Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1885-04-09

u Tor giving SO Sl.se uluT an Oiuc4, lell-lcl
TIA. 10 was unable TO guess, unle-s it were
- ~ what had actually happenel--nnms, =
- bs.ny murdered in his room.
FF.aUis Basooul, publican, gave ey.icr-
As TO the finding Of the body In exact a;,ss
ment with Mouton's statement TO the police
Leon l.eIlru, superintendent of the bU:,.;
of police, Rue des Saints PereS, stated thu
! at twenty minutes past seven on TUESDAY
evening Jean Mouton, ianitor, presentet
himself at the bureau and gave information
Of the murder c, Ledru, taking with him
i the officers Lambert and Regnaud, thereon
accompanied the jcnitor, Mouton, to the
house No. Is Passage de Mazarin, where they
found the sicur Francois Bastoul awaiting
them outside the door of this room. Bastoul
assured them that the door had been un-
| opened previous to their arrival. On open
ing the door, they found the dead body of
Meis5,cr lying close by his writing chair, as
il he had fallen from il on being struck The
body was cold and rigid. Beside it was found
a dagger Of foreign manufacture. stained
! with blood, and a wrist-stud of ivory,
with tho initial G. on it. These articles
were now ct the Morgue. Had ex-
amined tho various lock-fast places in
| the room. Nearly all Of these were open; one
or two had their locks forced; the most had
apparently been opened by their proper keys,
| bunch of which was found hanging in one
Of the locks. Most of the drawers, strong
boxes, etc, bore evidence of having been ran
saC.fed to the bottom; but if any valuables
| had been removed, treasure to q very large
amount had been left behind. He. the superin-
tendent, had drawn up an inventory of articles
| of value found in the several lQck-faSt places
before sealing up these recsptacles This in
ventory comprised drafts to q largc amount
Oh the Bank of France and tho Credit Lyon
n2is; rentes, three and five per cents; the
titles of real estate in Paris Amiens and Pro-
wins; railway and mining script; number of
gold watches, articles Of jewelry, and precious
stones cut and uncut; and sums of lnoney in
French and foreign gold, estimated at not
less than $1,000 francs. This inventory Su-
perintendent Ledru handed in to the Judge Of
instruction, together with sealed parcel
containing the books and papers of the mur-
dered man.
The officers Lambert and Regnaud corrob-
GRATED the testimony of their chief as to the
finding of the body. Both agreed in the opin-
ion that Meissner had been stabbed while
sitting at his writing table, and had then
bert stated further that, having been ordered
TO examine the cabinet or small bed-closct off
the sitting-room, he had found the window
wide open; also that the marks of muddy
boots could be traced on the floors of both
rooms.
Dr. Cosse stated thai, lat the request of Super
intendent of Police Ledll, he had visited this
place last night, and made an examination of
the corpse of Joseph Meissner. Death had
resulted from stab under the right shoulder
blade, which had perforated tho lung and
caused copious hemorrhage. The rush Of
blood to the mouth would doubtless choke
the unfortunate man, and prevent his utter
ing any cry. Death, if not instantaneous,
would Immediately follow the inliction of
the wound. Had been shown the foreign
looking dagger found beside the corpse. and
had satisfied himself that with this weapon.
and no other, the mortal blow must
have been struck. The blade of the dagger
was three-edged, exactly fitting the orifice in
the clothes and in the body of tho deceased.
lnterrogateG as to the hour when he had seen
the corpse, DR.. Cosse stated that lie had ar
rived on the spot at about Sis O'Clock.
Asked as to whether he could form an opinion
as to the time when the murder had been
committed, replied that, from the appear
ance of the body, he should suppose life to
have been extinct for at least 12 hours. The
fact that the blood from the wound had COM
pletely soaked into the wood of the floor
made "A hours still more likely period.
DR.. A. de Bourbon, surgeon at the Hotel
Dieu, concurred in the evidence of Dr. Cosse.
The fatal wound had certainly been dealt
with the dagger found beside the corpse. It
was flesh wound, inflicted at distance of
an inch and half below tho right clavicle,
and avoiding all contact with tho dorsal
vertebra- Death from such wound, in the
case of an old man like the deceased, would
probably ensue in about five minutes time.
From the appearance of the body and the
coagulated blood, had little hesitation in say
ing that the wound had been inflicted late on
Monday night or early on Tuesday morning.
The janitor, Mouton, recalled and re-
examined, answered as follows:
Q. Your room opens from the passage leaG-
ing into the courtyard Of this house?
A. Yes.
@. Your room has glazed doora
A. Yes
=. So that one can see, from the janitIs's
room, every person who enters the courty ard
from the Passage de Maarin, or vice versa?
A. Yes, if one is looking out
Q. Naturally. You have already stated
that Meissner's habit was to return home
punctually at nine o'clock Did you observe
him pass your door at that hour Monday
night?
A. He came into the room on Monday night
at that hour to take his key and his candle
before going upstairs.
Q. As all your tenants are in the habit Of
doinga
A. Certainly.
@. And this was the last occasion on which
you saw Joseph Meissner alve2
A. The last
@. Now, can you tell me with any certainty
what persons passed your door going into the
court between nine and ten o'clocks
A. am certain that no one passed between
nine and half-past nine excepting M Stanis.
las. -.
@. And who is M. Stanislas?
A. One Of the tenants on the fourth floor. He
came in about quarter-past nine, took bis
key and wished me goodnight.
@. And you are certain no one else passed
up to half-past nines
A. Perfectly certain.
@. Why do you say hal-past nine?
A. Because at that hour went out.
@. Wheres
A. First to the shoemaker's Ruo de Biche,
to fetch O pair of boots belonging to one Of
the tenants. Then to the wine-shop at the
corner of the Rue st. Andre, kept by M.
Bastoul, where met two of my friends with