WIFE’S HIDDEN PISTOL

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 May 1931, Page 8

WIFE’S HIDDEN PISTOL

DIVORCE COURT DRAMA. For a second time in twelve months, “Conciliations Corridor,” in the Paris Divorce Court, has been the scene of murder, a wife shooting a husband who refused to “make it up..” While awaiting the opening of a trial 'in the Palais de Justice, spectators saw a sensational murder drama.

By a touch of irony, the drama took fplace in “Conciliation Corridor,” as the ■approach to the private room of the ■Divorce Judge is known because the [benches in it are. reserved for couples i'waiting to be heard by the judge in the attempt at reconciliation that must ;be made in France before a divorce Stria! comes on. j Among the parties waiting their ;turri to be interviewed were Henri il’avot, a bus conductor, and his wife. They had been engaged in earnest conversation for some time, the wife obviously pleading with the man. The msher then called their names, and held the dooi’ open for them to pass into the judge’s room. On the threshold they paused for a second, the man beckoning to the woman to go first. She opened her bag as though seeking a handkerchief to wipe her tear-stained eyes, but, instead, whipped out a revolver and fired three shots at the man before anyone could guess her intention or intervene. One shot entered the leather back of the bench opposite, missing only by an inch or so a man sitting there, but the other two shots took effect and the husband fell to the ground. He died two hours later, both shots having penetrated the lungs. Some months ago a man killed his wife in the same corridor, in almost similar circumstances, and is now awaiting trial. - *