The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1858-06-22
The Strange Murder Of n Cir by her two
Brothen. .FuTther PnltIcularx.


horrible murder of girl by her brothers,
few miles above that city. The brothers
were Canadian Frcnchmen, had been
Catholics, but had adopted some new re-
ligious notions, which seem to have led
them to insanity. They had acted singu-
larly for some days previous to the murder.
On Tuesday morning last, two of the
neighbors suspected that somo sortof a
tragedy was being enacted in the house,
and in endcavoring to force their way into
it they were furiously attacked by the broth
crs with clubs, and narrowly escaped be-
ing killed. AS TO subsequent occurrences
We quote from the Free Press:
About o'clock on " ednesday after
noon the brothers Doyon were seen to
bring the body OF their sister out Of the
house by the front door, all three being
entirely naked. They covered her body
with box and endcavored to sink it in
the water. Finding il would not sink,
they carried it back into the house. Twice
after this they brought the body out, and,
one taking her by the head ard the other
by the feet, dashed her in the water, re-
turning eac', time to the house, after thor
oughly washing the body. In their own
account Of the transaction they state that
they baptized their sister three times in or
der to make Protestant of her; that they
were commanded 10 do so by the Almigh-
ty, and that on the last baptism she re-
mained under water too long, and was
drowned. Of course their statements in
this particular are no. true, as will be seen
seen in the sequel. 1t would seem that af-
ter fully baptizing her they threw the body
out the door of the house, whence, about
A or 5 o'clock, they bore her on their
shoulders to the barn, which is situated on
opposite side of tho street. During the
performance of this cremony, as in fact,
from Monday until their surrender, they
were entirely nude, and yet it will be borne
in mind that these occurrences were in plain
view of the entire neighbcrhood.
Arriving at the barn, they deposited
their burden on the floor, and proceeded to
empty the bain of its contents, in the
same summary manner they had already
treated the house; which accomplished, a
moro brutal and inhuman procedure than
has yet been noticed was introduced. Ia
king heavy farmers whip, of the kind
commonly known as 6black snake" they
commenced rhipping Tie corpse, calling
upon it, in the meantime, in French, to
"get up" Being satisfied that they had
fully accomplished the death of the poor
unfortunate, and of the impossibilty of
whip ing her 10 life, they closed the fiend-
ish tragedy by fight between themselves.
Beirg wholly undisturbed in this proceed.
ing, their brutality had full scope, the
marks they still bear giving ample testi-
mony of the earnestness and determination
Of the contest. How long they were en-
gagged in this fight is not known, but, hav
ing satisfied their passions, they removed
the body Of their sister TO q wagon stand
ing near the barn, where, covering it with
straw, they left it. Aiming themselves
with couple of pitchforks, they started
through the woods toward the Gratiot road
With the rain pouring in torrents, and
through darkness impenetrable, they pur-
sued their tracklcss way through the scrag
gy forests, with their naked bodies expos
ed, not only to the pitilcss storm, but
scratched and torn by the extended branch
cs and thorny bushes. What occurred in
this march is unknown, until midnight,
when they arrived, bleeding, cold, and ey-
hausted, at Mr. Pulchcr's, when they re-
ported that they had been pursued by their
neighbors, who were seeking to kill them.
They said that the Lord had told them to
como there for protection. Pulchcr took
them in and got them to bed, when he
Immediately summoned lis neighbors to
come to his assistance. The brothers,
however, being completely worn out and
prostraled, Immediately slept. In the
morning hey were persuaded to be dress
ed, and were furnished with clothing Ivy
Mr.. Justice Reeves and somo of his neigh
bors; after which they related, in substance.
the following story-Augustc, the elder,
doing the most of the talking: They kill
ed their sister because they were told 10y
the Lord to do so. They had covered her
body with straw and placed it in the wagon
by the barn. They had thrown all their
goods out Of the house and destroyed the
house. They said they had about ten dol
lars in bills, in n pocket book which had
been thrown out with tho other things,
and that about seventy five dollars in spe-
Gle was concealed in a barrel of buckwheat.
Mr.. Benjamin May, constable of the
township, took the men into custody, and,
leaving suitable company to guard them,
started with the Justice, Mr.. Reeves, for
tie lake shore, where an inquest was held,
the result Of which we gave yesterday. -
The body Of the unfortunate girl was Ia
ken to the burying ground attached to the
Catholic Church in the township Of Crosse
Pointc, near the residence of Mr.. George
Moran, for interment, on Thursday after
noon, accompanied by large number of
noighbors. The brothe.s, Immediately af-
ter the inquest, were roned and taken by
the Sheriff Of Macomb County to tie Jail
at Mt. Clemens, 10 which they submitted
withoutopposition. Our reporter saw them
on Friday in their cells, Up to that time
the elder brother bad refused TO partake Of
food Of any kind, the younger merely tast-
ing Of what was brought him. They were
still naked, but had promised to be cloth
ed when they should have clothes procured
for them from Detroit. They certainly
presented a sad ard unhappy sight. Their
wounds were still fresh and sore, while the
head of Auguste was much swollen. Their
apr earance was not that Of insane men,