The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-22 00:00:00

CRIME IN FRANCE.

A somewhat singular case of murder occupied
the Court of Assizes of the Loire-Inferieure three
clays ago. On the 16th Jan. the dead body of a
man, named Pelmet, was found near a garden in
the village of La Helberderie, with seven wounds
in the head, evidently caused by blows from a
hatchet, one of the wounds being so deep that the
brain protruded. He had evidently been murdered
overnight, and must have been struck by some per-
son lying in wait for him. His pockets were rifled,
but the house in which he lived alone was not
entered, probably from the door key which he ear-
ried in his hand having when he was struck fallen
to the ground and not been seen by the assassin,
and from the latter having been afraid to break
into the house. Doucet had been passing the pre-
vious evening with one of his neighbours named
Gicquiau, and as this man was the only one in the
village who refused to go to see the corpse he was.
suspected. It was ascertained that he had left his
house on the preceding evening about the same time
as Doucet, but had forbidden his son, a boy of thir-
teen, to say that he had done so ; and on his house
being searched a hatchet and a pair of trousers
stained with blood were found. These circumstances
seemed strong proofs of guilt and he was arrested.
He, however, protested that he was innocent, and
said that the blood on his hatchet and trousers had
been caused by his having accidentally cut himself.
It was afterwards discovered that a man named
Lucas, a bad character of the village, had been Absent
from home on the evening of the murder, and Aould
not or would not say where he had been. He Also
was arrested, but he likewise denied any participa-
tion in the crime. The son-in-law of the victim, one
Burdan, having expressed himself in a strange war
about the crime, was also taken into custody. Her
after some little hesitation, confessed that he was the
assassin, and that the other two men had nothing
whatever to do with the crime. They were accord-
ingly discharged. Burdan gave a minute descrip-
tion of the manner in which he had perpetrated the
deed, and said that his principal motive for it was
to come into possession of Doucet's property, which.
he was in danger of losing by that person, who was
a widower, having formed the project of marrying
again • he had, he said, another motive, which was
that he entertained bitter animosity to his father-
in-law, in consequence of his having opposed his.
marriage with his daughter, and having constantly
reproached him for being idle and dissolute. To the
Court, Burdan with great coolness related all the
circumstances of the murder ; but he created some
sensation by saying that, on going homewards, he
told his wife what he had done, and that at his re-
quest she had joined him in praying God for par-
don. Against this assertion the woman most ener-
getically protested ; she loved her father, ohs
declared, better than her husband, and could,
therefore, never have that thought of murdering
the former. "Ah ! my dear Marie !" cried the
prisoner, "do not abandon me ! You know not
only that I told you of the deed, but that we
planned it !" " No, my dear Julien," said the
woman, " I will not abandon you! But I cannot
allow myself to be accused falsely—and I say that
there is not a word of truth in what you say !"
" Ah ! you will not admit it now, and that is the
return you make for all my kindness to you " I
do not admit what you say, because it is not
true !" "Do you not remembor that one day
before the crime you told me to shoot your
father ?" " Wretched man that you are ! How
can you make such an odious accusation !" In
I presence of the energetic denials of the woman, the
prisoner hung down his head and said nothing,
and the Court intimated that his denunciation of
his wife could not be believed. The jury then de-
clared him guilty, but with extenuating circum-
stances, and the Court sentenced him to hard labour
for life.
amedatßd,
A desperate liberated convict n
who had been living under surveillance Vernonr
of rc eu, in the
to his native commune
(Eure), lately disappeared from that place, and. re-
turnedmpt at robbery. A female
reappearance by_ an attempt Somme, where he three noigtahrts
and
do mayor
risoedf
thhi
es
servant of M. a notary
house
alarmed
commune, was aloannedi no
nt
opening
en in g itwhenwas she
askheeda heard aa
knock at the door,
man whether her master was at home, as he wished
business.the vsTi
tho The gaitrtle being
te close
btoys
the door against him, when she received several
thepe a kaptop
ehai rn no cne
violent blows on the head, 'which laid her almost
senseless on the ground. She was, however, able to
shriek for assistance, and two men running to the
spot seized the fellow and dragged him off to a wine-
shop, where he was recognised as being
coolly said that he had only acted in. hislt ofrugairtdi
in. H
legitimate
defence by striking the girl, who had pushed him
away with violence, an his captors were silly
enough t o release him, and he went away, promising
to return. It is supposed that he had seen M. D
and his wife leave the house, and thought he might
readily pillage the place, but was defeated by the
firmness of the girl, who, although the blows she
received were severe, is not in any danger. The
police are on the search for Renard.

INDIAN TELEGRAMS.—There are telegrams in
Liverpool of the 28th of February and March the let from
Calcutta, and it is also said that some parties have them as
late as the 10th of March, but this is doubted, barring the
telegram to Lloyd's of the conflagration of the Redgauntlet.
It is said that in London some persons have telegrams even
later than the 10th of March. The latest reliable telegram
%AA the Ist vigarcht