The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-05-09
POLICE CHIEF A MONSTER.
Why BusseIs' Former Head of That
Department Is to BE Executed.


From the st. Louis Republic.
Within a few days one OF the most re-
markable criminals Of Europe Will have
paid with his life the penalty of an afro
cious career.
For many years Alexander Courtecis.
assistant chief of police of the city Of
Brussels. was regarded as one of the fore
most police officials of Europe. He was
the terror of the rogues of the entire
continent and has done more than any
other man to rid the Belgian capital of
the criminal element that infested it for
some time.
Whatever may have been his merit in
this direction, it Is now proven beyond
peradventure that he did SO only to keep
his field free for himself and his assocI-
ates in crime. These crimes embraced
every category, from small thefts and
burglaries to counterfeiting and murder.
1t may never be known how great and
varied this mans dastardly record was,
unless he sees fit to make confession Of
his deeds before his execution. So far
there seems little prospect that he will
do this, as the approach of his own death
is making as little impression upon him
as the murders he has committed.
Courteous is a man of great physical
power; in fact, the band of evil-doers of
which he was the ruling spirit numbered
several giants. An iron safe Of enormous
weight, which baffied their ingenuity, was
carried off bodily to their headquarters
and there demolished at leisure. Nearly
all the murders were committed by stran-
gulation. The crime for which Courteous
is condemned to death was the murder Of
the Baroness Henry Van Scherfenberg at
Ixelles, a suburb of Brussels, just a year
ago this April. The woman was found
strangled in bed one morning. The house
had been robbed of jewels and bonds VAL
ued at $1,000 For time not the slight,
est cleW was obtained to the identity Of
the murderer or murderers. When Off
cial watchfulness had somewhat relaxed
a money broker of Brussels was offered
one day six of the stolen bonds. The
owner of the papers gave the name of
Lefebvre and said that he was an officer
in the Belgian artillery. He was ele-
gantly attired and perfectly at ease. The
broker bought the obligations and a few
days afterward discovered that their
numbers conceded with those of the stolen
bonds for which the Baroness Van Scher-
/ fenberg had been murdered. He notified
the police and gave them an accurate de-
scription of the officer who had sold them
to him.
Shortly before the sale Courteois had
been pensioned, because he had changed
the report of a subordinate police official
for the purpose of making the case against
criminal stronger than it had been The
latter must evidently have been aware of
some of the dark deeds of the chief of po-
lice, for not long after the pensioning of
Courteois the police department was flood
ed with anonymous communications, in
which he was accused of a long list of
crimes It was at first thought that these
accusations were inspired by enemies of
the former official and no attention was
paid to them. Only one police official be-
came suspicious Without the knowledge
of his colleagues he visited the money
| broker who had reported the turning up
of the six stolen bonds. He showed him
a number of photographs of uniformed po-
| lice officials and asked him if he would
recognize among them the face of the ar
! tillery officer who had sold the bonds The
broker without hesitation picked out Cour-
teois' portrait. He was at once arrested,
| found guilty and condemned to death.
Among the crimes which are laid at the
door of Courteois and his band is the IA
nous theft of jewels from the countess of
Flanders. 1t occurred during one o fthe
royal balls and startled the police circles
/ of the continent.
At that time Courteous was still in ac-
tive service. He was married to maid
| of the countess and had the best oppor-
| tunity imagined to select a favorable time
| for the commission of the crime. Strange
| TO say, ne was accused OF Ine robbery, out
so fully had he wiped out all traces of his
completely that he was acquitted at the
! trial and sued his accusers for defama-
] ton of character.
| One of Courteous colleagues, a man NAM
| ed Restiaux, who also had been arrested as
! connected with the crime, offered a num-
Der of the jewels. including a magnificent
| diamond tiara, TO Thienpont a diamond
broker, for $4,000. Thienpont recognized
| the stones and refused to buy them, al
though he did not report the matter to the
police. Restiaux informed Thienpont later
that the jewels had been taken to England
and disposed of there. Thienpont was ar.
rested some months afterward, accused OF
keeping a fence" and sentenced to three
years in The penitentiary. He committed
suicide not long ago by hanging in the St
| Giles prison
The murder of Mrs. Bocl1el and her two
children, a family Of English tourists, has
also been traced TO Courteous and his pals
Since his conviction of the other murder
1t has been found that, in his official ca.
pacity, he frustrated all efforts that might
have led to the discovery of the murderer
Of the Bockel family.