St. Landry democrat., 1882-11-11
A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY.

h1rs. Seguin. Wife of the Celebrated New
York Physician, BIindfoIds and Pinions
Her Three Children, and Shoots Them
AlternateIy-She Then Puts Bullet
Through Her Own Rrain-The Husband
and Father Almost Insane from Grief
| and Despair.
| NEW YORK, October 81.
Mrs. seguin. aged thirty-six, wife Of DR.. Ed
ward c. Segun, the noted specialist on
diseases Of the brain, killed her three
| young children this afternoon and then
Killed herself at No. Al West Twen-
| tleth street There is no other cause
| known for the horrible tragedy than the in
sanity OF the mother The children were Ed
ward D., aged six years; John Van Duyo,
aged five years. and Jeanette, four years.
1Eey were all shot through the head and in
stantly killed. The mothers death as
sudden as theirs. The frightfu feature of the
sragedy is the manner of the murder. Mrs.
| Seguln took the children to an empty spare
| room at the top of tive-story house, in the
| absence Of her husband, and while the SER
wants were engaged in the basement, and
| locked herself i'll with them. The servants
believed they had gone out for a walk.
| What happened in the room will never be
known, but when DR.. Amidon, Mrs. Sesuin's
brother, called at five O'Clock, and, with his
suspicious aroused by the long absence of the
FAMILY, made n search of the house, the
mother and children were found dead, all shot
through the head. The children's hands were
tied behind their backs with whip cord They
were blindfolded with handkerchiefs, and
from all appearances, they must have been
shot white playing blindman's buff with their
eNecutioner. They had been dead for at least
an hour and half, and were quite cold when
discovered. Three pistols were found in the
room all of heavy caliber, and all had been
used
Mrs. Scguin had been respondent from
PHYSICAL causes for some time, but she had
SHOWN no evidence of insanity. She was a
small Slim woman of nervous temperament.
Her domestic lite WAS very happy, and there
was no family trouble.
DR.. Segun returned home about seven
O'Clock, and upon hearing the dreadful news
was utterly Frustrated. He is in Il state of
mental distress, and under the care of ply
siciins
bf. Seguln is noted specialist in cases of
insanity His father was equally SO. His
WIG was the daughter of q Massachusetts,
farmer. The couple moved in the best society.
The family lived in a tvc-story brown-stone
front English basement house, elegantly fur
nshed. The room in which the tragedy took
place is on the fifth floor, and is scarcely ever
use by the family
The three servants in the house noticed dur.
ing he day that Mrs. Seguin was in the moody
condition she had been in for several weeks
and VIII CHI her brother Dr. Amidon. termed
the blues About eleven O'Clock he called
upon her, and she said she did not feel well
and had written to Dr. Henry Draper who had
been invited to dine with the family to defer
his visit. This note she asked her brother to
send He took It, jokingly, and told her they
would all enjoy themselves.
DR.. Amidon called on his sister at three
O'Clock. and was told she had gone out for a
walk. He returned at five O'Clock but Mrs
seguin had not yet returned. The hall-boy in
cdentally mentioned that the door of the spare
room was locked and the key gone. A sudden
suspicion seized the doctor that Mrs Secuin
had gone to the Central Park and drowned
herself and the children. He could not ex-
plain why he thought this. He immediately
went up stairs and burst the door of the room
open. A horrible sight met his eyes Almost
in the middle of the floor lay the dead body of
the eldest boy, Edward, in a pool Of blood.
Partly in closet lay Mrs. Segu;n, grasping in
her right hand a big pearI-handlet revolver.
inside the closet lay the boy John and the cir!
Jeannette. There could be no doubt that the
mother had taken the children into the
room on the pretense Of playing hlindmans
buff. She had led the two youngest into the
closet and locked them in while she murdered
the oldest boy. The pistol with which he was
shot was target-practice weapon, with bar
rel eleven inches long. 1t lay Be side him. and
the bullet lay on the floor 1t had passed
through his head. The maniac mother then
proceeded to the closet, and with 1t heavy thir-
ty-two-caliber revolver, with which she after
ward b ew out her own brains. shot the other
two children.
DIR. Am don cut the strings that bound the
hands and laid them on the bed.
The police and Coroner were notified at once
Nothing was found in the room to explain the
motive for the terrible crime.
The maniac had held the weapon close to her
victims heads, for the handkerchiefs on their
faces had been burned. The face of the little
girl wore look Of innocent surprise that cut
more eecply than any other feature of the
dreadful deed On the table laid a box of
cartridges and third pistol.
DIR. Seguin. when he returned was taken to
his office and physicians summoned He acted
as though his faculties were gone He caught
sight CT the picture of his children on the wall
and broke into horrible, wailng cry that
wrung the hearts of tn" listeners. The phys-
clans fear he will lose his reason. None of the
servants heard any noise.
Sudden insanity is the only motive known
for the deed. Mrs. Segun was neatly dressed.
The children were lovely little things, and
all the family she had.