The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-18 00:00:00

The Recent Murder in Switzerland.

A correspondent of a contemporary writes :—The recent
assassination of M. Quensel, of Hanover, while travelling
in Switzerland, has excited such general horror and con-
sternation, and so many vague accounts are in circulation
tending to cause groundless alarm, that I believe a simple
statement of facts may be acceptable to your readers. On
arriving at Sion a few days since I found information had
been just received of the arrest of Bartholomew Balet, the
murderer. His brother had been for some days previously
in custody, and there appears to be no room to doubt that
these two men only were concerned in the atrocity. The
traveller had started from Sierre, intending to walk
through the beautiful Vals d'Anniviers end d'Herens.
He slept at Zinal, and left in the morning of the 23d July,
intending to pass the Cols Sorrebois and Torrent to this
place. He was accompanied by a guide, the brother-in-law
of the " aubergiste" at Zinal. About midday he reached the
summit of the Col du Torrent. Here the guide called his
attention to a small wall of stones very recently erected on
the summit. A powder flask and bullets were also seen on
the path. The traveller descended the Col shortly in ad-
vance of the guide. When about ten paces from the summit
a shot was fired, and a ball passed through the guide's
shoulder and broke the arm of the traveller. The latter
exclaimed " Sauve qui pent," and commenced running; at
the same moment a second shot brought the guide to the
ground. The traveller probably followed the zigzag path,
while the assassin ran down a direct course, and he must
have fired aga n almost close to his victim, as the clothes
bore marks of the powder. The bullet passed through the
heart, and death must have been instantaneous. The assas-
sin returned to the guide, from whom he took the knapssck,
threatening at the same time to finish him. The guide im-
plored a few moments to make his peace with his Maker.
fhe brigand, touched with pity, bound up the guide's wound
and helped him back over the Col, offering him five francs,
l 4 Nous sommes cinq," and adding that if his companions
knew of his sparing him they would kill him also. This
statement created the belief that an associated body of bri-
gands existed in these parts. The guide, faint and ex-
hausted, remained on the mountain side until his groans
brought some shepherds to his help. They carried him to
the nearest chalet, where he became insensible. This was
at a considerable dietance from Grementz, the nearest vil-
lage in the Val d'Anniviees, and it was not until the follow-
ing morning that a party of villagers was able to ascend the
mountain. They found the body of M. Quensel on the path,
despoiled of everything of value except a ring. It was ne-
cessary to communicate with the authorities of the place be-
fore the peasants dared to remove the body. This was done,
and the remains of the untortunate man were subsequently
brought here and interred in the village churchyard, where
they now rest, the grave being carefully tended and dressed
with mountain flowers.

SubsF quent inquiries prove that only two men were
he escaped from prison, and,
con-
cerned in this horrible murder, and these two are brothers
named Baler, inhabitants of a rnall village on the other side
accompanied by his brother,
of the Rhone. Tin. elder was last year convicted of forgPry ;
fled to Algiers. They remained there till the spring of this
year, when they returned; but the elder brother, to avoid
arrest, appears to have led a wild life, secreting ninesell in
the mountains in the neighbourhood of his home. It is sup-
posed that the younger brother gained information at Sierre
of the intended course of M. Quesnel, and thus the plan
formed. Four shots were fired ' • both men had double-bar-
relled rifl. s. These have been subsequently found, and one
of them, peculiarly marked is recognised by the guide.
The knapsack and alpenstocks have also been found,
concealed in an outbuilding belonging to the family of the
brigands. Within an hour or two of the murder two men
were seen by the shepherds hastening by another col, the
Pas de Lonaf from the scene of the murder towards the
Rhone. I have received this intelligence from the Presi-
dent of the Tribunal of Sion, who yesterday revisited the
scene of this horrible catastrophe,
Canton Berne, accompanied by the offi-
cials and a gentleman from Hanover sent by the King to
attend the investigation.
The
younger brother Billet was apprehended shortly after
the murder at his own home. The elder fled to the
and was a few days since arrested at a vil-
lage called Gsteig, on the farther side of the Sanetsh Pass.
The popular indignat, on is so great that precaution has
been deemed necessary to prevent the execution of summary
justice on the prisoner's arrival at Sion, while chains of
more than ordinary strength have been prepared to prevent
a second escape of the convict. These are, I believe, cor-
rect details of an occurrence which has occasioned a deep
sensation throughout Switzerland. It must naturally affect
the confidence hitherto reposed in the Swiss; but I do not
think there is reason for continued apprehension. The per-
petrators of the crime stand alone, and have been secured,
and among the population there is but one feeling of execra-
tion and of grief at the crime which has disgraced their

country.
The guide, who was supposed to have been mortally
for
utnnidgehdt'. is recovering, and the trial will take place in a