The Sun. — 1852-05-06 (London, England)

COTTON.  RORRIBLE STORY. The Bordeaux journals contain the following horrible story :—At the end of October last a sum of 9001. was stolen from the House of M. Mano, an avoui of Dazes; the thieves being a public-house keeper and his wife, a peasant, and M. Mano's servant. After the robbery the thieves went to the public-house of the married couple, which is situated at some little distance from the town, and partook of breakfast. In that house lived a girl of the town named Annette. Whilst the parties were at table, they complained bitterly that they had only been able to steal "Of, though they knew that M. Mane bad 10,0001. in his possession, that sum having been deposited with him the day before. On this Annette reproached them for whet they had done. " I am only a loose woman," said she, " and yet I would never commit a robbery." This declaration terrified the thieves, and to prevent the girl from denouncing them, they resolved to kill her. Meantime the gendarmes having obtained information of the robbery commenced a search after the thieves, and a day or two after they made a descent in the public-house, which was one of notoriously bad character. One of the four persons was arrested on suspicion of being the thief. Not seeing Annette, the gendarmes asked what had become of her, and the public-house keeper replied that she had been spending some days with her family, and had afterwards left for England. Things remained in this state until Easter Monday, when the rumour spread in the town that Annette had been murdered. It appeared on inquiry that the son, aged between 13 and 14, of the public-house keeper, had, whilst playing in tha house with some boys, pointed to a large iron pot, and said, "I shouldn't like to eat anything cooked in that pot." " Why so?" he was asked. " Because it was in it my father cooked Annette!" On this the boys left him, Saying, " As your father killed Annette, we will not play with you!" and they on the following day refused to allow biro to join their games. When the boy's strange remark was mentioned to the gendarmes, they at once proceeded to arrest his father and mother. They then called on him to tell all ho knew. He said he knew nothing, and denied that he had used the language ascribed to him. The gendarmes, to frighten him, placed handcuffs on him, and threatened to convey him to prison. He then made this statement:—" On the evening after the robbery I heard a piercing cry upstairs, and I went up. I opened the door of a room, and SAW the body of Annette lying on the bed without  movement. I wanted to go in, but the persons who were there prevented me; and the peasant, one of them, pushed me away; and, giving: me four sous, said—' We don't want you—here are four sous—be off with your I went away. In the night the dead body of Annette was conveyed down stairs, and her murderers deliberate) as to what should be done with it. One suggested that it should by placed in a hole to be made in the wall, and that the hole should be plastered up; but this was objected to, on the ground that the freshness of the mortar would attract attention, and that besides the corpse would cause a strong stench. At length it was resolved to cut the body in pieces, to separate the flesh from the bones; to boil the flesh in a pot, and give it to the pigs to est, and to burn the bones to ashes. This was done. The bones, to prevent any smell, were steeped in quick lime before being burned. The pigs devoured the boiled flesh with voracity, and some of them died after from excess. My tether and mother, the peasant, and M. Mano's servant, took part in this horrible affair." The law authorities are now making a searching investigation; they have already discovered the clothes of the girl, and in the ashes of the grate a human tooth. The ashes have been carefully collected, and are to be analysed by chemists. The sensation which the affair has created in the peaceable town of Blau is immense.