The Pontypridd District Herald and Rhondda Valley, Llantrisant, Caerphilly, and Mountain Ash News. — 1892-06-25 (Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan, Wales)

TRIAL OF RAVACHOL FOR MURDER.  The trial of the Anarchist Ravachol on the charge of murdering the Chamblee hermit commenced on Tuesday morning at the Mentbrison Assizes. Monthrison is an out-of-the-way dead little sub-Prefecture in the Loire. The prisoners in the dock besides Ravachol were Beale lied the , mistre-s of the latter, Marlette Soubiere, who are charged with being accessories. Ravachol was cleau•shaven, self•possessed, and sarcastic. Bealleli eyes were red and swollen. :xlariette Saubiere was in deep mournimz. Ravachol in reply to the nsnal questions gave his name as Victor litinigstein. he was 32, was a dyer by trade, had committed a forgery in 1890, and had smuggled spirits through the octroi and uttered counterfeit coin because he was out of work. Asked whether he had not been looked upon by everyone as a dangerous character, he said he had always been for the weak against the strong. Ravachol then described, the murder of the Chamblee hermit. He threw him upon a bed, gagged him, and strangled him, weighing upon his chest with his knee until the victim gave no longer signs of life. He acted with premeditation and £BO in gold. After the crime he ate a good meal and drank plenty of wine. He hired a carriage to remove the booty. Asked why he had twice taken the same carriage and the same driver, he replied, "in order to suppress a possible witness to my crime. I had a revolver and a dagger in my pocket." This admission was made in the most unconcerned tone. The Judge : " Yes, your way is always to suppress whatever comes across your path. This is al. necessity of your life." Ravachol escaped from prison and went to l'aris with £320 of the Chambles plunder. Several days later a fisherman on the Loire found a coat belonging to Ravachol. In one of the pockets was a letter, in which Ravachol said that in order not to compromise his friends he would drown himself, and thus escape from bourgeoi, justice. His only regret was that he was unable to leave the money taken from the Clembles hermit in safe hands that it might be spent in furthering Anarchist doctrines. The judge remarked— You seem to be very much afraid of bourgeois justice, as you are pleased to call it. Certainly, I am afraid of it, because I know that the interests of the workmen and those of bourgeois justice are contradictory. („)1! don't talk in the name of the working men, talk in the name of murderers.  What, cannot I peak for the working classes? Can I not say a word about the mound organisation from which I have seffo..red ? You said just now that I was a bad workman. Must I starve for that? It is no fault of mine if lam without any talent.  Von have shown great talent for committing crime.  I have not shown mue'l in letting myself be caught. Your motive for taking away the life of the Chambles hermit is to be found in a letter of yours to the woman Ruliere : "If lain to live to the end without money, I don't care for existence. Some men have killed thousands of their fellow creatures, I will only kill one '—what could society expect from a man like you? Society! I had a riBht to expect everything from it.  After the adjournment for lunch M. Lagasse, Ravactiors counsel, read a letter from Gustave Niathieu, in London, declaring that Ravaebol was not the murderer of Madame Marcon and her daughter, and violently attacking Chaumentin, the Anarchist, who gave evidence ag .inst Ravachul at the trial in Paris. Mathieu described Chaumentin as an informer, and false to his associates, and in conclusion expressed his conviction that Beale and the girl Mariette Soubiere would be found not guilty, adding that the Anarchists ought to convey Ravachol to a place of safety. Bela, when called upon by the judge, denied that he had any hand in the St. Ei ieune murders. Mariette Soubiere also protested her innocence. The examination of witnesses was then proceeded with, and the Court adjourned at half-past seven.