Year: 1863

cate, Frenchman, who had married my
mothers sister. There were several En-.
glish lads there besides myself, and very
hard We worked, though good many Oi
US had nobody to compel US to do SO il
We felt disposed to shirK. The letters
received from my uncle seldom contained
anything besides exhortations to work
hard and in the holidays instead Of in
vting me to spend them with him and
my aunt. he always encouraged the idea
of my going to England, so that was
very much astOniShed when one day re.
ceived letter from him quite unexpect.
least possible delay for the department Of
Ain. The letter merely told me that
there was nothing the matter with any OF
the family, and that he wanted me on ac-
count Of case in which he was con-
cerned


This case was the prosecution Of a
Frenchman named Boiteler, a man OF
considerable standing in his province,
who was in custody on a charge Of mur.
dering his vile and an old man servant.
The lady was an English woman Of good
family, to whom he had been married
about four years, and who was commonly
termed in the department L'ange du bOis,
on account OF her extreme beauty, aud
the fact of her husbands house being sur
pounded by small but very dense wood,
which he allowed nobody to meddle with,
80 that it was completely choked with
bramblcS. She was his =, cond wife, his
first having died during short visit he
made to Paris, within a year Of their
marriage.


Criminal prosecutions in France being
conducted by the public prosecutor, it
vas only in compliance with the wishes
Ol the relatives OF the murdered lady,
strcnuou>ly supported by his own wife,
that my uncle had uud,rtak II to siSt
in obtaining evidence to throw light upon
what was tell to be an exceedingly intri
cate case, and one which it would be al.
most impossible for the jury to decide
upon in u satisfactory manner unless nd
ditional evidence could be got in favor of
or against the prisoner.


The evidence on which BOiteler was
committed 10 prison Was not inconsistent
with the statement male bv him on his
apprehension aud if the affair had taken
place in any other country than France.
where it is very much the custom Of Of
iicial>, intrusted with the care Of the pub.
lie safety, to assume every man involved
in criminal otEen>r to be guilty until he
is proved innocent, | doubt whether he
would have been retained in custody.
He left his house on the day of the Inur,
der i'll small open carriage, accompanied
by his wife, attended lay man who had
been III his service for several yeats, for
the purpose Of going to Bourg, to see an
agent concerning the sale Of ali estate on.
ly separated from his own by a river.
The matter had been so far arranged that
it OF, y remained for him to pay certain
portion Of the purchasing money, and he
was then to enter into possession. This
sum- forgot how much it was, but it
was large one-waS in the carriage, a
fact with which ali his servants were ia.
miliar, including, of course, the coach
man also. Shortly after midday, Boite-
Ter drove up 10 the barrier at Bourg, with
the dead body Of his wife in the carriage.
and told the officer on duty there, that
his wife had been murdered by his ser.
want, and that lie had shot his SerKs2t
who was tying In lane in which he
named. and whence he was shortly az
terward brought into the town bv some
laborerS, under the direction Of one Of
the foreSters employed in the commune.
Boiie!cr was Immediately taken into GUS
tGdy as precautionary measure; and
the following is the substance of the
statement made by him in explanation
uf the affair:


His servant bad suddenly stopped the
horse III the lane, got down, and came to
the side Of the carriage with pistol in
his hand, which he fired, but the ball
missed him, at whom 1t was aimed, and
entered his Miie's side. The pistol was A
large one, with brass but, and his ser.
want had then attempted to strike him
with it on the head, but he caught him
by the wrist with his left hand and held
him for an irStant, while he got hold Of
a pistol which was always kept in the
carriage, and which he had himself load.
ed that morning on account of the money
he had with him. Having got hold Of
his pistol, he put the barrel between his
knees, and held it there while he capped
it; he had then leaned over the side of
the carriage, put the muzzle close to his
aSsailant's neck, and shot him dead.
There was no living eyewitness to DENY
that things had passed in the way de-.
ScrI6ed, and the apparent absence OF mo.
tive, together with the appearance of
griefhe displayed, excited a very general
feeling that he told the truth This feel.
ing was, however. modified when il came
to be known that a reason for his com.
mission Of the crime miS Sht be found in
the circumstance that the whole of the
money to be paid for the estate had been
advanced by his wile'S trustees, with the
stipulation that it was to bc at her solr
disposal as long as she lived, and that at
her death, il her husband survived her.
he was to inherit onc.fourth, and the
other three iourths were to be divid, d
among the children. Failing issue ofthe
marriage, the whole vas to go to the hus.
band: This supplied a motive but it " as
hardly likely in itself to excite grave sus
picionS against him, if other circumstan.


~' "N ""S "0eh ueFelNplG py the post
mortem examination. Two doctors had
been appointed to perform the examina.
ton, and they were both of the opinion
that the man must have been shot by a
person who was behind him at the time.
though the pistol had been held above
him and fired downwards. The reasons
they gave in support of their conclusions
were so convincing that Boiteler's state.
ment could only be accepted on the sup,
position that he was 50 excited at the
time as not to be able to remember the
exact position of his servant at the 10.
slant he fred. 1t was also shown that
the muzzle Of the pistol, from which the
ball had been fred which killed his