St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-02-21
He Pushed His Wife or a
Mountain Preeipiee in the
Summer Of 1875.
Remarkable Life OF Crime
Led by an English Bar
riSter.
A Blood-Curdling Story Most
Intensely Realistic and
Revolving.
Philadelphia Telegraph.

realistic and revolving than the GRIM
inal life-stOry of Henry de Tourville,
whose death has just been announced in
the London papers. de was confined
in the Jail at Karlau, Syria, for the
murder of his wife, having been SEN
fenced some years back to life impris-
onment by the Austrian courts. He
fell prey to influenza and died Jan.
81. at about the age of fifty-three.
Henry Perreau. otherwise called De
TonrviIle, was a Frenchman by birth
and all Engiisbman by naturalization.
Until the age of thirty he seems to have
been engaged in the office of a notary
at Valenciennes, but he afterward went
to England and was called to the bar.
He was a man of some accomplish
ments, as he showed at the trial for his
crime, which was held at BOtZen, in
Austria, in June, 1877, by f1uently de-
Tending himself in French, Italian and
English. His accusers tried to show
that the murder in the Tyrol had. not
been the first of his crimes.
The mother of his first wife,
it seems, met her death in
very curious way, loaded re.
vOlver going off and killing her while he
was explaining the mechanism of the
lie murdered her III order to secure for
himself the command of her daughters
fortune. The death of his first wife
lett De TOuryllle possessed, it is said, of
some $50 year; and he next married
a widow who had considerable amount
OF property. He is stated to have been
very anxious to see her will before the
wedding day. but she told one of her
friends that she would rather give him
up" than
SATISFY HIS CURIOSITY.
Nevertheless she SO settled her affairs
that, in the event of her death. he
would get, according to her solicitors,
some E40,00J.
He came to Spending, In the Tyrol,
on the 18th of July, 1876, with Nine. de
TOurville and her maid. Next day he
and his wife proceeded in carriage to-
ward the Stelvio pass, after lntimating
that the maid should remain behind.
Finding in the afternoon that it was too
late to reach the pass, he determined to
return. Leaving the driver, he and his
wife walked back toward place called
1rafoi. The poor woman was never
more seen alive. Three-quarters of an
hour after he had quilted the coachman
he walked into Trafoi at his usual pace,
and not at all excited. Remarking that
lt lClb llJl. llG Cdllcu lOT grass vi WlIIe.
Being asked by the people of the place
where his wife was, he replied, with
out any sign of anxiety or SORROW" that
sine had fallen and hurt herself badly,
pointing as he spoke to his temples. His
manner was such as TO make the by
ISLANDERS believe that she was but slight
ly hurt.
In reply to question, he meanwhile
told the coachman to take two or three
persons to search for Nine. de Tour
vile, and said that he himself would
follow. They soon came upon the traces
of the poor woman. A few yards down
bank Of stones they found straw hat
and vest, with stone lying upon them.
vile, when it was shown him, coolly OBJ
served that it was his wife'S. Other
articles of dress were discovered fur
Their down, and at the very bottom of
the precipice lay
THE LIFELESS BODY.
1t was terribly disfgured with wounds
on the forehead. When the men as
cended to the road and told the tale Of
the discovery to De Tourvilie, who was
walking up and down, he replied:
dead? indeed!" and he then offered
them first 100 tlorins. and then 200. if
they would bring up the body. But by
cited, and the inspector declined to let
it be moved. Nor would they allow him
to go back to the place whence he had
set out in the morning until they had
searched him.
His accounts Of the calamity were
various and conflicting. To his wife's
maid he declared that the unfortunate
lady had rolled down the precipice
when asmirlhg the scenery. To the
landlady of an inn he said that, being
self-willed, she had insisted on walk
ing, and that, knocking her foot against
a stone, she had fallen over the size of
the road. An officer of gendarmerie
was informed that she was subject to
giddiness, and that at a moment when
her husband was a few steps behind
her, she slipped and fell down some dis
lance. On going down to the spot he
found her leaning against tree, shaken
and bleeding little on the forehead, but
otherwise not much hurt. Leaving her,
he went back to fetch the carriage.
In his formal deposition he gave a
much more elaborate account of the
catastrophe, and this time he deliber-
ately accused her of having committed
suicide. While she was walking along
the road before him she suddenly, he
said, fell headforemost and rolled down
grassy slope. She fell from about the
height of the first story of a house, and.
eff she had not had so much false hair
she would have killed herself then"
Making his way down to her with
difficulty, he found her slightly
injured. and, after reproducing
her with want of prudence. led her
back to the road. Soon afterwards she
leant against one OF the posts on the
roadside, and while he was looking
md IN h.
help, he suddenly heard the noise of
rolling stones behind him, and pres
emily he saw his wife falling uown the
bank. Again he went down and
helped her up. but this time
he bitterly reproached. her for
attempting to destroy herself, and she
made no reply. He then went to seek
for help. after making her swear that
she would remain wi ere she was until
his return. In his absence, he MAIN
tanned. she again flung herself down the
precipice. and, if he seemed Indifferent
when he heard that she was dead, it
was because he was suffering from dis
ease of the heart, which forbade him to
indulge in
THE LUXURY OF EMOTION.
Not only was the prisoners story con-
tradicted by his other statements, but it
Was udSfdHIly iilcOllSIStoilt WIFI MS De-
haviOr on the evening when his wife
was killed; and, in the opinion of the
commission which examined the body,
the nature of the wounds and the aD-
pearance of the scattered articles
of dress refuted the statement that she
had committed suicide. Unbiased wit
nesses declared that she was in cheer
full state before her death. Nay, hear
ing that her husband had said she
would commit suicide if he left her, she
wrote to a friend: ''If you hear of my
death, you may be sure that have been
murdered"
The jury declared. by eleven votes to
one, on July 1. 1877, that they believed
she was murdered, and the evidence
supported the verdict. Not the least
strange part Of this extraordinary case
was the way in which De Tourville was
brought to justice. The court that