A REVOLVER DRAMA.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXIX, Issue 113, 16 May 1906, Page 4

A REVOLVER DRAMA.

WELLINGTON INCIDENT

Thus the Wellington correspondent of the "Lyttelton Times":— A fickle woman, an excitable Frenchman, a successful rival, and a cheap and useless revolver were the chief accessories in a drama which was almost a tragedy, and the details of which were put before the Chief Justice in the Supreme Court this (Thursday) morning. The name of the excitable Frenchman was Henri Francois Hormona Etienne Bocquet, the successful rival was named Reille. Tho lady's Christian name was Annie, and the revolver was bought for 14s 6d at a pawnbroker's. Experience showed that it would have been foolish to give any more for it.... Henri etc. Bocquet is, or was, a waiter employed at various hotels about Wellington, and for some years he had been living with Annie. The Church had not blessed the union. Bocquet had many times urged her to marry him, but according to her own statement he never had enough money, and she preferred not to tie herself up- permanently. Meanwhile a rival entered the house as a boarder. His name was James Reille, and he seems to have set his heart on gaining possession of Annie, who professed to Bocquet her faithfulness while evidently keeping a good strong tow-line hitched on to Reille. Things went on like this till March 26. Bocquet and Annie had spent the night together, as they had done for nearly three years, and in the morning he went out to his work as usual. Annie took things easily, and about eleven o'clock went out of the house for good, and during the afternoon went along to the registry office and married Reille, with whom she went to live the same day at Rona Bay, on the eastern side of the harbour. There she was found the following afternoon by Bocquet, who threatened to shoot her if she would not go back to Wellington with him. Eventually they met Reille, who knocked poor Bocquet down, and during the souffle that followed, says Reille, he felt the revolver being pressed against his neck, and heard the click of the trigger several times. The fact was, said an expert at the hearing of the case, the weapon Avas too weak in the spring to explode the oavti>idge#, four put of five of which bore a mark shewing that they had been struck by the hammer. That, in brief, is the history of the case, sufficient, at any rate, to explain why Bocquet was charged with attempted murder. Bocquet's version was given to the Court as evidence in his own defence, and, in spite of some elements of improbability elicited by a skilled Crown Prosecutor, it certainly seemed genuine. As soon as he found she was gone where he did not know, he was almost distracted, and the next morning, after a sleepless night, his head was in a. whirl- He saw her photograph on the mantelpiece, and thought that without her he could not live. He wrote on the back of it, "Life without you was not worth living. In spite of all your faults I love you still. May you be happy. Write home to my brothei' ami sister. You have their address. Good-bye, Aiwifi. From your true and loving Didi" (his pet name). He then went out and bought tho revolver, his intention being to commit suicide, and the letter on the Ehotograph being his last message to is Jost love. He took the boat to Day's Bay, having heard she had gone there, and while crossing the harbour ho got by iumsejf, put the revolver, which he had loaded" in alj fiyp chambers, into his mouth, and pulled the trigger, he thought, five times. The weapon, however, missed fire, and he then was seized with a desire to see Annie again, and to make a final appeal to ]\oi\ He found her and made his appeal, and $]joy then met Reille. As already stated,'they seulilbtl and fell, but he did not fire the revolver at Reille, or even point it at him. His sole intention was to shoot himself.

The jury, after an hour and a-half's abseii qq, found a verdict of not guilty. In discharging t]}fi accused the Chief Justice said that he did not find fault with the verdict of the jury. He advisetl Bpcquet, however, to let this incident in ft»s life be forgotten, and not either seek to destroy his pwn life or interfere with that of other people. If he was a wise man he would be manly, and not think of what had occurred in the past.