The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1900-10-17
HIS TERRIBLE REVENGE.
Italian Brigand Kills a Judge, Wit
nesses, Jurors and Soldiers.
,,,,riaoned For Murder. He Escapes,
and Starts Out to slay All Con-
nected With His Trial.

Rome iBy Cable).-All Italy is in a
state Of excitement over the exploits
of the brigand Mussolino, whose mur-
der record is rapidly nearing cham
pion figures. Some time ago he was
convicted of the murder of an inof'
feusive peasant and was sentenced
to twenty-five years Imprisonment. He
recently escaped and took to the open
country as brigand with the avowed
object of taking vengeance upon every
body connected with the trial.
An enterprising reporter, taking MS
life in his hands, obtained an inter!
view with the blood-stained ruftian:
Mussolino said:
81 harm nobody who has not injured
me. I am no vulgar malefactor, but
take my word, 1 will kill every one
of the scoundrels who denounced me
to the law and gave evidence against
me; the members of the jury VINO
dared to find me guilty of common
crime and the judges who had the
audacity to send me to prison. all
shall Enow what it means to be the
enemy Of Mussolina. But all other
people need not fear. I protect them"
Such wholesale threats would be
grotesque in any other countr y, but
Mussolino Is q man of his word. Muir
der has followed murder with incred-
ible rapidity, and, after all. the hend
runs no particular risk. as there Is
no capital punishment in Italy, and
if captured he will be no worse OF
than if he had merely hidden after
escaping. He has already killed every
man who gave evidence against him,
and has murdered seven of the jury,
while two others are awaiting their
doom in a state of abject terror. al
though protected by the police night
and day. The remaining three died
natural deaths, or, as some say, un-
natural deaths from fright.
Apart from his legitimate quarry.
so to speak, Mussolno has incidentally
killed two carabjners. The last crime
was committed few days ago, when
he emptied the six chambers of his re-
volver into Judge Zizilli, a member OF
the court which sentenced him. The
Judge is dead, Of course, and his
sons and brothers are now Joining In
the chase of the murderer.
All these crimes have been commit
ted in the province of Reggie Calabria.
The desperate is absolutely terrorizing
the entire province. His courage and
indomitable nerve are superb. He
does not confine his murderous work
to the country or to the night time.
Several times he has entered towns
and villages in. broad daylight, killed
his victim and disappeared-this de-
spite the fact that a prize Of 10000
lires is upon his head and that the en-
tire provincial force of gendarmes and
militia were hunting him.
Mussolino Is about twenty-eight
years old and of fine physique, like
the robbers of romance. He is kind
to the poor and has a pretty way with
women, who are believed to act as
willing intelligence officers.
The great trial at Palermo conse-
quent upon the latest effort to extir-
pate brigandage in Sicily has just been
concluded. 1t lasted three months and
was full Of exciting dramatic incidents,
but the Italians have not taken nearly
as much interest in at as Mussolino's
murderous exploits. The Palermo
prisoners numbered 24S. They were
accused Of all possible crimes from
murder to housebreaking. The SEN
tences passed aggregated the stupen-
dous total Of sixteen centuries. than
which there Is surely nothing more
remarkable outside Of comic opera.