The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-09-11
POSSEL MYSTERY
4 MARRIAGE IN ENGJAND ENDS IN
PRoBABLE MURDER IN ITALK.

"a DHChuho buAHSNtou VI HuN NANiu0
The story Of a singular tragedy. international
in character and romantic In every detail. has
not yet reached this country owing TO the pres
sure Of moro stirring political matters. Few
crimes have ever possessed more curious
features than the events which the newspapers
OF italy, France. and England call the Possol
mystery" The only man that could have eX-
planned IL killed himself the other day In q
fashionable Paris restaurant, Thus the story
which began in n death that Is believed to be
murder. ended In the silence Of suicide.
The tragedy Is typical in q high degree OF
certain conditions OF English life, for the wo-
man who was the victim OF the events had been
an actress in a London theatre and was the
daughter Of a woman who kept a boarding
house.. Her father had during his lifetime been
an employee Of the Bank Of England for many
years. She married a young Frenchman early
last spring. W. weeks ago her body was
found at the foot Of a high cli1 on the Italian
coast. near Fontenelle.
The acquaintance Of the two young people
began late in the preceding year. when q young
F~renchman named Joseph Possel came to live
In q boarding house kept by o certain Mrs.
Beckett In st. Johns Wood. London. The
young man was handsome. very dark. and said
he was only % years old. although he seemed
more mature. He said that his real title was
the Marquis do Godonville. although he pro-
ferred not to use that name In England. Nelly
Beckett, the daughter. had been o 0gurante In
various theatrical productions. She was de-
scribed as q typical English beauty OF the mid
die class. blonde, pink and white In coloring.
tall and graceful in figure. The two fell in love.
and the progress OF their courtship as
tonished the girls family. although neither
her sisters nor her mother were able
to prevent the match ultimately. But they
did no,np nal the vnr,n0 Erannhp,an 70 iaaya tho
house after he had struck the girl In q jealous
rage. knocked her dow on another occasion.
and one day kicked down the door OF her sis
ter's room. to which she had fed for protection
EhrS@ n alter Ills T aecS S2@Rstiiiss q 3 I iSsE . saS
and. he r%evenged himself by writing to the
girls friends anonymous letters rejecting
even this and they were married on the last
day Of March. not. however. before the girls
fTfSsEs GITI. w wRo @R ad q smal I f 6TsaSs N abont
planned. was merely becoming the wife Of a son
OF a modest family in Amiens named Possel.
But her London relatives thought she had got
The two went to the Continent. travelled in
France, without meeting the young man's fam
valid o In Paris he Insured his wiieIs life for
against accidental death. so he went to an
other, In Paris the young couple seemed alb
t siSSHsa m man snsn S StEil Attracted snS dnoi Rtte sasSl
FTleoSPsences,A early Fyho b Beauty July o, they TSs w S55iSed so6 at
The couple went, to Sorrento. Every day
they were seen driving on the cliffs, Some:
the Vehicle; At other In af both would desc descend
FontenSlle siaat SPOT SI about 6sfft a mile lei from u i Posi.
tRReOi p %Ss sf le the RRSc@ nejRRS6r fSsopdPi esm piaf &c l a0f
Tor them there every afternoon.
One day the husband returned alone after
% %ffs ?" asfe nft the Is po @sqa at The H H9efG Si rs yoS at
question and vent to his room: Later he ap.
aboSnts. . TO three men he = told d as many n G diffeP-
the top Of The cliffs to the beach, $50 feet
below; One story was that the, horse. had
S 22!5sh ana had ssFf fEat she her w tso9 9hro 5RS f4 Tsnis ske
carriage, and afterward. in stooping to, un-
injured. she had lost her balance and fallen
Other stories developed later and they all va
point. The next day natives cIlimnbeedd down the
was frightfully wounded by the fall. but had
evidently been dead for only a few hours, The
was soon released. He telegraphed and wrote
various accounts OF the woman's death to her
% rfcaidn tb IN h t6s DOM VIE bsa expressed an1 their con- 196no
thing that led them to this belief was a letter
received the day after her death in which she
lawyer received a letter directing him to draw
up her will and telling him to retain in his poa-
70 her husband only in case OF her death. These
letters we're received in London after the news
Of P ess Sca rels "a cay 6;y the Italian authorities.
hurried to Paris and demanded from the in
ssqqrance company the money put on his wife's
death the company refused to pay. consulted
the Italian police and measures werS put
time news OF the affair reached England. and
the newspapers were flied with accounts OF
element over the matter was at its height a
young man, came, into the Cafe Dprand. in
Is one OF the most fashionable restaurants in
Paris. He asked Tor a private room, and he ate
a simple lunch In it. A%iterward he called a
heard. and the man Who got Int, The room room f Eat
his FRe head 3D. He Yi lived di long t eDoush P to ask T tRat two %
letters he had written be semi to the post. One
70 his mother. Nine. Possel. who lived at
That death in the Cafe Durand made the
other on the cliffs near. Posanito a mystery
that will never be solved, The mans mother
s STANCES % She be cam mSm rom n her %R Roms Ct G amiens
to b1t be tb examined rdIss By the Insphranee authorities.
ton Of the crime. She had 'I never verne ree eSPnfHSdi
her sons marriage, which was invalid under
French law. and she insisted that he be de-
geribed as a bachelor in the death certificate.
He had once been insane for three years. sho
said. and part ofthat time had been passed in an
insane asylum. Atterward he had lived chiefly
In London. He was found with a large sum
None Of bis actions with the English girl who
married him betrayed any mental disorder un-
less IL was his extreme Jealousy, The place
he selected for her murder. II he did that.
showed great acuteness, az It was one OF
the last In the world. where detection might
have been anticipated. Only his conduct I'm
mediately after her absence was noticed served
TO attract unfavorable attention to him. Then
his CONTRADICTORY explanations made a bad i'm
preston, The following letter. written Just
before his suicide. gives no evidence Of . dis
ordered mind:
M. le Commissaire: Since the horrible acct
dent at Sorrento, in which my wife met with
her death, life has become q burden to me. In
stead OF being LETT alone with my sorrow | have
been accused. and am still accused. Of the most
terrible crime which can be brought against
man. These base inslnuations and cowardly
calumnies have only served to increase my
despair. They make IL impossible for me 70