Horrible Rape And Assassi...
The Times, 1824-07-23T00:00:00

A. lnrocleure (pamplilet) has beien publishied 1elre, giving a dletailed account of the rape and-assassination commiiitted by Ailingrat, ex.. curate of St. Quentin (delpartment oft che Isere), whio was conilcinned to dtath by the Court of Assize of Grenoble, on thle 9r.h of Deceioi bar, 18227. The following are the principal factar-mingrat, a rman of low extraction, was, at the age of 28, namedl t0 the curser of St, Quzentin. Ile hiad not been long in the situation whlen soe 'strange stories began to circulate respecting himn. Somie scanidalonulsanrd cri.- minal adlventueres were latid to hid account andt ineither h0is tone nor hiis manners were calculated to discredit these 'rumours. Ile was a man of a lofty stature, with a somibre, fatlse, and disdajottil. expression of coutntenance. He was possessied of imenecse stcrngth, and has beeni seen to carry on his shoulders, f'rom onie part of the chuirch to aniother, a heav v wooden confessional, whichl generallY, re.- sisted the force of two ordinary i-Nen to move. With the strength, of a giant, lie had also the passions endl arrogance of one. However, as gan lement of success in hiis zirofes~-ion, lie afilectel greate ri1gour in hiis sentiments and conduict, interdicting and discouintenatrincsg, as miuch as in hisi lay, the amusemnents and recreation:i ot hIsa rishiioners. At a quarter of a lteague fromn St. Qucentin, in the hamle-t of Get. liveti Btienne Charnalet, a disbanded suldlier, w ose wife, Mlarie Gerin, was remnarkable for her beaulty. The curate.11ng t,Who hadl been inflamed by the clharmas of the soldier's pretty wfe called one clay att the cottage, anid told Mla:'la Gerim whlenl next hecme to St. Qoentin), to call'uopii himn, as hie shlould have to ch-rg'e lie. wi It a letter for Itie curate of her village. Even at this, earlv periol tie commenced hiis criminal designs, by engaging Marie to li!steni to' some pretendted piouis discourses, Which hie read to her izi the moatit impassioned maniner, but whili1ich e only used as .a pretext to make a miost wacrm and amnorous declaration of' his passion foir liar. Marie, though astonishied by his vivacity and agitatiitn, did niot aso- derstand his object, btit attributed the state of excitation lie was in to the fervoLur of his piety. This' circumostance wvas pro'ed on the trial by a young man wcho' lad been listening outsidle ithe window to tle mnystical declarations, of Minttrat. A few days pfter this, M'arie went to St. Quencini, arid entered the chuircht abou't six o'clock in thle eveniing. On seeing- Ilingrist, sbe salftled himi respectfully, and said shecam toconessto himi. He, on some pretext or utlcir t.r a liar intothe reshterywhere he lived, adjokining thie chivreh. T~ihere, i appers, e cosumated the dlouble crimne of violation rind assassi_ . nationitt ding wic lie mnust have gagged the mnotth of his- victim,I as ow,inrtiulae,and stilled moans '-re beard by, his aervant. maid.The arksof strangulation were founid upon the neclk of the nforunat woan, Tlih servant, attractedi by the stifleed moaso she eard cam to ingrat's roomi-door, and ti"undi it ht4asten on the nsie, ad tinkig tat he m-ighlt hiave faLll,eni into a- fit, shte knoced, nd alle tohimi to open it, but Teceived f'or an9- swer an order to rtr instantly to the kitchien. Wiv-Olkh did at. length) come ou o his roomn, she ran to roaset ftirm,sv%- ing., "1Oh, Sir, yo hav frighitened toe dreadfullyV I th 1gh that yost were dyn. To Which he replied, in a bewilIlered aLnd furious msarnitr " old your tongue yo Sc indiot- andl lb get her out oftherav', he toldI her to take the rtewspspicr to one if his neighbous Bui thle servant, whose cur-iositv -was now awAkened, only pretended to obeyan'd for7tunately for tie discoer-ry of the crimne, rerauinedI in thie house.' 'having spoken tn sonic of ttiej neighboursB of 4vhat slie had heard, a vague ruotoocir got abroad, and- in a sliort tinie the husband of Mlarie cama toi the Presbytery to is-i quire after his wvife. On hiis knocking, Mitirtrat hiimtelf opened the t'o,acid stood sio in the passage its to prevent the husbanid f'rom ec;. tatring. He first denied having seen Miarie, hqut afterwvardls. oi tile busband insisting, he pretenrled to recollect that he had seen lier inI the church, bait had refbiscd to listen to her confession, on acc unt of' the negligence and( disorder of liar diress. Ila theni ledI the huisbandt down the ehiurchyarcl away from the house, soild after a niometit's convrsaion abrptl qutted hin anIic retuened to thes Presbytery. He orderetI the servant, who did not sleep in the house, to go away13, Withiout -'l.iving liar timec to clear awvay the supper. Thien, not sup- i2sing- tb%,ie was watchiedl, he set about disfuosing of the huhy of 1is victid. He tied the hiands antd feet, and attacig ope to theC neck, lie lowvered the bodly out of' the windowioa ?arck yard. Hfe then went, round to this yald, Iand taking hodo the rape, dragged the body after him to a riss.ng grouind Leid1a RodPe The heari, as it boundled over the stones, for the gr-ounil eras un- even and roc'ky, left behiind portions of hair antI flesh, wvhich were collected the next day, and( brouight forvyard as proofs of the lhorrid 41-ed, Hie liaed, previous to lowering toie bodly, stripped it, and left the clothies betintic, wvithi the excelttion of at neckkcrchief, which hev brought with himn for a purpose we shiall See by anti- by. Oni reachin1g the spot called Lat Ioche, it appaars the thteuglit first ,struck I):L of cutn th oj in pieces (fur he had miade no pre- vtOilS preparations for titis dreadfuil operation), and lie then at- temptedl to dto it wvithi a stnal.l pocket-knlife, but in) endeavouriog to separate one of the armis at thie shioulder, the blade tuirned atnd becamne useless. The blood spoutedI froml the wound in greatI abudane , and covered tkis reverentd dlemon's faee and clothes. Fold in his purpose, lie seemed to become delirious fromi disappohiinment end feat, and- tying one of the feet of Iris victim- to a tree, he exerteti all hit herculean strengthi to tear tics hodi limb fromn limb, buit failing in this, he returned to thie house for a mnore fit instrtinient for dissection.-t.he ki,chien hiatchet &r cleaver. WVitlt this instrument he separated Cthe thighis fiotit ithe trunk, end threw the.n into a rapid strc-ani that ditichiargrs itself into the Isere. He then lifted the mutilated icunk upo his shoulders, with which lice hastened towards the Isere, inito whichl- he plungea it. He theic dlepositedI on its river side thie aeckkerchcef of' poor Mlarie, in order to mnake it supposeti thatI sitehaddrowed erself. On returning to his house, he burned the lotes f te nurderod Marie, together with his, own) clerical robe whch as tainedI with blood, and thirewv the ashies into the iriv. Onrefecting, if he lied remov-ed all traces cf the crime, lie ecoleced ithdismay, that lia had left thle pocket-knife be- bindhim;he imeditelyreturned to the spot, buit after thet ti-ost minte earh h cold otfind it. The knife, which was produe. ad t te tial ha aready been found by a labourer, who, at the brea ofdaywasPasingnear La Roclie, andI hiad his attention caughtbyeplofbod a bloody rope, and a black handled kuibi' lyiig y i. Tcs nif hetook, up, but fearing it mighit briaig him into tobehe threw it into a bush. However, after going.somei distane e returned, took up tie knife a siecond time. 'washied it, and to it htome with Iiim.. When Alingrat'si servant miaid appea-l- ad before him in the ilooning, she was pale, trembling an besil U dared. 11ihicgrat, alarMfed 'by her appern, ktheabitiy Wllat Was tics matter witi licer ? Thie poo ilto~lti ant o- vimca him that she hadl seen) or heatrd notigasepafwmonwhc shie supposed proceeded from himuselfben il.Tecrt,hw ever, continuing to qusinhrthgilsfasotcebtrofe, she threw herse'lf uponhrkes n oon irlad,xlindi the mnost supplicati ale,"O,Sr pri o og wy I can no longer beari "Tieclmto waathnrlpir thd cutrate ; he clearly saw that Ntis weakt-milnded superstiiu,ht honeit creature, Was miistress of liislaifeaiid secret. Hie gtbte her pnd-tite door, tend af'ter a few momnenits'reverie, lie seizederb the arnm, arid dragged lier iisto the sanctufry, forcet(hrdw upon her knees oct the steps of the altar, and then tkn rm tie tabernacle the host, he psit 'It inito liar hand,teln liar sliteshould either make tup her mindl to die,ortk a most solemin oath uipon the body and blood of Chirist, never I to reveal what site had seen or heard'on the pereceding night. Thle I unfortunate girl, half deadl with fear and horror, took the oathi prescribed. After thiis extraordinary' scene, Allingrat resumed lisa tranquillity. However, som-e (days after, as some voi,nic sIeplierds were ffishing in the stream which flows inito the I-sere, one of themi, on dtawing lap his line, found a lhumianitliigh attachled to it. Na- turally alarmied at. such a sight, they fled cowardss tite village, atoll told what hiad tAken p lace. Thei authiorities repaired to tics Spot, th- thiglh was recognized to be that of a young wvoman, anid thlere o-f course was no longer any doutbt as to Mlarie ('rerin hiavinig bJeau muxrdered. As public opinion pointed out Alhiiignat cte the asutssir,, he resorted to a last effort to remove suspicion fromi him. Th'le au-.i thoaities hiad ordered the thigh to be buried in the cisurceb-yard. Mlingrat repaired thiither, and ordered die thigh to he remnoved, say.. tog it should not rest iii consecrated ground, for Maria Geriii ha'd cormiitted suic-ide, anticthen, affecting to fail into a state of f4tnati, cal exciteiment, he meclaimed-"1 Yes, I saw that shne was posse9sed by the devil 1--.ycs, by Satan, whon carriedl her itway in his arms, and plunged with her in to the tabyss of hell!I" Thiose wvho weLre present could contain no loieger their indignation,. but loudly cursed andl hooted this hypocritical rufliso. The next mnorning, whille Bifnh. grilt was att breakfast, two gernadavrtoes entered; thley were not charged to make him prisoner but merely to rvatch his motions. Ile appeared dreadfully alarmel, but endeavoured to conceal it. and invited themi to partake of his breakfast. Befose breakfast cvai over, the vicar of Zulliti camea in, aicid brought a letter fronti his sou. rLtmt to Mlingrat on t'he suibject of the murdler. The concluding words of this latter were, "1the murmurs afloat respectinig the assassinsa. clon of the woman weigh heavily upon Voec-If yo r uilty, fly instantly." Mingrat took the advice and fled. The Ilay'or sent the gonisdariines ia pusuit p1 kim, but 111ingrat got over the frontier-s inoSvv eore they could tdjce hinti. They, however, gave h de. scription o,f his pearson andi erimo to some Piedmsontese carbinears, into whiose hands he shortly after fell, and was conducted to the prisoafp1' thambery, from whience he has beecti transferred to the or tress of Fernestrella. ThteSardinian Governnient have constantly refusedl to deliver h4im up, thoTui. he has been confleminea to death by the tribunialof Gretiobl Te trial was heard with closed doors-.- a rather remnarkcable circemsfance. A grand vicar of GrenobIle welit to visit bhitt in the prison of Chamberry. On Mingrat seeing him, ice tbrirec himself at his feet aciti ecarlaimed, " Ab, father, I ami gtcilty, pardon inc " This public avowal wa,notastall relished by the Grand Vicar, wiho imnmediately ordered those preent to retire, when he hail a tete-a-tete with the wortlhy ctirate. This grand vicar ra'c no little risk on his return to Grenoble; for the people, sicppos. ugtahehad brought back Mlinirrat for the purpose of deli-varing hi pto ec law, attacked tiesvficar's carriage, determined to do jtieuon hitn themselves. Ttisdetail of tie factsaoft'this lhorri'ble case, is annexed a letter writteu by the brother of Miarie Gerin, iS whichi he says--" Before publishsng thts notice, I baud recourse to every effort to bring the guilty to punishmient, bdt they have all Proved fruitless. EveryI door lias ?bead shut against tne. MVy poor sister's htusband and my- self had a mnemerial presentedl to his Mlajest'. In the ansiwer to which, sPeisd by the Duke de la Chatre, the kang atltnowledgeq the jusice o our danitjnd-..he assures us of hiis protectiob atnd Justice_ but invites us to follow the nsuai,riaid cnstitutional forms, and d-- dreoasorselves to the Keeper of theSealf. This we did, accomspauied by=soyoftheienlg!s letter, but we have not beets aIl to obtain an msse from hig Excellencey. Ve ttitan presented-a petitioui to thie Clambhes' of Deputies, whichbad scarcely a- better fhtec5. as ~the, thamnber pa,ssea to theOlder of the day oatit, the!&ptTter. sl as a reason that .t was not known where Minigrat was." The bratiier aLco co;aplains in thig letterof the calumnies uttered against -litu. and the husband of hit sister by the country curatL=, who take pa2t with Mingrat, and have not besixtaed to attribute tdas cxirne to the brotlher atsd husband of the victim. The brotlcr was jiot iU tbe country wvhen it took place. HORRIBLE RAPR AAN ASSAS-WArATArIONf BY A FRENrCh CURA TE. PARTIS Juimv 21.