Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1829-08-24
from 4 London paper cfthe sofh jane ]
MIyPDER IN FRANC T..

der which according to the Indictment, pre-
sen,ed the following extraordinary circu mstan>
ces.
A pork butcher named Bel)an, living IN the
rue S, JACQUES, had wife who brought him
dowry of TWO thousand francs, win assured e4-
peutalions Of property to the value OF Ten ,noo-
sand francs a, the death OF her father lhis
woman was not only unable TO read o. write,
but possessed so little capacity, that sue WAS
only one remove from an idiot. Beiian treateu
her i'll, and inspired her with such a dreaa iha'
she dust no, complain Of bis Ill treatment
On the 2Sth Of June NJ and Mad Behan
living at tina, period in the rue des Reeohec'S!
she went, according to her custom, 70 take
walk in The evening on he banks OF 'hs cana'
ST. Martin, which was near her house. She
was Joined by her hus'.ud. and they went 10
wine snop and supped together. After supper
they were proceeding along The bank oil canal,
when on a sudden Madame Bellan fell Into
the wI,er, D. accident, according 10 her has
bands account. Her shrieks brought three
coachm, n TO the spot, WHO took her out OF the
" alter, and to whom she declar ed that she had
been thrown in Ly her husband B~llan also came
up, embraced his wife, expressed great joy
that the accident had not caused her death, and
offered the coachm,n 20 sous for their trouble.
aglins, him by his wife, and threatened 10 have
him taken iHIo custody; but, alter some expla-
nation, they suff ed him TO depart.
Belsas, i, appeared, had previously taught
his wife to form the letters Of the alpha
bet, and then had made her combine them In
such manner as 10 form words. The Gaming
OF which The woman did not understand, liz
which she seemed TO declare her intention Of
committing suicide, on account OF her hns.
band having spent The money she brought him.
The proof Of this point was very strong, as cop
les of the letters, in the hand iting OF Bcl!an
himself were found in a heap OF rubbish
After her fall into the canal, Madame Brllan
was seriously ill., and being unable 10 give suck
10 her infant, it was 2u, out TO nurse at Bile.
vile, for the purpose of being weaned, and was
there visited several times by the mother
On The evening Of Angus 9. Bellan urged his
wife 10 go and see the child She went, but
never returned On The following day Bellan
appeared greatly alarmed, and went to Belle
Vile to inquire after his wife. Vassoux, a
dairyman, at whose house the child was al
nurse, having ht ard that the body of woman,
with The skull bone broken, had been found in
one Of he quarries, limited The probability OF
its being Madame b. in which opinion the hus-
band ms snty conceded. They proceeded TO
the spot where the body lay, and found that the
opinion expressed was correci. At the back
par, Of the head was deep wound, which ap-
peared to have beeG made by hammer, or
some such INSTRUMENT. a. short distance
from the quarry was quantity Of blood, -spa
scrstened ~s'6 nsgernsiIs, as II she had strug-
eled with her mus derer. 4 piece Of wood,
that seemed 10 be par, OF the handle Of a ham
mer, was also discovered In the pocket Of
the victim were several letters, Of The tenour
Of those above mentioned, directed to her re-
la'ions. Upon copies Of these letters being
found a, 3rlIan's house, he declared that hav.
ing discovered his wife's le'ers, he had cop
pied hem through curiosity, and that consid-
ering them of no importance he rad thrown
them aside, with The intention Of Wrapping up
his goods in them. Some of Belan's clothes,
iound IN his house, were bespatlered with white
mud, like tina, round The quarries, and it, ,ht
mattress OF a chiid's bed was discovered
bloody shirt. Relative 10 The latter article
he said that he blood proceeded from hog
which he had killed about fortnight be-.
lore. In the indictment there were two counts
the one charging The prisoner with an a'temp,
20 murder his wife at the Canal s.. Martin, and
the other with the contamination of her mur-
der al the quarry al B,llville.
The number Of Witnesses for the prosecu-
ton was 65, and those for the prisoner S.
The prisoner, who is in the San var of his |
age, protested his innocence, declared MS af4et
no" for his wife, and made some obseryalior -,
IN the im2robabllty Of the facts laid 10 MS |
charge.
The mother Of The deceased deposed to the |
nea2acity OF her daughter Ind The lmpossibiliv
Of the letters in question having been written |
BY her alone. The 'hree coach men deposed 10
The declaration OF the deceased, that sht had |
oren thrown into the canal by her husband
V'ss"ux and his wife bore testimony 10 H.,
prisoner ha'ing recognized the body 10 BE- tina,
d his wife when a. SOM distance from IT, Two
luarrymen stated, that from the position in
which they found LIE body, it must have
been dead before 1t was thrown into the quarry
The head Of The victim, which had been pre-,
er'ed IN saline preparation, was produced
n court. DR.. Marc, who had been charged 70
xamine ii, deposed that the fractures seemed
o have been occasioned by a blunt instrument,
uch as hammer-bu, they might have pro