Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-03-11


PosrnAsTa.s -ho act as agents viii be allowed q
com..i~s'es o. s,-er'y PER cent.
course Of an hour: and though the pipe
was sill in his mouth, there was no
slneke. Doubtless he had smoked him.
sen 10 sleep: As the sun was now rising
mgh, and the heat becoming oppres siye.
the iaborer, fearing his master might
sustain injury fnom sleeping UNPROTECTED
in the sunshine, tfor though beneath /.
tree, the foliage did not shield him. 4 went
to arouse him. A slight examination
proved to the horor-strckeu man that
his master was dead; that he had been
murdered, and afterwards planted against
a tree with pipe in his mouth, as dis
covered. ~ as |e 'ss
His throat was lacerated just as NJ.
Bribault's had been, but the wounds had
been covered over with coarse, strong
pitch-plaster; his neckerchief had been
turned inside out and arranged so as to
conceal various marks. as Of teeth, and
the clots of blood which stained il. and
tied carefully around his neck; and his
coat had been buttoned for the sake of
hiding the blood which had fallen upon
his vest and the upper part OF his cdloftes.
All the money which NJ. Festin carried
about his person, which, however. was
but of small amount, had been stolen by
the murderer. About fifty Yards from
the spot where the body was placed,
there were marks on the road as of q
scuffie having taken place there, and
round about were the prints of the paws
of alarge dog. Some endeavor, however.
had been made to cfface these marks, so
that, beside the paw prints around.
nothing was distinct -.F ..
Immense excitement was caused in the
rural district by these two crimes, per-
petrated in such close proximity of place
and time, but all efforts TO discover the
criminals proved .fruitless; and shortly
third outrage, Of a still more extraor-
binary and Infamous description, gave
new strength and stimulus to the general
alarm and execration.
The villagers Of Menterre. on entering
the church one morning to cross them
selves and say prayer, according to the
customs Of good Roman Catholics. were
surprised to behold the Abbe Were seated
by the pulpit at the sideof the altar, clad
IN the graDdest robes of his holy Office.
having his back to the congregation, his
gaze hxedly directed on the cruciix, and
his hands ciasped as if in prayer. Many
went In, repeated a pdter, counted their
beads, crossed themselves, and came out,
not daring to disturb the apparent devo-
ton of the father. At length, a Young
priest entered hurriedly at the altar door,
prostrated himself before the cross in a
nasty and agitated manner, then went
over towards the Abber Were, spoke TO
him, touched him, and found that he was
dead. With loud voice, and in great
excitement, he proclaimed the fact to the
horror-siricken people. 1t appears that,
on entering the church through the
sacristy, he foHnd that the lock of the
door had been picked and broken, and
there were stains of blood upon the door
and upon the ground. Much alarmed.
he proceeded onwards, examining the
place as he went. In the robe-rooln all
was disorder; the robes had been moved
and dlsarranged, the floor was covered
with blood, the cupboard had been opened
and basin and sponge taken therefrom
the former was filled with water so
deeply stained that it looked like blood.
md the latter appeared like lump of
,lotted gore. The able S cassock wason
the floor. 1t looked as if it had been
trawn along the ground and trampled
upon, 1t was tern all down the back.
there were numerous rents about the
breast and neck, and it was well nigh
saturated with blood. The robes worn
by the able at grand mass on the occa-
SION of the high fetes of the church had
been taken away.
On examination, it was found that the
ll-iated priest had been deprived of life
n similar manner as had the victims in
-he two former cuSes. The throat had
been torn and lacerated in the same sim
5ular and fatal way, and the wounds
we're covered over with a large piece of
coarse pitch plaster. The face and hands
Of the murdered man had been washed:
ne had been arrayed in his best robes of
office, and carefully placed in the chair
below the altar, where be was discovered
IS, described. He had solemnised, the
lay before, marriage betwixt some
wealthy parties OF the neighborhood: had
gone to the residence of the brides father,
where he had spent the remainder of the
lay; had received the priests fees, and
some handsome ''offerings"to to the church:
md as he was returning with these, he
lad been waylaid, robbed and murdered.
The impious and sacreligious associations
which augmented the enormity of this
crime, raised the excitement to an almost
extent. Nothing else was
.alSed Of for long time. The cleverest
police agents from Paris were called to
lie assistance of those of the locality,
and every possible effort made with un-
tagging earnestness and industry, bnt
still the course of justice was defeated.
Narions other outrages, all perpetrated
with the-same extraordinary combination
,f secresy, audacity, and horrible origi-
'aliy, occurred in various parts of the
same district, and at various intervals of
line within period of year and half.
III obviously belonging to the same series,
iirccted by the same diabolical genius,
ND perpetrated by similar means. The
Ibove instances, however, are all that
leed be cited here. as we are not engaged
n depicting the g Night side of Nature"
lor in compiling companion volume for
he "Newgate Calendar" or a reoueil
rom, Tim Ia 1at{o A ~, TIL