The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-08-07
A PARTISAN BRUTUs.
Killed His Son for Dfsgracing the
Family. Al Suicide.

Mystery no longer surrounds the crime
and the affair il made more tragic by the
suicide of the principal actor in the SOM
bre drama The dead body of a young
man of seventeen was found in a place
called the Plateau de Graveile. The de-
ceased was identified as Eugene yasseur,
a waiter. He had been ~strangled, and it
was supposed by the police, after the ex-
animation Of the body. that the crime had
been committed by two persons. This
proves to be true in the main, for it now
turns out that the youth was murdered
by his own father, who was assisted by
a relative named Boucher. When the
crime was discovered the latter, who act
ed as a clerk in the employment of the
Orleans Railway Company, impaired to
the police information concerning the
strangled youth, who was his cousin.
He was not, however, suspected until
the detectives heard from q boy named
Boutcn that Vasseur was in the habit of
going frequently to a small square or
garden I'M the Rue Lafayette, where he
received money from a relative. This
place is not very far fram the branch
office Of the Orleans line III the Rue de
police accordingly began to watch the
latter, and succeeded in tracing his move
ments at the period of the crime.
As a result he was arrested, and when
Hl6ulcduy examined at the depot a deep
cut was seen or his left hand. This he at
tributed TO a bite from his dog, but his
family knew nothing about the matter.
Subsequently his wife told the police that
terror. Informed her that he had assisted
Vasseur in killing Eugene, the father
being DESTROYS of getting rid of one who
a disgrace to the family owing to his de-
prayed habits.
Boucher, having been told at the depot
that his wife had communicated his ter
rlbie secret to the head of the Criminal
Investigation Department. at once made
a clean breast of the matter, and de-
scrfbed how the crime was carried out.
He said that ne frequently met the boy,
Who was lOathed by mis- ather and sup
Piled him with money, and that ne re-
5000 francs. which was to be given to him
% the condition that he helped to get
Eugene out of the way He agreed to this,
and promised to entice the lad to the Pla-
mes, where the father was hidden among
some trees
Young vasseur was ned to the appoint
ed place, and hardly had he arrived there
when his father flew at him like a tiger
and throttled him. The lad cried for help,
and Boucher realizing, as he said, that
his own safety was imperilled. assisted
in the Strangulation He was bit by Eu-
gene in the left hand. and Withdrew for
a few moments in order to wipe the blood
away with some grass. When he returned
the lad was dead, n old NasSeur then
dragged the body into a copse, hiding it
there. This confession having been made,
Vasseur vas examined and admitted his
guilt. He maintained that ne had been
an honest mai all his lifetime, and la
mented that in his fftieth year he was in
the hands of justice for having lone away
with a seoundrel who rias a disgrace to
his family.
Vasseur is a short, stout man, and was
disliked in the Fauborg Saint-Denis dis
trict, where he managed a small tavern,
owing to his violent character. He was
to have been taken with Boucher 10 the
morgue, in order to be brought before
the dead body of his son, but during the
night he committed suicide by jumping
out of the window of the room in which
he was confined. While one of the police
men in charge of the man was doing
and the other was engaged in drawing up
a report the prisoner wus1er to the win
dow and leaped out of it head foremost.
He fell with a heavy thud on the flags
beneath and broke his skull. Boucher
was taken to the morgue. and when con-
frcnted with the body of young Vasseur
he begged on his knees to be removed
from the place. He declared that he had
only taken a small part in the murder
CT the young fellow, whose father had,
he said, strangled him. Nine. Boucher,
who had also been arrested on suspicion.
was set at liberty, but she was detained
at the PalaiS in order to answer ques-
tions touching the Legitimacy of the MUIR
dered outh.=Pari Letter.