FATHER SHOOTS HIS SON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15497, 2 January 1914, Page 5

FATHER SHOOTS HIS SON.

HISTORY OF THE AFFAIR.

" LIFE BECOME A BURDEN."

By Telegraph Association—Copyright. (Received January 1, 12.15 a.m.) Paris, January 1. Investigations into the death of the music hall artist, Fragson, who was shot by his father a day ago, lead to the belief that the father's mind had become unhinged owing to the fact that Miss Paulette, an English tango dancer, had captured his son's affections.

Just before the tragedy, Fragspn bitterly reproached his father for keeping him waiting at the door. The father declares that when his son jostled him he momentarily "saw red" and fired.

Another version of the story is that Fragson, owing to an approaching tour in England, arranged for his father to be cared for in a nursing home during hi? absence. The father declared, however, that he would prefer suicide to the home.

Further details of the tragedy show that Fragson was living with his father in a fiat in the Rue Lafayette. After dining with Miss Paulette on the day of the tragedy, he went home to dress for an engagement at the Alhambra Music Hall. His father, whose name is Albert Pott, was dining alone, and kept Fragson waiting at the door for some minutes, a violent quarrel resulting.

The father then drew a pistol and fired, killing his son. When a servant knocked, the accused said he had shot his son because the latter was a criminal.

In reply to questions at the police station, the father declared, " Life has become a burden through & woman my son has imposed upon me. She caused frequent quarrels. I intended to kill myself in my son's presence, and cannot explain why I fired in his direction."

Miss Paulette alleges that Pott recently tried to suffocate Fragson and herself by turning on the gas in their rooms. She for long watched the preparation of Fragson's food, believing that Pott intended to poison his son.

Pott, who is in prison, is much agitated, and states that Miss Paulette tried to persuade Fragson to put him in a home for the aged. Fragson's friends state that the father suffered from persecution mania. Fragson was earning £50 a night. It is reported that he has left £80,000.