The Condemned Murderer.

Opunake Times, Volume VI, Issue 267, 30 March 1897, Page 2

The Condemned Murderer.

(Wellington Post.) Etienne Jean Brocher, or Stephen Bosher, as he is now generally called, who now awaits execution for the murder of Mr aud Mrs Jones at Petone, has had a remarkable career, as to which, now that he has been convicted of and sentenced for the most atrocious crime in the calender, there is no longer any need for reserve. NATIONALITY AND EARLY CAREER. His earlier history is not known with certainty, but he is said to have born in 1857 at or near Belfort, now on the Franco-German frontier. Th 9 condemned man is therefore now 40 years of age. EARLY CRIMES. Bosher first came under notice of the police in 1874, when he must have been 17 years of age. He was then in Timaru, and was arrested on a charge of theft. The case was dismissed, but next year Bosher again came before the Court at Timaru, and received a sentence of 18-months imprisonment for forgery. He was sent to Lyttelton to serve his term, and while there was known to Mr P. S. Garvey now Governor of the Terrace gaol. Inspector Pender also recollects the prisoner in Timaru. HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. On being released from prison, Bosher went to Akaroa, and became acquainted with the French there. He worked for one of them, and succeeded so well that on Ist January, 1873, at Lyttelton he married that settler's daughter. The wife had been married to him for six montbs before she found out that he bad served a sentence in Lyttelton gaol. Bosher remained in Akaroa for some time. Whilst there he was connected with some trouble about a sum of money raised for a Catholic Church, and then, according to his first wife, he stole his father-in law's deeds in order to raise money on them. He found that he could not do this without his father-in-law's signature, and the deeds were returned Quite in keeping with Bosher's professedly religious habits, as evidenced in his attendance at the Petone Salvation Army barracks, it appears that whilst at Akaroa he taught at times in the Sunday School of the Catholic Church, but of all his French acquaintances at Akaroa it is significant that none speak well of him. Indeed, the only good character he is known to possess is the character of the steward of the B.s. Doric, in which vessel Bosher returned to the colony in the capacity of assistant steward. In Akiroa Mr and Mrs Bosher lived in the house of th 9 wife's pareuts, and while there grave scandals were current concerning his family relations. After his return he continued to live with his wife for two years. During his stay iu Akaroa he took up the sturiy of photography, and, according to his wife, got a bill of sale over her father's property to pay for learning the art. In 1882 he agaiu disappeared under peculiar circumsiance3. He borrowed a hors-3, saddle and bridle, from his brother-in-law, and went to Lyttelton with a photographic outfit. Arriving there he sold the horse and went to Melbourne. A warrant was issued for his arrest on a charge of horsestealing, and curiously enough this warrant is still in existence, but the wituesses who would have been able to give evidence are not now forthcoming. Then Bosher is said to have spent some time in coasting boats in this colony, but his life until his return to the colony in 1890 is known only from his own statements. It appears that he went to France, but on arrival there was arrested, either as a deserter or as not having served his full term of military service, in the French army. He was sent to Lille, where, on his refusing service, he was sentenced to spend four years with a regiment in Algiers. The above is the 1 murderer's account of his adventures, but confirmatory evidence of a certain degree is furnished by the fact that Bosher wrote to the Colonial Secretary of New Zealand from Algiers, demanding his naturalisation papers. He had been naturalised iu New Zealand on 18th June, 1877. His name is given on the papers as Etienne Jean Brocher, and his ccenpatiu as caisinier de marine. The Colonial Secretary forwarded the copies as desired. After receiving his discharge from Algiers, Bosher went to London, and in 1890 shipped thence to New Zealand in the capacity of assistant steward of the s.s. Doric. He came to Wellington, and subsequently lived for some time at the Taita, and more recently still at Petone. On the 17th August, 1892, he bigamously married Miss Reece. Such, as far as can be gleaned at present, is the career of this remarkable murderer.

Turning now to the wife he left in Akaroa, we find that she never heard from him after his desertion of her in 1882 until in 1890, when he returned to the colony in the Doric. She had two children, a boy and a girl. In 1890, Mrs Bcsher received a telegran which ran " Do you wish to see me ?" and signed " Bosher." She did not reply, and later another telegram came, " Will I come, as I am going back to England ?" On the advice on a man named Nichols, she replied, " No, never," and Bosher never troubled her from that day to this. The fact that Bosher was oonvicted of bigamy and is now undergoing a sentence for that crime is wellknown.

A most pregnant sentence in the light of recent events, and a valuable light on the murderer's character, occurred in a statement made by Mrs Bosher at Akaroa. The words were : —" My husband is the sort of man who, if he kuew a man had money in his house, would make friends of him, and after that had been accomplished would take every means to get it. One who did not know him would think him genuine, but he is a bad lot."