The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-11-15
Jury in Steinheil Case Returns
Verdict of Not Guilty.
Finding Is Loudly Applauded by
Waiting Thousands.
ACCUSED COLLAPSED
During the Closing Hours of
the Sensational Trial.
Fell in Fit of Weeping When
Verdict Was Announced.

Paris, Nov. 15.-Mme. Margherita
Steinheil is free woman. Ac
quilted of the crime of the murder
of her husband, Adolphe Steinheil,
and of her mother-in-l law. Nine Japy.
she was received into the arms of
her friends with demonstrations
peculiarly Partisan.
Even the men in the courtroom
wept with joy when the jury's finding
was announced.
The conduct of the jury during it's
deliberations was such as to warrant
the conclusion that its originel vote
was guilty Three times in its ses-
sion of two and one-half hours it
called for explanations from the
president of the court. At each one
of these manifestations of uncertainty
in the minds of the jury the Steinheil
sympathizers were carried up or
down in the scale of feeling.
"They will acquit her. said some.
"Then why so much talk?" queried
others.
But If there was one person in the
crowd that would have been pleased
with a verdict of guilty no voice was
given to the sentiment. Popular feel
ing was with the defendant all the
way through.
To some degree sentiment. and a
stuffy. crowded courtroom favored the
prisoner and the delay caused much
apprehension. With the final ap-
pearance of the jury, however, several
of whom were smiling, an instructive
feeling of acquittal flashed through
the courtroom.
A dramatic scene followed. The
red-robed judges and counsel filed in
and took their places. Every eye was
riveted on the door through which
the prisoner should enter, but she d1d
not appear. NJ. de Wales, the pre-
siding Judge, turned to the jury and
said: Have you reached verdict"
The foreman arose and replied: "On
cur conscience we answer NO to every
question"
A salvo of "bravos' followed this
announcement and a perfect bedlam
broke loose. NJ Aubin, counsel for
fine Steinheil. embraced his col
leagues. Men and women in the rear
of the hall jumped and screamed for
icy. The judge threatened to clear the
court room, and when a semblance of
rrder was restored he called:
Bring in the accused
n ackrobed figure, with a white face
cropping on her breast, appeared in
the doorway. supported on either slde
1y gendarrne. The woman swayed
sponse to a wild outburst of cheers she
lifted her head and looked about,
smiling family in acknowledgment.
Then she tottered forward and sank
ON the floor beside the rail.
When the judge pronounced the YER
dict her faint murmur of thanks was
hardly heard An instant after NJ.
Aubin was over the rail, lifting her in
his arms. The crowds surged forward
IN a solid wall, making the rafters
ling with cheers. Outside the gloomy
court tens of thousands who had been
waiting for hours took up the cry:
the news like wildfire through the
l)oulevards, where thousands more
were waiting in front of the cafes. and
The same scenes of rejoicing were wit
messed there.
WhirIed Away in an Auto.
The ceremony of liberating Nine.
Steinheil occurred soon after her ac-
quittal, and the woman, heavily yelled,
accompanied by relative and one of
her lawyers, entered a high powered
automobile and dashed away to an I'M
known destination, holly pursued by
newspaper reporters.
The courtroom, lighted with glaring
chandeliers. was sitting hot during the
closing hours of the trial. The jury be-
came restless and several women sit
ting in the rear shrieked and tainted
The prisoner was pitiful spectacle and
gradually fell forward, a cold sweat
turning her livid face a CHASTITY green.
A doctor was called in and twice adj
M. Aubin finished his argument the
woman's strength snapped and with a
convulsive gesture she threw her arms
over the rail and collapsed in a fit of
weeping.
When the judge asked her if she had
anything to say she made no reply.
Tears streamed from many eyes and a
minute later, as the jury retired, re-
publican guards gently lifted the limp
figure and carried 1t fainting from the
court room.
History of the Crime
The murder Of the distinguished
painter, Adolphe Steinheil, and his
mother-in-law on the night of May 81,
1908, caused a sensation in Paris. They
were found strangled in the artists
residence in the Rue de Vaugirard
which adjoins the studio of Seymour
Thomas, the American portrait painter
Nine. Steinheil was found gagged and
bound to a bed.
Nine. Steinheil, when she recovered
sufficiently from the shock gave a de-
scription of the alleged assassins, who
according to her story numbered four
including a red haired woman. Later
Nine. Steinheil told many conflicting
stories, and was herself arrested and
charged with the crime. The motive
was found in her hatred for her step
mother and a desire to rid herself of
her husband in order that she might
marry Maurice Borderel a wealthy
merchant, who had become infatuated
with her.
Not since 1902 when Frederic and
Therese Humbert were convicted of a
10000 swindle. has a trial in Paris