The North Cumberland Reformer. — 1891-01-29 (Carlisle, Cumbria, England)

MADAME DIDA. The trial of the young Russian, Pierre Vladimir. off, for the murder of his mistress, a rieh young widow hauled Madame Dida, terminated an Saturday at Versailles, as had been generally expected, with the conviction of the prisoner. Seeing that the latter had confessed his guilt, and that the case was exceedingly simple, one would have supposed that something less than five days' trial, and the evidence of sixty witnesses, would have sufficed to enable the Court to arrive at this conclusion; but even in murder trials, it seems, Frenchmen cannot help playing to the gallery ; and in the vulgar intrigue of the young Russian with the French widow, there were abundant opportunities foz histrionic display, and of these all the performers, from the Judge downward, appear to have liberally availed themselves. The facts were in a nutshell, and there was practically no dispute about them. The prisoner and his victim, who was described as a lady of great personal attractions, became acquainted in a railway carriage, when Vladimiroff, though a mere adventurer, living from hand to mouth, introduced himself al a Count, the more effectually to captivate. The prisoner is described as an aristocratic-looking youth of twenty, with long black whiskers and a slight moustache; but he had always been of violent and insubordinate dispoeition,having been expelled at different times from no less than six schools, and having the reputation at fifteen years of age of a determined gambler and an incorrigible profligate. On her side, the lady, who so easily yielded to his seductions, cannot be regarded as a very exemplary person. She was very frivolous and pleasure-loving, addicted to the excessive use of morphia, and only refused Vladimiroft's entreaties to marry him because, as she naively explained to a friend, she had no intention of tying herself to one lover when she could have twenty. Much of the interest of the trial turned upon the medical evidence with reference to Madame Dida's abuse of narcotics, and the enfeebling effect of this indulgence upon her mental and physical health, and it was alleged that the prisoner took advantage of the widow's enfeebled intelligence to compromise her and extort from her various sums of money, including £240 for the use of his mother. The liaison between this ill-sorted pair appears to have been of a somewhat stormy character, owing partly to the jealousy of the prisoner and partly to the coquettish frivolity of his mistress. Vladimiroff was constantly upbraiding her with her inconstancy, urging her to marry him, and threatening to commit suicide varying this entertainment sometimes by regretfully informing her that his affection for her was on the wane. As to the circumstances under which the murder was committed in a private room of an hotel at Ville d'Avray, the prisoner declared that Madame Dida refused to marry him on the ground that she was not fit to make him a good wife, and ought therefore to remain a widow. "This declaration," added Vladimiroff," drove me mad. Throwing myself upon my knees before her, I asked what proof she needed to convince her of my love. Her only reply was a repetition of her refusal to marry me, or have anything more to do with me, and it was then that, beside myself with rage, I drew a revolver and killed her." It is difficult to reconcile the prisoner's eagerness to marry Madame Dida with his previous declaration to her that his affection was on the wane, excepting upon the assumption that he wished to obtain possession of her property, but the jury must have attached some credit to his statement, or in pronouncing him guilty they would hardly have found extenuating circumstances for his conduct. Due weight was given to this recommendation to mercy by the reduction of the capital sentence to one of twenty years' penal servitude with ten years' police surveillance, so that at the age of forty, if not sooner, this precocious villain will be free to resume his war upon society. It is impossible to feel much sympathy with his victim, whose folly and vanity caused her to fall so easy a prey to the adventurer; but in the interests of society a much heavier sentence might with advantage have been passedsupon.her murderer.