Arizona republican., 1914-05-14
TRIAL OF THE D'ANGLADES

One of the most remarkable cases in French criminal law was that of the trial of the dAnglades in 1887. In that year there lived at the Rue Royale, Paris Francois, Comte de Montgomery, and his wife, who occupied basement and first floor apartments, and Sieur and Madame d Anglade, who occupied 1 the second and third floors.
 1 Montgomery was man of wealth, keeping up an expensive establishment and moving in excellent society. M. 1 d'Anglade whose means were compar- atively small, was less seen in the i haunts of fashion. The two families were on intimate terms. When the Montgomery went to their country res idence on a brief visit they invited the d'Anglades to accompany them. The invitation was at first accepted, but subsequently, declined, and the trivial nature of the excuse put for ward was afterWard dwelt upon with great insistence in the process that was to follow.
 The count and countess left Paris on September 22. 1887, intending to return the following Thursday They returned one day sooner than they were eX- l pected. Their reason was a singular one On sitting down at dinner the count had noticed drop of blood upon his napkin and another on his plate the origin of which was not discover able. With some presentiment of evil, he decided to return home. The stew i ard, page a valet and a priest. Fran cois Gagnard, returned a few hours later
 On the same day the Sieur d'Anglade returned home at II o'clock, accompa- ned by the Abbes de Fleury and de Nillars. As he entered the Count and Countess were still at supper The next morning early the count waited upon the lieutenant criminal of Chate- let and announced that during his ab- sence a chest had been broken open and much money and valuable jewelry had. been stolen.
 The lieutenant and his assistants visited the house and came to the con- cluslon that the robbery could only have been effected by some one famil- jar with the house. and a general in quiry was resolved upon Monsignor d Anglade demanded that his apart ments should be searched. In the first room visited was an old chest in which Was found a rouleau of 70 louis dor, wrapped in genealogical table which the count identified as belonging to , him. He also identified the money by thedates. possible at that time.
 The count charged his neighbors with being concerned in the robbery
 Upon visiting the room of the counts valet, five bags were found containing large sums of money. Acknowledge, '
 said the count to his wife, "the value
 of my presentiment. Had we returned only on the day We intended, this plum
 der would have been removed
 Upon this discovery, the magistrate turned to d'Anglade and said: Mon l sleur, if you did not commit this rob-
 bery, it was l." The unfortunate d'An. glades were forthwith arrested and the . husband was taken to the Chatelet ant | the wife to Fort L'Eveque where they
 were confined in close cells
 Two days later the trial began The,
 were accused of burglary. An impor-
 tant witness was the counts sister, who deposed that she had seen dAnglad, near the door of the counts valet, botI before and after his masters arrival Anotherwitness affirmed that d'An glade was an habitual gambler, and ; third that he had resided with him il q house from which some silver plat,
 was stolen and never restored
 On the 18th of January, 16SS. tn ) judge ordered that d'Anglade should b.
 submitted to the question, ordinary an,
 extraordinary. The accused appealed
 to parliament. The latter decree,
 that he should undergo the question a
 intended Thus the unfortunate man
 although he underwent the tortur
 without admitting a syllable of the ac
 cusation, was condemned on tn
 strength of the testimony already ob
 ready obtained.
 On February 16, dAnglade was con
 demned to the galleys for nine year
 and his wife was banished for tn
 same time. His health was bad whel
 sentence was pronounced upon hin
 and he only survived four months O
 his term. A short time after his deatl
 certain anonymous letters were ad
 dressed to more than one person in of
 ficial position in which the write
 stated that, being on the point of en
 ter1ng monastery, and wishing to dis burden his conscienve of a heav
 secret he desired to make known tha the Sieur dAnglade was completely in
 nocent of the theft and that the req author of the crime was one Vincen
 Belastro and the priest Francois Gag nard, and that woman named De l.
 Combie had it in her power to throy
 much light on the transaction.
 The authorities started what the
 supposed was a fruitless investigation but which turned out to be important
 and the two rascals were apprehendeG Then the daughter of Madame d'Ane
 glade applied to the courts that the in
 nocence of her father and mother b placed on public record It was full proven that Belastro and Gagnar Were the thieves and they were com pelled to confess.
 The innocence of the d'Anglade