RUSSIAN MONK'S DEATH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18567, 27 November 1923, Page 7

RUSSIAN MONK'S DEATH.

NEW STORY OF THE MURDER. RASPUTIN HARD TO KILL. . POISON NOT EFFECTIVE. A praphic story of the murder of Rasputin, in' whjch every grim detail" of the end of the mysterious monk is revealed, has been published in Paris. Jit; wag am extract from the' diary of Vladimir Purishkevitch, formerly a member of the Duma, who actually killed Rasputin after Prince Yussupoff had tried to do ■so without success. ' .''', ~~ ' ';- V ' '' x

. M. Purishkevitch described how on the K fatal night he, with the Grand Duke . Dmitri Pavlovitch, an unnamed lieutenant, and Dr. Lasavert, waited in the palace of Prince Yussupoff while the prince went to bring the monk to a supper >--' which was to be his last.' They knew that ■■.-,. the dishes and wines which, were to be offered to Rasputin ' were v heavily dosed with potassium cyanide, and after : the prince and his guest had descended ,: to the dining hall they. 4 waited breathlessly'' . in the corridor for a signal that the poison V K had done its work. '■'[. 'But the signal never came. ~\. They:.■; heard ; Rasputin . and y • the; ■; prince talking long after they had, expected to hear of .the* monk's death, and .; they were wondering how >\ the plot had % - been miscarried when; Yussupoff :stole out r :■■.- to 'them, 'and, with terror on his face, .: declared that although Rasputin had already drunk two * glasses of th© ' poisoned V wine • and eaten several ;'- poisoned r dishes, '■'■ j-■['■.,■. he r seemed >to feel ; no. -^ ill effects. He thought, too, that the monk was beginning to suspect him. What should he do . Decision to Shoot the Ifrsk. . His friends advised him to return and wait for 15 minutes more to see if at the ;*. end : of j that r, time :.the j poison had -.: worked, but * some > minutes' later Yussupoff reappeared and reported that there was still no progress. ; The ;poison: seemed powerless against the mysterious-monk, %'\ and time pressed so that something must be -■. done 4 immediately. Then it }, waa- r de- "- ~ cided that iYussupioff vi should shoot « htis guest.; For' five more minutes the hidden witnesses waited a^ter^YussupoffC had ; re- ; "f : } v turned to the dining room, • and' then they,y heard a muffled" report, followed by a groan, and the sound of a falling body. Rushing -to the scene, they found Rasputin ?■ lying r in agony on the floor in front ; > , of > a settee on which ;he I had - been ', aitting. He : was wounded "in the chest, and appeared to be dying. ' Yussupoff sent his ! friends upstairs again, saying that he still \ had 'o finish : his task, but barely had they breached the head of the staircase v they heard a wild cry,^and.Yussupiff called out, '■-". Purishkevitch, shoot. He alive and is running away." -. ; V;.. $ Purishkevitch came ruuning up, with pale face and staring eyes, while below they heard the sound of y Rasputin foots 'steps as he walked out to the courtyard. ' Purishkevitch ran in pursuit, and could ; hardly believe his eyes when he saw the monk he had seen apparently dying running across the palace yard. Punsbkevitch was an excellent revolver shot, hut he related how on this occasion, though . he had -rarely missed in his We, he fired- ' twice at Rasputin, who was not 20 yards ■ away, without hitting him. . - - . Fourth Bullet Proves Fatal. ' 4 third shot struck the fugitive in the ; back and caused him to stop for a. moment. Then, biting Ins left , hand to ' steady his nerves and aiming' very care-; fully ." Purishkevitch fired again, the fourth v., . bullet causing the monk to collapse in ; a heap. He was dying," but, unable to v believe' after seeing him appear dead pre-. vviously, that the end .was actually y achieved, Purishkevitch ran £to his viehim and kicked him with all his force m > the temple; while : the monk, - gnashing his ieeth, made a last feeble effort. -.A* .:.- When Purishkevitch saw the corpse of his enemy carried -indoors he could not' believe that he was dead, and in a mad frenzy threw himself upon the body and began to beat it-about-'the head with y such savage fury that his friends had to drag him off so that blood should not be , spattered all over: the room. Purishie-; vitch had another momentary shock at i this time, for he was convinced that he:: saw "■ the monk's' right ; eye ■ open : again and glare at him. He had never been.., able to efface the impression of that glance. ■ . a i' 8 Then followed the, sewing up of the corpse in a bag and the . conspirators' journey in a car without headlights, to a> bridge", from which the still warm bod v. was thrown into the J Neva. Yussupoff %>J had afterwards to kill one of his best dogs on ' the spot where Rasputin's 5 blood had stained the snow in the ; palace yard in:; order that the "tell-tale^patchesrof; red.-,■?•.. should be more easily accounted for. Such ;; is'the substance of : the : terrible story? told •;•,■;- by Purishkevitch. ;,,. x . w/.-'j learning of its publication, the Grand Duke Alexander Michailovitch, father-in-law of Prince VYussupoff, wrote to the Matin to expresst his disgust at the action of '• the assassins, g who ' includftd • nts, son- ■ in-law.; "With all my ami I disavow this •, : murder," he writes, V.Vand/1 ~, its authors may repent and find vP^W in a purified .oottjdeno<- _