The Indianapolis journal., 1903-08-16
TRUE STORIES OF CRIMES AND CRIMINALS
By K. ii. S HER A r d
MULTIPLE MASSACRES

grows and develops the more ii is indulged |
1t is very rarely, indeed, that criminal
who has escaped with impunity the eonse-
quence of first crime, even the awful /
crime of murder, does not Try his fortune
again in the same sinister lottery. Some |
times the relapse into criminality is almost !
involuntary: the weight of the old sin drags |
the wretched man deeper down into the |
abyss, and each fresh crime precipitates his
perdition. These cases. however. are excep- |
tional; for the most part the excitement |
comes from the impunity and profit enjoyed, |
and the man who has put himself outside !
the pale of humanity sees no reason for
any future Difference to its laws. And again |
there is the old saying to counsel that
man may as well be hanged for sheep as
for lamb, and all the more so for whole |
flock OF sheep.
CRIMES OF AN EX-GENDARME.
/ think that of all the habtual criminals
of this class the man Dauga was about the
worst that / have heard Of for when L
speak of multiple massacres" L mean
sum total of solitary murders, committed
by one man, and not the acts of a Fieschi
an Emile Henry, that extraordinarily
vindictive matchmaker of Senlis. This man.
the watchmaker-the event took place in
| that pretty forest town in the first years
of last century-had been forced to resign
| his commission in the local National Guard
and to avenge himself for this slight he
| transformed his house on the market place,
so TO speak, into a gigantic Internal ma
| chine This machine he set in motion one
| day when the regiment of National Guards
was passing on its way to a review Bull
| lets poured from every window and many
| officers and soldiers were killed, and when
at last their infuriated comrades had brok-
en- into the strongly barricaded house a
| mine exploded, burying scores of victims
| under its smoking ruins. The man a
| monster, no doubt, but equally, no doubt,
| he was insane, with the insanity of re-
venge. Dauga, on the other hand, had no
| other motive than that of robbery, and to
satisfy his cupidty during twenty years he
| strewed his path with no less than twenty
corpses. He was a retired gendarme, and,
| as such, was in receipt of a small but suffi-
| cient pension. The scene of his later opera
tiohs was at Pont- a-Mousson, which, dur
| ing the years 1883 and 1889 was thrown into
"a state of panic by a series of horrible muir
| ders. Night patrols were carried out by the
! terror-stricken citizens, and none was more
| jealous in the performance of this public
| duty than Jean Dauga, the eX-gendarme.
| 1t afterwards occurred to people that he
| had, perhaps, shown himself overzealous,
| but, as L say, this was only afterwards.
| The man was cunning and as rapid insthe
| execution of his crimes as he was ferocious
| in their conception. Indeed, in celerity of
dispatch he shows superior even to Phil
| ippe, the killer of women, of whom L have
written. He may be commended to a new
| De Quincy for second Murder a Fine
| Art The way in which he was betrayed
| at last into the hands of justice was in this
| wise. One evening he was sitting in his
| favOrite cafe having game of cards with
| some friends. Whilst the manille in
progress the talk ran Oh the mysterious hor-
! rors of the town. The stakes were not high,
| but Dauga was in ill-luck, and a moment
came when he had to declare himself bank
rupt. However, that doesn't matter" he
| cried, Il have got some money at home,
| and I'll just run round and fetch it. /
| shan't be more than five minutes, so you
fellows might wait till come back" With
| in six or seven minutes he was back again
| at his cards. Next morning, Pont-a-Mous-
son awoke to hear that another murder had
been committed. An old woman who lived
| alone and who was known to have a hoard
| in her house had been killed and robbed.
| From the investigation which followed 1t
transpired that In her small treasure were a
| certain number Of gold pieces of consider
| able age Now it happened that on settling
his score on the night of the murder Jean
| Dauga had changed just such a gold coin
| From the medical evidence it was estab-
lshed that the murder must have taken
place just about the time when the ex-
| gendarme ran home to get some money!
| Suspicion was aroused, inquiries followed
| and Dauga was laid by the heels. He was
| afterwards convicted of ten separate muir
ders, and was executed on Jan. %, 1890. On
| the night of the card party he had run
round to the old woman's house, murdered
and robbed her, and had got back to his
| friends in six or seven minutes by the cafe
| clock.
| SERVANT GIRLS AS VICTIMS.
Then the mad matchmaker of Senlis the
matchmaker of Montreul, Pei was his
name, was undoubtedly a more wicked
man. He also has multiple massacres on
his conscience, how many he only knows. OF
a scientific turn of mind, he used to poison
his servant girls by slow poison, then cut
them up and burn the bodies in a small
stove. He was thus able to satisfy his Curl
osity on the questions of toxicology, ana
tomical dissection and cremation His
monstrous guilt was fully brought home to
him, and if ever man deserved the guillo-
tine, Pei was he. But he was sentenced un-
der the presidency of Monsieur Grevy, who
had a personal horror of the death penalty
indeed Grevy was known amongst the
French criminal classes as Papa Gratias
papa Pardon)-and so the matchmaker of
Montreuil was reprieved. He was trans
ported to New Caledonia in 1885 and is there
still, at the head of a prosperous business,
married and the father of family
Servant girls again were the selected VIC
tins of the dreadful Dumolard, who, dur
ing years (from 1855 to 1862 carried on
a sangnary business which one can hardly
recall without shudder. Although it is
now over forty years since his head fell on
the scaffold at Montluel, references To his
career of crime, his methods, and his de-
tense are still frequent in the French press.
He was the type of the human brute, cruel.
iected to a great deal of lingering. yet it
is in fairly well preserved state. The
paper shows signs of wear. but the letter.
ing is still clear and bright. being trib-
l,tto / 10 nar and a>aa ff na iplr