The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-10-31
OLD MYSTERY CLEARED
BODY PARTLY BURNED WHILE
 HUSBAND WAS AWAY.
Real Culprit Revealed Sometime Later
 --Second Crime Attenpted.


 .
 The best true story of a mysterious murder Is that of the Countess Goer- litz (lo47). It was published twenty years ago by Mir. Barring Gould. but is by the world forgot. writes An drew Lang in The London Morning Post. Count Goerlitz was. in 1s47. a man of fortv-six. He had married. at nineteen (1s2o.) q very disagreeable heiress, who kept him short and insulted his poverty, but who had will in his favor.On Sunday, June 1s, 1s47, the Count drove in his carri- age, at p. m.. to dine with the Grand Duke of Hesse. Tn a manner rather Homeric than modern he took some sweets from the dessert for his wifc and drove home to his house at s;30. The footman. Stauff, reported that the lady was at home The Count went upstairs, found glass door lead ing to her anteroom locked (they had separate suites of roomsl and re- tired to his own room till T:30. when he took a walk till s:45. Returning, he asked Stauff to bid the Countess join him at supper, but was told that she had gone out. He did not be- lieve 1t. and looked for his wife in her dressing-room and bedroom. but had no key to the locked anteroom and
 
 he drew blank. but in place of forcing the glass door of the anteroom he
 sent out to make inquiries. to no avail.
 After some difficulty he found a locksmith's apprentice. who could not
 open the anteroom. but (about 10 ?.
 m. it seems) did notice smell Of
 burning. At 10:30 they broke the
 glass of the anteroom door Uhe &h.k nd from stove rushed out. The Count not did not force the door: he sent one servant for a doctor and another for a chimney sweepi Time passed, the door laughed at locksmiths, but at last the apprentice-of his own mo- tion--burst 1t open with a hammer, for the Count would do nothing so violent Much black smoke rushed out. The bold apprentice. climbing to the anteroom window by a ladder. broke | 1t and pulled down the burning cur tains. They now burst open the drawing-room door. found the room on fire and the Countess lying dead before her burning bureau. On one of her feet was a shoe: the other was later found in an adjoining boudior. The safa was more or less burned, the bell rope had been pulled down. but nobody ever asked if the bell had been heard. A corner seat Tn the breau had been burned; the fire was very local" The keys of the lock cd doors were never found.
 There were three explanatory hy- potheses. First, the Countess had caught fire at her bureau, perhaps while sealing Q letter. If so, she had sought repose on the burned sofa and corner seat. Second (medical.( 1t was case of spontaneous combustion' Third, 1t was a murder. The Magis- trates preferred accidental burning; the public fixed on the Count as the murderer; they always do. He had motives, opportunity and he had de- iayed the researchers. He demanded new inquiries, but little came of them till in August. 1S42, the corpse was exhumed and examined. 1t was found that the lady's skull mad been frac- tured, and that she had also been strangled. She had been murdered, had been burned and the chairs and sofa had the marks of her blood burn ed out of them. She had then been placed near her bureau and that had been set on fire. Black smoke had been seen rushing from the chimney | at 6 on the fatal evening" Now, the l Count had left his house at 7:So and did not return till shout 9: there was evidence for these facts. consequent ly, if he did fracture his wife's skull and strangsie her before I'so ne cer- tainIy did not burn her at S:05, S:26, when the smoke was seen issuing black and dense from the chimney
 that is. unless he entered his house. unseen, about and later went out and returned again. 1t was improb- able that he would delegate the ire to an accomplice. so the Counts case
 was preceptibly brighter