Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-01-15
Sensational Crimes Of Paris Police
man. 4

Sensational Crimes Of a Paris Police-''
man. 1
A reeent Paris letter Gays: The trial
OF the Hokceman, PfeYss kbb. mulEler-
ed and mutilated jeweler named Le-
noble, took place at Paris on the 9Th
inst. As it is some time since the crime
was committed it may be of interest to,
give q spnApary of its horrible details.
IN the 81 slshg of September 10, between
8 and 8 O'Clock, two women named
Thirty and Calmel, were struck by the
strange appearance of an individual who
was nassingalsessthe 3pe La Chapelle.
Clad y loAg blue elo&se, with silk
cap on his had ,sthis11An, of singularly
tan stAuEe, scarried q Slack basket on
his arm, and as he came up to the OPEN,
ings of the sewer he took parcel out of
his basket and threw it down the sewer,
giving it a push with his foot. The two
women followed up the man until he
dis4ppeaheds JIM . sideF street 1 They
picked~up bone to which Some flesh
still adhered and took it into chemists
shop, where they were told it was the
bone OF = human arm. The Gemnaissaire'
of Police being informed of the fact
caused searches to be made that ,yerys
night in the sewers of the quarter ands
Siragments were sound which Whena
put together formed the body of man !
the~head alone was misaHg.s The wom-s
an thought that the mark on-a blouse
resembed sFrevost, The f6licenjhn, Nho,.
it was foupd. had on that evening ex-s
ehanged'duty With another ON the pre-,
text that he was, helping "a friend to-
move. Provost was sent for and
questioned on the way he had employed
his time his answers were confused.
The Qaammissaire of Police then brusque-
Az Confronted him with the remains, and
asked him where the head was. Pre-
Svost lost conntenance, and confessed
that The head was in his rooms. The
police made an examination of the
rooms, and discovered not only the head
Of the victim, but alseF "a quantity of
jewelry and The Instruments, that had
been used for cutting up the body
light was so4n thrown, upon this lu-
gubrious history. The victim was q
commission agent in jewelry. He had
had relations with Provost, who wanted
to buy a gold chain, payable in monthly
bills of 25f. The bills were to be signed
at Preyost's lodging on September 10.
While Ienoble was showing his wares
Provost struck ham on The head with a
heavy iron ball that is used for screwing
up thaconneeting links between inikvay
carriages. Before being policeman
Provost had been a butcher, and remem-
bering his old trade he took knife and
d chopper and cut up the body of his
victim. This operation took him nearly
all day, and, after throwing the pieces
into the sewers, he went at 8 O'Clock
and supped at a wine shop. He slept at
his lodging and returned to his duty the
next day as if nothing had happened
/ It sWas soon discovered that Provost was
not aenGice in the art ofspiriting away
fcumbersOme corpses. In 1876 Adele
Blondin, q woman of Belgian origin,
had mysteriously Disappeared This
woman, who had been in service fifteen
years, had had little income of EGO
q, year left by her former, mas
ter. She became the mistress of
Provost, but did not live with
him. She went to see hevost and never
returned, and has never been seen since.
Provost was not suspected at the time,
but after the assassination OF Denoble
an inquiry was opened; traces of blood
were discovered on the floor of the lodg-
ing that he had occupied in 1876, and
on being taken to the spot he confessed
that he had strangled Adele Blondin in
order to get possession of her money,
and that he had cut up her body, thrown
the pieces into the sewers and buried
the head outside the Notifications. The
court was crowded inspite of the wealth
Ter. Tie cold hrutality of the crime
caused intense INTEREST," to be taken in the
author of it. Besides, a sensational
criminal trial is one of the things, which,
like a first representation at the theater,
has the privilege Of exciting the atten-
ton of all Paris Th proceedinge be-
gan with the readist of the@acte d'nccw-
sutton. The examination of the accused
tended to show the generalization of the
rcrime; he admitted all thafacts as re-
CARDS the murder ofs henoHe; as above
related. The first witness called was the
Commissaire of Police, who gave Pre-
vost a good character,N and said that he
was liked by his comrades. Other wit
srfesses gave testimony to show that Pre-
vest had had in his possession the prop
erty of Adele Blondin. The examination
If thszwitnasses AavinesbeenseoncRded,
the Hublc Erosscutoraiem&ndcd kSpiti-
less sentence. THE counsel for the &C
FUSED fnadca warm appeal to the mercy
of the Jury, who, after a deliberation of
20 minutes, brought in an affirmative
verdict on all the points, without extern
uating circumstances. Provost was,
consequently, condemned to death.