The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-09-07 00:00:00

ircase and

calm and impassib
le had done.

saw him. He applied
insulting epithets to her, and rushed on her
to stab her with a poignard, but was prevented.
A commissary of police arrived, and he calmly
gave him the poignard, observing, " If the thing
were to be done again, I could do it." He was
taken to glol. Meanwhile, it was ascertained that
the girl had been stabbed in eight places, and she
died in the course of a very short time. It was
proved that he had exhausted all his resources
with the girl, and had frequently declared that she
should die by his hand. He was, it appeared,
jealous of her. In his defence he alleged that the
murder was not premeditated, but that he had
done it in a moment of passion, on the girl re-
fusing to restore two pieces of 20f. which he had
confided to her, and telling him in a taunting tone
when he had questioned her about a man whom
he suspected to be his rival, that he might leave
her at once if he pleased. The jury brought in a
verdict of guilty, and he was condemned to death.
The prisoner heard the sentence without the slightest
emotion, but when he returned to gaol and was put
in irons, he gave way to profound despair. After a
while, however, he became calmer, and received
the visit of the chaplain. He listened with great
attention to his exhortations, and said that as he
bad nothing to hope for from man, he would en-
deavour to make his peace with God.
A young sailor, named Fredez, was, a few days
since, brought to trial before the Court of Assizes-
of Toulon, on the charge of having attempted to
poison all the crew of the vessel to which he be-
longed. At the latter end of last year he took ser-
vice en board the brig Aglae-Delphine, at Nantes,
and proceeded to Cannes. He had not been long
on board before he proved himself of a violent and
quarrelsome disposition, and he -treated the cabin
boy with gross brutality. The captain interfered
for the protection of the boy, and the accused de-
clared that if he (the captain) punished him he
would kill him. A few days later he again beat the
boy, and when the mate interfered he shook his fist
in his face, and threatened to kill him. The captain
for this laid a complaint before the commissary of
police of Cannes, and that functionary caused him
to be sent to gaol for forty-eight hours. On his
return, on the Ist of December, to the vessel he was'
very violent, and refused to work or eat. He sub-
sequently went on shore, and when he wanted to
return was greatly irritated at not finding the boat
waiting for him. After he got onboard he was ob-
served to go twice to the galley, and on each occa-
sion to drop something into the pot in which the
captain's soup was boiling. A little after' he went
to dinner with the men, hut, hearing- the cook re-
mark that he had mixed some of the captain's soup
with that prepared for the men„ be declined to par-
take of any. After dinner all the men, eight in
number, were seized with violent pains in the
bowels, and with vomitings. Medical assistance
was procured, and it was at once seen that they
were poisoned. Remedies were applied, and, after
awhile, the poison was thrown off the stomachs.
Suspicion at once fell on the prisoner, and, on in-
quiring, it turned out that two days- before he had,
on the pretence of killing rats, purchased an ounce
of arsenic, all of which had disappeared. Although
the lives of the sailors, as also that of the captain,
were saved from the excessive quantity of poison
administered, which caused copious vomiting, and
thus procured the action of the remedies, medical
men declared to the court that they will always feel
the effect of the poison. One of the witnesses said
that there was sufficient arsenic in the soup to have
killed at least sixty men. The jury declared the
accused guilty, but with extenuating circumstances,.
and the court condemned him to imprisonment
with hard labour for life.

terrifie

In the last sitting of the Court-of Assizes of the
Haute-Vienne, a man named Leger, and his wife
Marie, residing at the village of Labrousse, were
tried for the murder of the father of the latter. It
was proved in evidence that Leger, on his marriage,
had gone to live with the parents of Marie, a
respectable couple named Moreau ; and that after
awhile he got wearied at the idea of having to main-
tain them. This made him entertain a violent hatred
of them, and his wife shared his sentiments. He
frequently beat the aged pair with great brutality,
and his wife seldom hesitated to assist him in doing
so. To his neighbours he often said, " I wish they
were dead. I wish I could make them swallow a
large dose of arsenic. I would willingly give two
casks of wine to have them buried t" He and his
wife at length deprived the aged couple of sufficient
food, and the woman several times allowed the
bread to get mouldy sooner than give it to them.
On the 26th. of June last the old man earnestly
begged of his daughter to give him a bit of bread,
but she peremptorily refused. Being very hungry„
he, with the knowledge of his wife, took a goat to
a neighbouring village and sold it. Before he re-..
turned the female prisoner missed the goat, and
angrily asked the mother what had become of it..
The mother returned some vague reply, whereupon
she cried, with a foul oath, " You have taken it,
you old wretch, and I will kill you t" The male
prisoner, who came in at the time, on hearing of,the
circumstance, flew into a terrible passion, and
kicked the old woman in a most savage way. The
poor creature went to meet her husband, and pre-
wilted him from returning home. They proceeded
to a village at a little distance, and passed the night
in the house of a friend. In the evening of the next
day they returned home, and found the two prison-
ers waiting for them. The prisoners allowed them
to return to a barn in which they were accustomed
to sleep. Some time after the woman was seen look-
ing out as if to ascertain that no one was near. She
and her husband then went into the barn and de-
manded the money paid for the goat, which was 81.
50e. The old man refused to give it. The woman.
thereupon rushed on him, and struck and kicked
him with great fury ; and the male prisoner also
began to illtreat him. The old man rose and ran out
of the barn. He was followed by the couple, who
renewed their brutality. Meanwhile the old woman
gave an alarm to the neighbours, and when they ar-
rived they found the old man lying on the ground,
with the male prisoner stamping on and kicking him,
and crying, "You old scoundrel, I'll kill you ; give
me the money." To which the old man faintly
answered, " Pardon, pardon." On seeing the neigh-

hours approach, the female said, " Leave him now,
or you will kill him !" But the man continued his
brutality. The neighbours at length rescued the
victim ; he was in a dreadful state. He was con-
veyed to the hospital at Rochechouart, but, though
every attention was paid him, he died in three days.
Leger and his wife were arrested. The former said,

in his defence, that it was his wife who had excited
him to illtreat the old man ; the latter accused her
husband. The jury declared Ledger guilty of having
caused death without having intended to commit
murder ; and his wife guilty of having been his ac-
complice. The Court sentenced the man to 20, and
the woman to 10, years' imprisonment, with hard

labour