The Washington times., 1922-10-22

was, after all, NOT really Serious
and that they had arrested queer.
half f-demented fellow who might
well be q harmless iunatic. that.
after the domiciliary visit at Gam
bais. they told Monsieur Trio that
they had concluded their search,
and that. IL he wished. he could
re-lst his villa for the summer.
Meanwhile, to all the cross-ex-
animation In private by the rnagis-
trate to which the great criminal
was subjected he remained dumb.
CHALLENGES CHIEF.
II do not know?" "It 10 surely
for Monsieur 70 prove" "You sug-
gest 1t: 30 am silent"
Excuse. me m'sieur. but are
you bent upon building up q ro-
mancef" Mon Dieu! All women
look unprepossessing at o'clock
in the morning." eff I took O re-
turn ana . single ticket to Gam.
bais. I did It for some purpose. I
am. after all, polite man towards
women. Return tickets were not
available for q week. How could
insult my lady guests?" "You
ask me where Madenioiselle Mar
chadier is? do not know. She
left me after one day at Gambais
and she disappearedr'
Thus, for nearly three years Henri
Desire Landru. the worlds greatest
criminal fenced with the questions
put to him by Monsieur Bonin,
until the Paris "Bluebeard" be-
came q byword on the boulevards.
Songs were written about his tx.
ploits, and the papers all over the
world quoted his latest bon mo..
At last the police. after a sec.
ond search, in which I assisted.
broke up some concrete floors
which had been laid in the out
houses at Gambals. and there dis
covered, among q bed Of ashes,
presumably from the famous
kitchen stove. some debris which
the greatest medico-legists Of
France-Prof. Antony. DR.. Paul
and others - declared contained
portions Of the charred bones or
at least three human beings!
This evidence decided the prose.
cution. and on Tuesday. NoveEl.
Der 3, 1921, Landru was placed upon
his trial at the Versailles Assize
Court. stuffy, half.dark little
place which was, Of course, crowd.
Cd to suffocation by the witnesses
and public, the latter consisting OF
half the well.wnown women OF
Paris.
AWFUL STORY UNFOLDED.
There. before the able president,
Monsieur Guilbert, the amazing
and frishtful story was unfoldeI
to q gaping and astounded jury Of
the Seine-et- -Oise, while the beard.
ed prisoner, smiling. imperturbed,
and alert all the time, and protest
ing his entire innocence, listened
with rapt attention.
TIL November 80 the trial lasted.
Six thousand documents were pro-
duced. I sat each day watching
the bearded. bald-headed prisoner,
whose countenance seemed to grow
yet more yellow and strained each
day. until after an endless drrav
OF witnesses, the production OF
some Of the murdered women's fur
niture. and the damning evidence
OF the greatest experts in France.
the Jury at last found him guilty.
And then a most amazing thing
followed. The Jury. though find
ing him guilty OF that series of the
most appalling and INSCRIPTIONS
murders known in the whole an.
mails Of crime, actually recommend
cd the fellow to mercy! One
wonders why?
II was. OF course, a magnificen.
testimonial to the ability of his
counsel, Maitre oro-Giafferi. one
of the most famous criminal law
yers Of Europe; but the recommen
dalton astounded the world.
The Judge condemned him to
death. but on FEBRUARY 2. .922.
Henri Desire Landru appealed to
the Court OF Cessation for Il re.
vision OF the sentence on highly
technical grounds involving breach.
es in criminal law. While the
appeal was being prepared the
Surete were active in their inquir.
les. and much that is disclosed in
the foregoing pages was the result
In view Of a new tfial that might
have been ordered.
HELPED INVESTIGATE
personally assisted in many of
the inquiries. and not only did l
help In the excavations at "Tha
Lodge" at Vernouillet, and at the
Villa Trio at Gambais, but I also
took a number Of long and fruit
less JOURNEYS across EuroDe in