THE POISON MYSTERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9775, 23 March 1895, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE POISON MYSTERY.

THE CLOSING SCENE OF A GREAT

TRIAL.

MDME. JONIAUX SENTENCED TO DEATH.

Mdmk, Joniaux's trial at Brussels on the charge of murdering her sister, her uucle, and her brother by poisoning them has (as we have already been informed by cable) ended in a verdicd of guilty on all the Issues submitted to the jury. That unhappy woman has accordingly been sentenced to death, bub the sentence is a mere matter of form since, though capital punishment is not legally abolished in Belgium, the king refuses to sign the death Warrants. The condemned woman will therefore spend the rest of her life— a portion of it, for the life sentence is usually commuted—in one of the two prisons for women, one of which is at Bruges and the other at) Namur. An eye-witness in court, after dwelling on the magnificent oration of Me. Graux, the senior counsel for the defence, the brief reply of the Advocate-General for the prosecution, gives the last shorb reply of Maifcre Graux, which began exactly at midnight. "I know well," he said, " the difficulties that surround your task. 1 hear from afar the murmur of the crowds gathered in the street. I know the lies, the calumnies that have been hurled against) the accused. Ido not try to delude myself into the belief that public opinion is on ray side. Bub lam proud enough to say that I rlo nob fearin a court of justice as in the political arena—you will know how to speak the truth." Then in quiet tones the President put six questions to the jury. Did the prisoner willingly and intentionally kill Maria Ablay, and was the murder committed by means of substances calculated to cause death when used as they were used by prisoner? The third and fourth questions, and the fifth and sixth were identical save that the names of the other victims were inserted. Then the jury retired, and Mdme. J oniaUX, with dry eyes, was escorted below. Ib was now one in'the morning. THE VERDICT. At the end of 40 minutes the bell rang, and the jury returned. With deep emotion the foreman then said solemnly, amid 1 the deepest silence : —" On ray honour and my conscience, before God and before men, the answer of the jury is : To t.he first question, yes : to the second, yes ; to the third, yes ; to the fourth, yes ; to the fifth, ye* ; to the sixth, yes." Cries of " Bravo," instantly suppressed, greeted the declaration. In a stern voice the president exclaimed : " Oflx cers, if anyone makes a sound seize him, and place him at the disposal of the Attorney-G<sn£rnl." Then the accused reentered, tottered to the balustrade of the flock, and trembled convulsively as the grejffitr repeated the verdict. Each response seemed to strike homo to her heart. A gendarme movod nearer to her as she almost fell. Yet no tears came. At a sign from the presidont, the Advocate-G6n<sral asked for the sentence. The court rose, and retired to consider their verdict. Joniaux was left in the dock. The handkerchief she held to her mouth shook as though the hand which grasped ib was palsied. Violent convulsions seized the wretched woman's frame. Despair was stamped on every visible feature; her bosom heaved, but there was no sobbing, no tears to relieve overwrought nature. For a minute or two only the public respected the efforts of the masculine mind of this gifted woman to overmaster her feminine weakness. The impressive silence was soon broken, however, and the chattering and laughter recommenced. For eight minutes this woman endured alone the

" BITTERNESS OF DEATH." —death socially, if nob physically. Ib must have taken five minutes to complete the proceedings. Ib seemed five hours, for durine the whole time the accused was fighting with pent-up emotion, convulsively clutching bhe rail. At last it appeared from the intricate technicalities that she had been sentenced bo be publicly executed at Antwerp. M. Holvoet added, without a trace of sentimenb, and handling the whole matter as though ib were a county-court judgment: " You have three days in which to go to the Court of Cassation. Gendarme*, take away the condamnee." The bearakinned police movod towards her, but Mdme. Joniaux by this time needed no assistance. She turned quickly, and with calmed face walked steadily from the dock. Cries and cheers rent the air on all sides. People were singing, embracing each other, drunk with excitement. " Down with Joniaux," " Hang her—her feet in the air" —these were the sentiments of the crowd ringing in the ears of the condemned as the prison van drove off, surrounded by 80 mounted gendarmes, through a mob, thirsting for the woman's blood. The caf6s were open all night, and in many bands of music were provided to make the weary hours of waiting pass more quickly. It was 2.15 in tho morning when the verdict was declared, which brought Mdmo. Joniaux to the Court of Brinvilliers of Lafonge.