The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-12-04
EXPOSED MRS. BETTE
Correspondent Sell Admits
Everything Before the
V1Ce-ChanCellor.
UNUSUAL SCENE IN 4 DIVORCE CASE
How a Star Boarder Repaid His
Benefactor's Kindness-The
Defense BlameS Him.

The unusual spectacle of correspondents
in a divorce case going upon the stand
and confessing to everything with which
he was charged was presented to Vice
Chancellor Reed this morning in the
Court of Chancery. Robert Biesze, Of
Paterson, petitioned for a divorce from
his wife. Mary Frances, naming as core
spondent Otto SELL who was at one time
their star boarder.
The complainant testified that he mar
ried his wife November p. $780, in vtr-
ginia City, Nevada They left there in Is
and went to Newark. whence they re-
moved to Paterson in 1893. While in New
ark they made the acquaintance of
dashing young man named Otto Sell.
When they moved to Paterson Sell asked
Bietze to get him work in that city.
Bietze got him place with his brother
in-law. and Sell became the star boarder
in the Bietze family. Bietze soon no.
ticed peculiar state of affairs going on
in his household. He soon learned that
behind his back his wife and the boarder
were very friendly but whenever he was
present his wife treated Sell with the ut
most contempt. If he took match or at
tempted to help himself to anything she
so that Bietze asked her why she treated
him so meanly.
''Oh, because he is so mean himself
replied the fair Frances.
From things that were told him by Mr..
MCGEE, who lived upstairs, his suspicious
became aroused. On the evening of March
1S, 1894, he went to the postofice. His
wife was particularly agreeable that
as, 1,5, t,<.r
and put the paper. which he was to mail,
in his pocket. Bietze was so suspicious that
as he bade her good bye hes aid:-"FIan
ces, be good by yourself while am gone"
When he left Otto Sell was playing the
piano in the parlor.
Some time afterward he came back to
the house. He found the back door locked.
He went around and looked through the
dining room window. The shades were
not down. There was a light burning in
the kitchen and one on the piano in the
parlor No one was in sight He
knocked at the window and his wife
came out of Sells room with her clothing
in disorder.
She was much excited, and when Bietze
called out that he would break in if he
was not admitted she unfastened the
and rushing into Sells room found him
there and enough else to convince him
that he had good grounds for divorce.
He dropped on his knees and wept bit
hard lot Sell skipped away. He never
lived with his wife since that time. Sub
sequently she admitted to him her guilt.
On cross examination Bietze admitted
that he had given his wife money since
they separated and that he had called
upon her, but declared that he had only
done so because she was sick and deSti-
tute. One time when he visited her, he
said, she expressed her contrition for
what she had done and suggested that
they take poison together and thus end
their miserable existence together. This,
ITO do, telling his wife that he would
as she. He had never had any children,
although his wife had one when she
was sixteen years old, a fact which was
Otto Sell was then placed upon the
stand.
He is an undersized young German.
moustache He walked to the witness
chair in the manner of a man who was
about to do some great deed. He. kissed
with an air of selfsatisfaction. He told
how he had met the Bietzes I'M Newark
and how the husband had befriended
for him. He spoke of several occasions
when Mrs. Bfetze had made violent love
to him; and told him that she loved him
to the night referred to in the petition
he corrobora ted Bietze,,s testimony and
admitted everything the complainant's
letter written by Mrs: Bietze to his sis
ter two days after that in which she
complained that Sell , had, had ruined her her
home. He was at the stand when the
court had recess at two. o'clock.
The defense will place the blame for
all na