THE MYSTERIOUS FONTAINEBLEAU MUEDER CASE.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXII, Issue 2591, 31 October 1867, Page 5

THE MYSTERIOUS FONTAINEBLEAU MUEDER CASE.

■ £From the Paris Correspondent of, the Daily News.] The Fontainebleau murder case, the first eews of which caused such a sensation in May last, came on for trial on Friday at the Assize- Court of the little town of Melun, famous for its corn market, and as the cradle, an connection with corn, of the Drouyn <le Lhuys family. The presiding Judge, M. Dubarle, of the Imperial Court ot Pans, received upwards of 300 applications for tickets of admission ; but as the Court cannot hold more than 300 people, he waa necessarily obliged to refuse most of the applicants. As it was, the notabilities of Melun, flittle used to excitement, were on the qui vlve, aud many ladies in grand toihtte^ were in seats behind the bench as well a3 in the foody oC the Court. Rf . Lachaud appeared for the prisoner ; M. Dupuy, of the Paris bar, appeared as jpartie civile to sustain the accusation on the part of the relatives of the murdered woman. The facts disclosed by the indictment and $he accusation are extraordinary and dramatic in the highest degree, and will give theFontainbleau murder a place in the causes ■celehres on a level with the cases of Castaing ®,nd Madame L:if;m\ The accused, a woman stltirly-tive years of age, born at Sainte Colnmbe la Campige, near Evreux, in the Apartment of the Euro, is named Mathilde JBiouise Alexandrine Friyard, nee Lebcuis. Her father was a respectable country doctor, ■and her husband, M. Frigard, by whom she lias some young children, was a silk mercer «t Caen, but lately failed. She is a little woman, with no pretensions to beauty, highshouldered almost deformed, with thin lightSbrowu hair, disclosing many places, but with « face betraying much nervous energy and great intelligence. On taking her place in «the dock, it wa9 observed that she showed mot the least emotion, neither did she (throughout the da}', except that her face was frequently suffused with a red flush. She •wore" a shabby-genteel dress, coquettishly jpat on. Her gown— said to be the same she Wore on the day of the murder— was an alpaca, of a faded yellow color ; the reporters <call lifeuille mart. Over this was a black *ilk niande. Her bonnet was of the modern fashion —a little patch on the top of the head — with .i violet an.l beads in front. Her kid igloves were manifestly old, but she fro fluently pulled down over them a pair of urather' handsome lace manchet'es. Before kke proceedings began she talked frequently $o her counsel, M. Lachaud, and alwa} T fi with a smiling countenance. The pr< siding Judge called the attention <©? the jury to a plan of the forest of Fontaine- ' pleau which they would find useful to refer Co in fclie course of the trial. The indictfneiii. or ur.ie d' accusation, was then read. The ease nude by it is as follows : — The deceased, whose maiden name was Sidonia Margaret Dussart, was of Belgian origin. Sue married a M. Mertens, a carrier, who •<Sied ufc JJoulogne-sur Mer on January 2S, 1.861. Since she became a widow, this woman was very light in her conduct. Her last residence was in Paris, Eue de L ival where she lived with a M. Bur*&et. Madame Mertens having received the iprireuf a business which she sold, deposited ;a sum of 7500f. on March 25, 1807, with the Cfomptoir d'Escompte, and on May 1 she \paid another sum of 500f. into Lecuyer's 4ank. In February, 1567, Madame Mertens was introduced by a general agent (agent *&' affaires) to the prisoner, whose husband ifead been in the silk trade at Caen, and was t& bankrupt. In December, 1860, the prisoaercame to Paris with only 300f. iu her ipocket to seek her fortune. She made various efforts to find some one who would ssdvance her a sufficient sum to purchase a Easiness, and at length she got introduced to Madame Mertens. Subsequently, she filled t&p in si disguised hand a draft for 4000f., jfligned it " Emile Mertens," and on April 15, $.867, obtained payment for this draft at the tComptoir d'Escompte office. A week afterwards, and on April 21, she paid 1500f. to JyL and Madame Perrofc on account of the furchase-money of an Italian warehouse, fc was agreed with the Perrots that the prisoner was to take possession of a shop in sttie Rue Montholon on May sth, but only on of a further instalment of 3500f. on stkat day. How did the prisoner expect co provide herself with that sum? By another on the Comptoir D'Escompte for the "balance of 35000f. yet remaining there; but iiaasrnuch as Madame Mertens could not fail :*kortly to discover the robbery, she determined to put her out of the way. The first ?act showing the murderous resolution of the j was the purchase, on May 3rd, of a jfiix-barrelied revolver and a box of cartridges -<zt Lefancheux's gunshop. She admits that sslie loaded the revolver as soon as she bought "at. On May 5 she solicited and obtained from the Perrots au enlargement of the time *£or paying the 3500f. from May 5 to May 9. IBythe latter day her crime was accomplished; JMadame Mertens laid murdered in the «£epth of a hollow in Fontainebleau forest, ?&ad while nobody knew what had become of 3ier, the woman Frigard got possession of all fker money, and completed the purchase of sihe shop from the Perrots. What follows show by what means the prisoner achieved this result. After the loth of April (ker attentions to Madame Mertens redoubled. She took her out constantly to restaurants, gave her delicate dinners, and induced her to drink wines which always on a strange kind of drowsiness. On May 7 she proposed a trip to Fontainefeleau, saying that a little change would do Sier good. The two women arrived at Fonrtainebleau at seven, in the evening of that <dtiy, aud passed the night at the Hotel de .France et Angleterre. A letter written by Madame Mertens to a M. Lassere, dated Tuesday, May 7, at eleven in the evening, leaves no douLt as to the object of the jour>aey in her mind. The next day, May 8, at H a.m., the two women took a carriage for a iride in the forest. The coachman took them, according to his own idea of the spots they ■■would like to aee, to Mont Chauvet, the iSolle Valley, and finally to Franchard, where i£Uere is a restaurant. There, at half- pa t tfcen, they discharged the carriage and ordered ; breakfast. Madame Mertens was in high iliealth aud spirits. At about half-past ftwelve, after having walked about in the -environs of the restaurant, they asked their "W&y to return to Fontaiuebleau on foot. "They passed by the B>sque dultoi, and were float sight of at the cross roads of the Croix-•de-Francharfc. At about 4 o'clock the woman FrigKrd returned alone to the Hotel «de France et d'Angleterre. She inquired ii flier friend had come in, and on being in the negative, said she had lost 4ier in the forest.. She then said she should -doul tless find her at the railway station, and s&dded, it was not the first time they had parted company when out together. With n ■*iew of. making believe she had no money ■upon her, nhe asked for the address of u leweller. M. Prati'a shop was mentioned to mt, and there, ahe obtained forty Jranci on

the deposit of a brooch. M. Prafc took her name and address from the envelope of a letter which she showed him. On her return to the hotel she ordered dinner, but ate scarcely anything, and seemed absent and unensv. She paid the bill, amounting to 32f. 15c, and while paying it the waiter saw a banknote of lOOf. in her portraonnnic. She left for Paris by the quarter past six train. For several days following persons going along the Mont Fossart lload, leading to the nnufde Floury au Bouquet-du-Eoi, observed, at a point distant about three kilometres from Fonlainebleau, a wonrm lying on the grars. about, twenty- five yards off the ro-id, hor head concealed by a parasol. Afe last, on May 13, some one who had seen her in the same position more than once, suspected something wrong, went off the road to see closer, and found a corpse in a state of decomposition. The body was lying on the back, the right hand clutched a handful of grass, which seemed to have been torn up in the agony of dying convulsions. The face, eaten by worms was frightfully disfigured. This corpse was that of Madame Mertens. She wae recognised, by her dress and several other signs, as one of the two women who came to the hotel at Fontainebleau on May 7. She had on her a gold chain and several jewels ; but her porlmonnaie, in which there was at least '3001'. whoa she left Paris, contained only ten centimes. Her keys— the kev of her lodgings ami the key of her strong lio'x in which she kept her money and papers \ V ,. re gone. The position of her bonnet, gloves, and fan showed that death must have surprised her in her sleep. The medical men appointed to examine the body report that the death was not natural. The tongue was swollen and squeezed tightly by the teeth. There were ecehymose spots on the pleura, and sanguine effusions on the anterior part of the stomach. The conclusion from these symptoms is that, she must have been suffocated by a simultaneous pressure on the neck with the hnnd and on the epigastrium with the knee. The slate of the undigested food in ihe_gtomach showed that the assassination must have taken place about an hour after her repast at the Franehart restaurant. Her companion was easily found in Paris, thanks to the. address given to the jeweller Prat, [n answer to the first questions put to her, iho woman Frignrd prod need an alleged partnership deed, executed between her and Ma-lame Merlon-;, by virtue of wlii'-h the latter was to advance her a sum of 5000f. for Ihe purchase oi the business in the Eue Montholon. She pretended that on May 7, before going to Fontainebloau, Madame Mertens gav\; her a draft, signed for 3500f. on ihfi Uomptoir d'liJscoiiiple. She did indeed -ja«h a draft on the CJomptoir il'lCseompte, ■md with the m >uev so received she paid the instalment to tin? L'erroU on May 10. Be.sides this alleged -Iced of partner.viip, which, singular to relate, contained a receipt for tue 3 ) ! >T. sigi f\ bv the prisoner, and also a roueipt from the agent d'affaires, Barielle, there were found in the prisoner'^ possession the receipt of the Comptoir d'lDseompte, given to Madame Mertens on M arch 29, acknowledging the. deposit of 75O'Jf., two blank forms of receipts -with Ma la -ne Merten's name written at the top. and also the receipt of the banking-house, Lecuyer, for the oOOf. deposited by Mulame Mertens on May 1. Tin 1 revolver and cartridges bought on May 2 wert also (bund in the. prisoners lodgings. The fads that took place were H.e'se :— After having strangled Madame Mertens in her sleep, the prisoner took out of her p.-trtuionuaie. the gf>l'l and the- lOOt. note which it cont.tiuod. Site also took her keys. On her return to Paris, m the evening o? May 8, she went at ouue to Madame Merl ens' lodgings in the lvu<" L:ival, walked upstairs without being noticed by the concierge, let herself in, opened the strong box, and took out the receipts and paper* found in her possession. On that very evening she told the Perrots that she had the money she was to pay to them, but did not show it to them. The next, day, May D, she called at the house in the Rue Laval, and asked the concierge whether Madame Mertens had come, home, saving at the same time that she had parted company with her in Paris, giving a rendezvous loi' the next day. On that 9i.h of May the prisoner presented at the Comtoir d'Escompte a draft signed '/ Veuve Einile Mertens" for 35');)i\. and received the money. On May 10 she took possession of thesliop in the Rue Monlltoion, having paid through the hands of Uarielle, the agent d'affaires, the 35')0f, due to the Perrots. The experts al'esL that the deed of partnership, the alleged duplicate of which is nowhere to be found, was forged by the prisoner. The signature, " Sidouia Mortens," and the words " read and approved preceding it, are forgeries, and in the handwriting of the prisoner. In order to struggle against the evidence which accuses her, the prisoner has introduced on the scene an imaginary personage, to whom she give.* the naine of William-*. According to her, Madame Mertens only went, to Foataiubleau in order to meet this Williams. 1 hey did meet him, the prisoner says, near the bYanohart restaurant ; she withdrew in order to leave Madame Mertens and Williams alone; and not seeing anything of them after an hour and a half's waiting, sin: went hack alone to Fuiitainebleau. 13 y incredible- efforts of iinagiiu.tiou the prisoner endeavors to make out that thin Williams was the author not only ot 1 the murder, but of the forgeries. Now, no trace of any .such individual can be found at Fontainebleau ; and, moreover, the prisoner was seen with Madame Mertens alone in the forest, at a spot beyond that at which she says they met Williams. The rest of the acte d' accusation contains formal charges of murder and forgery with reference to the article* of the- Code Napoleon under which the indictment is framed. The exainina ion of the prisoner by the presiding judge occupied several hours, ami, as usual in French trials, much extraneous mutter was entered into. The substances of her statement, in answer to his questions, was as follows :— Had been in the habit of travelling on her husband's business, who was a silk mercer. Had two children that she loved dearly. Her husband was goodtempered, and very good to ln-r. (The judge here said it was only due to the pn>ouer to say that he had heard a very good character of her. Her conduct as a woman till she came to Paris had been beyond reproach.) [f she had been accused of interfering too much in her husband's business, it was because, after his failure, si e thought the nlticial assignee bore hardly upon him, and sue had remonstrated. Had had some dispute's with her mother about her father's property, but; was not bid friends with her. (Letters from the mother were read, reproaching her for spending too much money.) Explained that she had been in the habit of carrying a revolver because somebody had oneo threatened to kill her. Had practised shooting at pigeons with si pistol. (The judge, said this was not a feminine amusement.) H:ul left Caen after her husband's bankruptcy, because it was very, hard to live poor in a plu.ee where one had been known .as. inch. Admitted having .oneo written, .to

' an English company that a scientific friend i of hers had invented a compass which would i point to gold and silver instead of the North s Pole, and offering to recover a vessel which ! went down on the English coast sixty years > ago, with twenty-nine millions of dollars. Had practised magnetism at Caen, and had been consulted about searching for some treasure in the forest of Creveecour. Denied that after the bankruptcy she had endearored to secrete 7,000 francs' worth of silk. Had said o{ tho man who accused her of it, " Oh, I am not tho daughter of a Corsican for nothing, and I will plunge a dagger in his hear'." It was nob true that sho was the daughter of a Corsican, but she had said that. Admitted that while possessing only 300f., sho had contracted to pay 75,000f. for an hotel, but it was at the instigation of an agent d'affaires, who had since been convicted of swindling. Admitting having {ittempted various other speculations. Was first introduced to Madame Mertens as a person who wanted a partner. She was a very light woman. After M. Mertens' death she married an Englishman named Kelly, but left him at the church door; and got divorced ( from him in Belgium two years later, on the ground of informality. The prisoner proceeded to allege that she had acted as a procuress for Madame Mortens, and had received J large sums of money from her lovers. In ! particular she said that a certain Count Loo. ' who lived at the Grand Hotel, had once given her lOOOf. by mistake, and afterwards told her blio might keep it. It was very disgraceful, she was aware, to have played ! the part that sho did, but she did it for the 1 sake of her children, and counting upon the ignorance of her children and friends in the country of what she did in Paris. She had received money shamefully for the sake of j her children. Bad as her conduct had been iu that respect it afforded no proof whatever j that she was likely to commit a murder. She | persisted iu the story of Williams. She said ! Williams had garrotted her one night in the Eue de la Tour d'Auvergne, and that, aided ; by three other men, ho dragged her into the ■ house and interrogated her about Madame Mertens. He said to her he knew Mr Kellj', that he wanted to marry again, and that the divorce was not good in England. Kelly, he I ;iid, had £3000 a year. (The judge said it had been ascertained that Kelly had only £800.) Madame Mertens had gone to Fontaineblejiu for no other purpose than to meet Williams. The reasons given for her gning in letters to a lover of hers named Paul were ■ not true. Williams had whistled when near I the Franchart restaurant, and she had left i Madame Mertens with him. She strenuously j denied all the forgeries, and said none of the clerks at the Comptoir d'Escoinpto could , i 1.-ri ify her. Sho said tlio waiter at Fontainbleau was mistaken in saying that she ! hnd a lOOf. note about her when she paid the ! bill. She lii'.d only the 40f. she got from the ! jewcilor for hv'r brooch. I She auswered all the questions with extraordinary coolness and great ingenuity, expressing herself like a well-educated woman. CONVICTION OF MADAME FIUGARD. The trial is still proceeding. The time of | the Court has been greatly taken up by evi- ! deuce relating to the antecedents of the pri- ! soncr and the murdered woman, whose j character seems to have, boon that of a common anoni/ma. JN T o evidence has yet been i given to throw light on the mode in which I the victim came by her. death. "Perhaps ! the most amusing nud the most curious incij dent of this cause celebre is," writes a Paris i correspondent, " the discovery and seizure mash' by the police of all the cartes de visile of the hundreds of admirers of this modern Phryne, who ono and all had their photographs taken to embellish her museum of contemporary lovers. The unpleasantness of this affair is that the papers now freely publish the names of the suitors of this woman. These names, indeed, were read aloud before the Court, and this gives us a curious insight into the undercurrents of Parisian life. I cannot help noticing the diversity of ranks and stations, of tempers and opinions, of ages and education, that are here represented in this strange museum. Another thing which is well worthy of attention is that married men, landlords, and proprietors have contributed more than young men or bachelors to adorn with their photographs the residence of this unfortunate woman." The appearance of Mr Kelly, the second husband of the murdered woman, Madame Mertens, excited a great amount of curiosity, but there was little in his deposition to gratify it. He wus examined through an interpreter. His name was, he said, William Kelley ; that he was tho Williams referred to by the prisoner. He is a tall man, sdi years of age, with large whiskers, nearly white. On being asked his profession, he said he was a barrister, but had never practised. He had no particular place of abode, but had last lived afc Boulogne. He believed he was married to Madame Mertens on Feb. 2, 18C2, but was | not sure about the date. He believed that j he had left her, and not she him, shortly after the marriage. He had received anonymous letters on the wedding-day, telling him disagreeable thiugs about her. The consequence was that, after the wedding in Boulogne, his wife left for England, and he left for Paris. Ho never knew where his wife lived, and was only made avrare of her death by an accidental communication from a friend of what he had seen in the papers. Had no friend or acquaintance of tho name of Williams. The proprietor of a furnished lodging-house, in which Madame Mertens had once lived, said that a great many gen tletneu came to see her — so many that he gave her notice to quit ; but as to whether anybody of the name of Williams was amongst her visitors he could not say. He i^avo it as his opinion that five Englishmen out of ten are named Williams. The evidence reported on Monday has all one tendency, and the prisoner's theory becomes more and more improbable. One witness deposed that Madame Mertens was a cataleptic subject; and, as the prisoner practised mesmerism, the prosecution will seek to establish that she put her into a cataleptic state before strangling her. The improbability of her being strangled by a weak woman without resisting will be diminished by this theory. Melun, Aug. 14 Madame Frigard, charged with the murder of Madame Mertens, has been found guilty with extenuating circumstances, and sentenced to penal servitude for life.