SAD LOVE TRAGEDY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11813, 16 November 1901, Page 2 (Supplement)

SAD LOVE TRAGEDY.

ATTEMPTED MURDER AND SUICIDE. A tathetic love tragedy took place a few days in the Queen's Hotel, Leicester Square, and resulted in the death of a young Belgian and the serious injury of his companion, a young Frenchwoman. The name of the man is said to be Armand Quittelier, and that of the lady Elsie R«naud. One night recently, between nine and ten o'clock, they drove to the hotel and engaged a bedroom as husband and wife, indicating that they had just come from Paris. Subsequently they went out, and returning before midnight retired to their room. Their demeanour was quiet and nothing occurred to arouse the slightest suspicion as to their intention. Next morning, however, a little I before seven o'clock, shots were heard in the I be'droom by a fireman on duty. He went to ; the door and found it bolted. After he had i knocked for a few moments the bolts were i pushed back by the lady, and he then entered the apartment. He found the man lying dead on the bed with a bullet wound in the front of the head, and the woman was bleeding from a terrible wound in the breast. The divisional surgeon, Dr. Mitchell, was summon' 1. Upon his arriving in the course of a few minutes he found that the injury to the man's head must have caused instantaneous death, whilst his companion was in a state of collapse. Her wounds were temporarily- dressed, and she was conveyed to Charing Cross Hospital, where she lies in a critical condition. An examination of the room showed apparently that the tragedy was premeditated, and that the couple had resolved to die together. By the man's side was a revolver, a couple of chambers of which had been discharged, and it would appear that, having shot the woman, he put the weapon to his own forehead and fired. There were flowers on the bed and in the hands of both, and a note was found stating that they had determined to die. There were also letters in the room addressed to persons in France. Later in the week the young man was identified by his father, a wealthy hotel proprietor of Antwerp. This gentleman reached London on the Wednesday evening, and saw the body of his son at the Horse Ferry Road Mortuary, Westminster. The unhappy young man was but 25 years of age. He was the oldest son, and the hope of his father; he had been liberally educated, and some time ago went to Paris in order that he might extend his experience of hotel management. "I did not know he had left Paris,'' says the sorrowing parent. " The first intimation I had of his having come to England was when the police informed me of his death. I nothing of the lady, and my son was not in want of money.'' Mile. Elsie Ronaud's parents have not yet reached London. At all events, she has not been visited at Charing Cross Hospital, where she is being tended. The doctors take a grave view of the bullet wound in the breast, and it cannot be said that the unfortunate girl is any better. Her father is an auctioneer in Paris, and how Mile. Renaud came to leave home is not known in London. She is a most beautiful girl, and has only very recently passed her 22nd birthday. The letter, written in French, and found in the bedroom at the Queen's Hotel, throws practically no new light upon the sad story. When the young couple reached the 1 otel about half-past eight on the Monday evening they were shown to their | room, and M. Quittelier asked for pens, ink, and paper. These were supplied, and he at once began writing, the lady being in the apartment at the time. One of the letters was addressed to the manager of the hotel, and contained merely an apology for the trouble the writer was about to cause. Another letter was addressed to M. Quittelier, sen., and this has been read by the bereaved father. The epistle does not explain why the young man took his life. So far as his father knew he had no serious trouble, and if he ever was in want of money he had but to apply to his parents, and help would have been forthcoming. How long the young people had been in England is not clear, but it is stated that they stayed for a few days at a house in Bloomsbury-street. I