MONTE CARLO MURDER.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13575, 6 December 1907, Page 5

MONTE CARLO MURDER.

MRS. GOOLD BLAMED. SENTENCED TO DEATH. H/ Electric Telegraph. — Copyright. itCNTE CARLO, December 5. The trial of Vcro Goold and Mrs tl'vid on a charge of* murdering MadHiao Levin at their lodgings in Monte Carlo has concluded. Tho Court found that in the case of Vcro Goold therowcre extenuating circumstances. Ho was sentenced to penal sfirvitudo for life. Mrs Goold was found guilty of tho murt'er. She was sentenced to death, A HYSTERICAL MURDERESS. SENTENCE MAY BE COMMUTED. (Received December 6, 7.54 a.m.) MONTE CARLO, December 5. When sentence was passed on Goold, ho was impassive, .bujs when his wife heard her sentence she went into violent hysterics and protested her innocence. Then sho collapsed. Tho general impression is that the soiitoneo on Mrs Goold bo commuted. [On© of the most sensational crimes investigated in recent years is the murder of Madam^ Levin. The first inkling of the deed was gained at Marseilles where Mr and Mrs Goold were embarking ror, England. Part of a woman's body was discovered in a trunk, the attention of those on the ship, being attracted by blood oozing fi-om the box. Tho remainder of the corpse was found in Goold's portmanteau. The pair tried to put tho police off the scent by accusing a young man at Monte Carlo with whom Madame Levin had been friendly. But the suspicion grew that the Goolds wore implicated in the crime. It was ascertained that Mrs Goold had lost heavily at the gaming tables and had tried to borrow money from Madame , Levin. The turning point in the inquiry came when some of Madame Levin's jewels were discovered in the possession of Mrs Goold. At length Goold confessed the murder, but shielded liis "wife. The man w.as a victim to the morphia habit, and he became half-de-mented in prison, whero he could not obtain the drug. The parties were examined at great length by -the Magistrate at Marseilles. From the beginning the opinion was held in some quarters that Mrs Goold Was the moving spirit and that her husband was a mere tool in her hands. The inquiry was then moved to Monte Carlo, where blood-stained floors gave further proof of tho Goolds' guilt. Goold gavo the details of the whole ghastly affair— how jus wife had engaged the woman while iie had given the stab in the back. The suspicion that his wife was the moving spirit was strengthened. She was severely examined. For a time she strenuously denied any guilt, but at Jongth broke down and practically admitted hor complicity. During the recent trial Goold continued to take the blame on his own shoulders, but apparently the jury was not convinced. His wife as the instigator of the crime is to die, while the comparatively helpless The a^fuj interest of the case to British readers has been increased by the fact th,at. Goold is the brother of an English baronet now living in Australia.]