New-York tribune., 1886-05-16

to give the alarm When the lady left him, aiter
about ten minutes or quarter OF an hour, no sar az
that smoke ceased to issue from the chimney; lie
accordingly went his way without giving hotico VI
tho smoke. -, .
! So far every piece of evidence went to show that
the Countess had been murdered Tho conclusion
| now arrived at was this: she had been struck on
the head. chased from room to room bleeding, had
been caught. strangled. then thrust INTO the hre
c..amber of the stove over a fire which only half
consumed her: taken out again ana lald oelore ono
secrctare and the secretaire deliberately set nre
| to and all tho bood-marks Obliterated by bre.
| That something OF this kind had taken place was
evident. Who had done it was not so clear. ne ne
efforts of the Count clear himself had estapl,set
| the fact that his wife was murdered but dld not
| establish his innocence. SuddenlyIthe case
assumed a new aspect through an incident wholly
unexpected and extraordinary.
|
III
We have already described the writing-desl Of
| the Countess. There were drawers below the uap
| and other smaller drawers concealed by it whch
closed In the su aller drawers she Kept her letters
her bills, her vouchers for investments ana her
iowerv. Among the latter was the pearl am, and
| diamond necklace, which she desired by her VIII
might he sold and the money given to charitable
| institution. The necklace was indeed discovered
seriously injured; but what had become OF er her
| bracelets brooches. rings her other necklets, her
| earTings' She had also cham OF pearls, whicn
was nowhere to he found. All these articles were
gone No trace of them had been found In the
cnde,s under the secretare moreover, the drawers
| IN which she preserved them were not among those
burned through. In the first excitement and
|
not obscI we'd the loss and the magistrates had not
| thought to inquire whether any robbery had been
committed. very important tact % was ,tS now 'S ae
| murdered, probably for the sake OF her jewels.
| Consequently the murderer was not likely to be
| the Count. So
When the case was re-opened, at Count GOerlitz's
! repeated demand an " Inquirent" was appointed
| by the Count to examine the case-that 49, an
| official investigator of all the circumstances; and
| on November ., 1s47, in the morning, notice was
given to the Count that the /" lnquirent" would
visit his mansion on the morrow, and examine both
| the scene of the murGcr and the servants The
| Count at once convoked his domestcs and bade
them be in the house next day. ready for exaTina-
tion. That same afternoon the COOK Margaret
Evrich by name, engaged in tine kitchen
preparing dinner for the master. who dined at p.
m. At 9 o'clock the scrvant-man, John Stauif,
came into the kitchen ana told the cook that her
master wanted fire lit in one of tho upper rooms.
She refused to go because she was busy Mt the
stove. Stauh remained "a quarter of an hour there
talking to her. Then he said it was high time for
him to lay the table for dinner, a remark to which
she gave an assent wondering IN her own mind
why he had delayed SO long. lie took Up a soup
dish remarked that Ii was not quite clean. and
asked her to wash it, She then engaged on
some sauce over the fire.
"I Mil wash it. if YOU will stir the sauce" she
said. "If | leave the pan, the sauce will bc
burned
the sink. While thus engaged she turned her head,
and was surprised to see that Staul had small
phla III his hand. and was pouring its contents
iuto the sauce She asked him what he was about;
he denied having done anything, and the woman.
with great prudence. said nothing further so as
not to let him think that her suspicious were
aroused. Directly. however, that he had left the
kitchen. she examined the sauce. sa~ II was
discoorel, and on irving it. that the taste was
unpea.aut. She called IN the cOachman and tho
housekcepcr On consultation they decided that
this matter mu,t be further Investigated. The
hcusekeeper took charge of the sluce, and carried
il 20 DR.. Stegmayer the family physician. who at
once said that yerdlgrs had been mixed with il,
and desired hat the police should be communicated
WITH THIS done; the sauce was analyzed.
md tO q Is u
verdigrs. enough to poison man. Ihereupon
stanh wa arrested.
the life of The Count on the day on which he had
ANNOUNCED that au official inquiry into the murder
was TO be made n Ills house ahd among his
d0mes.c'. Sanh. then. was apparently desrou'
of Pattng the Count out OF the WAY before that
inquiry was made At this very time 4 terrible
TRAGEDY hlu occurred in France. and in all the
p5pers The Duke of Praslin had murdered his
wife, and when he was about 10 he arrested the !
Duke had poisoned himself: Did Staui wish that |
the Count should he found poisoned that night in /
order that the public might come 10 the conclusion
he had committed suicide to escape arrestf 1t
would seem So
John Staull's arrest took place Oh November g. |
1917, four months and half after The death OF the
Countess. He was, however, only arrested on 4
charge OF attempting t. poison the Count. AMI the |
moi brought against him till August -, Isis. !
The bodv of tbe mn rfered woman # Will be euem-
bered. was not eXhumed and examined till August |
II, 1s1S--cigt months after the rc-openng of the |
Investigation 1t is really wonderful that the mys-
actcr Satisfactorily Vindlcated. it'll such dllatOri
ness of proceeding one more instance Of the stupid
way in which the whole thing was managed.
a though John StaU1 was CHARGED with the |
attempt - poison November - - Il. ne was |
not questioned on the charge till January 10, 1919,
that ls till he had been fourteen months in prison.
1t will be remembered that the belrope in the
COunteSss Daror was torn down. 10 would
suggest Itself 10 the mcancst capacity that here
was point of departure for inquiry. If tine bell
had been torn down. II must have peaed It's sum
mons Tor help through the house Who was in the
house AT the time If any one was, why did he not
answer the appeal
In the house lived the Count and Countess. the
cook, who also acted chambermaid to the
Countess schiller the valet to the Count Schambs
mln. john Stauff OF these Schiller and Schambs
did not sleep in the honsc. June l3, the day of the
murder. was Sunday. The Count went rs usual
10 the grand-ducal palace in his cOach N 3 p. M
The coachman drove him; Stauti sat on the box
beside the cOachman. They left the Count ut the
palace and returned home They ordered 10
return 10 the palace to fetch him at s y. m On
Sundays. the Count usually spent his day in his
own sdltr of apartments. and the Countess in hers
stairs 10 her husband with bundle of coupons
which she wanted him to cash for her ON the
morrow. He managed her fortune Tor her. The
sum was small. oniy $50. At p ~. she went to
the kitchen to tell the cook She might 20 out Tor
the afternoon. as she would not be wanted. but
that she must return by p
At 3 o'clock the cook left. The cook saw and
spoke to her as she left. The Countess was then
partially uudrcssed. and the cook supposed she was
the Counts valet, and spoke with her She
was then upstairs in the laundry arranging TIE
linen for the mange. She then in her morning
cotton dress. COnsc luently she had not dressed
herself To 20 out rs the cook supposed. At the
same time the carriage lott the conrt of the hOnse
for the palace That the last seen of her alive
except by John Stautf and. # he was not the muir
derer by one other Abont a quarter past 3 the
coach returned with Schambs and Staui on the
box. The Count had been left at the palace 1he
coachman took out his horses. without unnarness-
ing them and left for MS own house. at balfpast g.
to remain there till o'clock. when he must return
put the horses in and drive back 10 the palace to
fetch the Count. y quarter of an hour after the
cOachman left, Schiller went out for a walk with |
his little boy.
Consequently none in the hDuse but the
Countess and Stauf, and Stauii knew that the
house was clear till o'clock, when Schambs |
would return to the stables What happened