The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-01-17
ga Celebrated Case"
The Last Witness Dead Who Figured
Eighty.Five Years Ago In the Most Re-
markable Of Murder Trials.
New York World.I

| sense be said Of her, as of the cottager in the
! poem, that she was "Never heard Of half 4
mile from home" Yet many thousands of the
readers of the World are familiar with her.She
was the daughter Of the Merciers who kept a
tavern at Lieursaint in 1876, and the last sur
viving witness in the famous case Of Lesurques
and the "Lyons Mail" which was dramatized
in 1850 under the title of the "Courrter de
Lyon" and adapted" for the bennett of
Anglo-Saxon play-goers as ga Celebrated
Case"
Early on the morning Of April 2S, 1876, the
peasants of Melun found abandoned the mail
coach running from Paris to Lyons, the pack
ages and mails having been cut open and rifed
the waybill, which lay near by showing that
they had contained some hundreds Of letters,
10000 francs in cash, and assignats of the nom
inal value of several millions. Near it was
found the corpse of Etienne Hudebert, the pos
tillion, one hand hewed off, the skull split op-
en-, three deep wounds in the chest, and tie
whole body well nigh hacked to pieces. Fur
ther on lay that of the courier, Excoffon, with
the throat cut and pierced by several ghastly
wounds. On the bloody ground were also
found gray overcoat with deep blue border
a broken sword with its scabbard, with on one
side Of the blade, "Honor guides me-" and on
the other, "For my country's veal" some 9TH
er weapons stained with blood, and silver
spur, the link of which had been mended with
piece of string.
The Mercier remembered that four men had
dined at their tavern the dry before the wom-
an described their dress and looks, dwelling
especially ON those of a tall and handsome
blonde gentleman, whom she particularly re-
membered because he had mended his spur
with piece of string. The woman, who has
just died, then girl of II, was in the tavern
and gave him the cord, and her unwavering
Identification proved of the first Importance at
the trial. There had been but one passenger
in the coach, who had paid for his seat in assig-
mats 2,737 livres, and had no baggage. but car
ried sabre. He had dined with Excoffon,
from whom he had learned that besides the
money the coach carried valuable stock Of
jewelry and other wares. This traveller had
disappeared, as had one of the horses OF the
coach, and some people along the road had
seen four horsemen riding towards Melun in
the evening, while others had met them re-
turning in the morning, accompanied by fifth
Subsequently the riderless coach horse was
four other animals, covered with foam, were
left at stable at 3 a. m. by one Etienne Cour-
riol, and taken away at by Courrioi and one
David Bernard, the latter OF whom was
thought to be the traveller by the Lyons
mail.
There was then living in Paris, to which he
had removed in 1779, a well-to-do native of
Douai, by name Joseph Leserques, who was
married and had two children. He was espec-
tally hospitable to folks from Douai, and when
one Guesno went up to Paris to pay him debt
of 1900 francs, Leserques invited him to din
ner. Guesno accepted the invitation and went
accompanied by one Richard. 1t was with
Richard that the police found Courriol lodging
in company with woman named Madeleine
Breban, and having in his possession one-ffth
the booty of the Lyons mail. Guesno was ar
rested, but discharged, though the police kept
him under surveillance and was on his way to
the Prefecture of Police to obtain his papers
when he met Lesurques, who he Insisted should
accompany him. They entered the room Just
as the Magistrate, Daubenton, was examining
the witnesses in the case Of the Lyons mail.
Immediately two of the peasant women hur-
ried to the Judge and whispered that Guesno
and Leserques were two Of the party that had
dined at the tavern, persisting in their dentifi-
cation, especially of Leserques, notwithstaad-
ing strenuous denials by the men accused. Les
nrques proved an alibi by three witnesses, one
Of them, Legrand, being a jeweler with whom
1me was produced the day5 biRhu tez--
from the 9th of Floreal April 20 in the Greg
orian calendar-to the 6th. For this Legrand
accounted by saying that when he was sum-
moned as a witness he found that he had made
an error in the entry and changed the book to
make it correspond with the truth. AS he was
a friend of Lesurques, this naturally told
against the aceused.as did Lesurque's slight &C
duaintance through Guesno with Richard, at
whose house the robbers had lodged. At the
trial, when the jury had retired, Madeleine
Breban declared, "Of the five persons accused
only one-my lover, lCourriol-is gailty, and
for this crime four innocent men are placed in
peril. Guesno has been mistaken for one OF
the real murderers Vidal, whom he resembles,
and Lesurques for another, one Dubosc, whom
he is strikingly like, especially as Dubosc at
the time of the murder wore ttaxen wig.
The Court, however, refused to receive her
statement of the case. Guesno was acquitted
having proved an alihi beyond all question;
Richard was sentenced to twenty. fonr years at
hard labor for receiving stolen goods, and Ber-
nard, Courriol, and Lesurques were sent to the
guillotine on the 30th OF October, the consider
able fortune of the last named being connscat-
ed. He died calmly protesting his innocence,
which, he declared, time would reveal. His
mother went mad and died maniae; his
friend Legrand died in madhouse, and his
widows reason was only restored after seven
wears, when she and her children lived in aD'
ject poverty. Before CourrioHs execution he
confessed that the real assassins were Duoosc,
Vidal, Roussy, and Drrochat, the latter nav
ing taken passage in the coach under the
horses he had hired from Bernard, who was in
nocent of any connection with plot The spur
and one sabre, he declared, belonged 10
Dubosc, and he swore Solemnly that ne nao
never see Lesurques until he was placed on
trial.
The case, it need not be said, made great
sensation, and it was even murmured that the
Government had let Leserques be convicted 70
Law hands on his fortune. Only four months
later Joseph Durochat { Laborde was ar
e.. ffnff nd VUa 1dant1f146
the passenger of the Lyons mail by a girl from
whom he had snatched q kiss inst before enter
| ing the vehicle. He broke down and confessed
| corroborating Courrio's statement. houssy,
| he said cut down the courier, Dy whom ne
| Durochat) was sitting. Durochat tried 10 ue-
| lend him, receiving a cut on the hand, and
| then tried to escape from the scene Oh Dutcn-
| ery insisting that he had bargained for hlgn,
| wav robbery, but not for murder; but Courrioi
| held him. laying the deed to Roussy's hot tenn
| per. but insisting that as it had been done they
| all must sink or swim together. Duoosc, ne
said, wore flaxen wig for disguise and the
| silver spurs.
Durochat was condemned to death, but ere
his execution was confronted with DnDosc,
/ who had been arrested. So completely, how
| ever. was Dubosc disguised that Duroohat de-
| clared that it was not he but another DuDosc
that had been concerned in the affair. Made-
leine Breban swore to his Identity, 1ut only
| one of the witnesses against Lesurques declared
that Dubosc was the man of the broken spur,
though all admitted the striking resemblance
Richard, however, was brought up from the
galleys, and on his testimony Dubosc was held; ED
Twice he broke Jail, and it was not until $500
that he was brought to the scatfold. In the
interim, Vidal, for whom Guesno had Desn
mistaken, had been taken and and guillotined,
exculpating Guesno and Lesurques. And nm
ally, Roussy was run down, and died .attesting
Lssurques' innocence. Since 1904 the heirs OF
the unfortunate merchant (now represented,
we believe, BY the family of his grandson
D'Aniou) have been moving to have his inno-
cence declared iudcially and his fortune re
stored, with interest, but hitherto without sue
cess the woman who has Just died invariably
swearing Iesurques was 1.-THE man with the
broken spur" though she admitted the strik
ing resemblance of Dubosc.
The End of the World.
The London Tablet says: SON marble