the rolling gait es a sailoi 1 , bowfag awkwardly and glancing fearfully aronfid, entered the room. -“Am I..right, sir? Are yon the gentleman that caught the orangoutang?” “ Yes, my z friend-you, I suppose; are its owner f A finer ape-thin that is hot to be found in the Jardin dee Plantee." At this quiet and friendly greeting the sailor evidently breathed easier. Ah f thought Allard, he is not ignorant, then, of the murder committed by his ape, “ When can I have my animal ?” “ As soon as w» agree unop what I am to receive for my trouble.” “ How much do I oweyoiy sir ?’’ “ Oh, only a trifle, I demand from you nothing more than a brief, straightforward confession. How did Madame I’Esparaye and her daughter come to their death?”

These quietly-spokerryet piercing words made the sailor start back as if bitten by an adder. Ikandishing his crab-stick, he sprang towara thp door. , But Allard had already as silently as swiftly locked it, and put the key in his pocket. Cocked revolver in hand, he continued in the same calm, mild tone: “ You see, my friend, are fa my power. A fall and frank confession only can save you. You, I know, are innocent of the murder; but how came your ape to perpetrate it, and what were you doing that night in Madame l’Esparaye’4 yard ? You were more than once heard to cry out, • cursed devil f and ‘ my God I’ Already, my friend, as you see, I know the greater part of,your story; be reasonable, then, and ait down by me, and quietly tell me ell about the matter from the first; If you aruopen and candid with mb, not a hair of your head shall be harmed.” • ./ , “ Blr, as I live, ’ I am indeed innocent of this murder, yet it has caused me many bad hours. I will tell yeti all. On my last voyage. I brought the ape with me from Borneo, expecting to sell teun here in Paris for a pret,ty pie'cC of nfopey- Wt. the chance for that seemed a#4f it WonVl never come. Now, ofl that unlucky night, I came home .late—l had been drinkings little, sir—and HOd Wooden cage ihavhich I had shut the animal broken open,*and Umape, with s®-»s==s ' shaving myself! I-' was aiiktfeStartled, sir, and made a jump for the whip with which I hadbter'tfefor<j bipkgta 'ipi brute td reason. TBut, making one spring, the razor still in his hand, he jiew through the take place, I hurried after him wltli the whip. yWeranfatois way through several sWfr. They were as It deaJ, for it light burning in the open back window of dp the Rue Morgue. He sprang ovef £ie low waff, ran swiftly up the lightning rod, and swung himsqjf into the room. I heard two women scream out in wild terror—then a noisy scuffle—and ■aßerthkt.it became quieter. Hal( dead with feaivl alsa scrambled over the wall,, and far enough up the lightning rod to see into the room. A terrible sight almost froze the blood in my veins. The old lady lay, with her throat gashqd and bleeding, on the floor, and the-daughter was already dead—choked tu death, sir—ln the crud B" that ssvage brute. As soon as he iy threateffing-voice and saw the the room, shrieking with terror, and tossing and breaking the-furniture, ihd tearing the clothes, ipd the beds to pieces. and pushed her as far up the chimney as ‘he qould. ■ The body of the old lady he flung with all his strength through toe window, over my head, down into the yard. Half out of my jemesuwith horror and feaL I slipped to the grtffind. Then, hearing the’sound of voices in the bouse, I flpdJffil of terror, from the miserable 'place How l got,home Ido not know. Of nay murderous ape I have since seen nothing. Now, sir, you know all; do with me as you will.” This plain story the sailor repeated be-’ fore the court The frightful mystery of the doubtemnntor wu at Jasr explained The enttrfohy-sweep, Francois Rafael, was, as a matter of ttoUrse., ,set at liberty. The unpunished add . unpunishable perpetrator of thS Crffae was soon afterward captured, almost deed with: hunger, in the forest of Versailles, and is to-da} a sad celebrity of the Jnrdin dee Plantee. As for Allard, his name was at once in everybody’s mouth- The Parisians were amazed at the rare acuteness, the wonder fol faculty of combination, the qufet energy of this plain, private man. He became the hero of the hour. The famed and notorious Vidocq—fa his tmyhood a

his youth a sharper and galleygfeve, in bds manhood an esoaped*oon viot, and jntoe service Of the police a wretch-, cd spy, who, isl one single year, treacher 'ousiy betrayed Into the grasp of the law sevetfifaaared of hfa farmer associates in crim*, an<ivho.finally bdcathe the chief of the, Paris poHce— thtrv|flooq.-had bem. a service, andVras nowliving a paper-maker .fa Picardy. A»yat, no (worthy successor had tom found for this astute an<Tsharp ‘wlfteu guardian of the public safety. But in Allard rfks discovered ohe that might harte been Vldocq’4 master, ahp Allard was madh ehief qf the Paris police. And his subsequent qareer fully justified the choice. T-Once.a Month. Vu ., r ', r \.