The Sun.
London, England, 1847-06-17 00:00:00

CHARGE OF FELONY AGAINST

———
AN ALLEGED GERMAN BARONESS.
On Tuesday Frederika Asge, a handsome-looking and
fashionably attired native of Germany, was finally exa-
mined at Westminster Police Court, charged with steal-
ing ten sovereigns from the residence of Mr. James
Thomas Roberts, a short-hand writer.
The facts detailed by the w itnesses are briefly these:—
The prisoner had resided for the last three weeks at the
house of Mr. Robert's mother, in Water street, Black-
friars, and hence an intimacy arose between the prosecu-
trix and the prisoner, the latter of whom represented
herself to her as a German Baroness. The accused called
at Mrs. Roberts's residence, 15, Ircdywell-street, Mill-
bank, on Friday last, and during her stay had an oppor-
tunity of knowing that there was a considerable sum of
money in gold and silver in a cash box, and deposited in
a trunk ; and manifested considerable desire to know
the exact amount, besides which she examined the pro•
secutrix's bunch of keys, alleging as a reason for so
doing that she had lost her own and thought some of
Mrs. Roberts's keys might fit her locks. At about one
on the following day she repeated her visit, and so pressed
Mrs. Roberts, who at first declined, but ultimately re-
luctantly consented, to fetch her some ham, as she could
procure it so much better than the servant, that she
complied, and was absent about twenty minutes, during
which time the prisoner was alone in the apartment.
On Mrs. Roberts's return the prisoner declined to take
any of the ham, and invited Mrs. Roberts to take a drive
with her round the Regent's-park ; she went with her,
and returned home in two hoar& and a half, her apart
ments being during her absence left open, and there
being other residents in the house. At a little after
nine at night Mr. Roberts went to the cash-box, and
finding that the key would not turn in the lock, forced
' it, and discovered that ten sovereigns had been extracted.
In consequence of his wife communicating the above cir-
cumstances to him, and the landlady of the house stating
that she had distinctly heard the prisoner go towards
the place where the box was deposited, during Mrs. Ro-
berts's absence, the prosecutor suspected the prisoner,
and immediately repaired to her residence. He asked
her for the ten sovereigns, when she replied that she had
no ten sovereigns, but immediately placed her purse,
containing two sovereigns, upon the table, and taking a
gold chain and eye-glass and some jewellery from a
drawer, offered them to the prosecutor, and also re-
quested her landlady to lend her eight sovereigns, which,
with the two she had, would make 101. She at the
same time repeatedly declared that she had no other
money than that in her purse, but, upon a minute search,
six sovereigns were found between a table and a look-
ing glass, in which the latter was placed. These with
the two found in the purse, were all quite new, and in
this respect corresponded with the ten stolen from Mrs.
Roberts.

The prisoner's answer to the charge, through an in-
terpreter, was that she was perfectly innocent. She
accounted for the possession of the six sovereigns, by
stating that Frederick, the head waiter at the Royal
Hotel, Blackfriars, had lent her the money, as she was
about to start on a journey, and might require it.
She said she could have no necessity to steal, as she
could procure any sum of money she wanted at the
Royal Hotel. With respect to the ham, she observed
that Mrs. Roberts said she was fond of it, and went out
and fetched some.

A gentleman from the office of Messrs. Wire and
Child, who attended on the part of the accused, repre-
sented her to be most respectably connected ; put some
questions to Mrs. Roberts, with a view of showing that
at the time the prisoner offered the chain, jewels, and
money to Mr. Roberts, that she did not clearly under-
stand the nature of his visit, or of the observations made
to her. In reply, Mr. Roberts said that she did perfectly
understand him ; he spoke to her partly in German,
partly in English, his reason for which was that the offi-
cer, who was present, might understand what he said to
the prisoner. She at the time of offering the things said,
" Take them, only let me be till to-morrow." Mrs. Ro-
berts, in her cross-examination, agreed with her hus-
band that the prisoner could carry on a conversation in
tolerably good English, and added that she could read
an English book.
Mr. Broderip considered it his duty to commit the
prisoner to Newgate for trial.—She was committed
accordingly.
We understand that it will be proved on the trial that
she obtained the sovereigns in the manner statedl