The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-03
r,nous FRENoH MURDER.
Ling of Countess CaumOnt-
,.s,rce BY Baumann, a Groom.
I--,n he Cincinnati Enquirer.

r..-.e Nv Buumann, a Groom.
rom the Cincinnati Enquirer
-,rsr-nof in Cincinnati-asks II An
r,,umann. murderer OF Countess de
,+-T.aforce, was a Frenchman or
.1-.- The inquiry. it seems, has grown
--- Of a dispute
-..-,-,nn was a native Of neither France
~ BeIeium, but a German Of Wurttem-
and it would have been money IN
-,el-et II he had stayed there. He
d, FRANCE to learn the language and
49, his fortune and began at the foot
IN. ladder TO work his way up He en-
l in service as a groom, at which he
s5 earn but two francs a day, and
~ his frst place for having been drunk
.or5itfon which he regarded as mere
d. Incidental 10 Partisan life
story is brief, and little known out
"a If Paris 1t is just forty years since
7t.rrnauu engaged in the service OF tIis
-1-fass: that is TO say, IN January, 1890.
~. rsuresented an old Iamily OF Ffthch
oirls and was a. woman of medium
tr- with dark ssiaShing eyes, VINO, I'M
"a noble air, with mien OF lhsoiehce,
e,-e.--TertIv tempered by refinement. ana
+.,6rtment and conversation dlsplayihg
- intelligent mind, had soul inenaply
f.d When the count dlned out the
wv ia no dinner. II he had not given
nave nc r,,oneV to buy food at the shops.
~ servant could live with her. Ten years
before she was killed her husband was
obiiged to separate from her, taxing the
eneariyed of his restraining influences,
she lived alone in her mansion amlu uh-
IMAGINABLE dust ana disorder, splendor
sn1 squalor She slept in a bed that was
never made" and bought her FOOD Tor
fsu- sous in the ShoDs. Her cooking was
fone i'm the bOudoi-, the harness OF nef
Torses was kept in the drawing room, her
porcelain was piled upon the beds, never
L-ssbed. her pictures were turned 10 the
walls. No sober groom VINO knew sser,, her
Tor she scoded and whipped ana cneated
them one she struck with her nsJ on
the street and knocked him spraying.
5ncountering her husband a year after he
mad left her she followed him, loaded MN
With abuse, and threatened him with her
vhip the whole length of the Champs Ely
There was wide difference between
such a character and Baumann: HIS only
faults WERE it is said, occasional drunken
npas and that he took no thought OF the
morrow. His intelligence was very nm
led and the effect of drink upon him was
10 brutify, rather than irritate.
ne had been in the service of the Coun-
tess some six weeks when, on the morn
inc of Feb. 20, between and o CLOCK,
She sent him to buy some rolls ana mix;
After making these purchases ne entere9
a wineshOp and took large orah oL
brandy This caused him to conceive the
notion that he might bestow valuable
lesson upon the countess by giving her a
heating She gave him provocation I'M
mediately on his return by scolding him
long and vigorously for not having sum-
GENTLY searched for a piece of old iron.
He said he had looked enough FOR IT, she
said he had not. He reiterated that ne
had Then she struck him. He caught
her throat in his great, horny hands ana
strangled her, scarcely knowing what he
did Finally he dragged her body into the
fuel house and piled straw and wood upon
H. A negro servant in the next house,
having heard the cries called out to him
Were they strangling you down
Baumann answered that it was nothing:
Recovering partially from his delirlum of
brandy and blood he picked up the
KEYS that had fallen from the countess s
girde and, entering the house, took a
purse and 45 francs to enable him 10 es-
cane to his own country. Having washed
his hands he went to pass out by the gate,
but the negro, convinced there was some
thing wrong. had Spoken to a policeman.
and he was on the Watch. When Baumann
came out the officer asked where he was
going:
ITO get a dram,' he said.
But there is blood upon you. What
II have Just killed my mistress"
When the Commissaire de Police came
Baumann told him all about it. The Wo-
man had struck and bit him terribly and
he showed abundant proof of the severity
of her blows and charpness of her teeth.
She had even bitten through his blouse
and left teeth prints upon his shoulder.
Baumann was tried for murder, but
there were some eXtenuating circum-
stances and he was condemned to i'm
prisonment with hard labor for life.