Vendetta Plot to Poison Prince

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 690, 15 June 1929, Page 18

Vendetta Plot to Poison Prince

Attempt to Kill -Man Who Freed Russia of Rasputin . . . Deadly Nightshade “Drops” Taken By Investigating Detective . . . Suggestion of Hypnotic Influence . . .

Startling reports come from Paris of a vendetta plot to poison the Prince | Yussopoff, whose name was so prominent in the third year of tlxe War, ! when "Gregory the Rake” — Rasputin, the monk who was a favourite at the i last Imperial Court in Russia—was done to death and thrust by night under the ire on the Neva. Beside the Prince, his host and hostess , a count and countess in the j South of France, are said to have had poison put in their fooa. A detective , who was investigating , tried the alleged "deadly night - I shape" drops , and was taken ill. He arrested a valet , who is still detained j for inquiries.

SHE tragic end of the notorious monk Rasputin—the favourite on the late Tsar and Tsarita—who was shot dead, after a supper party, by Russian noblemen headed by Prince Yussopoff, is recalled in connection with a repoisoning mbpwgfpwkfw mbp wkfp markable and mysterious affair of poisoning causing illness of prominent persons in the South of France. Prince Yussopoff has a friend, the Count de Lareinty, a French aristocrat, who lives at a beautiful lakeside chateau some ten miles from Labonne, •and it is said that he and his friends and visitors there have been the victims of a poisoning plot organised by some Russian fauatics to avenge the death of Rasputin. Those who are reported to have been victims include: Prince Yussopoff himself. Count de Lareinty, his host, Countess de Lareinty, nee Demi doff, who has family relations with Prince Yussopoff, other friends of the count visiting the chateau on the lake.

A Spanish valet, Baptiste Carbonel, aged 21. who was in the employ of the Count de Lareinty, has been arrested on a charge of having administered the poison, but after his conflicting statements to the investigating magistrate and the police, ho light has yet been thrown on the case. Poison Fears for Years Statements to the police by the Count de Lareinty and his Russian wife show that they have for three years lived under the fear of being poisoned.

One night, three years ago, the i countess was taken very ill. A doctor { diagnosed food poisoning, but was un- j able to trace the exact source. The countess recovered, and just j then young Baptiste Carbonel, who was already in their employ, serving at table, decided to leave the Chateau du Lac. Carbonel was taken back about a year ago, and last November the poison trouble started afresh. The count was taken ill after breakfast. He felt very weak. A doctor who examined some of the breakfast food declared that the count had been dosed with a poison whose effects are similar to those of belladonna (deadly nightshade). The doctor called it “scapolamine.” “Not only my husband,” said the countess to the police, “but myself, our two children, our aunt, the Duchess of Luynes, and friends who visited us at the chateau were taken ill at times after breakfast, and almost daily we had the same symptoms of poisoning as my husband.” Suspecting a criminal band, the count himself carried out a long investigation, and began to suspect Baptiste Carbonel. Three weeks ago the count visited the valet's bedroom and, it is said, discovered a few bottles containing liquids. He sent one to the Paris toxicological laboratory. It contained scapolamine. A detective went on the following morning from Carcassonne to the chateau and partook of the breakfast intended for the count. The detective soon fell ill. On leaving the chateau

he arrested Baptiste Carbonel and took ' him to a prison cell in Carcassonne. Before the investigating magistrate, the valet appeared simple-minded. • He is alleged to have stated that he ; always had a bottle in his pocket, and ! that, when in the corridor between i kitchen and dining room he would put j a few drops in the coffee or food he j was carrying. When asked where he had obtained > i the bottle, the valet burst into tears, ■ | and is alleged to have exclaimed: . i “Timopheitcli gave it to me, and proi mised to give me 50.000 francs on the j day the count died." ' : “Timopheitch,” he exclaimed, was . the nickname given to lllia Pedan, the [ Russian vallet of Prince Yussopoff, a relative of the countess, and a frequent visitor to the chateau. Baptiste Carbonel is alleged to | have added that lllia Pedan, who is : described as possessing remarkable hypnotic powers, exercised a great in- * tiuence upon him; and lie had to obey - lllia Pedan's suggestions. I But on being questioned again Car- ■ bonel declared to the investigating magistrate that all he said concerning • Timopheitch was a lie. On the other hand, the Count de i Lareinty told the investigating mag- , istrate that during Prince Yusso- ; poff’s recent stay at Marseilles he > (the prince), who is always accomi panied by his valet, was taken ill. : Count de Lareinty, who was also at f Marseilles, saw the prince, and found that he was suffering from the same i symptoms of poisoning which had - affected himself from time to time at ; his Chateau of the Lake. The count suggested to the prince L that someone actuated by a desire for , revenge was attempting to poison him, ; but Prince Yussopoff, with a shrug, 5 said that he trusted every member of L his household, especially his valet. Prince Yussopoff is now in Austria ; with his valet, but the princess, who i is in Paris, states that she was : firmly convinced that the accusation i brought against her husband’s valet l was the result of an error.