Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1869-05-14

by thelr united euOrts, tney suCceeoeu IN
withdrawing the body from the, narrow
flue--a sad and fYlRhtful spectacle-the
mangled and disfigured corpse of poor
Ludmilla pEsparaye
Her face and neck were covered with
deep scratches and round purple spots at
regular intervals. There was no doubt Of
it, she had been strangled, and that by
some one possessed of superhuman
strength. The marks of the ten finger
nails were plainly visible Yes, it must
have been something more than human
strength that had dragged the poor girl so
tightly into the chimney that 1t required |
the united efforts of four men to draw |
her body out again.
But what had become of her mothere |
At least, where was her corpse, for no one |
expected to mud her alive. ....-
Meanwhile, the police bad been alarmed |
and were now fiocking to the scene In |
vain was the house thoroughly explored |
from cellar to gsrret. Not trace of
either Madame rEsparaye or the muir
derer.
At length, on the pavement OF the back
yard or court, they found bloody, man.
0led heap, in which could scarcely be dis
covered q resemblance to the human form.
It was the body of the miserable fortune
teller, crushed out of all shape, every limb
broken, and with frightful cash across
the throat--a cash that must have been
made by powerful hands, for as they has
tened to lift the inanimate mass, the head
of the poor woman was found to have
been completely severed from her body.
The physicians summoned to examine
into the case declared that Ludmilla pEs-
paraye had been strangled by one or more
| persons, but that her mother had been
| In bad hlnua
| from some blunt instrument, either
| of wood or iron, and her head had then
been severed from her body, by strong
and dexterous hand, with the razor found,
as before mentioned, in the unfortunate
woman's bed chamber.
Again and again the police explored
| every nook and corner of the house, but
not the slightest clue to the mystery of the
affair rewarded their efforts. The famous
police OF Paris were for once completely
helpless. The Rue Morgue, the quarter
| st. Roche, indeed the entire city, became
feverishly excited over this tragedy, as in
explicable as it was terrible.
The great question was, "Who is the
murderer"
New Madame pEsparsye for several
years past had had for her banker Mon
sieur Jules Migrand, of the firm of Mi
grand & Son, in the Rue Deloraine. The
| police thought it necessary, therefore, to
take the deposition of Monsieur Jules Mi
grand. -..
The banker deposed that Madame rEs-
| paraye possessed fortune of ter thousand
| francs, and had been connected with him
| in business for eight years; that she very
frequently brought her savings to him to
he added to her capital; and that three
days before her death she had come to him
and drawn out the sum of four thousand
francs in gold. She had not stated for what
purpose she wanted the money. He had d.
rected his clerk, Adolphe le Bon, to accom-
| pany her home with the money. He knew
nothing further in regard to the unfortu-
nate woman. ---.
Of course, the police now found in Mon
sieur le Bon an object for their special ex-
animation. They determined to give that
young gentleman pretty thorough sitting.
The poor fellow, for the first time in his
life in the presence of the police, their
dark and sinister faces infusing species
of refined torture into their searching ques-
tions, turned pale with fright, and stood
with chattering teeth and trembling knees
before the dread tribunal. His answers
were given hesitatingly, but he finally
stammered out that he had accompanied
Madame rEsparaye home, carrying two
bags for her containing four thousand
francs, and that at the door the madame,
thanking him, had taken one of the bags
and mademolselle the other, and then
both had very politely bid him goodbye.
As he hoped for salvation, this was all he
knew about the matter.
Now, the young fellow certainly
seemed innocent enough, and so tim
orous that it was doubtful whether
he could have mustered up sufficient
courage to decapitate chicken.
Still, after certain preliminary huns u
and "ha's," and various profound refec
tions as to the depth of still waters and
the short-sightedness of mankind in gen
eral, the police arrived at the satisfactory
conclusion that it could not result in the
least inconvenience to them if Monsieur
) le Bon were to be kept in close confne
ment for few weeks.
And so Adolphe was taken to prison
for further examination. In vain did the
magistrates torture him with sharp cross
; questionings; in vain did the police tract
out, step by step, every act Of the clerf
on the day of the murder not the slight
est evidence, not even a new ground o
suspicion, could be found against him.
All at once the ever open and attentive
' ears of the police became sensible of |
: whisper floating about on the atmosphere
!, of public opinion "The murder mus
have been committed by chimney
! sweep none but a chimney sweep coult
I have entered the house, with its boltet
shutters and locked doors none but
g chimney. could have dragged tn
: body of that poor girl 30 far up the chin
/ ney." 49,.
Q "Ah, those foolish people are wiser thi
I I time than we pupils of Monsieur VidocC
u Why, of course, none but chimney. .swee
could have done the murder. Let us looH
9 thsn, among the most suspicious chimney
!. sweeps of Paris"
And so saying, the police went anon
g the chimney.sweeps They found th
: very one who had last swept Madam
|, rEsparaye's chimney-Francois Rame
d He, they learned farther, had, on the yer
day of the murder, cleaned the Gimme
e of house in the Rue Morgue, in the in
y mediate neighborhood of that occupied b
Q madame and her daughter.
u The police were in high spirits. TheI
u could be no doubt now. They had Wind
T. Gated their reputation. Arresting Rame
e they gave Adolphe le Bon his hbert,
Y They had more promising candidate f
= the guillotine.
81 But their triumph was destined to /
a short lived. Nevertheless, every day the
:, discovered Iresh GROUNDS or susplcio
against the chimney'sweep. On cloi
s. examination OF his person, they found O
d his arms and legs, but especially on
knees, many little scratched wounds
N from the finger nails of the victims of h
IN murderous frenzy
: "How did you come by these scratche
~ Francoisp ll
le "They are not scratches every chir
m ney-sweep has such marks always. v
get them from slipping and climbing
~ narrow fues where the SCOT Is sharp"
O. "Rab that is poor mskeshifI VIII
be were you doing at three O'Clock ON q
he night of the murderP
n al was at home asleep in my bed"
g. "Can you provo 1t ?"
III "Oh-oh-well, l really believe
be don't Just know-but the truth Is, no o.
u saw me in bed, for everybody in the hou
Ve was ssleep too
L | 80 q