A GERMAN POISONING CASE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 33, 26 September 1868, Page 5

A GERMAN POISONING CASE.

A BXOBT Of LOVE £SD SICFRDaII.

The great poisoning case of Munich, the last scene of which was played out in Vienna a week or two since, is very little known in this country, considering its interest. The story is this :—: — Count Korinsky was a lieutenant in the Austrian army. His wife, Matilda • Reuff, was an actress of great beauty (born in Bavaria), whom he married in ISOO while serving in the Papal army, the young lady having gone -south to obtain an engagement. The marriage was not a happy one. The pair repeatedly quarrelled in the ians where they .put up, and in the winter of 1864 they obtained a divorce — such a divorce as is sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church, the divorced parties not being allowed to marry Again. The countess went to live with her father-in-law, and the count rs-entercd the Austrian army as a private soldier, andjay dint of " bravery and good conduct during the campaign of Schlcs-wig-Holstein got promoted to hi 3 oIS. position. The count was again in arms during the Prussian war and fought at the battle of Koniggratz. In July, 1860, he returned home badly wounded. His wife, notified of his arrival, left Vienna for Ulm, where she accepted the addresses of a young student, and afterwards went to live at Munich, where she gave birth to a child, stillborn. She then engaged apartments in the house of a widow named Eliza Hartman, and lived there till the 21st of Nov., 1567. She is described as being extremely prepossessing:, irrespective of her beauty, with fair hair and brown eyes, and a fair but not a pale face. It was a Wednesday morning, the day the 20fch of November, the year 1567, the time a little before daybreak, when a young lady, elegantly dressed, entered the hotel of the " Four Seasons "at Munich. She had come by the train from Salzburg, and save her name as Fraulein Vay, of Vienna. She engaged a room, and after reposing for a few hours and taking lunch, went out to examine tho city, returning to the hotel la^o in the evening. On the following day — that is to say, on Thursday the 21st of November — t!»e stranger remained in her room till mid-day. One of the cham-ber-maids, "entering at about eleven o'clock, found her awake and very much agitated. She had jewels on her finders, and her hands were very white and beautiful. But she completed her toilette without washing them and smoked a cigarette. At mid-day she was dressed and ready to go out. She was pale and wild-looking, with black eyes and hair, and a face which might be called sympathetic rather than beautiful. She wore a black silk dre3s with streaks of white, a mantlo of tho same kind,a black pelisse, and a fancy hat or bonnet, equally sombre, but relieved by lilac ribbons. Her brooch and ear-rings (also black) were carved into the shape of death's-heads. At a little Ibefore thi*ee o'clock this lady ordered a bottle of Lunel and half a bottle of ordinary wine, and had them poured into two vials which she took out of her boy. Where she went or how she occupied her time between three and four has not transpired ; but at four o1o 1 clock she was seen to enter the reception room of the Countess Korinsky, for whom bog had somehow or' other got a letter of intro- | duction. What they said to each other when they met has not been di- ; vulged ; one cannot and the other will not speak. The two ladies — one in <iay_and pretty clothes, the other in black, with death's-heads in her. ears — left tho hotel together to make purchases in the city. Shortly after fivo o'clock they returned to tho Countess's apartments, and a ecehtleman who was lodging in an adjoining room states that ho overheard tho two ladies talking in a very friendly manner, and is quite sure they 'took tea together. The lady in black (here we have tho landlady's statement) ran? the bell and ordered a carriage to be fetched at half-past seven o'clock — that is to say, in time for the theatre. At tho hour named the landlady ascended the stairs to anno unco the carriage, but found the door locked, and the key taken away. She sat up all night and^the following night, and on the third day sent for the police, who broke the door open. A frightful scene presented itself. The Countess was found lying upon tho floor quite dead, between the sofa and the table, "her head benfc forward upon her bosom. Blood ■ had flowed from her mouth down her dress, and thenco on to tho floor. Her eyes were wide open, but the body showed no signs of outward violence As the lodger had supposed, ib.3 table was set for tea, with fruits, milk, wine, &c, and there was a-cup half empty on the righthand sido ofthe place supposed to have been oce%jftcd by tho deceased. Tiie stranger had disappeared. On the room being searched it was found that tho Countess had not been robbed. Her money, hor watch, and sorao jewels of value" were found in different parts of the room, and the conclusion arrived at by the police was that a murder, and not- a suicido, had been committed, and that the murderer was not a thief: As to the deceased having committed suicide, every one who fynew her testified to the cheerfulness of her disposition, the command sh« had q£ ready mpnoy, and hor love of Ufa. Dr. Bucbnsr, of tho Unirer» siV of $av&ria, boinsj ilcpu'.ed to view

the body, esfcablia'iod beyond a doubt that death laid been caused by a dose of prussic acid more than enough to destroy- life. ~No traces of poison could be found in the tea, or in any of the fruits or other viands on the table. But the teapot — an object of no value whatever — had disappeared. Two searches, therefore, were made in Mu- . Nich — a search for a lady in black and a Bearch for an old teapot. Suspicion pointed to " Mdlle. Vay," who left for Vienna on the night of the murder. Meantime, the two Counfca KorinBky, father-in-law and husband of the deceased, were summoned to Munich. The former saw and identified the body, but the latter refused to attend the post mortem examination, and even absented himself from the funeral — alleging that he was tired after hia joui'ncy, and that he had never been on good terms with his wife even during her lifetime. This excuse did not prevent his being forced to put in an appearance; and his conduct before the magistrate was co strange that ho was submitted not only to verbal but to manual examination. His, pockets were searched, and in one of them were found four cartes de visite, which turned out to be portraits of Mdlle. Vay. The Count stated that her real name was Julia von Ebengcnyi, Baroness de Teleeker — gave her address as No. 13, Krugerstras3c, Vienna, and declared that she had never been to Munich in her life. By a coincidence, explained by the electric telegraph, the police of Vienna entered the house of Mdlle. Ebergenyi at the very time that the police of Munich were examining her carte de visite. Her portrait was her accuser, and, although silent, its voice reached | her at a distance of hundreds of miles. f On being asked whether she knew ! Count Korinsky, she turned pale, and it is said that her eyes became phosphorescent. She placed her hand on her heart and said, turning to tho police, " I am innocent ! " Again, bursting into tears, she cried out, "I am innocent! Will you take me to prison?" and sank down in her chair in a paroxysm of grief. But she mastered hor emotion, and, starting to her feet, said that she was ready to follow the officers of the law, but hoped she might be allowed to dress herself properly (she was in night apparel), which was granted. She was then taken to prison. Mdlle. Ebergenyi, a canoness of a religious house in Germany, is a Hungarian of noble birth, and twenty-six years of age. She is an orphan, and is said to have been at one time under the protection of the late Queen of Naples; but this statement seems doubtful, inasmuch as it is also made about the countess Korinsky. Mdlle. Eber^enyi seems to Lave live! a doubtful life, and to be considered not altogether comme il faut, although not actually belonging to the demi-monde. On her first — and only on her first — examination she confessed her guilt, stating that she had bought prussic of a photographer, and had poured it into the Countess's teapot while they wore drinking each other's health. She blew out tho candles the moment she saw her companion fall to the ground, and felt her way to the door, locking it after her, and descending tho staircase in the dark. But she afterwards contradicted herself; and although she acknowledged that she had put tho key of the countess's door in her pocket, she denied that she had committed the murder. v I know who did it," she exclaimed ; " but I will rather die than say who it was." After saying this she changed color, and asked to be allowed to recall her words, as they were not true. She then stated, with an appearance of great frankness, that the dceoased had killed herself for spite, in order that she (the accused) might be sentenced to deatb. In the possession of tho accused were found nine keys, one of which opened a cupboard in the countess's room, where a small bottle containing prussic acid was found ; also a number of letters written to tho deceased by her father-in-law. Tho teapot wns nowhere to bo found; but it was known to have been taken away to be cleaned, and the missing key which locked the Countess up as in a tomb was thrown into the Danube. On the other hand, the accused had papers in her possession which seem to throw tho chief blame of the murder on another person. These consist of letters* addressed to Mdlle. Ebergenyi, and written by Count Korinslcy. One of them contains the following words : — " I must marry you. You must do what you canto make it possible for us to be marred before G-od and man." And. in otner letters : — " I have to speak to you about that affair. I will overcome everything as a man of energy because j I cannot live without you." Another letter was cited at the trial which j seems to remove all doubts as to the j cupidity of tho Count A portion of. it runs as follows :—: — " In this way everything will succeed, with tho help of God. I want to speak to you again to day. I will notify to you one or two inns at M (Munich). Wo will pray together that everything may end happily, and we will omit nothing which may enablo us at once to realise our marriage, for I cannot live on iu^ this I way. I place all my trust in you. 1 hope ybu will suocoed. If, however, it is impossible, we will take more energetic &tepg. O God ! may tho time of our marriage arrive booh. That is my most ■ earnest desira and prayer. I will, act with more onergy in order that you may not remain Bsparatod fro.n mo long-Tr than

The reportera at the trial called this a " love letter ! " • A still more atrocious epistle, bearing 'date the 19th of November (two days before the murder was committed), concludes in these teran :— ■ '" May you pucceed and return very soon— rlbr ever — to nty arms. I can only pi'ay for you. But you will not put yourself into danger I hope. Now is the time for all* our hopes to be realised. God bless you and protect you." In another letter, dated November 20, the day on which the lady in black made her fatal entrance into Muiuch, tho pious lover exclaims :—": — " You have sworn in the name of all that is sacred that you will not spare her. . - . . I tremble for you, lam so nervous ! To-morrow I will receive, with tho help of God, one of your dear letters to console me." The writer of theße letters had other reasons beside* sentimental ones for desiring his wife's death : the capital of 12,000 florinp, the interest \ of wlrieh she was receiving in monthly instalments, would be his at her demise. Another remarkable thing about tho affair is that the lovers _had originally intended to become Protestants, so that the Count, his religion being changed, might have a real divorce from his wife. However, on reflection, they preferred to kill the lady and keep true to their religion. This Came out in the evidence. We need not go further into the details of this horrible story, * The accused was found guilty of the wilful murder of Matilda, Countess of Korinsky, and sentenced to twenty years' penal servitude ; and at the expiration of each year to one week's solitary confinement, in lieu of the punishment of chains, abolished in Austria by the law which came in force last winter. She was aluo condemned to tho premature loss of her nobility. It was urged in her defence that she was " a weak woman, seduced to deeds of violence by an infamous lover," and her conduct at the trial was referred to in eloquent terms. When asked if she had anything to say about Count Korinsky, she said in a low voice, and with the tears streaming down her cheeks, "I love him ! " and declined to say anything in his prejudice. What will be done to him remains to be seen. It aeems that he has testified his willingness to go to Australia or America, or, in fact, anywhere out of the way, and that the Emperor has been appealed to on his behalf, the pica being that he 13 a soldier who has served Iris country too well to be abandoned in his hour of need.—" Pall Mall Gazette."