STRANGE TRAGEDY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 129, 30 May 1908, Page 15

STRANGE TRAGEDY.

WOUNDED COUNTESS AND DEAD COUNT FOUND IN PARIS FLAT. Inhabitants of one of the houses in the fashionable Paris quarter of the Rne Therese were startled early on Sunday morning. April 12, by the sound of revolver shots which came from a flat occupied by the Count and Countess Syivain de Laoet. The doer was speedily forced, and in the bedroom lay the body of the count shot through tee heart, while near by lay the countess insensible and badly wounded in the chest and legs. There were several bullet holes in the walls, and on the Boor two revolvers from which tlie shots had evidently been fired. On Monday the countess had recovered sufficiently to allow questioning by a magistrate, to whom she stated that her husband had for some days shown signs of mental trouble. He entertained the delusion that he was the victim of persecution, and to defend himself against his imaginary enemies purchased two revolvers, which he placed beside the bed. On Sunday morning she was awakened from sleep by the report of a revolver shot. She sat up in bed, startled, and was horrified to see her husband with two revolvers, one In each hand, and aiming at her. She flung the blankets round her to protect herself, and Jumped out of bed, while- he continued to fire. ARISTOCRATIC GUIDE. One of the bullets struck her in the chest, and the other wounded her in the left leg. Both wounds were so painful that, after screaming for heip, she fainted, ' :..-.(! does not remember what happened ! ;■• .urwarda. The police believe that the story of the countess ia quite correct, and that after shooting at his wife the count took his own life. The count, a man of about fifty, was some ten years older than his wife, who before her marriage was Miss Helen Arran. of Dublin. His history is a romantic one. For fifteen years he concealed his title, and acted as interpreter at various hotels, and also as guide at the Lotivre. He passed under the simple name of M. Sylvian, and when one of his comrades one day discovered his real name, and twitted him on being an aristocrat, Ue took it in good grace, saying that a title never did any harm. He frequently spoke of his estate, Les Halliers, where he used to spend the summer. In winter he often went to the Riviera to act as guide for distinguished travellers, who sometimes paid him very liberally. A. dispatch to the "Temps" says that the Count de Lanet was well known at Sommevoire, which place he left only about a j twelvemonth ago. having been in recent j years in pecuniary difficulties. So much j nas this the case that after selling all his! furniture he was obliged to sell his estate,! which covered some 350 acres of ground. When the count and countess took the flat In the Rue Therese three months ago I they were accompanied by their daughter, a j Sirl of seveuteeu. who is now said to be: in London tiDishing her education I