St. Paul daily globe., 1893-05-22
A MAN WHO SHOT FOUR.
Count Gonsalve 8Eontesque Dies at
a Sanitarium Near Paris,
France, April %.
His Awful Deed Which Was Com
mitted Near st. Louis Forty
Three Years Ago.

Count Gonsalve Montesque died at a
sanitarium near here yesterday. He
was the man who forty years ago shot
four men in ST. Louis, Mo-, and was ac-
quilted on the ground of insanity, says
Paris correspondent Of the Post-Dis-
patch.
The news of Count Montesque's death
recalls one of the most sensational
criminal trials in the annals of the city.
Hundreds of the st. Louisans are living
today who remember the handsome
young count and his brother. Raymond
Montesque. who visited this country in
1S49, and were feted and dined in all the
leading cities of the country.
st. Louis being pre-eminently a
French city in those days, the advent of
the count and his brother created quite
a furore in social circles.
1t appears, however, that the two
gentlemen arrived in the city on the
evening of Oct. 27, rather unexpectedly.
and upon giving orders to the coach
man to drive h,n to the best hotel,
were taken to lne old City hotel. which
was located at the corner Of Third and
Vine streets.
Theron Barnum was the proprietor.
and his nephew, Kirby Barnum, was
the clerk and assistant manager.
The two aristocratic young French
men were unknown, and, it appears.
were assigned rooms which did not alto
gether meet with their appreciation.
They expressed themselves to this
effect in no very complimentary terms
to Kirby Barnum. who was equally
frank in paying his respects to the un-
known French count and his brothe :;
For the next two days the Frenchmen
were handsomely entertained, and their
names were mentioned everywhere in
social and commercial circles.
On the night of Oct. 20 Kirby Barnum
retired to bed about midnight, and
shortly thereafter the occupants OF
rooms OH the second floor were startled
by hearing a pistol shot which appeared
to emaDate from his rooms.
A EIan Staggered Out.
H. nj. Henderson and Capt. W. d.
Hubbell, who occupied room together
on the same floor, hastily jumped from
their beds and upon opening the door
saw a figure stagger from the room
usually occupied by Mr.. Barnum and
fall heavily on his face in the hallway.
At almost the same instant they saw
the flash of a revolver and second per-
son fell from the door of an adjoining
ROOM
Before they could recover from this
unexpected sight they suddenly found
themselves confronted by a man who
fired a shot at each in rapid succession,
wounding them and throwing them both
to the floor.
Ntax cfor N
the hotel, and guests rushed from all
quarters to ascertain the cause of the
shooting and apparently wholesale
slaughter.
they found Kirby Barnum fatally
wounded, William Albert Jones dead
and two other gentlemen stunned from
flesh wounds Ill the body.
There appeared for while to be no
cleW to the perpetrator or perpetrators
of the crime. but pistol found in the
rooms of Count Montesque and his
brother led to the indictment of the two
brothers.
The Counts Trial.
The most eminent attorneys IN the
city were engaged in the case, and after
a long and tedious trial, so conflicting
was the evidence that the jury failed to
agree.
A second trial followed soon there
after, and when it was apparent that
one or both of the brothers would be
convicted, Count Gonsalve Montesque
startled the court. jury and spectators
by rising from his seat and stepping
slowly in front OF the counsel table.
Clasping his hands above his head, he
looked toward the ceiling of the court
room.
Then pushing his left hand through
his hair and pointing wildly at his
brother with the other, he exclaimed:
HE is innocent. L alone am guilty;
but God made me do 1t. | could not
help it,
His wild air and demeanor we're such
that he was seized and forced back into
his seat.
The trial progressed, but the impress
sion made on the jury was such that
when the case was given to them they
returned verdict of acquittal in both
cases. that of the counts being on the
ground of insanity, and his brothers on
the ground that he was entirely inno-
cent. Both of them left the country
shortly afterward and were lost in OBJ
scurity in their native land until the re-
ceipt of the above cablegram revived
the sensational features to their visit to
st, Louis.