, 1886-12-30
A JUDICIAL MURDER.

self-a handsome woman, fond OF dress ana
amusement. And by her he had Il daugh-
ter, whom the vain mother did her best to
spoil.
Every year Lampcrt went TO the Leipsic
fair ON business, and in the year 1870 he
resolved, rs usual, to attend the fair.
On the evening before he was about to
start he called his wife into their common
bedchamber, and asked her TO assist hun
in counting his money, which he kept in
"A strong iron double locked Golfer beneath
his bed.
He always carried his keys about with
him, never laying them aside. His wife at
his summons anne with "A candle into the
room. and he unlocked the chest in her pres
ence. and brought out his money to the
table, where he purposed counting it and
taking from it the sum necessary for his
travelling expenses and for the purchases hs
intended making at the Leipsic fair.
The box contained a large purse Of leather,
wrapped round with cord and sealed with
his own signet. The coin it contained con
sisted Of French pistolcs with the exception
of six Dutch ducats.
I%anpert found tho lock untampere1 with
and the leather purse rs he had left it.
bound with the string and with his seal un-
broken-in n word, all was in the condi-
ton in which he had left it, except the CON
tent, Of the purse. As he counted tho money
IN the presence of Ills wife, twelve pistolcs
and one OF the six ducats Were missing.
This discovery filled him and his wife with
dismay. They counted tho money again,
they searched every corner Of the box,
turned the bag inside out, but could not
discover the SMALLEST trace of the missing
coins. Lampert had written IA ticket Of
the amount, when he had inclosed IL in tho
bag, before he sealed it up. How had the
money been distracted without breaking
tho seals and getting the keys from the mer-
chant
The room occupied by Lampert and his
wife was so situated that no stranger could
have entered it unobserved during tho day,
and it was quite certain that no robbers had
broken In during the night.
When the couple had recovered from their
first nstonishment they considered who
could have done the deed, and they could
think of no one at all likely TO be guilty OF
the theft, except their h%ousemnid. Marie
Keller, Il young woman of *.
The merchant at once summoned her to
the room and charged her with having
stolen the money. He promised her if she
would confess and make restitution that he
would forgive her, md though he would dis
miss her from his service he would hush
the matter up. The girl trembled and
nearly tainted, but protested her limo
cencc, and so resolutely refused to allow
her guilt that Lampert and his vito insisted
on examining her bedroom. They made
her lead the way with a candle and stand in
the middle of the room while her master
and mistress explored every corner, her
boxes, hdr bed, her drnwers-in n word,
every hiding place where she could have
slowed away the missing coins.
III. ...r,h l.I l..taI .,,. ,t,... ,,ttl,,t
producing any result, when Frau Lampert,
feeling in the pocket of an old ragged dress
that lay on the floor, drew forth one Of the
Dutch ducats. When this was discovered
Marie Keller burst into tears, and with vo-
hemence reasserted her innocence. She fell
on her knees before her master and mistress,
vowed that she had not taken any coin
from their Golfer, and declared her inabil-
fly to account for the ducat having been
found in her pocket in any other way than
by supposing some malevolent person had
put it there to inculpate her, when she was
MS g~uiltless as IA newborn child Her pro-
tests were coldly listened TO md disrcgarded.
The evidence of the ducat in her pocket
seemed conclusive to Lampcrt that she and
no stranger had robbed him.
According to Prussian law at The time,
those guilty Of theft were hanged if the
value Of the articles stolen amounte to i've
thalers-or fifteen shillings-nnd the thief
was more than X years old.
Lampcrt seems to nave been Il hard man.
He was very angry at the loss of his money,
and especially inccnsed ut Marie's obstinacy
in denying having taken it. He told his
wife that he would communicate with the
police, hive the girl arrested, and that he
would let her suffer the consequences.
Frau l%lunpcrt urged him to DO merciful
Let him pardon this first error in the poor
girls conduct, dismiss her and try to forget
his loss. But Lampert would not be paciiied.
Then she urged that the law was cruelty
severe, and that the sum Of money lost was
not one 30 great but that LnInpcrt would
scarcely feel il, and that he would be Ger
tain. later, 20 regret his h%nrslness in giving
over to death II girl who had yielded to a
first temptation, and had taken a compare
lively Insignificant sum Of money.
He knew that it was possible to closely
reproduce a signet with bread, but this re-
quuires considerable time. Thu bread must
be we'll worked, the impression taken
while the bread is soft; then 1t must be al
lowed some days in which to harden. This
involved a doubleo opening of his chest, once
TO take the cast of the seal and again to
steal the money and rcseal the bag. But
how had Marie got hold of his keys That
was impossible. II, however, She could
take the impress OF his seal, she could take
also that Of the lock. SO, he reasoned, the
had been committed, but this
means adopted showed that the girl was
ndroit in the art, and that in all probability
she belonged to a gang of thieves. This
suspicion was corroborated by the fact that
none of the money WINS recovered except ono
ducat. The rest she had passed into the
hands OF her confederates.
Inmpert, having turned a deaf ear to his
wifes circumstances, went to tho magis-
trate, obtained an order for the arrest Of
Marie Keller, and II few hour later she was
thrown into prison.
No sooner was this lone than Frau am
pert sent to Mario's mother, n poor woman
living in Berlin, and requested that she
would come to her. The poor woman was
in great trouble; she could not believe in
her daughters guilt, but vas unable to
guess who was the thief. Frau Lampert
told her that the girl had been n good SER
want, and had never hitherto given her nm
occasion to mistrust her; she added that tho
girl Marie made a great mistake in refusing
to acknowledge her crime, and promised to
give the mother the missing sum OF money
il Marie would confess her guilt, and refund
Lampert through the mother.
Tho old woman accepted the offer and
went TO Lampcrt. She told him that she
was heart broken at the thought that Marie
had robbed him; she offered him the money
which, she said, her daughter had conidcd
to her, and then implored him to have
mercy and withdraw from tho prosecution
OF tho charge.
But Lampert WIS still not to he shaken.
He had now got this additional proof
!. AT..H.. SHIT 49, 5000 -t I 10
tho stolen coils and ht ut once visited the
examining judge and requested him 10
hear the confession OF Tho l%auiier. In
GermRny the examining judge holds . posi-