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

The Recent Murder in Switzerland.

A correspondent of a contemporary writes :—Tbe 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 and d'Herens.
He slept at Zinal, and left in the morning of the 23d July,
intending to pass the Cola 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 Tori ent. 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 peut," 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 again 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 knapsack,
threatening at the same time to finish him, The guide im-
plored a few moments to make his peace with his Maker.
The brigand, touched with pity, bound up the guide's wound
and helped him back over the Col, offering him five francs,
" 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 chilet, where he became insensible. This was
at a considerable distance 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 unfortunate 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.
Subsequent inquiries prove that only two men were con-
cerned in this horrible murder, and these two are brothers
named Balet, inhabitants of a small village on the other side
of the Rhone. The elder was last year convicted of forgery ;
he escaped from prison, and,
accompanied by his brother,
fled to Algiers. They refrained 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 himself 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-
relied rifles. 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,
accompanied by the offi-
cials and a gentleman. from Hanover sent by the King to
attend the investigation.
The younger brother Balet was apprehended shortly after
the murder at his own home. The elder fled to the
Canton Berne, and was a few days since arrested at a vil-
lage called Gsteig, on the further side of the Sanetsh Pass.
The popular indignation 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
stand alone, and have been secured,
per-
petrators of the crime .
n there is but one
and among the population there . feeling of execra-
tion and of grief at the c
country.
mortally
and the trial 11 witake place in a
wounded, is recovering,
fortnight.
The guide, who was