Connecticut western news., 1878-08-08
THE CRIME OF COuRTADE.
FRENCH STORY OF A CASE OF MURDEl
 BY WHOLESALE.


 FRENCH STORY OF A CASE OF MURDE1
 BY WHOLESALE.
 The Court of Assizes of Gers, in tho
 south of France, has just held murde1
 trial of extraordinary interest.
 In the village of Plaisance dwell M
 Dulin, occupying the ground floor ot
 his house, whose first story above he lei
 to a tenant named Courtade, 8 man ot
 violent temper, an ugly neighbor, anc
 bad pay. Courtade was always in hot
 water with M. Dulin. who at last gave
 him warning. Courtade refused to obey
 this notice to quit, brought suit instead
 agalnst his landlord, and pursuaded the
 Justice of the Peace, the bailiff, Bur.
 gan, and the Recorder, Lasserre, to visit
 the house, to make personal examina-
 tion of his grounds of complaint. The party of five, consisting of the tenant, the landlord, and the three court officers, repaired to the house, under the leader ship of the former, who, leaving them
 Tn the yard, on some excuse, went into the house, from which he immediately .reappeared, armed with a couple of guns and a revolver.
 "We are on the battlefield I" he shouted, 'and here we must die. These two" pointing to the guns, ''are for you, and this other for me-"
 "See here p said the Justice. putting his hand on Courtade's shoulder, "you are not a child. Put down those things ]" Courtade tucked one of the guns under his arm, brought down the other to an aim, and stretched dead M. Dulin and the Justice. Dropping that gun, he then fred one barrel of the other at the unlucky bailiff, the charge taking effect in the shoulder, while he emptied the second barrel into the ribs of the Recorder, Lasserre, who had run some yards away. With his revolv- CT Courtade next finished Burgan, who was begging mercy on his knees. By this time the Recorder, fatally hurt as he WAS, had crawled behind tree on the road.
 " So you're hiding, -" cried Cour- tade, as he walked up and gave his shrinking victim shot from each side of the tree. Then, holding his revolver up, he said "You're all dead. Rest in peace I've got gun left for myself , With that he coolly walked back to the house.
 The hapless widow of DuIin saw him coming, and locked her door. Courtade approached with friendly gesture. "I don't want to kill you," he said and with those words, resting his revolver on the window sill, took aim at the cower- ing woman, striking her in the left hip. She fell to the floor upon her baby, whom she had been holding in her arms, and whose wrappings were torn by the discharge. Courtade then entered by the window. and, finding that the woman did not stir, said: "Good enough I You've got your pay; now, I'll take mine ]" With that he rushed up stairs to his chamber.
 All this had happened in far less time than it takes to record, so that the noise of the firing had already brought the po-. ice to the house. A last shot was heard rom Courtade's chamber as the gend- armes, breaking in his door, found him stretched, horribly mangled and drench- sd in blood, on his bed, having blown 'ff part of his skull with a gun so ar- 'anged that he could pull the trigger with his foot.
 The victims below were hurriedly ex- 'mined. The landlord, the Justice. and he bailiff were dead /; the Recorder al- most at his last gasp-he survived & luarter of an hour, muttering few un- ineligible words. But Mime. Dulin. aved by her self-control, was alive-she | nd her babe, and it was she who de- cribed this terrible scene of carnage. Vhen Courtade-who also, to the won Ter of everybody, recovered-was tried or murder at Auch.
 On the 1lth of the present month this rial began, before vast audience. The 'rocureur-General Diffre, came over rom Agen to personally conduct the rosecuton. A distinguished advocate, 'orrent de Labadie, was engaged to aid 1e defence. The prosecution accounted 'r the awful crime by showing that ourtade had had from boyhood an un- overnable temper. He served in the my, and on his discharge took posi- on as gamekeeper. in which his life was 1e of idleness and disorder. His way ardness. inability to brook contradic- on, and frightful lapses into rage fer fled everybody. His half solitary lite
 the woods increased his ill humor and , B mlsanthropy. He was always talk g of killing somebody, and turned. his 'artments into sort of arsenal, where { was forever furnishing and practis- | g with his weapons. Once, in fit of C ger, he took aim at his own, mother | It spared her. If he missed a shot at r. animal, he would fire the other barrel Y
 a tree or into his hound. Still he < ems to have had demoniac coolness I the massacre at Plaisance, for Mime. ' alln described him as being perfectly s I'm while killing his victim. = It further appeared in evidence that . 'urtade had often threatened Dulin . at he would ' fix him,'' and that he ' 'uld settle" " the court officers. He IT i'd on one occasion that there would on be something for the Plaisance peo- to talk about, the like of which q q ant been seen since the crucifxion . d Ii he couldn't get justice from the Q lrt he would have 1t elsewhere. ', The defence accepted most of the n oseoution's theory, but pushed it into r Of protection. Courtade' s rage, they le d, was the rage of madman-he was al victim of uncomfortable fury. not a D