The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-10-15


one Family Butchered near Paris
The Motive of the Murderer-A MIDI
night Strusgle-Findingo of the Buried
Bodies-Arrest OF the Murderer-His
Attempted Suicide, and his Confession.
Pantin is the name of an obscure suburb OF
Paris. not far from the gates of the city pro-
per. In the early gray dawn Of the morn
ing of the Goth of September, laborer in
this locality named Langlois set out for his
mornings work 1t happened that his way led
across field which had recently been ploughed.
The ground was damp and heavy, and he
plodded along slowly. AS he passed the mid
die of the field, he saw something white. Very
naturally he went up to it, and seeing that il
was handkerchief, he picked it up and looked
at it. He saw that it was stained with blood.
He stopped and looked around the place where
he found it. The earth was thrown about as
though it had been lately disturbed, and, on
searching more carefully, the workman found
that directly under the spot where he had
picked up the handkerchief human body lay
covered with few inches Of earth, and appa-
rently Just buried. The man was very much
frightened, and started for the nearest police
station, running as fast as he could.
THE VICTIMS OF THE MASSACRE.
The station was not far off, and he soon re-
turned with aid. Careful search was made,
and within q short distance Of each other were
discovered the dead bodies Of q woman and
five children, who had evidently just been
murdered, for the corpses were not yet cold.
The woman was apparently about 38 years
old. She had beautiful face and splendid
dark hair Her black eyes were open and
staring with look of despair. She evidently
belonged to u family in easy circumstances, as
she was clad in black silk dress, and had
money, watch and jewelry upon her person.
There were eighty wounds on her body, the
greater number having been made with q
knife. A few were the effect Of blows.
Close to the murdered mother lay the first
of the five murdered children-the eldest son,
probably l6 years old. On his neck was the
dark blue mark of the place where the hand
kerchief had evidently strangled him. Hi;
hands were tightly clasped, and on his face
was look of the most awful agony-his eyes
starting from their orbits.
Next was another boy, whose age was
thought to be IL. From his appearance 1t Is
thought that he was buried alive.
There were two other boys. one IA years old
and one s, both hacked as if by knife, and
horribly dishgured.
But saddest of all was the poor little girl.
She was four years old, and must have been
very pretty. Hers was the only face that was
calm, and her death must have been instanta-
neous. There was but one wound on her
body-her stomach was completely ripped
open.
WHO DID THE DEED?
The day had we'll advanced before the bodies
were all removed. The excitement in the
neighborhood became intense The place is q
somewhat obscure one, but nevertheless there
are plenty of dwellings near 1t, and the rail-
road depot and the military post of Aubervil-
liers are both within earsh0t of the spot where
the bodies were disinterred. Two hundred
and fifty yards off is Il cotton mill, at which a
night watchman is stationcd and he, as well
as the porter on duty at the railway depot, and
the sentinels at Aubervilliers, were within easy
hearing distance Of any outcries at the scene
of the murder.
But the truth is that at about quarter to II
o'clock on the night of the 10Th. the watchman
in the cotton mill OF NM. Cartier & Bresson
did hear cries from this very spot. He heard
the screams of children, and the words "Mam-
ma mamma!" And the railway porter heard
cries, too, among which he distinguished the
voice Of man; but he thought there were
some drunkards quarrelllng in the field. Such
did not 90 out to see what was taking place.
The night was pleasant, with clear sky and
bright moonlight. There were at least six
persons who ought to have known If anything
wrong was occurring in that field that night.
People were likely to pass throuSht it at any
hour. The crime must have been committed
within space of time which could not exceed
four hours, as was known from the fact Of per-
sons having been near there that length of
time previous to the discovery by Langlols.
Of all the persons who crowded around to
view the bodies, not one was able to recognize
them, or to say that he had ever seen any one
of the six persons who had been murdered
thus, close to the gates Of Paris, on fair
moonlight night, with dwellings on every
hand, and with six persons within earshot of
the place of the awful deed of blood.
THE CLUE.
The murder was committed at near midnight
on Sunday, September 10th, and up to the fol-
lowing Wednesday no relations had proclaim
ed the victims missing, their names and even
their nationality remaining unknown to the
French police. But there was clue. The
buttons on the coats of the four murdered boys
bore the name of Thomas, tailor, ut RoubaiX.
Roubaix is town on the Belgian frontier, near
Lisle, in the northeast part of France.
In connection with this circumstance. it was
ascertained that about week before young
Hull vi lWcutysS Will huhy ihouS'"Oh.. N"liN
to furnished lodging house opposite the sta
ton of the Northern Railroad in Paris, and
kept by NJ. Rgny. He gave his name
as NJ. Kinck, engineer, Rue de FAlou-
cite, at ROubaiX. He said he had Il
good deal of night work to do, and
therefore wished TO sleep in the daytime. The
people of the hotel did not like the look
of him. He came daily for a few minutes
only, received q good many letters, and
paid his very small expenses day by day. At
6 in the evening Of Sunday a lady with five
children came to the hotel, and inquired for
NJ. Jean Kinck. When told he was not within.
she said. ~ am not surprised; am two hours
before my time; | will call again" At o'clock
she returned, and then expressed surprise at
not finding NJ Knck. ''He is, perhaps" she
said. ''in the dining-rOom; | will go and
see." Not finding him. she returned to the
children waiting in the hall. They were laugh
ing, and in high spirits. The landlady asked
her if she would not wait and take some re-
freshment, but she said "NO, l dare say it
would be expensive; and, besides, do not
know where l am going to be taken to dinner"
She then went away, having first engaged two
bedrooms for herself and children, and
she left in the hotel a small parcel, and q
basket containing some linen and a child's
paletot. She never came back. The next
morning (Monday) at o'clock, Kinck, ac-
companied by another man, came TO the hotel
in great hurry. He took the key of his
room. went up stairs, changed his clothes. and
at the end of five minutes left the house with
his companion. He never returned. In the
drawers of his room bloody shirt and trow-