The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-04 00:00:00

HOMICIDE BY AN OFFICER.

Th2Military Tribunal of Paris on Tuesday tricd
Lieutenant Fleury, of the 4th Regiment of N.O-1,;
•
geurs of Oa Guard, aged 28, on a charge of having
murdered, on the 18th August last, a
woman named Petit, a cleer-starcher, ho had ai
shop in the Passage de Cherbourg. The facts of
the case, as ascertained from the prisoner's confes-
sion and the evidence of numerous witnesses, may
be briefly stated as follows ;—On the 10th April
the prisoner, when passing through the Passage de
Cherbourg, saw the woman Petit fur the first time‘
and at once conceived a strong passion for her. Re
returned in the evening with the intention of ob-
taining an interview. In this he succeeded, an

was chagrined to learn that she was married and
had a husband living, who was a painter by trade.
This discovery, however, did nut deter him, for he

saw her again on the following day, and she then.
consented to visit him at his own lodgings. She
kept her word, and remained with him alone for

several hours. A day or two later the prisoner went
to the woman's shop, under the pretext of having
linen to wash, and was introduced to her husband.
From that time he spent all his leisure hours at the
shop, often going in full uniform, and sometimes
stayed all night, sleeping on a bed made up on
purpose for him in the same room where the wife
and her husband slept. This continued for two
months, when the woman persuaded him to leave
his lodging in the Rue de Vienne, and to partially
furnish an apartment which he had hired in the Rue
St. Nicolas, and nom which they
afterwards
rre-
moved to the Rue Laborde. Hero they led a very
gay life, frequently giving parties which were
attended by the prisoner's friends, accompanied by
theb
y
twhoemiramnisptreetstsc.ese.xcitOed the prisoner's On some of ibex©n er,s occasions
jealousy
her conduct towards the male visitors. This
was especially the case on the 9th August,
when a lieutenant named Giuganti and his
mistress was present. Tne prisoner was so much
I offended on this occasion that he even threatened,
to cease all connection with her, and even wrote
to his father for money to enable him to settle
his accounts with her. Unfortunately the money
was refused, and the prisoner's resolve to break with
his mistress was not carried into execution. On the
contrary, his infatuation became greater than ever,
And the woman irritated him more and more by
saving rendezvous the object of which she refused
to explain. On the morning of the 18th she pro-
mised to be at home when he came, but was absent,
and he then learned from one of her washwotnen
that she was out with a gentleman. A few minutes

later he saw her alight from a hackney coach at the
end of the passage, and he received her with re-
proaches, which she answered in the most offensive,
manner. She even told her workwomen that if
Bebe (such was the nickname given to the prisoner
at the shop) were ever troublesome they must smack
his face and turn him out. Peace, however, was
restored by the arrival of a stranger, and the pri-
soner afterwards asked pardon for the language he
bad used, and said that he would come and take her
out for a walk in the evening. She replied that she
would not go with him, as she had an engagement
which she intended to keep, but would not say wiLh
whom. The prisoner then exclaimed—" I will take
care to prevent your going." He soon afterwards
withdrew, but returned just before eight in the
evening. After his arrival, the four women Who
were ironing in the shop fancied they smelt gun-
powder, and one of them went out to see if any boys
were letting off crackers in the street. The prisoner
appeared to take no notice of what had been said.
About 9 o'clock the woman Petit seeing Lieutenant
Giuganti passing before the shop, called him and
said, " How proud you are, wont you COlllO in and
kiss me ?" Giuganti did as she wished, and after-
wards asked her to go with him and the prisoner
to the latter's lodgings, which she refused, saying
that she had an engagement elsewhere. About ten
the woman Petit sent one of her women after a man
who had just passed the door. Ia a minute the mes.
senger returned and said that the gentleman was
waiting for her mistress in the Rue d'Anjou. The
t exclaimed
ina buted
stunned
latter was going out at the back door, when the pri-
soner seised her by tne hand to detain her.
uere isatab sbeead h eely
r
th
uttered these words when
She re-
fused to stop, and he then discharged a pistol at her
et
pt
o trison :le street, gave
' nd rc.
aoethd'. ‘e. lhy e s her,arli.rg The ball
sight
and,
i going.leaning
and, d on a table,
she i
d not penetrate he skulle
S rushing ou
himself up into the custody of a serpent de Ville.
Giugauti, who was present When the pistol was
fired, seemed to have lost his
Wits, for instead of
arresting the murderer he ran
away as fast as he
established
could. All these fact,
were fully
the evidence given in cottheby
time. A
urt, and the only doubtful
points were whether the
murder was premeditated,
and whether the prisoner
on the father's and mother's side, were subject to in-
sanity.great many Witnesses
was insane
His
deposed that his family, both
and he has
two
grandmothers had died raving mad,
aeih
who
at the present moment in a luna-
tic asylum o fancies that she is the spouse of
Jesus Christ,
and has been told so by an angel. The
medical witnesses who gave evidence respecting the
prisoner's sanity all agreed that, whatever he might
have been at the moment of the crime, he has net
been mad since. The prisoner's counsel (M. Lan-
chand) endeavoured to show that the disease here-
ditary in his client's family might reasonably be
supposed to have been the cause of the crime, The
Tribanai, however, did not consider such to be the
case, for it declared the prisoner guilty of wilful
murder, and unanimously condemned him to 2°
years' hard labour, military degradation, and to be
under the surveillance of the police for life.—

rnant.

Bank of England Return,•--Yesterday.

An Account, pursuant tso the Act_7l,,.t-Vflady,stthheY2iccitodriaay,
cap. 32, for the week ending on Nve
7nre. nt Debt X11,015.1C0
of Dec., 1863:
Notes Waned .........287,u01184,D39E)PAJG:ves:
Other necurlties .. 3.634
(.400
Silver Bullion
Bullion 12,434340
silver Bullion .... : •

427,081,390

,spArrmENT.
Government Se9-a-
rities (including
DeadWeightAn-
nutty) £10,710,330
Other Securities . • 21.173,559
Notes
Gold and ;Silver 611,1455
Can ...........

C. 38,559,7
.ARSHALL, Chief Cashier.n