STRANGLED IN A TRAIN

Southland Times, Issue 17427, 20 August 1913, Page 5

STRANGLED IN A TRAIN

VENICE MURDER TRIAL RECALLED. By Telegraph,— Prcis Association.—Copyright. FT. PETERSBURG. August IS. j Countess Tarnovska, (he central figi tire in the Venice murder trial in May. 1910, was found strangled in a, railway j carriage between St. .Petersburg and Kieff. NOT THE COUNTESS. SAFE IN GAOL. ST. PETERSBURG. August 19. Received 19 th. 11.5 p.m. The strangled woman has been identified as Countess Tarnovtka’a cousin. Italian advices state that the Countess : is still In prison. I The trial of the Countess Tarnovska | and her accomplices for the murder of i the Russian Count Ka.maravskl in ! August, l!) 07, ended in Vt/ileo yesterday (stated the Daily Mali of May 21. 1910). The countess and her lovers— Prilukofl. a Moscow lawyer, and Naumoff. son of a Russian nobleman—conspired to kill Count Kamarovski after Insuring his life In the countess’s favour. Naumoff was the actual murderer, instigated by the countess and Prllukoff. who hoped to benefit by his crime. The countess’s maid. Perier, was also placed in the dock as an accomplice. The countess was yesterday sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. Prilukoff to ten years', and Naumoff to three years’. Perier was acquitted. All the prisoners have been In gaol for nearly three years, which time will he deducted from the sentences. Naumoffs sentence is thus practically tantamount to acquittal. The Mail's special correspondent, who had just hocn in Venice, wrote at the time : Thus ends one of the most remarkable | trials of modem times, and one of the [ longest. For nearly three years the four accused were kept in prison, the “fatal countess” at the “Oiudecca" and Prilukoff and Naumoff in the historic prison which is connected with the palace of the doges by the world-famous “Bridge of Sighs.” TVhy three years 7 “Italian methods," is the only possible reply. The writer, who has followed the trial for some two months and has repeatedly spoken with the various officials, judges and barristers connected with it, has only elucidated the following facts : The three chief prisoners confessed their guilt when arrested, two days after the crime. They were then taken to Venice, ns (he murder was committed there. For six months they were interrogated by examining magistrates. At the same time a number of leading psych ologica I experts studied them to establish their degrees of responsibility. Then .... nothing. True, from time to time the prisoners received visits from their lawyers and relations, hut the whole enquiry into the crime was concluded. Yet they were kept in prison for another 22 months. The trial came. It has lasted nearly three months. It would have lasted 12 had not the prisoners learned Italian in prison. Each prisoner had three counsel, each of whom spoke for eight to it hours. And then there were the two speeches of the Public Prosecutor, thocp of the counsel representing the family of (lie victim —one of whom spoke for throe days —and the judge's summing up. Fourteen doctors lectured on psychophysiology. Incidents in the trial have been numberless: the doctor who operated on fount. Kamarovski after the latter had been shot by Naumoff wa.s struck with total amnesia in court: the Public Prosecutor was ill for 10 days: three of the medical experts were struck with serious illnesses, and so was one of the jurors. Another Juror fell desperately in love with the beautiful countess and was replaced. Cm three occasions unknown persons attempted to help the countess to escape. On two occasions she Hotly refused to appear in court and the proceedings went on without her. The jurors, mostly farmers and working men. who received no remuneration whatever, were, at Ih.e end of (he first month, hopelessly tired of a trial in which Slav psychology and the various kinds of mental diseases were discussed at random, with a wealth of technical j and philosophical details and of Latin | quotations 1 The unfortunate Naumoff, a prey to unspeakable physical and mental agony, collapsed almost daily: Prilukoff looked 1 every day more like a ghost. ! As to the “fatal countess,” she maintained almost to the end tier amazing j ana sphinxlike impassivity. The facts ' disclosed at the trial showed her to he such a weird creature, such a “moral j monster.” that it came as a relief to ! hear so many experts declare her to be hysterical and, to say the least semiirresponsibla.