The Sun.
London, England, 1829-08-13 00:00:00

quitted the city of Ratisbon .a second time, and. .
went to visit Riembauer, who was: then t Alif3,_
vicarage. She was never seen afteffaraslti_
Some time after Riembauer w4iippokot4,..'
the curacy of Priel ; he sold th
belonged to the family of Fravenkfeliht,Atudlie'
repaired to his new habitation, aceiifiiptorita by
the widow and her two daughters. • I irthe'c'Our4e'
of the following year Madelaine died stiaikiitv,-
and her mother expired in the same way.five days
afterwards.
Before these two deaths took place, Catherine,
the youngest daughter, had left the house, and
lived as a servant in different families. Rive
years elapsed, during which nothing transpired
touching the deaths of Ann Maria, of the wi-
dow, or Madelaine, her daughter. But there
existed a witness of the crimes of Riembauer,
and that witness was Catherine ! This young
girl, who was naturally of a very lively disposi-
tion, was sometimes attacked with fits of sombre
melancholy and convulsions, which could not be
accounted for. She exhibited symptoms of the
greatest tenor whenever she was obliged to sleep
alone. This state of uneasiness and melancholy
increased from day to day. At last she com-
municated to some of her confessors the fatal
secret, and she revealed to them that she had

SUPREME COURT OF JUSTICE FOR THE

KINGDOM OF BAVARIA.

THE GERMAN MINGRAT.
TRIAL OF A PRIEST CHARGED WITH HAVING ASSAS-

SINATED THREE WOMEN, %Mil THE PARTICULARS
OF THE JESUITICAL SYSTEM OF DEFENCE OF THE

ASSASSIN.
Germany has its Mingrat, in the person of
Riembauer, a priest, born in 1770, at Rauder-
stat, in Bavaria. He was the son of a poor la-
bourer, and spent the chief part of his infancy in
the humble occupation of a cow-boy. But at an
early age, evincing remarkable intelligence, and
an ardent desire for instruction, he expressed his

determination of devoting himself to the Eccles seen Riembauer, the priest, assassinate a young
siastical state. He had scarcely attained his woman. All the confessors directed her to keep
'
13th year, when he threw himself at the feet of the secret. One of them, however, with a view
of serving Catherine and Riembauer, wrote to
terms :
a Curate of his vinage, and begged of him the
the latter an anonymous letter in the following
coiv"erreiabe
instruction necessary for preparing him for the
Lyceum ; and he made so rapid a progress in his
studies, that, in the space of a year, he was able to. easuvm.tmihi.dpropositum, quern tantumn. iodic), to
qflu am, quatn.tu. e
Sisets, .de bet
alieni peTsensae. 3,00.0 orennorum (welter. .._i eonselenni
to undergo the usual examination, and he was
admitted into the Lyceum at Ratisbon. tua vigilat, solve hoc debitum. Nisi intra hebdomadal
At this place Riembauer, by his strict con- respondeas, horrenda palefaciet ista persona.
duct and his rapid advancement in the knowledge " HANNIBAL ANTE PORTAS.".
did he make any payment. At last Catherine
of the sciences, acquired the character of being Riembauer sent no answer to this epistle, nor
an extraordinary student, and it was universally did he make any payment. At last Catherine
believed that he would attain to a high station in denounced him before the Magistrates ; and the
the Church. He was perfectly acquainted with following are the facts which appear from her
the Canons and Ecclesiastical History. . He statement and from the indictment :
took particular pleasure in exercising his mind Ann Maria Eichlaetter was described by Ca-
with subtleties of logic. He read a great deal, therine as a very beautiful young woman, and
teeth. Catherine stated that Ann Maria came
and meditated upon the works of the Jesuits, particularly remarkable for having a fine set of
and his character became moulded according to
their moral casuistry. to the house of Riembatier for the purpose of
In 1795 he was ordained a priest, and per-
getting some pecuniary assistance from him. He
formed the duties of assistant-vicar in different made her walk into his room. Madelaiee, who
villages. In 1807 he underwent, with much was then twelve years old, being anxious to gra-
honour to himself, an examination for a curacy ; tify a curiosity not unnatural at her age, looked
in 1808 he was appointed curate of Priel ; and through the key-hole; she beheld the curate
in 1810 he was promoted to the curacy of Ran-
holding the young woman extended upon the
derstadt. ground, and pretending to embrace her. She
then saw him press her head against the floor,
inns_ and draw a razor across her throat. Terrified at
From the first period of exercising his func-
tions, Riembauer acquired the highest est
lion. He was a man of a remarkable figure, this sight, Madelaine ran and informed her mos
the following conversation between the assassin
and his victim :—" Repent of your sins—you
and of an interesting countenance, and there was ther and sister, who went to the door and heard
something very striking in his whole appearance;
must die; —S" Handel mach reue and leid du
he united grace and gravity ; he was clever, ego- and
sterben. ) Maria replied, in an agony of
quent, and insinuating. He was talked of as
the priest par excellence, and held up as a model
for all the curates of the environs. All his lei-
grief, " Fran9ois, don't take away my life !—surely
sure moments were devoted to reading and study.
kill me !—I will never again mile to
you would not
In the church his sermons were full of fire, and trouble you for money." At that moment the mo-
ther and sister of Catherine went away from the
room door, but the latter remained, and continued
tic style. When he was not in the church, he
breathed the purest love of virtue, and he de-
to look through the key-hole; she states that she
flounced the vices of the age in the most energe-
dined a little on one side, his eyes half closed who lay at full length upon the floor, and press-
was generally observed to walk with his head in_ saw Rehnbaner kneeling upon the young woman,
and fixed on the ground, with a smile on his
ing between his bloody hands the head and neck
mouth, and his hands joined. Riembauer even of Maria ; shortly after he left the room, and
entered the apartment where the mother, Made-
affected a kind of mysticism, and it would seem
that he aimed at canonization. He made the laine, and Catherine were sitting, and related to
people believe that he had intimate communica- them what In; had just been doing, remarking
had a child by him, that she tried to extort 400
dons with the heavenly spirits ; he said he had that the crime was an act of necessity, that Maria
received visits in his chamber from several of the
dead, who had come from purgatory to request francs from him, and that she had threatened to
him to say masses for them. In fine, the peo. inform against him. He then addressed to them
plc venerated him as a saint, and the person who the most humble supplications, and made the
to keep the secret. But Catherine's mother
succeeded him in his former curacy thought most flattering promises in order to induce them
himself sanctified in obtaining the place of so
holy a man.
seemed anxious to denounce him at the moment.
_ Riembauer, upon this, threatened to commit
wards, was accused of' the following crimes ; suicide,
and he even took a rope and went into
Such was the person who, a few years after
a neighbouring wood ; but the woman, frightened
curate of Hoskirchen, who lay in, about the
at his manner, followed him, and implored him
First, of having had a child by the cook of the
not to make away with himself, promising at the
same time to bury in oblivion what had passed.
year 1801, of a male child, which died shortly
afterwards ; secondly, of having had a child by
Ann Maria Eichlaetter, the servant of the en- It was found necessary to remove every trace
rate of Hernsheim, and of having assassinated of the ..crime which had been committed. This
her by cutting her throat with a razor ; thirdly, second Mingrat lifted the naked dead body of his
of having had children by a milliner, and ano- victim, and, carried it upon his shoulders to A
ther curate's servant maid ; fourthly, of having little private closet, the head hanging down, and
had a child by Madelaine Fravenkneiht, the staining the floor with blood. He then tried to
daughter of a farmer at Lauterbach—of having remove those marks of blood, first with cold
swindled her father of 5,000 francs, and of hay- water, and then with boiling water, brit he was
ing poisoned the daughter and her mother ; unable to destroy the stains altogether, He next
fifthly, of having had at different periods three made use of a plane, and shaved away a good
children by Ann Weninger, his last kitchen- deal of the floor ; but in a short time an ideas
maid ; sixthly, of having forged a certificate of tious smell spread over the house, and one of
deposit for a sum of 1,400 francs ; and, lastly, the _ workmen was very near discovering the
of having caused abortion of two women. The corpse. From that period Reimbauer - took
following are the details of the different crimes : greater precaution in concealing it, and kept the
When Riembauer was curate of Pirkvang, he door of the closet constantly locked.
introduced himself to the house of a farmer It was about two years after the perpetration
named Fravenkneiht, whose family were cele- of that crime that Madelaine and her mother
brated for the purity of their morals, their ceo- died, both of whom (according to Catherine's
nomy, and their constant application to the busi- account) were poisoned by Riembauer. - She
ness of the farm. The family consisted of the added that the mother and the daughter had fie-
' father, his wife, and two daughters, named Ma- quent quarrels with the curate (rernb t auer), and
delaine and Catherine. The former, who was that Madelaine had even expressed her determ•
the eldest, has been described by all who knew nation of quitting the house ; that both of their
her, and even by the accused himself, as a per- were seized with illness at the same time. Rictus
feet model of purity and virtue. Riembauer baur prevented a doctor, a surgeon, or a priest,
conceived the foul project of seducing her, and from being called in. He had, the medicine
appropriating to himself the fortune of the family. made up by a barber, and administered it himself
In order to effect his object, he- had recourse to to Madelaine, who expired almost the moment
the most exact attentions, and flattering speeches she had swallowed it; that her body, after death,
of the most . seducing description. His first became very. much-swelled, and was covered with
tiiembau
care was to do away with all apparent superiority spots, and the blood flowed from her mouth and
give any bne 2,000 flo-
and distinction of rank, and for that purpose he nose ; that the barber ascertained that Made-
assisted their family in their rustic toils, quoting laine was at that time in the family way,
) be-
upon the occasion the Decree of the Council of During the life-time of Madeleine, er
wo.did not keep the se-
withhssve some ridiculous Carthage, and citing the examples of St. Epis- told her that he would
ect. Madelaine ialibrmed
plume, and other Priests and Bishops of ancient tins who would undertake t k' Catherine,
times, who had all united the sacerdotal duties cause he foresaw that she
loieutealriatoglannya
icoredti,ceosr
titlpiaotuslitehewostu;sdpi.
pre-
short thteimleabloi
ou labourspurchased
cultivating vat(i‘nvgaitr
property of his own) the farm belonging to the her sister of his bad ' • intentions towards her, and
family for 10,000 francs, forged a receipt for put her on her guard. .
half that sum, and, with respect to the other ba Iticin •
uer had done everYthing in his power
5,000 francs, he had the tact (after the death of to bring Catherine over to hii'-in
serest, well
the father) to induce the widow to free him from knowing that she was the only li
--v'm witness of
g
all responsibility by the means of reciprocal en- the crime ; but she avoided 1-• .
sis entreaties with
gagements. He was not less successful in his a great deal of cleverness. On one occasion he
plan of seduction. Madelaine gave birth to a promised her a marriage portion of 8,000 flo-
child at Munich, and Riembauer even exacted I rills, provided
she iszesaned in the house with
from the mother a sum of 1,000 francs for the . him ; and, upon her refusal, lie observed, " Your
expellees of the lying-in of her daughter. , mother and your sister are dead—theywill
At the time of her accouchement Riembauer s ' le a •
apeagain—and I shall say they murdered
was staying at Munich for a short time, in osaler :_Maria.”
to pass an examination. He had not beeryiher '
e Upon the information of Catherine, Rim_
long when he received an unexpected letter from,
• .
est.
, bauer was taken into custody, and the iny iga-
Ann Maria Eichlaetter, his former paramour ' •
tam which followed confirmed all the circum-
who had just arrived from her native village,• - in I stances which had been revealed by the f un ortu-
order to claim some assistance from him. Not ' tna e survivor. The skeleton of the
dead body
being able to see him, she was obliged to write was found. The
mouth exhibited the fine set of
him a threatening letter on the subje-ct. Rim. teeth d describe C- 'l•e. in the same place
bauer immediately went to see her at Ratisbon, were discoveredl)y lerm
spots, of Blotil and the traces of
and was again treated as a lover, but he posh. ' the ' '
plane made use of Is- It'
y aembaner.
lively refused to give un his new intimacy with i P. l in 1 •
,zein saner, his afirst • • •
examination, replied
Madelaine, or to take Aim Maria into Ins ser- to the questions lint to him with •
considerable
Viceas kitchen maid. Shortly after the latter address I
; at mittin,r thuse facta which he could