The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-12-21
HAS ASSASSIN OF
PLEHYE ESCAPED?
Remarkable Stories Of Russian
Police Indicate a Blunder They
Would Conceal.

Would Conceal.
London, Dec. 21.-Surprise that the
assassin Of Minister de Plehve should I
have escaped the death penalty with a
sentence of life imprisonment is in
creased by the news that, owing to
twenty years. A possible explanation
is to be found in the following from
the st. Petersburg correspondent Of the
Express:
Circumstances have now made it pos
sfble to tell for the first time the as
sassin Of NJ. de Plehve, the Russian
minister of the interior. Few romances t
with Russia for their theme and nihil-
ism for their motive transcend the sur
prises Of this story as told in part by
the bureau Of police and in part from on
partment has sought Intellectually to
suppress Fl was . feu minutes heforo 10
'clock on the morning of the 28thy of
July that NJ. de Plehve met. his. death,
The assassin, himself slightly wounded
thrown, was instantly arrested and hur-
ried away by, the police. Within the
next twenty-four hours the subjoined
| announcement was given out:
"The murderer has been identified.
His name is Porozneff and he comes
He has. made confession duplicating
Others.' 5&@f
| Twelve hours later he was reported
to be dead. The form in which this
! latter intimation was given to the for
eign correspondents was as follows:
"While the hospital attendant g at
teption was drawn aside for moment,
Porozneff tore off the apparatus which
had been placed on his stomach and
succumbed within half an hour to in
ternal hemorrhage. .-....-.: -. :. = !:
-: Two Amazing Things. ~ 4
On, July 81 two amazing things hap
pened. Porozneff, who had succumbed
to internal hemorrhage thirty-six hours
earlier, came to life again and made
another confession, as, a sequel to
| which "about a thousand persons -
were arrested. On Aug: Il the police
ff aot apparently miSaa the
ton, confession and death, gave out
the subjoined information:
The assassin of M. de Plehve died to-
day. He steadfastly refused to make
any disclosures, and the mystery Of his
identity remains unsolved. ."... ,
The succeeding two or three days
proved uneventful,' and the narratives
leaps, therefore, to Aug. 4, when the fol-
lowing intimation was allowed to be
made public: .:.%: :.
! HThe authorities are very anxious
that the prisoner should not die of his
wounds, and when he was operated on
at the hospital several police officials
were present. tf +
In respect to man who had already
been twice officially declared to be dead
thes precautions seem to SAVIOR Of ex.
troy ha MI
were busy in other directions and proba-
bly, did not notice the discrepancy, for;
three days later it was formally init
mated that: -.
"The identity of M. de Plehve's as
sassin is now established, and two more
arrests have been made.' -. .
II Then a Lull. D.. 81.
AT this point there was again an
lentless activity Of the police, but an
announcement Of Aug. 10 made it clear
that during the interval they; had been
silently and 'unerringly. drawing the
bonds Of Justice tighter: . ,~I TX ~ -
"The young man who is under ar
rest as the suspected murderer Of NJ.
de Plehve has been identified by the po-
lice as a former student Of the Uni
versity Of Moscow, and is the son of a
II
government Of Saratoff. The investiga-
tion is being continued.' 49, g..
On Aug. FL they permitted it to be
known that they had made another dis
covery: a.; - ....-~s
"The identity of M. de Plehve's muir
derer has been definitely ascertained.
His name is Matveyeff and he is a
graduate Of the archaeological institute.
He will be included among the criminals
Tod ri oil 1o nh
ening Of the Czarevitch,~ and the death
sentence will be committed to penal
servitude for life.' Il: 4: =. ;:
The police themselves seem to have
become conscious that something was
+ lacking in}their story that link had
l been lost somewhere, for on the, next
/ morning aug. 22) they issued the fol
lowing official statement ~ III
"The rumors that Sasonoff is dead
are unfounded. Sasonoff is fully con
l. valescent.'
Sasonoff, in fact, was himself again
he was not even Matveyef, tho he hae
been Enthusiastically identified under
that name on the morning Of the previ
Gus day and all his life history lai6
bewilderment which this official nara
tive may so far have accustomed, it may
be convenient, in the light of what i.
to follow, to tabulate the events in thu
assassin s history during these fve-and
twenty days: .5- .- I. TT 81. +.
III July 28-Assassin caught redhanded.
III July 29-Identif1ed as Porozneff. q
July Bodied of hemorrhage.
July 31-Made confession causing LOO
arrests. r. 5E 1.'
l Aug. 1-Died unidentified.
i Aug. 4-Efforts made to keep him alive
I Aug. Identified again and two NOR
arrests made. i
I Aug. 19-Identifed as Sasonoff.
Aug. 21-Identified as Matveyeff an
death sentence committed:
Aug. 22-Reidentifed as Sasonoff.
Aug. 22-Officially declared not dead.
After this nothing probably can caus
much establishment to the reader. I
has been limited that the police ha
something to conceal, and the peculia
elaboration Of their fctions, the mysti
fcation in which they purposely en-
wrap the whole story and the baldl
contradictory information they issue
from day to day suggest that the fac
they desired to hide was one Of tn
first Importance. @
A fact Of the first Importance it ur
doubtedly was, for it was nothing les
than the circumstances that !. they n
longer had a prisoner to guard.
About 8 O'Clock on thesnight of, lie
us say the Goth Of August the chief q
police received an urgent summons t
II repair to the palace. AT the same hou
the governor of the prison, in whic