FRENCH MURDER MYSTERY

Southland Times, Issue 23390, 23 December 1937, Page 5

FRENCH MURDER MYSTERY

Wiedmann Accuses

Associate

HEATED EXCHANGES AT INQUIRY

(United Press Assn—Telegraph Copyright)

(Received December 22, 10.20 p.m.)

PARIS, December 22. A magisterial inquiry into the death of Roger Leblond, the theatrical agent who was one of the victims of the “Bluebeard” murders attributed to Eugene Wiedmann, was held at Versailles. Wiedmann, instead of wearing prison garb, was dressed in a smart suit brought from his villa. Exchanges between Wiedmann and Roger Million, whom Weidmann alleges killed Leblond, grew heated as the examination proceeded. At one stage Million cried: “You’re crazy, Wiedmann! You murdered six people; you’re a monster.” Wiedmann replied: “I thought at first I would take the blame for all the murders, but you weren’t worth it. You let me down. Don’t you recall that you asked me how to do it, and I told you to aim at his neck?” Million replied: “No. It was you who killed him.” When the examination concluded Wiedmann left the room smiling; Million looked angry.

France has a new "Bluebeard” in Eugene ■ ' Weidmann, a German, who confessed on December 10 to five murders in a brief space of time. One of Weidmann’s victims was the American dancer. Jean de Koven, who had been missing from Paris for three months. She was murdered soon after her arrival in 'France, and her aunt was receiving demands for ransom money when she was dead. Weidmann, who is 29, was bom in Frankfurt, and fled from Germany to avoid being conscripted. He told the police that he was first convicted, of theft, at the age of 16 in Germany. He went to Canada and was sent to gaol for a year for damaging a granary in Saskatchewan. He was afterwards deported to Germany.

Weidmann’s other victims were Otto Frommer, a personal friend; Roger Leblond, theatrical agent; Raymond Lesobre, house agent; and Couffy, a taxi-driver. Frommer’s body was found at the same villa, under the floor in a comer of the cellar. '

For 13 hours after his arrest Weidmann refused to answer questions. Then he broke down when asked to write a statement with a fountain pen which had belonged to one of his victims, and confessed to the five murders.

Weidmann briefly described these murders as follows:—

Couffy: “I shot him dead on the main road near Tours.” Leblond: “I shot him in a house, tied him up in a mattress, and left him in a car at Neuilly.” Frommer: “He knew too much about me. I shot him in my own cellar and buried him there.”

Lesobre: “I hit him' on the head with a hammer when I visited his office on pretence of hiring a villa. Then I shot him dead.”