A TRAGEDY IN LOW LIFE.

Oxford Observer, Volume XX, Issue 1, 14 December 1889, Page 6

A TRAGEDY IN LOW LIFE.

( In the. absence of a cause, celebns. inj Paris; a tragedy in low. lite, which has. been disclosed befor'e the Tours Assize Court, is attracting considerable at-" tentioni' Two ••person's,' a Madaine Heron a^nd her paramour, named Petaud' were accused of having poisoned an Italian called r . Bevilacqua. .; in order. : to secure ; his,. nioney.. The Itaiiau w'as I'bytrade a chimney-sweep, but even in iihis humble and poorly-paid calUng he man-.

aged, owirig to his sobriety, industryy aiicl economy, to save £1,000 or 80,000f, B .wilacqua had. no children, &nd hia uife Laving died suddenly, 1 he retired 1 from business and .went to i live in a cabaret kept by Madame Heron and her husband. From this, date the" trouble s of the ex-cl iainey-sweep commenced. He fell completely under the spell of the woman, who induced bimto make .1 will in .her favour,, leaving her the money which he possessed,- its' well as his small house . property. Shortly after the drawing .up, of -the will, which was effected in due' legal form in 'the office of a public notary, Madain ' Heron began to : treat ■/ the Italian just; as she, ( dicl her own husband —-that is to s,ay, as a quantite neglige* able, of "a person wW did not cotiiiti" r She took ' up~Tvsl}i7a rdMsli' a! 'nlHlSsafi -f-the accusM r Pataud and h'er pf oceeil- ■ ings with this' person aroused the' jealousy and 'the ire 6f>the ancieflfcTsweeper; of chimneys, who evinced a strong. .in- ■. clination. to revoke his ("will and tp . turn to his native, country 1 .,; A,".montii .or\ two after the Beginriihg of "'the. ' tiaison' between the woman Heron and Patalid, Bevilacqua died and was 'buried,"- his goods and chattels passing- into ' ; the' possession : of his landlany. .■; Somfe: weeks elapsed, and: then Madame Heron gave up her inn to.P.ataud .and went ]tq' live at La Eochelle with .her husband j, who was rendered almosV i^ibtac by licquor. Pataud, . in thip meantime/ blackmailed his mistress steadil^, and at last; as she denied ' further supplies, he denounced her to justice by means of anonymous letters, The ;body of Bevilacqua was exhumed nearly a year, after death, and it was discovered that he had been poisoned by a strpng dose of a senic. Madame Heron arid the exmilkman were then arrested' as a'ccoin splices in the deed. ] The : pair denied their guilt energetically, but' it- was proved that Madame. : Heron, ,told a womani— who, according .to^he E'vePjeh;custom, was put into . the, same cell ■ wibh her as spy— tiiat she . and pataud had made '.away with' '.the' Bevilacqua. Other witnesses also bore strong testimony to ' the guilt of the couple, ' and <they were > both condemned • to hard labor, for Men. i The female, fe^a, whohastwo; children, ..heard her, sentence without flinching, butPjataud caused a scene in. court by h'is vigorous protestations against the cruelty "and injustice of the law 1 .