Los Angeles herald., 1892-03-06
ROMEO AND JULIET.
TIE OLD, OLD STORY REToLD WITH
MODERN ACCESSORIES

n Young Lieutenant Shot and Killed by
the Brother of tho Girl He Loved-The
Girl Goes lnsane-The Murderer Sem
senced to Prison for Five Years.
In the criminal court of Naples the
Btcry of Romeo and Juliet in modern
life was told recently Lieutenant
Leone, of the Tenth regiment OF artil
lery, while stationed in Palermo, fell
desperately in love with Catherine No
karbartolo de Villarosa. a beautiful
young woman. The Notarbartolo fam
lily is among the most powerful in Sicily
where good deal of the old feudal sys
tam fourishes in spite of the Italian
unity. Donna Maria Bentiragna. Widow
Notarbartolo and the mother of the
young woman, had brother executed
IN 1859 for political offenses, and she
was banished, but she returned to Sicily
with Garibaldi. Although she is sixty
-four years of age she administers the
rich patrimony of her family The
beautiful Catherine was her youngest
child.
The question before the court was
whether the young officer committed
suicide or was murdered by the brother
of the young girl. His body was found
mt the door of the Notarbartolo mansion.
He had been shot through the heart
and pistol was found at his feet The
evidence for the prosecution was that
ne had been called into the house by
GATHERINGS old nurse Calogera Tinni-
relic, and that GATHERINGS brothers. who
were his sworn enemies. had waited for
him at the entrance and had shot him.
francesca Notarbartolo who was ac-
cused of having organized the plot. had
previously fought duel with the lover
1t was one sided fight, however. in
which all the fury was with Notarbar-
tolo Leone, who was an expert swords
man, foiled all his desperate attacks, and
allowed himself to be wounded rather
than run the risk of killing the brother
of his iadylove. francesca was also
the recognized chief of the Malta society
in Palermo. Eleven times he was on
the point of being arrested, but on each
occasion he was saved by the Malta. and
at one time he was concealed in the
house of near relative of the chief of
police
The trial of the case extended through
two years in Palermo. and then the
venue was changed to Naples, where it
lasted for eighty days. Love letters in
abundance from Leone to Catherine
and from Catherine to Leone We're read
In which the tender passion was painted
with all the high coloring peculiar to the
Italian school, The brothers Notarbar
tolo did not deny anything of the love
affair between their sister Catherine and
the young officer; they simply confined
themselves to denial of the charge OF
murder. One of them. Pietro. declared
in his examination that Leone was COM
pletely unknown to him when he re-
ceived the following note:
SIR-l love your sister Catherine Pronounce
The last word. Ii it should be No" give you
my word that shall abide by it and insist no
longer
In describing the effect of the letter
Pietro said: II spoke of that letter to
my mother who said, The young man
is crazy. The marriage is impossible.
informed Lieutenant Leone of this decis-
ion and advised him to postpone as far as
possible the stupid notion of getting
married We parted on the best OF
terms. A few days afterward while we
were at dinner, we heard a pistol shot
outside the door We came down and
found Leone dead at the door He had
gust sent bullet through his breast.
1.-THE medical reports seem to estab-
ish that Leone did not kill himself. but
was murdered the president of the
court remarked.
ION the contrary" Pietro responded
He shot himself in the heart. Lovers
always shoot themselves in the heart
and bankers always shoot themselves in
the head. Whether it is the heart or
tho brain. it is always the affected part
that they aim at
The old nurse, who carried the letters
of the lovers, denied that she ind uced
Leone to come to the house.
The deposition of Leone, Sr.. the father
of the young man, was particularly dra-
matte. He said: When learned that
my son was in love with one Of the No
farbartolo young ladies knew that it
was all over with him. All the lovers Of
the young ladies were killed by the
brothers Notarbartolo Francesca killed
Boccardo and his brother-in-law Cop
pola."
''If l struck down Coppola, the ac-
cused francesca interrupted, lit was be-
cause he began to court my sister Con
stance. and then deserted her to make
love to my sister Maria And now poor
Constance is crazy from love-
"You are also accused of having killed
Lieutenant Leone Why did you run
away after the tragedy" the president
asked.
because knew that would be sus-
pected- have already been in prison
for beating policemen, and know what
it is to be shut up in four walls
Other witnesses gave the details of the
duel, in which Leone was kind enough
to allow himself to be wounded by the
brother of his expected bride. Letters
were then produced to show that when
the broken hearted lovers We're parted
by the orders of the proud old woman
and of the terrible brothers, who sus-
tained her decision, Leone for a time ac-
cepted his fate, but on receiving a burn
ing and fearful document from Cathe-
rine, begging him to continue his suit
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