The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1891-02-04
MICHAEL EYRAUD.
The Stranger of Goufe Guillo.
tined in Paris.
HE MET HIS FATE WITH FORTTTUDE
AND RESIGNATION.
Up to the Last He Refused Either to
Pray OF Receive Religious Consola-
tion-The Body Turned over to
Relatives and Friends-Brief History
of the Crime for Which He Suffered
Death.
Special to the REcoRD-uN1ox.

|
murderer Of notary 3. Goutfe, was guillo-
| tined at 7:20 this morning.
Eyraud met his fate with fortitude and
| resignation. When the Governor of the
Ifison La Roquette and the prison Chap
Itln, L,Apbe Eaure, were ushered into
ityraud's cell short time previous to the
nour fixed for the condemned mans ex-
ecutlon. they found he was already up
and dressed, evidently forewarned, con-
trary to rules, by some kind-hearted Of
| fetal.
Eyraud declined a glass of cognac which
was rendered him, and in spite of the
earnest solicitation of Liable Eaure, the
murderer positively, even agrily, refused
to listen to the priests PRAYERS, to pray
himself. or to have any religious rites per-
formed in his behalf.
EYRAUD FIRM TO THE LAST,
Eyraud's iron will was not shaken
/ even III the presence of death, and he con-
| tinued patiently to refuse RELIGIONS CON
ISOLATION while ON the death march to the
gulllotlne, Which had been erected dur
ing the night on the Place de la Roquette.
DISGUSTING SCENES.
/ The cafes near the Place de la Rouuette
were full OF carousers, male and female,
singing in maudlin lines disgusting
Eyraud whom we must have" st is his
| head which we must have" The scenes
III some OF tina cafes can be better imacs-
ined than described, but they gave the
| stranger q good idea of the nature of a
Paris mob when "blood is in the air.''
BY 5:45 all was ready. Deiblo, the exc
cutor, tested the knife, and found it was
| moving easily in the groves Outside of
the place in the direction of the boulevard
Voltalre there We're about 500 spectators,
who could hardly see anything of the
| proceedings, but who were attracted to
the spot and remained there out of sheer
morbid curiosity. In the main the
crowd particularly referred to was COM
posed OF those scoundrels who prey upon
fallen women. convicts, gambling club
crouplers OF the lowest class, and girls
| who form the dregs of society
! AT 6:45 A. NJ. the party of officials, in
company with the Governor of La
Roquette, entered the cell occupied by
Eyraud. They found Eyraud sitting
crouching on his bed, and when informed
| rejected, Eyraud replied, Every well.n
| PREPARING FOR DEATH.
| The condemned man a few minutes
afterward removed the prison uniform
which he had been wearing, and changed
! his trousers and socks, refusing all assist
ance while preparing for death. Being
asked II he had any statement to make,
Z.
| Able Faure then approached the guilty
man and offered to receive and convey to
| Eyraud's wife and daughter any mes
sage which he might wish taken to them.
To this kind offer Eyraud replied: "Tell
them | bid them adieu, and hope thew
may be happy"
| Ahbe Faure then again offered Eyraud
a glass of cognac, but he pushed it to one
side, saying: mo, that will do no good.''
Eyraud then walked with the chief
warden and jailer into the dressing room.
| he looked attentiyely at the gentlemen
there present, and did not utter word.
He then sat down while Deibler pinioned
him, and during this part of the prepara-
ton for the guillotine, Eyraud turned to
Governor and said: ''You might request
that my body should not be given to the
surgeons"
| To this request Able Faure replied
our body will be given to your fam
| ily."
Eyraud thanked the abbe, whereupon
the latter offered to embrace the murder
er's wife and child for him. Eyraud,
gaping at the faces around him, then
angrily exclaimed: 'sConstans, Minister
| of the Interior, was right. He has won
his case-now his prize. He will be to-
night with Gabrielle. What grand per-
sonage is going to decorate Gabrielle
Bompard?,
| Suddenly, as Deibler was completing
the task of pinioning, Eyraud continued:
y ou are hurting my finger" and, turn
| ing to the assistant, who was tying the
bandages, he said, impatiently, Don't
! pinch me so much.'
THE MARCH TO THE GUILLoTINE.
| Previous to commencing the march to
the scaffold, Eyraud again refused to
drink glass of cognac which was offered
| him, and was afterwards rigidly silent
until he arrived at the guillotine. Pass
| ing from the cell to the scaffold, Eyraud
scanned everything right and left, and
then fixed his eyes upon the guillotine.
Arrived at the foot of the guillotine, and
| within few feet of the block, Eyraud
eluded the eXecutioners for a moment,
and loudly and angrily shouted to the as
| semhled crowd: ''Constans is a murderer.
| He is more of murderer than / am
! Constans is"
Before he could complete the sentence
the executioners seized the murderer and
threw him upon the inclined plank of the
guillotine. Deibler pressed
THE FATAL KNOB,
And the flashing blade fell with sharp.
| sliding sound, and the head of Gouffe's
assassin rolled into a basket below.
Eyraud's body was then lifted into
wagon and driven off at q full gallop to
the cemetery, and escorted by detach-
ment of gendarmeS. Able Faure fol-
| lowed the body in cab, and after read
ing the burial service over tho remains at
| etiS tCiiictSIy, blicy NeTc TURNED over 10
| the dead mans relatives.
| Immediately after the execution men
made a wild rush towards the guillotine,
and were with difficulty repulsed by Il
strong force of mounted gardes repub-
licanes, which had been left in charge of
that instrument of execution.
STORY OF THE CRIME.
The story Of Eyrauds crime is fresh in
the minds of the people. Gabrielle Bonn
pard enticed eunsuspecting notary into
her lair, Eyrauds hand choSed the
breath out of his victims body, and the
guilty couple rified the dead mans pocl1-
cts and packed his body in a trunk,
which they finally managed to dump,
with its gruesolne contents, beside a
| country road near Lyons. Then Michael
and Gabrielle went to the United States.
They spent few days in New York
/ City, and finally drifted to the Pacific
Slope. At Portland, Or, they quarreled,
and Gabrielle found another protector, u
| Frenchman, to whom she confessed her
crime. lie took her back TO Paris and
the detectives were at last put on the
proper trail. Eyraud suspected that he
| might fall into the clutches of the law if
| he remained in the United States, and ac-
cordingly fled to Havana. where he was
eventually arrested and taken to Paris,
| where he was tried, convicted and gull