Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1879-10-09
THE GARRETT WINDOW.

take---Eugene Conal's Drunk.
en- Mistress---A Quarrel and a
Midnight Butchery---The Wrong
Man Condemned---And the Truth
Disclosing Itself After Nine Years
At nightfaIl on the evening
of August 13, 1868, the inmates
of the upper floors Of a house at
the corner of the Rue Sayoic
and the Rue Seguier were STAR
tied by the noise of a struggle
in one Of The garnet rooms, and
by loud cries for help. These
ended suddenly in shrill shrek
of "Murder." sss
The alarming Sounds proceed
ed from the apartments occu-
pied by Eugene Consal, a disso-
lutte art student, and his mis-
tress, a girl of nineteen, known
generally as Laura Ldfleur.
This woman was quite as dissi-
pated in her habits as her lover,
and quarrels between them were
so frequent that commonly they
scarcely excited any comment.
The present one, however,
seemed more serious than usual,
and Sc sxal of the dodgers set
out to investigate it. They met
Consal coming down the stairs.
As he walked he wiped his
hands on a handkerchief, as if
he had just washed them.
In response to a question he
laughed lightly:
"The drumken-is in one of
her tantrums again." he SAID.
course her, / wish the devil had
her, any way"
He left the house. An hour
later ono Of the party whom
his coolness had not quite de-
privcd of suspicion, again went
upstairs and knocked at the
door. The voice Of Laura La
fieur called to him from within
and cursed him for disturbing
her. Completely reassured, the
man went away"
Eugene Consal did not return
that night. Next morning a
laundress, bringing some linen
for Laura Laufleur, found the
door fast barred, and failed to
gain any response to her repeat
ed knocking. Alarmed, she IN
formed the porter and an en-
trance was forced. i
Laura Laufleur was dead on
the floor, her throat cut aud her
brains battered out. She was
in her chcmise. A trowel-shap-
ed scrapcr, used by artists TO
remove paint from their canvas
es, was buried in her left breast.
Across her body was the brok-.
en- half of a heavy lignum vitae
maulstick, ,besmeared with blood.
The woman did not seem to
have struggled, for her chemise
was neither rumpled nor torn,
nor was the furniture of the u
partment unusually disturbed.
The window giving on the roof
was open. The washing7basin
in the corner was filled with
blood-discolored water, butt thet
several towels ON the rack bel
side it were unstained. =.
Within an hour Cohsal was
apprehended, asleep in friend 5
room. lie had come there at
daybreak, drunk, and had at |
once fallen into ,stupefiedl
slumber. He was apparently |
paralyzed by horror and amaze
ment at the news of the murder,
and protested his innocence
vehemently. /
After leaving the house the
evening before, he had, he said,
gone TO a restaurant in the Rue
Quartre Vents and taken dinner.
At the stroke of nine be had left
the restaurant. He was annoy
ed by his quarrel of the after
noon, which had been caused
by a drunken whim of the dead
woman's, and which had ended
by his simply knocking her
down and going away. u nable
TO sleep, he had walked sabout
till daylight, drinking brandy
occasionally. Then being Tired
and not liking to distutb his
mistress so early, he had .soughti
shelter in his friends room. !
His assertions were pariiallys
borne ont by several tavern-
keepers at whose piacea he had
been. There was. however, a.
blank from two o'clock until
d a Wight unacconnied f6r.I
This he claimed he shad spent
on the bridge of Toucnell, stud
wing some moonlight effects "a
bout Notre Dame which had
caught his eye.
The prosecution in opposition.
advanced The theorysthat at this
lime lie had returned to the
honsc, into which he could easi-
ly gain admission unobserved,
,ro,,o a. his room pOpnn1if fQd