FRENCH POISON TRIAL.

Evening Star, Issue 12873, 24 July 1906, Page 5

FRENCH POISON TRIAL.

remarkable verdict. The Bordeaux poitxm trial came to an end en May SB, ;i vtrdicf at once. acquitting and condemning the prisoner b<?ir.g returners. Mdirie Cauaby was accused of attempting to poison her husband with dhijjs obtained front various chemists by forging a doctor's signature. Only one motive, the iHsh to kill her husband, could account, lot; the purchase of the poisons. • M.»(>.u.div had twice been .-it death's door while titnicr tbo sole supervision of his wife and h-rr intimate friend, M. R<tbrit The prisoner denied the whole stoiy. declaring herself the victim of a revengeful servant <<iri's plot. It seemed evident that if tbe. forgery of the proscription?! were established, the murderous attempt miist al*> lie- admitted. %■?, jury brought in a. ivi!>;irkivbln verdict, acquit ring Mdmo Canaby of trying to poison her husband, but. finding her guiliy of forging the prescriptions. She wax sentenced to fifteen months' imprisonment for the latter offence,

Sottie curious scenes occurred during the proceedings. Mdmo Canaby arrived in the court more than a quarter of an hour late. She walked with difficulty, supported Irjtwo gendarmes. Her mouth was wide open, and she seemed to breathe with difficulty The Judge addressed the prisoner as follows:—"Speak the truth. You know that you tried to poison your husband with Fowler's solution of arsenic, and us that luvd not the .desired effect you tried digitalis and aconite.." The prisoner protested with great volubility, and heir counsel declared that it was disgraceful that the .ludge should usurp the role of the. public pros-ecu tor. This led to a heated dispute. The public prosecutor then began bis speech. H* confessed that nothing had been brought forward to prove undue intimacy between Mdme Canaby ami M. Rabots ' "Tltere can be- little doubt, however, that she was drawn towards M. RabOt by an intellectual sympathy, by the sympathy of a Bordeaux bluestocking with a man who, we know, had met with a certain amount of literary success. Then slowly the idea of committing a crime dawned on her. so that sire might rid herself of her prosaic husband and belong to M. Rabot. Sh* might be said to have no heart, but her intellect, which in this case takes the place of a heart, leant strongly towards M. Rabot," He then dealt with the facts which had been brought to light during the trial, and built up a most, damning circumstantial story against the prisoner. Mdme Canaby watched him intently. Counsel for the defence laid great stress on the many uncertainties which" resulted from the evidence of the experts, and alluded feelingly to the painful incidents that' had marked the case.