The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-08-31
IRON, the Neip York sun,

HTOnt
A month ago there appeared in the Sun
"a paragraph stating that "the Marchioness
nf Varela has been murdered In a sensa-
toual manner in Madrid. Neighbors heard
cries and groans coming from her fiat in q
house in the center of the city, but some
time elapsed before the police were sum-
noned. They found the countess lying
dead. with several stalls on her face and
neck, and with her skirts on fire and her
legs badly burned. The assassin had
poured petroleum on her clothing and set
II on fire. IN the kitchen was the servant
girl bound, but unhurt, and large bull
dog. The servant said that the assassin
had knocked her down and stunned her.
The dead woman's jewelry was upon her
rersoH, and no money or valuable papers
were missing"
The sensational features of the murder
itself havc just faded into insigniflcance
beside the developments which have come
out of the police Investigations into the
pffair. 1t has been discovered and proven
almost beyond doubt that the murder was
committed by the woman's own son. and
that that son was, at the time when the
crime was committed, serving a term in the
penltentiary at Madrid, au institution in
the past regarded as the best administered
prison in Spain, and kept directly under the
inspection of the department of justice of
the Spanish government.
When the police discovered the body of
the murdered woman, the bulldog in the
kitchen showed signs of having been drug
ged, but the servant lay coolly by its side
and protested that she had heard no noise,
smelled no smoke, and knew nothing of the
affair. Subsequently she claimed to have
been knocked down by the assassin She
was put under arrest, and promptly began
to confess The ability she showed in CON
Tossing was something remarkable At
various times she incriminated three women
and five men, all of whom were arrested.
Over 100 witnesses were examined and 5000
pages of testimony were taken on the foun-
nation of her various and varying tales. A
relracton went with every confession. and
the police were puzzled by her lying.
The murdered countess was a woman of
about 55 years of age, who had inherited a
good deal of property in Cuba and Spain.
She was a widow, with only one child, a
son, Jose, "a years old. She lived in good
style on the second floor of the building at
100 Gale de Fuencarral Higinia Balaguer,
the servant, was the only other member of
her family. The son had given her much
annoyance and trouble, leading a wild
and dissipated life. He came to her only
when he wanted money, and his visits were
the occasion OF violent disputes, in which
several times he went so far as to strike
her. ~. The neighbors were disturbed by
these quarrels, and once he was arrested
and prosecuted for an assault upon his
mother but she refused to give any testi-
Inony against him i'll court, and he escaped
Two months before his mothers murder he
was sentenced to three months imprison-
ment for some petty offense. When the
prison officials told him of his mothers
death, he showed little concern, but ordered
that no expense was to be spared for the
funeral He declared that the servant
must have been either a witness or an actual
accomplice to the crime, but leyond that
said that he could not imagine who had
done the deed.
When the case had, from police point
of view, got into an apparently hopeless
muddle through the remarkable series of
confessions and retractions made by the
servant, she one day gave out a story more
remarkable and more startling than all the
rest put together, but to which she stuck
with extraordinary tenacity giving the
most minute and plausible details. She de-
clared that the son of the murdered woman,
then serving his term in the Madrid prison,
was the murderer. When she was brought
up and confronted with Varela she reiter-
ated the story, and said that he had stolen a
quantity of bank notes from his mothers
room after the murder, ana had
threatened her with death if she did not
accept ], 900 pesetas as the first installment
for payment for her silence. The murderer,
she said, had two accomplices. They sent her
ht1xy tIex hs.v
to burn the body after they had left the
house. She further declared that her first
statements and confessions had been die
tated to her by the governor of the prison,
he wishing to conceal the facts of the crime
to protect himself from the penalty for
having let Fareia out on the occasion of
the murder and at previous times. The
governor was at once arrested, and although
set at liberty after five days detention, was
removed from his Office, and has now again
been placed under arrest.
Great efforts were made by the governor
and his friends to hush up toe affair, and
they succeeded in creating a considerable
public sentiment in their favor. The gov
ernor himself, with almost all the prison Off
Gals and many prisoners, were found ready
to swear that Varela had not left his cell
on the night of the murder or on any other
occasion. The investigation was continued,
however, and persons soon came forward to
swear that they bad seen Varela in the bull
ring, at cafes, and in the street on number
of occasions after he was sent to prison.
At last one of the prison officials
turned informer and told the judge all he
knew. 1t then was discovered that not only
Varela, but other prisoners, went in and
out of the Jail by day and night, in disguise
or in plain clothes, by the ordinary door or
by side door. Varela had been out all the
afternoon and night of the murder, and re-
turned to the prison at o'clock the next
morning, half druok, although his compan-
ion had been one of the prison officials 1t
was also learned that the half-drunken
Varela had told fellow prisoner that the
countess, his mother, was badly hurt and
not likely to live long. The same night he
told another person i'll the prison that he
had been crazy enough to kill his mother.
Varela and the other prisoners suspected
of being his accomplices have been trans
ferred to cells of close confinement, and be-
sides the ex-governor the seven keepers and
officials on duty on the night of the murder
have been placed under arrest. The servant
and two friends of hers, suspected of hav-
ing taken an active part in the murder, are
in the prison.
Reports from Madrid say that the case
has excited more interest than any previous
criminal case in the history Of the nation,
and it is still so obscure and full of conflict
ing testimony that it is expected that the
trial will be long and exciting affair. 1t
will probably take place this fall. Nearly
all the leading Spanish papers, it is said,
have appointed special counsel to watch the
case for them.
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