New Orleans daily crescent., 1860-11-19
4 JUDICIAL MURDE B.
sv srEScaa ". CONE,

accompanied by Running argument or or written /
pleading for the prosecution OF oeielse = ~
Iarnues I.ehrun have collated the following Gu /
rious case of circunstantai evidence. AS lsone
az the strongest on record, it is little curious that
IL has never before found ITS way INTO our legal lit
eratnre. -
Madame Mazel was found dead in her bed. She
had been assassinated during the night and large
part Of the vainahes, ordinarily kept in her cham
ber stolen. Madame MaZel lived in house in the
rue das Maeons Sal rhonnes-then afashioaable and
thckly inhabited part of Paris. The entire house
was occupied by herself and her servants. The re-
ceptioa rooms were upon the first door.
Madame Mszel was fond OF large parties, the
pleasures of the world and especially OF play, and
she received q brilliant and numerous secleFy
almost every evening in the week. She slept on
the second story, in chamber which looked out
upon courtyard. This chamber mad Two ante
rooms-the first, on the side Of tne gfaha staiE-
case, was commonly open day and night. After
MaJa1ue MazeI had retired TO bed. the servants
shut up the second room, and ordinarily left the
key Of it upon the ehimney.piece otthe first They
/ nut the key of the inner chamber upon chair
| near the door, which was then drawn too. This
| chamber had two other DOORS one of them opened
uposl d small private staircase, the other into
wardrobe room which again opened upon the same
| staircase. Over the wardrobe room, ~ the third
| story was chamber, which was occupied by an
Able named Poalard Commenced, a particular
friend Of Madame Mazel. The whole third story of
the house was entirely empty. except the room oe-
| cupied by the Abbe The servants slept IN the
1 attics.
| From this description of the promises it will be
| seen that it was easy for thief or murderer to
enter at any time house in which there were
1 many empty chambers and open lofts and which,,
| besides was day and night full of company, noise
Madame Mazel had oalet.de-chansbre. named
I Jacanes Bebrun In whom she placed entire conii-
denee and who had appeared to merit it by long
services and wellproyed fidelity. The evening
of the assassination he exhibited ia all his actions
1 a calmness and tranquility altogether different
/ from the manner of a man who meditates great
crime. He betrayed none Of the trouble, none of
The little inqnietndes. inseparable from criminal
| resolution. Several peraens even remarked his
| gaiety and afterwards recalled it as proof of
lis Innocence. bis mistress retired to bed on the
i evening Of the murder at Ii o'clock. Her two
4 files de claalsbre still in her apartment when
4 Isebrun came and knocked at the door opening on
the private staircase. It was opened for him. and
4 Madame Mazel gave him his orders about the sup
| per for the following Monday, that being the day
4 for her regular card party. The next day, early
i III The morning, he went 10 market: when he came
4 back he gave out wood to one OF the lackeys for
4 the chamber of his Mistress whose custom it was
4 TO rise at o'clock. That day she was not how
l ever. destined to awake. II grew latet yet Mad
Il arne Mazei did not appear. The household became
II uneasy Finally, they knocked at the doors, and
4 called to her ii 4 loud voice There was no re-
II sponse This silence redoubled the alarm. One
Il Of The servants ran hastily to the Palas dn JUS
II tice, TO inform NJ. de SaFonnere, counsellor at
ENT,5l
n house. and was overwhelmed with grief and agita-
il tien. /" What has happened g" said he to Lebrun,
Z has my mother bad stroke Of apoplexy?
II Some one run for doctor
.sNo, said Lebrun, :. there is no use of that.
4 This is something worse. A terrible misfortune
y must have happened. The great door was open all
\ night, and am very much alarmed on that ac-
COUNT
4 a Iocksmith was brought; he opened the door
4 OF the apartment, and the first object which met
the eyes Of his assistants was the body Of Madame
4 Mazel, pierced with fifty stabs, evidently given by
| d knife or dagger. They found on the bed piece
OF cravat Of halines lace, soaked with blood and
d napkin done up in the shape Of nightcap. This
napkin equally bloody. was marked with an g 5, Y
like those of the house, This piece Of lace and this
napkin belonged, doubtless to the assassin, from
u whom the victim had torn them in her efforts to
defend herself All Madame Mazels fingers were
cut; which proved that she had resisted her muir
derer to the last, and clutched hold of him those
who strive against violent death always do. The
Lietitendlt critqsel came Immediately to the scene
of the crime. de proceeded at once to interro-
gate the two tiles de ohaaabre and Lebrun. The
latter accounted with perfect calmness and sim
plicity for9all that he had done the preceding
! evening. He said that when he left the chamber
Of Madame Mazel, he took the key of the gate fol
the purpose of locking it, laid it upon the table ir
! the kitchen and sat down by the fire to him
II self. That insensibly he fell asleep and, when he
!. awoka, he did go and lock the gate, but found i
! open again the next morning. The Lie.aendnl
Il cffniad caused him to be searched, aud there
we're found upon his person the key of tho office
and a pass key which opened the door of Madame
Mazels chamber.
This pass key furnished the strongest presump.
tive evidence against him. The napkin, twisted
inta the shape of nghtcap, also fitted his head
exactly, and upon their evidence the LieHeodia
krisuinel consigned him to prison. However, nc
mark of blood was found upon the dress of Lebrun
nor any scratch upon his person. In one Of the
lofts was found the collar Of cravat and a shirt
the bosom and wristbands of which were bloody,
but 1t did not resemble Lebrnn's shirts; it was
1sItf
the two de ciansbre declared that they thought
they had washed and ironed such one for q
lachey named Berry whom their mistress turned
Il away few months before for theft. There was
found also in the same loft pocket knife stained
= with blood.
Tile man Berry was seen in Paris about the time
. Of the murder.
What however, complicated the matter, in
way, which should have caused the judges of lie
. brnn to pause long before condemning him wa
that there were many Of higher rank than eithe
. Lebrnn or Berry whose relationships to Maze
were such as to justify the grayest suspicious
Madame Maze, it was notorious. had morta
2 enemy that enemy was Madame de Savonnierre
her daughter-n-law, whom she had shut up fo
thirteen years, as woman OF abandoned life, in
house of correction, by an order from the king. /
was known that Mime SavonnisTre was secretly il
Paris, in the month Of March preceding the murder
aud at the time that the aforesaid Berry stole from
Nine Mazel. That she staid several days in th'
abbey Notre Dame de Pres, where, when the alb
bess was unwilling TO keep her longer she returned
d second time to Paris, and was seereted thre,
months before the murder in a house in the Ra'
du Golumbier Faubourg Saint GERMAN and tina
she said to person that she would return to he
husbands house in three moufbs--the exact perot
of the assassination committed on the body o
|, Madame Mazei. It was also in evidence tina
Berry, during the month of March above mentioned
stole from Madame Mazel 1900 liyres; that sh,
| sent for the eommissary twice. to make com
plaint Of him, but that her son. nj. de Sayonnierfe
and the Abbe Poulard persuaded her not to, ans
, that the complaint was not made.
1t seems too, as if the conrt had been strHcl
With judicial blindness for, although the following
facts were in evidence, they had no influence il
/ averting the fate of the unfortunate Lehrun.
III A few days before her murder, Madame Maze
said she meant to make a new WILL Now, th
Able Pouard was provided for in the one alreaa.
made, and must have known that. had Madam,
Mazel yielded to single pious thought, she wouli
alter that, since his lite was wild and debauchea
and he had been q disgrace To religion. Besides
; the Abhe was very ambitious to bring about mar
s rage between his sister and Madame Mazefs eldt
son, the Sieur dc Ligoniere. He had promised hi
sister to do it; but Madame Mazel regarded th
project with anconeealed indignation, and had for
biaden him to speak Of 1t to her. On the night 0
D the murder, too, tile Abbe, contrary to his usua
custom. left the hoase at half-past To- +. NJ, au
did not return till midnight, coming in by means 9
j bis pass-key, which he always carried; and whel
told of ths murder he swooned, and was lonl
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