The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-25 00:00:00

CRIME IN FRANCE.

The Court of Assizes of the Moselle has just
been occupied three days in trying a woman named
Barbier for murder, and a zouave named Closset
for complicity before the crime. On the 25th July
last the dead body of the woman's husband was
found in a field near Einschwiller, and as his head
was beaten about in the most frightful manner, and
as he had wounds in different parts of his person,
it was evident he had been murdered. It being
known that his wife had not only long maintained
a criminal connection with Closset, but had borne
animosity to her husband, she was suspected of the
crime. There being no marks of any struggle hav-
ing taken place in the corn field, it was thought pro-
bable that the man had been murdered somewhere else
and that his body had then been conveyed there. On
going to his house a quantity of blood was found in his
barn, and numerous agricultural implements in it
were stained with blood. One of the woman's
neighbours also stated that two afternoons before
she had seen the man return home in a state of
intoxication, and go to his barn to sleep ; also, that
a few minutes after she had heard the woman cry-
ing out to her husband, apparently in anger.
Another neighbour stated that on the same after-
noon a little boy had told him that in passing
Barbier's barn he had heard a noise of people fight-
ing and killing each ether, but that he (the neigh-
bour) had not troubled himselflo go and see what
was the matter. As no one else, except the woman,
had been in the barn at the time, it was considered
certain that she was the murderess. With regard
to the zouave, it appeared that, not content with
carrying on a criminal connection with the woman,
he had repeatedly insulted and menaced the man;
also, that one day in June last, after abusing him
in gross terms, he had knocked him down, and
beaten him in a savage manner about the head with
a stone. For this assault he was condemned to
eight months' imprisonment by the Tribunal- of
Correctional Police of Sarreguemines, and he was
undergoing that punishment when the murder was
committed. But both before and after his con-
demnation, he made use of language which left no
doubt on the minds of his hearers that he and
the woman had planned the murder of the man.
He often said, " It is certain that Barbier will die
either by my hands or those of his wife 1" " Bar-
bier will soon have to be carried to the cemetery,
and it is I who will send him there !" and so on.
Moreover, it was ascertained that he had more
than once strongly recommended the woman to
murder her husbcud, and in order to accomplish
the crime with ease, to make him drunk with
spirits ; likewise that he had repeatedly exhorted
her not to, be wanting in courage at the critical
moment. In addition, it appeared that when the
man was carried of to prison tfie woman was heard
to promise him solemnly that before his release her
husband should be dead. The jury declared the
woman guilty with extenuating circumstances, and
the court condemned her to hard labour for life.
As to the zouave, he was acquitted ; but in order
that he' might not escape the punishment which he
appeared to deserve, the public prosecutor had him
tried for having some time ago brutally assaulted
his own father, whereby he had been guilty of
cutting and wounding. On that charge the jury
convicted him, and he was condemned to six years'
hard labour. Just before the judgment was pro-
nounced, the woman confessed that it was she who
had murdered her husband, and that she had
perpetrated the crime with a log of wood which
she had afterwards burned. She also confessed
that she and her eldest daughter conveyed the body
to the field in which it was found.
As some workmen were at an early hour in the
morning of the 19th Oct. last going to work at
Craon (IVlayenne), they found the dead body of a
man still warm, lying in the middle of the road,
with a gunshot wound in the breast. He was
recognised as one Podenier, a stableman, employed
in the town; and on investigation these facts were
ascertained :—He and one Robert had on the
previous night at a late hour been drinking at a
public-house, kept by a man named Charlery. A
quarrel arose between him and Robert, and they
exchanged blows; Charlcry having interfered,
Podenier had a struggle with him also. Whilst
the conflict between the last two was going on,
Robert went out, and presently after Podenier,
having been expelled from the house by the land-
lord, came up and attacked Robert. The latter,
however, ran away, and after he had gone some
distance, he heard the report of a gun. It turned
out that it was Charlery who had fired it, and had
killed Podenier. But, when questioned by the
authorities, he said that the man had attempted to
force his way into the house, and had actually
broken in the upper part of his door ; and that, in
consequence, the shot was fired in self-defence.
As, however, it appeared that at the moment at
which Podenier was shot, he was in the road at
some distance from the house, the landlord was
taken into custody. Two days back he was
brought to trial for manslaughter before the Court
of Assizes of the Mayenne. But he protested that
he had pulled the trigger of his gun without taking
aim, and at the moment he did *so he had enter-
tained the apprehension that the man was about to
renew his attempt to break into the house. The
jury, believing his statement, and finding that he
had alway borne a good character, acquitted him.
The Court of Assizes of the Ille-et-Vilaine three

days ago tried a farmer, named Poulard, of La
Pongerais, and his son, Jean Baptiste, for murder.
An account of the crime alleged to have been
committed by them has already been given in the
Messenger. At the latter end of September last a
young man, named Deniel, who had been in the
service of the elder prisoner, disappeared, and on
the 11th Oct. his dead body, with the head sepa-
rated from the trunk, was found in a field at a
short distance from Poulard's house. As the de-
ceased was known to have had an intimate con-
nection with Poulard's daughter, by -which she
had become enceinte, and to have refused to marry
her, and as that man and his son bore to
him in consequence, they were suspected of having
perpetrated the crime, and they were arrested. The
son at once confessed that they had committed the
murder. After the indictment had been read, thi
young man was interrogated as follows :—" You are
accused of having caused the death of Deniel—do
you admit your guilt ?" " Yes, I assisted my father
in killing him." " State how the thing passed."
" On the 15th Sept. we learned positively, what we
had long suspected, that my sister was enceinte by
the deceased, and my father abused her a good
deal. In the night of the 16th, when Deniel and
myself were in bed together, my father came into
the room, and making Deniel get up, asked, ' Why
have you deceived my daughter ?' Deniel made
some reply, when my father seized him, and a very
violent struggle took place between them. My
father called to me to help him. I did so. We
dragged him into another room, and then my
father grasped him by the throat and strangled
him !" " Was any one else in your room ?" " Yes,
my brother Jules, 14 years of age. And in the next
room to ours were my mother and sister and our
servant." " Did Deniel cry out ?" " Yes, when my
father first seized him, he cried Help, my friends,
I am dying !' and he twice repeated the same
cry when he was dragged into the next room !"
" Did you see your mother, your sister, and the
servant ?" "No ; there was no light, but they
were there !" " Did Deniel make much resist-
ance ?" • " Yes, he struggled a good deal !"
" Did you hold him down when he was dragged
from his own room ?" " Yes, I held him by the
shoulders." " And what did your father do ?"
" He grasped him by the throat with both his
hands." " How long did that scene last ?"
" I should say about ten minutes." "Did your
father say anything during the struggle ?" " Yes,
but I do not recollect what." " What did you
do with the dead body ?" "We took it to a
heap of manure outside." " How did you convey '
it there ?" " I held it by the shoulders and my
father by the feet." " What did you do after-
wards 9' "We made a hole about two feet
deep, and buried the body. We then went to
bed, but did not sleep much." " And the next
day, what did you do?" " I attended to the oxen
as usual, and my father unloaded a cart of wheat."
" Did the other labourers ask what had become of
Deniel ?" " Yes, they asked—and we answered
that he had no doubt gone to work on the railway."
" How long did the body remain in the manure ?'
" Three or four days, but as a bad stench arose
from it, my father resolved to remove it. Accord-
ingly, in the middle of the night we got up, and
carried it to the field." "Had the deceased a nightcap
on ?" " I did not notice ; but we fetched his hat
from the house, and placed it by his side." Did you
not also put a knife near the body ?" " Yes, to make
it appear that h e had committed suicide." The
witness afterwards deposed that becoming alarm],
some days after, at the inquiries which everybody,
and especially his parents, made about Deniel, the
father told witness s brother Jules to go to the
field, to find the body, and to come back in appa-
rent terror. They all pretended to feel profound
sorrow when the dead body was discovered. The
witness added that his sister had misconducted her-
self with other men before becoming acquainted
with Deniel. In answer to all this the father could
say nothing more than that his son bore to
him, and had told falsehoods. The jury declared
both guilty, but with extenuating circumstances,
and the court condemned the father to 20, and the
son to 10 years' hard labour. The court, moreover,
condemned them jointly to pay 100 f. a year to
Deniel's father,— Golignani.