THE UNWRITTEN LAW

Evening Post, Volume XCIV, Issue 112, 8 November 1917, Page 2

THE UNWRITTEN LAW

OFFICER SHOOTS WIFE'S LOVER "JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE" (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, 4th September. Lt. Douglas Malcolm, R.F.A., aged 34, who before the war was a jute merchant in London, and is now on the head, quarters staff in France, i 3 awaiting trial on a charge of murdering one Anj ton Baumberg, or "Connt de Borch," a | person of enigmatical origin and occupation, with whom Mrs. Malcolm, according to Jier own confession, had earned on a guilty intrigue. The Coroner's jury found that Malcolm , had killed Baumberg, but that it was justifiable homicide. The most pathetic part of the story was Malcolm's loyalty to his wife, and hie indignation at the suggestions, which wore borne out by her ""co Stt*?' °£ her reMonsui P with the

Mrs. Malcolm is a tall, handsome young woman, with auburn hair, a pale conS plexion, delicate features, dark eyes and refined manner. She wore a large black hat, with a flowing and beautiful black lace veil, a black costume of come soft material with transparent sleeves. Round her neck was a black feather boa She said that she lived in a flat in kadogan-square, and first met de Borch on Ist April, when she was introduced to him at a fnendk house. He asked leave to call on her, and did so, and she then saw him frequently. j'jHf *f W me he had no real title," sh» added, "and that he was a Russian Pole His passport was in his luggage at a German station, and it was impossible to get it At the outbreak of war he was in Berlin, and he hac\ to go away, as he £ OU,M Probably have been shot as an English spy. From a bundle of letters which was handed to him, the Corgner selected the following which Mrs. Malcolm admitted she had written: "Dear Count,—My husband has Teturned from the front, so 1 shall not be in to-night. I will let you know when I shall be able to see you again, but I fear not for some time. —Yours sincerely, Dorothy Malcolm " Her husband returned from the front unexpectedly on 15th July, when she was staying in a village in Hampshire with a woman friend. Mrs. Brett and de Borch were there also. "Did you know your husband was coming home on leave i" asked the Coro. ner.

ho,' replied Mrs. Malcolm. "It was about 12 o'clock midday, and I was upstairs in the Count's bedroom. My husband came up and pushed the door wide open and came in. There was a frightful scene, as my husband objected to the Count. He did not say much but struck the Count with his fists on the forehead."

Did the Count strike back?—No, he fell down. The Count put his head down and his hands up to ward off the blows. She went up to her bedroom, and her,husband followed her. "I implored him to divorce me," ehe said. Did you tell him that there had been any intimate relations between you and

Did he believe you?— Yes, he appeared to. He said he could not possibly divorce me.

Has your husband always been a, loving husband?—Oh, yes; he tried to persuade me to give up the Count. Her husband wrote the following letter to the Count:—"To the Count de Borch.—You refuse to fight. All right, I challenge you to a duel pistols or swords. You can take the choice. Tell me when you -want to meet me. As soon as possible, please. Seconds will be a difficulty to me, but I will get one —(Sgd.) D. Malcolm."

Did you continue the positionthaf^you wanted a divorce and he wanted you to give up the Count? asked the Coroner. Yes, replied Mrs. Malcolm, who added that ehe had been married for three years, and there were no children. WIFE'S PROMISE. Her husband said nothing else about the Count. "He asked me not to see the man, and to try and forget him. I said I would try." > Another letter which Mrs. Malcolm wrote to the Connt was then read: — "Wolfheart, —I have just a, few moments to write. I was so happy to receive your letter and to know that you are well, and, of course, hearing from you comforts me a little. D. has written you, and if the dreadful affair comes off I think I shall die. "Wolf, write to me and seal your letters to Piper (her maid), and give my love to Bunny, and tell her I have not a moment, as D. never leaves me, or I would write to her. lam so sorry to have let her in for a terrible scene. I am half-dazed. I cannot write all that is in my heart. My love to my Wolf.— Squee." . Lieut. Malcolm got no answer about the duel, and wrote again, suggesting it should take place in France. Meanwhile ■his wife wrote to her paramour. A large sheet of heliotrope notepaper was next handed to Mrs. Malcolm, and • she identified it as a letter written by her hushand to the "Count." It ran:

"Count Antony de Borch, —I have had no reply to my challenge, and in case you have not received the note, written on New Milton Station, I sent you by post from there, I again challenge you, and leave the choice of weapons to you. You will see it is better that this should happen in France. Therefore, I earnestly hope you will arrange to get to France ac early as possible." Lt. Malcolm enclosed his Amy address in France. "WRETCHED DUEL." Then came another letter, which Mrs. Malcolm wrote to the "Count":—"Wolf, D. has gone to the War Office to try ajid get an extension of leave, and to I am alone and able to write to you. I am thinking of you always. He has written to you again about this wretched duel. What are you going to do about it? It is a-wful, this uncertainty. When are you coming up to town? I hope soon, ac I do not^like you being alone with any one. Is it horrid of me? I have had to promise not to see you till the war is over. For -my mother's sake Ido it. AVolf, I hope you are not suffering as much as I am. Oh, Ido so hope you are not. My heart is breaking, so I cannot write sense or what I feel. Will this suffering never end? I want you dreadfully.—Squee." Later she wrote: "D. goes on Friday. He cannot understand why he does not hear from you. You must not fight this duel, please. Don't worry, but get well. I cannot bear it that you are ill. I have promised not to see you, but I can write to you., and even telephone you, I suppose."

And again : "Beloved, I send you all my thoughts and love and sympathy. I am true to you—going through hell; no time to write."

Mrs. Malcolm eaid she wrote to her husband telling him it wns final and there was no hope. She did not want to buoy him up. When she told her husband that she could not live with him he visited Scotland Yard, and cam.6 back and said that he had found that Borch was a procurer and a German spy. On 11th August, Malcolm wrote to-the

"Count" : "If I ever hear of you trying to steal, or even talk to, my wife again, wherever I am I will get leave and hunt you out, and give you such a thrashing that even your own mother will not know you again. I will thrash you until I have maimed you for life. This I swear before bod, in Whom I believe and Who is my -witness." The following will was found on Lt. Malcolm on his arrest : "In caee of my death I leave all my money to Mrs. layior (Mrs. Malcolm's mother), Vicarage Cottage, Hertford Heath, and cancel my previous will." "THIS CREATURE." The last letter which was read was written by Lt, Malcolm to his wife on the day on which he shot de Borch It was found on him when he was arrested :— "My dear very own darling Dorothy, —iJear L.od, there is a time for everything. Everything points to it that this creature is the most unutterable blackguard ever born. I shudder to think of at, lhat he ever dares even speak to you drives me mad. I simply cannot stand it any longer. I am going to thrash him until he is unrecognisable. I may shoot him if he has got a gun. i expect he*has, as he is too much of a coward to stand a thrashing. If the inevitable has got to happen, of course I may get it in the neck first. You see I am quite cool. If that happens—oh! believe me, my own little darling, my beloved soul whom I love so absolutely believe me, it is for you only! "I swear to you that I love you more than any man has ever loved a woman before, and if there is any wrong in me it is because I love you too much. You are a brave woman. You are noble, honourable, and upright, with -what a beautiful soul. ' i ♦w1 Tbj-!Te l n ,God- I said yesterday that I did not. but I do; and I thank him from the bottom of my heart for having sent me over in time to save you from, this devil incarnate. Your honour is saved. Thank God—oh! thank liod !

Mr. Henry St. John Oliver, secretariat the Junior Conservative Club said the ' count" told them that hb name was Anton Baumberg, that he believed he was born at Spa, and was educated .at Warsaw. In 1907 he joined the Russian Army, and served for a year as a volunteer. Owing to the prejudices against Jews, he became a Lutheran, and changed his name to de Borch. In 1910 he came to England, and obtained a situation at Messrs. Waring and Gillows as foreign correspondence clerk, at a salary of 355, rising to 50s In 1914 he met a Mrs 1. Meyer, of New York, who called herself "Baroness Baumberg," "because she had a castle there. She was believed to be a spy. In 1916 he joined the O.T.C. for the -K.H.A.,_ but was dismissed for irregular enlistment. In an open drawer in his bedroom the police found a French revolver, loaded, and the question therefore arose whether Malcolm fired in self-defence.

In view of these facts the jury had no difficulty in returning a verdict of justifiable homicide, the act being committed in self-defence." ■'