Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-11-27
ASSASSINATION
MAY DISCLOSE
HUGE SCANDAL
STEINHIL MURDER MAY IN
V0LVE HIGH PERSONS
WIFE OF VICTIM ACCUSES SON
OF FORMER COOK
Stories of Woman Are Conflicting and
Suspicion So Strong Against
Her She Is Held Under
Warrant

|
Her She Is Held Under
Warrant
= PARIS, Nov. 26.-The arrest of +
4 Nine. Steinheil tonight, following i.
K her confession today that for !.
i months since the murder of her +
!. husband and Mime. Japy. who !.
4 were found strangled in the home \
= of the artist the morning of May =
+ 81, her attempt to find the assas- =
+ sins and the innumerable fantastic +
+ clues furnishe- the police and the =
+ newspapers were only desperate =
i farce to conceal the real a thor of <
4 the crime, whom she knew, affords =
= Paris the biggest sensation it has =
4 had in years. =
i. !. + !. i. ). j. 4 = i + l. I. + sFSs
nARIS, Nov. 26.-Paris has been in
a state of intense excitement to-
u day over the developments that
have come thick and fast since last
night in the Steinhil murder case and
| the sensation has made itself felt even
| in the chamber of deputies. where
many members declared they would
raise the question unless the govern
ment undertook to probe the scandal
to the bottom.
Nine. Steinhil made a confession
to two newspaper men last night. She
| declared a man named Alexander
| Wolff was the murderer Of her hus-
band. Wolff was arrested and exam
ined by the authorities.
He denied all guilt and said he was
| ready to prove an alibi.
Mime Steinhil then weakened and
said if it was not Wolff, the man who
did commit the crime resembled him
strongly.
Then suspicion turned upon Nine.
Steinhil herself, and at o'clock it
was announced she will be locked up
in the prison at st. Lazare. under
warrant of arrest. No charge, how
ever, was specified. Wolff was also
| held, but not on warrant
One of the surprises of the day was
the revelation of the fact that Nine.
| Japy, who was murdered at the same
time as Steinheil. was not Nine. Stein
heils mother, as had been supposed,
but her stepmother.
The end of the day brought num-
Der Of sensational rumors. 1t was said
Minister of Justice BRAND had ordered
| an investigation of the open charges
that Nine. Steinhil has been the mis-
tress of NJ. Leydett, the examining
magistrate in the case, and that M.
Leydett has been instrumental in
sitting the investigation.
Chief of Detectives Hamard is cred
| tied with the statement Wolff had
practically established his alibi and
that open suspicion had been cast upon
Nine. Steinheil
CoulIaud Released
Coullaud, the man arrested several
/ days ago on suspicion. was released.
The local newspapers published ex-
| tras throughout the day. giving under
big headlines the details of the wo-
mans statement and her subsequent
examination by M. Hamard.
Behind the interest in the crime itsef
lies the more or less thinly veiled in
| timations that France is on the verge
of a scandal involving high personages,
and the failure of the police to clear up
the mystery has led to the open asser-
tion that their lack of energy is die
tated by powerful representations, dat
ing back to the death in Paris in 1899
of Felix Faure, at one time president
af the republic. The public appetite
for a sensation was whetted further by
M Hamard, who announced at o'clock
the mystery was not cleared up and
great surprise might be expected at
| any moment.
The crime in question was committed
| the night of May 81.
Madame Japy was murdered at the
|
a portrait painter and a grand nephew
| of Meissonier. The assassination of the
woman, however, is supposed to have
been incidental to the killing of Stein
hill. He was the man designated to be
| put out of the way.
| Steinhil, his wife and Madame Japy
| lived together. The wife was found
bound and gagged in bed, and at first
she declared she had been thus treated
by three men and a woman, all un-
known to her.
Alexander Wolff. the man accused to-
day by Madame Steinhil, is the son of
woman who was formerly employed in
the Steinhil family as a cook. He ani
| his mother, whose name is Mariette,
| were at once arrested
| 1t became known, however, that Ma
dame Steinhil was not the first person
to accuse Wolff A mechanic named
! Wegner told the police a few days ago
after the crime that Wolff had sud-
denly come around with pocketful
of gold. The night of the crime he was
not present in his usual haunts, but
] the morning after, when he read an
account of the trgedy in a newspaper,
he appeared to be greatly excited and
| swore he would have vengeance on the
| assassins.
Statements Conflict
Mime. Steinhil repeated her statement
to the newspaper men to M. Hamard.
! chief of detectives, this morning. She
was hysterical and sobbed out her
story In many respects her state
ments were conflicting. She said Wolff
committed the murder on account of
her daughter, and related Wolff's
threats to charge her with the murder
| II she denounced him.
She declared Wolff was nothing to
her and she was not in any way
party to the crime. She did say. how
| ever, she had hated her husband and
that she had a lover in whose eyes she
wanted to justify herself.
Il hoped to justify myself before a
! ever" she cried.
! This Is said to be French nobleman.
/ and In his identity Is believed to lie
| the key to this romantic tragedy.
There was series of dramatic con-
/ formations at the palace of justice
| throughout the morning. The parties