The Sun.
London, England, 1834-09-16 00:00:00

THE MURDERER STEINBERG.

It is the opinion of a medical gentleman who examined
the bodies of the murderer and his victims immediately
after the discovery had been made, that Steinberg, after
he had cut the throats of the young woman and his
-four children, must have allowed a lapse of four hours,
at least to occur before he put the finishing stroke to
the horrible tragedy by cutting his own throat. It is also
very currently believed, that some stupifying drug had been
introduced into either the beer or the liquor which was sent
for by the murderer Steinberg, and of which the young wo-
man Lefevre partook. The following account of the motives
of the murderer Steinberg for his recent visit to Germany
with his victims, is from the statement of a near relative.
Mrs. Steinberg, his wife, who is a German, was possessed
of some property in her own right, which' was, however,
so situated that it reverted to her husband after her death.
It was with a view of gaining possession of this property by
a fraudulent account of his real wife's death that the jour-
ney was undertaken. The matter having reached the ears
of Mrs. Steinberg, measures were taken to frustrate his
designs, and a letter was accordingly written to Germany,
which reached its destination two days before the arrival of
the murderer with his family. Not being aware of the
letter, the murderer introduced the young woman Lefevre
to his sister and relatives as his lawful wife, and the children
as his family by her, asserting that his former wife had
been dead some years. Having taken certain steps with a
view of getting the property in question, the friends of Mrs.
Steinberg were enabled to defeat them in consequence of
the information which had been so opportunely conveyed
through the letter.

A PARALLEL CASE TO THE HORRIBLE
MURDER AT PENTONVILLE,
OF A FAMILY DESTROYED BY THEIR FATHER.

In the city of Hamburg, in 1803 there lived a candidate
for Holy Orders (as they call an unordained clergyman in
Protestant Germany), of the name of Riesau. He was a
man much respected for the general good tenor of his con-
duct, and kept an academy for the education of youth, in
the Groningen-street, near the Senate House and Exchange,
the most central and respectable part of the city of Ham-
burg. His family consisted of his wife and six or seven
children, all daughters, the eldest of whom, at the period
above stated, was betrothed to a young man holding a si.
tuation in a public office. Amongst the pupils of the Rev.
Mr. Riesau there were a few boarders, who, of course,
slept in the house ; and it was his laudable custom to
exhort them all to goodness and virtue on their retiring
to bed. On a Sunday evening. the night of the horrible
tragedy in question, Mr.. Riesau had some serious conver-

sation with his wife, on the sad probability of some of their
numerous family—being all girls—deviating from the path
of virtue, and suffering the horrors of a career of infamY and
vice. " Sooner would I behold them die before my very_
eyes," exclaimed the agitated father. His wife endeavoured
to calm his ruffled feelings, and they retired to repose.
About midnight Riesau got out of bed, struck a light, and
taking his razors from the case, proceeded deliberately to
commence the horrid work of death. Going into the cham-
ber where slept two of his youngest children, he cut their_
throats in their sleep, without awakening or injuring two of
He
ut au
then
his little pupils, who slept in the same apartment.
entered his wife's room, and with incredible celerity p
end to her existence, and two more of his daughters, in the
same horrible manner. His eldest girl, who was shortly to
have been married, slept up stairs with two of her sisters ;
thither the wretched man now proceeded, his hands im-
brued in the blood of those he loved so dearly, and in a
few
..4. • the
moments the two younger girls had ceased to exist t t
eldest girl, however, happened to awake at the very morneil,
her father was approaching her ; she sprang out of b 0
fell on her knees, implored him to spare her lifer
urging, that being on the eve of marriage she was, at
all events,
sure o a protector and a home ;
ill-fated man refused to listen to her plea ; and aftecrt
inflicting on her several dreadful gashes, succeed e
-n spite
ultimately in effecting his horrid purpose, i after
her resistance. About one o'clock in the morning,
washing his blood-stained hands, Riesau left morning
house,
locked the door, and, proceeding to the borders of the rirl
but the
Elbe, he deliberately walked into the water, probablY
eve T ?
ow
the intent to drown himself. The water was, howr
very low, and when about up to his middle,
he took a p
knife from his pocket and inflicted an incision, though byas
no'
means dangerous, on his throat. In this situation he vi
discovered, and taken out of the water by a watchman_;
being conveyed to the watch-house, he was soon recognized,
but refused to be taken home. In' the early part of the
morning the horrible deed came to light. At first, Riesa
an
denied all knowledge thereof, but ultimately confessed,
ti n'
related all the particulars. He was soon after Put be
his h • trial, and sentenced by the Hamburg Senate ta ra
broken on, or rather by, the wheel, from head to foot „.‘ll 8
German, von oben nach unten, as more lenient than ll_
contrary, as the first stroke of the wheel breaks
bone and causes instant death.)
The house where the above horrible crime was Pe3rllo,
Crated remained empty, as an accursed abode, from 18° i
1814, when a Jew, of the name of Sachse, on condition a
getting it nearly rent free, opened it in the tobacco busiar-g*_.
the bras
and the prejudice having died away, did very good bole%
This case is parallel to that of Steinberg, of Peutevld in
inhi every point except that the Hamburg murderer fadlfold.
2 attempt at suicide, and expiated his life upon the oc—