Speaker 1: Palpudert Calm, New Orleans, Louisiana. January thirty first, eighteen eighty nine.
Speaker 1: Six years ago, Ady Anne Dechamp arrived in this city
Speaker 1: from Paris, France, and secured an apartment in number sixty
Speaker 1: four Saint Peter Street, where he practiced his profession that
Speaker 1: of an electric physician. At the time of his arrival, Dechamp,
Speaker 1: although about thirty five years of age, was a magnificent
Speaker 1: specimen of manhood, almost six feet high. Wearing a dark
Speaker 1: mustache and goateee cut a la Napoleon. He claimed to
Speaker 1: be well off, was extremely polite to everybody, and, being
Speaker 1: of a quiet and retiring disposition, did not attest special
Speaker 1: attention from his fellow lodgers. In July eighteen eighty seven,
Speaker 1: doctor Jules Diech, together with his aged mother and his
Speaker 1: two pretty daughters, Juliette aged twelve and Laurence, nine years
Speaker 1: arrived from the outskirts of Paris and secured rooms in
Speaker 1: the second story of the house number one sixteen Charter Street.
Speaker 1: Diech was an upholster, and being a competent workman, managed
Speaker 1: to make a good living for his little family. They
Speaker 1: board it at the Pension Francais, a French restaurant on
Speaker 1: Charter Street, and there it was that they met Eddien
Speaker 1: de Champ, whose polished and affable manners gained for him
Speaker 1: the esteem and respect of the Datsch family. Deuchamp visited
Speaker 1: their home and friendly relations sprang up between him and
Speaker 1: the children.
Speaker 2: Every evening he would.
Speaker 1: Call at the house and take the girls out for
Speaker 1: a promenade, and when he returned, he and mister Deech,
Speaker 1: who had by that time completed his day's work, would
Speaker 1: take a stroll about town. This continued for quite a time,
Speaker 1: and the two girls were in the habit of visiting
Speaker 1: at his room to chat with him and assist him
Speaker 1: in any little work which he might.
Speaker 2: Have to do.
Speaker 1: Yesterday afternoon, at one o'clock, Deuchamp called at the Ditch
Speaker 1: home and took the children out for their accustomed walk.
Speaker 1: After a long promenade, the three repaired to the doctor's room.
Speaker 2: At number sixty four Saint Peter Street.
Speaker 1: Access to the house has had to the upper stories
Speaker 1: by means of a wide entry and up a narrow
Speaker 1: winding stairway lighted only by a dimly burning lantern. The
Speaker 1: room occupied by Dechamp is a large, ill furnished apartment,
Speaker 1: in one corner of which stands an old fashioned bed
Speaker 1: devoid of sheet or blanket. Along the west wall is
Speaker 1: a pile of trunks of rude make, and in the
Speaker 1: center of the room stands a common deal table, on
Speaker 1: which are numerous bottles filled with various mixtures. Upon the mantle,
Speaker 1: lighted by an oil lamp, and two sputtering tallow candles,
Speaker 1: our large number of empty vials and bottles of all
Speaker 1: sizes and forms. It wasn't to this room that Deschamp
Speaker 1: conducted the Diets Sisters yesterday, and it was there that
Speaker 1: he last evening committed a most horrible crime true crime
Speaker 1: history in presence An Eye for an Eye, a special
Speaker 1: edition of yesterday's news exploring the criminal justice system at
Speaker 1: its most extreme, inflicting the death penalty. Episode three hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy two delves into the history of one of
Speaker 1: the most hideous villains to ever stalk New Orleans streets,
Speaker 1: a predator so vile that he ranks right up there
Speaker 1: with Albert Fish in his depravity. Even if you don't
Speaker 1: believe in capital punishment, you'll agree that Edieon Dechamp deserved
Speaker 1: his punishment. And then some I'm true crime historian Richard O. Jones,
Speaker 1: and for your horror and indignation, I give you atrocity.
Speaker 1: At Saint Peter Street, la Chateaine, juliet and the perverted
Speaker 1: professor of magnetic physiology. The sisters Juliette and Laurent's diets
Speaker 1: had frequently visited the dingy room occupied by Eddie Anne Duchamp.
Speaker 1: They were well acquainted with its poverty stricken appearance, and
Speaker 1: the uncanny surroundings had no terrors for them. They knew
Speaker 1: Deschamp and had confidence in him.
Speaker 2: Hence it was that when.
Speaker 1: He told Juliette to place herself on the bed, she
Speaker 1: did so. Going to the table in the center of
Speaker 1: the room, Dechamp procured a small vial filled with a
Speaker 1: colorless liquid, and, giving it to juliet told her to
Speaker 1: inhale its contents. She did as she was directed and
Speaker 1: soon fell back on the bed in a semi conscious state.
Speaker 1: Dechamp again went to the table, and, after securing a
Speaker 1: handkerchief from his coat pocket, took a large bottle, and,
Speaker 1: saturating the handkerchief with its contents, laid the wet cloth
Speaker 1: on the face of the unconscious girl, leaving only the
Speaker 1: eyes and forehead free. Little Laurence, with childish curiosity, noticed
Speaker 1: the doctor's every motion and noted how her sister was affected.
Speaker 1: She remarked that Juliette was breathing heavily. She saw that
Speaker 1: the liquid on the handkerchief had evaporated, and noticed that
Speaker 1: dechampleted again and again with the colorless fluid. Finally, Juliette
Speaker 1: went off in a peaceful slumber, and then Dechamp took
Speaker 1: the small vial which he had first given her to
Speaker 1: inhale and placed it to his nostrils. The drug had
Speaker 1: its effects, and Dechamp lay alongside the sleeping girl. Little Laurence,
Speaker 1: growing weary of the quietude, moved restlessly on her seat
Speaker 1: at the foot of the great four posted bed, and
Speaker 1: Dechamp arose, and, procuring another piece of cloth from his trunk,
Speaker 1: saturated it with the contents of the big bottle, and
Speaker 1: told her to place it to her nose. Warned by
Speaker 1: a strange presentiment of danger, the little girl cunningly pretended
Speaker 1: to inhale the drug and sat motionless for some time,
Speaker 1: holding the damp cloth in her hand. Dechamp now arose
Speaker 1: and told Laurence to go home and tell her father
Speaker 1: that he was tired of living and intended to commit suicide.
Speaker 1: He showed her out, and as she stood on the landing,
Speaker 1: she heard the huge bolt as it shot into the
Speaker 1: socket when Dechamp locked the door behind her. Crying bitterly,
Speaker 1: Laurence hurried to her home and with childlike hesitation, told
Speaker 1: her father everything that had occurred in Dechamp's room. Horrified
Speaker 1: at the terrible intelligence, the father ran to Deschamp's house
Speaker 1: and knocked for admission. All was silent within the room,
Speaker 1: and the father, torn by anxiety for the safety of
Speaker 1: his daughter, endeavored to break open the door. The noise
Speaker 1: he made awakened a private watchman named Charles Sarah living
Speaker 1: in the house, and to him mister Deech quickly related
Speaker 1: his terrible suspicion. Their united efforts proving of no avail
Speaker 1: against the strong door. Mister Deech ran to the third
Speaker 1: Precinct station and informed Captain Journey of the facts. Corporal
Speaker 1: Morris and Special Officer Durrance hurried to the house, and
Speaker 1: despite the efforts of the four men, the front door
Speaker 1: could not be opened. The adjoining room was visited and
Speaker 1: The door leading into de Champ's apartment was tried, but
Speaker 1: it too resisted the efforts of the officers to effect
Speaker 1: an entrance. The officers then went to the gallery, and,
Speaker 1: leaping over the low railing, broke open a door fronting
Speaker 1: on Saint Peter Street. Upon entering the room, a horrible
Speaker 1: so met their gaze. Upon the bed lay Juliette, Dietch
Speaker 1: and Ettie and Dechamp entirely disrobed. The girl was dead,
Speaker 1: Her eyes were half open, in her mouth, terribly burned
Speaker 1: by the chloroform which Dechamp had administered, was swollen to
Speaker 1: twice its natural size. Dechamp lay beside her, His mouth
Speaker 1: was wide open, his lips were working convulsively in his
Speaker 1: breathing heavy. The horror stricken officers, realizing the situation, immediately
Speaker 1: summoned The ambulance had responded promptly, and the students set
Speaker 1: to work to resuscitate the man. Coroner le Montier was
Speaker 1: sent for and Dechamp was removed to the Charity Hospital,
Speaker 1: where he was placed in the reception room and every
Speaker 1: effort was made to save his life. After the man
Speaker 1: had been taken from the house, the coroner turned his
Speaker 1: attention to the dead girl. She was well developed for
Speaker 1: age and her features were finely formed. She was a
Speaker 1: chtan and her alive complexion was set off by an
Speaker 1: abundance of light brown wavy curls. The coroner said that
Speaker 1: death was caused by chloroform. After his removal to the hospital,
Speaker 1: the students busied themselves in restoring the dying man to consciousness.
Speaker 1: The stomach pump was called into service, and nearly an
Speaker 1: ounce of the anesthetic removed at his reviving appliances were
Speaker 1: resorted to, and at about eleven thirty o'clock, the man
Speaker 1: was pronounced out of danger. When this fact was established
Speaker 1: beyond peradventure, word was sent to the police headquarters that
Speaker 1: the man was recovering, and, acting upon this advice, Special
Speaker 1: Officer Durrance, accompanied by Sergeant Fleming, repaired at once to
Speaker 1: the hospital in the patrol wagon for the purpose of
Speaker 1: conveying the man to the third Precinct station, where the
Speaker 1: proper charges could be preferred against him. On reaching the hospital,
Speaker 1: the party were ushered into the reception room, where Dechamp
Speaker 1: was found lying upon a couch. Those present were doctor Lemonnier,
Speaker 1: who was found interrogating the man, who was now apparently conscious,
Speaker 1: and who was quietly making answers to the questions put
Speaker 1: to him. The man seemed bewildered when told that the
Speaker 1: girl was dead, and said that he was sorry they
Speaker 1: did not let him die too, as he wanted to.
Speaker 1: He had tried to kill himself, but was discovered too soon.
Speaker 1: The girl, he said, he had been intimate with for
Speaker 1: some time past, but previous to this she had been
Speaker 1: his subject in his experiments of magnetism. He had been
Speaker 1: educating and training her in the mysteries of magnetism for
Speaker 1: some time until recently when he left the city for
Speaker 1: a trip. He was in the middle of making his
Speaker 1: trips out of the city to the different parishes, and
Speaker 1: on his return always found Juliette ready to receive him.
Speaker 1: He found her an agreeable companion and never permitted himself
Speaker 1: to suggest an immoral proposition to her. On this recent trip,
Speaker 1: he was gone a little longer than usual, and on
Speaker 1: his return he learned that Juliet had been ruined by
Speaker 1: a young man, and he questioned her about it. The
Speaker 1: child at first denied it, but subsequently admitted it, and
Speaker 1: then he took liberties with her which she never resented.
Speaker 1: On being questioned concerning the girl's death, he was at
Speaker 1: first not inclined to talk, and affected to be in
Speaker 1: ignorance of the fact.
Speaker 2: However, he said that he.
Speaker 1: Had been magnetizing the girl for some time past in
Speaker 1: order to develop her into a beautiful subject. He failed
Speaker 1: on account of her not being pure. A woman to
Speaker 1: be a perfect magnetic subject must be a virgin. He
Speaker 1: became disenheartened and told her so when she came to
Speaker 1: his room. He told her that he was going to
Speaker 1: kill himself on account of it, and she said she
Speaker 1: would also kill herself if he did. This met with
Speaker 1: his approval, and she disrobed herself and inhaled the fumes
Speaker 1: of the bottle containing the chloroform. She then saturated the
Speaker 1: handkerchief with the drug and went into bed and laid
Speaker 1: down with the handkerchief held in her hand a short
Speaker 1: distance from her face, and said, Oh God, how pleasant,
Speaker 1: how nice it smells. Suddenly she fell into a slumber.
Speaker 1: He then inhaled the contents of the bottle and swallowed
Speaker 1: some of the chloroform, and entered the bed. When Descham
Speaker 1: realized that the girl was really dead, he took one
Speaker 1: of his dental instruments, an instrument about four inches in
Speaker 1: length with a point on it like a needle, and
Speaker 1: stabbed himself three or four times in his breast, with
Speaker 1: a view of perforating his lungs, so as to make
Speaker 1: death sure and certain. He positively refused to say what
Speaker 1: were the motives which actuated the girl and himself to
Speaker 1: make way with themselves. The girl, he said, met his
Speaker 1: advances voluntarily and was very much in love with him.
Speaker 1: Upon the conclusion of de Champ's statement, doctor Lemontier said
Speaker 1: the examination showed that the girl had not been subjected
Speaker 1: to misusage last night. The statement that the girl took
Speaker 1: the drug of her own free will and saturated her
Speaker 1: handkerchief and other particulars is not corroborated by Little Laurence,
Speaker 1: the sister of Juliet, who was present in the room.
Speaker 1: On learning the mission of the officers, doctor Lemontier stated
Speaker 1: that it would be impossible to remove the man in
Speaker 1: his present condition to the police station. He had been
Speaker 1: restored to consciousness, it was true, but any undue excitement
Speaker 1: by throwing into a state of coma. His condition was
Speaker 1: said to be very delicate and dangerous in the extreme.
Speaker 1: Notwithstanding the fact that he could converse rationally, but the
Speaker 1: time was not opportune to remove him. The doctor doubted
Speaker 1: whether the man, even if he should attempt to escape,
Speaker 1: could walk or run above one hundred yards, and further
Speaker 1: argued against the immediate removal of the prisoner. During this time,
Speaker 1: Dechamp looked anxiously about the room, his eyes roaming from
Speaker 1: one object to another, as though he contemplated flight. Resuming
Speaker 1: the examination, the prisoner stated to doctor Legonnier that the
Speaker 1: girl had been his mistress for upward of four months.
Speaker 1: It was doctor Lemonnier who discovered the instrument with which
Speaker 1: Deuchamp had inflicted the stab on his own person. At first,
Speaker 1: doctor Lemonnier surmised that the instrument had played a part
Speaker 1: in the killing of the girl, but on examination no
Speaker 1: wounds could be found upon her. When the man was
Speaker 1: removed to the hospital, the students stated that certain wounds
Speaker 1: were discovered, which the coroner subsequently satisfied himself by examination,
Speaker 1: had been made by this instrument in the man's endeavor
Speaker 1: to perforate the lungs. The wounds, three or four in number,
Speaker 1: were barely visible and were located between the third and
Speaker 1: fourth ribs. Although the man destroyed every paper and every
Speaker 1: proof which might lead to his identification or family relations,
Speaker 1: Doctor Lemonnier succeeded, after much research, in unearthing from his
Speaker 1: effects four letters written by the young girl to her
Speaker 1: aged lover. These letters, childish effusions at best, were clean
Speaker 1: in tone and moral sentiment, and dwelt upon the deep
Speaker 1: love she bore Deucham. One of the letters, however, though
Speaker 1: bearing the signature of the girl, was clearly not written
Speaker 1: by her, as the handwriting was quite dissimilar from that
Speaker 1: in which the other three letters were written. Doctor Lemonnier,
Speaker 1: having concluded his labors at the hospital, hurried to the
Speaker 1: Central Police Station for the purpose of stating to Chief
Speaker 1: Hennessy the reasons which precluded the removal of the man
Speaker 1: to the station house. On the way, the Chief was
Speaker 1: met in a cab and together, after a short consultation,
Speaker 1: the two departed for Dechamp's residence on Saint Peter Street,
Speaker 1: where the body of the girl was exposed. On reaching there,
Speaker 1: Chief Hennessy made minute inquiry into all the facts gathered
Speaker 1: by the coroner at the autopsy. The Chief was visibly
Speaker 1: affected and stigmatized the crime as one of the most
Speaker 1: atrocious that had ever come under his personal observation. It
Speaker 1: was disclosed at the conference of the two officials that
Speaker 1: the father of the young girl was averse to having
Speaker 1: the body removed to the residence of her parents, as
Speaker 1: her grandmother, who was very old, was then lying at
Speaker 1: the point of death, and it was feared the shock
Speaker 1: might prove fatal. It was also said that the girl's
Speaker 1: people were very poor and could ill afford to defray
Speaker 1: the funeral expenses. On receiving this information, Chief Hennessy generously
Speaker 1: offered to bear the entire cost of her interment if
Speaker 1: it should prove that her parents were too poor to barrier.
Speaker 1: Doctor Lemonnier stated that he had interrogated the young girl's sister, Laurence,
Speaker 1: and had gleaned from her that it was customary for
Speaker 1: her to see sister to visit to champ and that
Speaker 1: on one occasion he had taken certain liberties with the
Speaker 1: dead girl in the presence of Laurence. When asked why
Speaker 1: she had not informed her parents of this matter, the
Speaker 1: girl stated that Juliet had imposed silence by threatening her
Speaker 1: with bodily harm if she revealed anything that she had
Speaker 1: observed After having obtained all the information available at the
Speaker 1: home of Duchamp, the chief and doctor Lemonnier proceeded to
Speaker 1: the residence of the dead girl for the purpose a
Speaker 1: further looking into the causes which brought about the tragedy.
Speaker 1: A business card of Duchamp, which was picked up in
Speaker 1: the room where the terrible deed was committed, advertised him
Speaker 1: as a professor of magnetic physiology February one, eighteen eighty nine.
Speaker 1: As soon as Edieon Dechamp recovered from the effects of
Speaker 1: the chloroform taken by him immediately after the murder, he
Speaker 1: was removed to the third Precinct station, where he was
Speaker 1: incarcerated to await arraignment. When the second Recorder's court was convened,
Speaker 1: the prisoner was arraigned before Recorder Drove. He pleaded not
Speaker 1: guilty and was promptly committed to perish prison without bail
Speaker 1: to await examination. Guarded by Durrance, the frightened wretch was
Speaker 1: conveyed to the old jail, where, safe from mob violence,
Speaker 1: he drew a long breath and made himself as comfortable
Speaker 1: as possible. In the meantime, the indignation throughout the city
Speaker 1: grew in intensity. Muttered curses long and deep were showered
Speaker 1: on the head of the murderer, but no organized attempt
Speaker 1: was made to do himbodily harm. Large crowds congregated in
Speaker 1: front of the old building at number sixty four Saint
Speaker 1: Peter Street, where the crime had been committed. All day,
Speaker 1: the spectators lingered in the vicinity, gazing blankly at the
Speaker 1: old house and discussing the details of the horrible crime.
Speaker 1: An officer was on duty in front of the premises,
Speaker 1: and he managed with great difficulty to keep a passageway
Speaker 1: cleared for pedestrians. As the day wore on apace, the
Speaker 1: crowd increased until the entire street was blockaded. Then a
Speaker 1: hearse arrived with a little coffin. This was a signal
Speaker 1: for a rush in the direction of the doorway, every
Speaker 1: person in the crowd being anxious to catch a glimpse
Speaker 1: of the murdered girl. They were not rewarded, however, as
Speaker 1: the coroner had not yet held his autopsy and the
Speaker 1: body could not be removed until that official had completed
Speaker 1: his investigation. A little afternoon, corner Le Montier, accompanied by
Speaker 1: a number of medical students, reached the house and slowly
Speaker 1: forcing his way through the crowd, loudly knocked on the
Speaker 1: big gate, which was opened by a policeman. Entering the
Speaker 1: wide alley, the corner and his jury mounted the narrow stairway,
Speaker 1: reaching the room where the dead body was exposed. The
Speaker 1: time fixed for the inquest had arrived. Corner le Monnier
Speaker 1: entered the dingy little room, carrying under his arm his
Speaker 1: case of instruments. He was followed by a number of
Speaker 1: medical students, representatives of the daily press, and a policeman.
Speaker 1: An officer was stationed at the great door opening into
Speaker 1: the courtyard below to keep out intruders. In a businesslike,
Speaker 1: matter of fact way, the man of science proceeded to
Speaker 1: make a minute inspection of the room. Nothing escaped him.
Speaker 2: Quote.
Speaker 1: It may appear childish to call your attention, gentlemen, to
Speaker 1: the many apparently trivial objects which here surround you, But
Speaker 1: in an investigation such as this, one cannot be too particular,
Speaker 1: said the coroner, as he drew back the sheet which
Speaker 1: covered the form of the dead girl. The eyes of
Speaker 1: every person instantly sought the bed where the dead child lay.
Speaker 1: She seemed to be asleep, So peaceful was the smile
Speaker 1: which still lingered around her pretty little mouth. The miserable
Speaker 1: surroundings the blanketless and sheetless bed did not in the
Speaker 1: least detract from the beauty of the child, whose dead
Speaker 1: face was given a lifelike appearance by the suffused color
Speaker 1: left by the deadly chloroform. The drug had burned her
Speaker 1: tender skin, not sufficiently to cause a blister, but still
Speaker 1: enough to leave a ruddy stain. Assisted by the students
Speaker 1: and spectators, the body was placed on a small deal
Speaker 1: table in the center of the room. The table was
Speaker 1: not quite as long as the corpse, and as a consequence,
Speaker 1: the child's feet, encased in rough woolen socks, dangled over
Speaker 1: its end, displaying the shapely but small limbs of the subject.
Speaker 1: A ray of sunlight, forcing its way through the dirt
Speaker 1: begrimed window, fell on the face of the corpse, the low,
Speaker 1: broad forehead, delicately marked eyebrows, long black eyelashes, classic nose
Speaker 1: with finely cut nostrils, and pretty smiling mouth, whose rather
Speaker 1: short upper lip exposed the tips of a row of
Speaker 1: pearly teeth, denoting that the girl was not of low origin.
Speaker 1: It was a beautiful face, made more lovely by a
Speaker 1: wealth of curly auburn hair, which fell in luxurious profusion
Speaker 1: about the snow white shoulders. Although childlike, there was something
Speaker 1: womanly in the expression of the features. But here all
Speaker 1: indication of womanhood ended. For the neck, arms, and chest
Speaker 1: were extremely youthful, even babyish. Covering the body the corner,
Speaker 1: before undertaking the more important duty of holding the autopsy,
Speaker 1: made a careful examination of the room. On a chair
Speaker 1: near the window, the child's clothing had been placed before
Speaker 1: she retired for her last long sleep. A woolen underskirt,
Speaker 1: carefully folded hung over the back of the chair, telling
Speaker 1: more plainly than words, that the person who placed it
Speaker 1: there had acted with great deliberation. The dress was also
Speaker 1: neatly folded, and each garment in turn had been carefully
Speaker 1: laid away. Two little shoes, side by side, cunningly peeped
Speaker 1: out from under the mass of clothing. In marked contrast,
Speaker 1: the wearing apparel of the man was scattered carelessly about
Speaker 1: the dingy apartment. The imposing array of bottles, vials, and
Speaker 1: pill boxes on the mantle were examined. Chloroform, paragoric and
Speaker 1: other drugs composed the collection. A box of gold fillings
Speaker 1: for teeth was the only thing of value unearthed. The
Speaker 1: ashes in the fireplace, where Dechamp had evidently burned his
Speaker 1: waste papers were picked over, but they revealed absolutely nothing.
Speaker 1: Then the trunks were inspected and the letters written.
Speaker 2: By the child were found.
Speaker 1: Coroner Lemonnier, who was exceedingly thorough and painstaking in everything
Speaker 1: he does, was particularly attentive to the details of this
Speaker 1: important case, which he had under consideration, and as he
Speaker 1: moved about the room, he conversed with the jury, explaining
Speaker 1: his reasons for every step. The jury listened attentively to
Speaker 1: the corner, and becoming interested in his exhaustive explanations. For
Speaker 1: the time, forgot the presence of the corpse. Their attention was, however,
Speaker 1: soon recalled to the duty to be performed by Corner
Speaker 1: le Monnier, who approached the body in removing the sheet,
Speaker 1: prepared to hold an autopsy. This is a beautiful subject,
Speaker 1: he said, as he toyed with the long auburn hair,
Speaker 1: which hung an entangled mass of sunny curls over the
Speaker 1: edge of the table and halfway to the floor. It
Speaker 1: would be a shame to disfigure such a corpse, and
Speaker 1: it is not necessary in fact, the head can be opened,
Speaker 1: and when the operation is over, no one who sees
Speaker 1: the body will know that it has been operated upon.
Speaker 1: While speaking, the corner had disentangled the curls. A round
Speaker 1: comb which the child is used to keep back or hair,
Speaker 1: was pressed into service. The hair was parted directly in
Speaker 1: the back of the head from ear to ear, and
Speaker 1: the upper portion thrown over the face and held in
Speaker 1: position by the round comb. The back hair hung down,
Speaker 1: revealing a clean part around the back of the skull.
Speaker 2: Quote.
Speaker 1: Now all that is necessary is to operate here, and
Speaker 1: when the brain has been examined, the hair will be
Speaker 1: replaced and the child's head will resume its normal appearance unquote.
Speaker 1: The case of glittering instruments was opened, and in the
Speaker 1: presence of the jury, the autopsy was held. The autopsy
Speaker 1: revealed that death had been produced by chloroform inhalation. An
Speaker 1: internal inspection of the body showed the congestion of the brain, lungs, liver, stomach,
Speaker 1: and also but less marked, all of the organs of
Speaker 1: the body. The heart was flaccid and empty. Nowhere could
Speaker 1: chloroform be detected by smell or otherwise. It was late
Speaker 1: when the autopsy was finished, but the crowd on the
Speaker 1: outside of the house had not diminished, and the anxious
Speaker 1: populace were rewarded by seeing the little coffin. They were
Speaker 1: denied even a glance at the face of the dead. However,
Speaker 1: as the coffin lid had been tightly screwed down, the
Speaker 1: body was placed in a funeral wagon and conveyed to
Speaker 1: the establishment of Undertaker bunod On Saint Peter, between Charter
Speaker 1: and Royal Streets, where the remains were exposed.
Speaker 2: As it was.
Speaker 1: Known that the father of the murdered girl was too
Speaker 1: poor to give her respectable burial, a subscription was started
Speaker 1: for that purpose. At the burial parlors, the dead body,
Speaker 1: attired in a white satin gown and placed in a
Speaker 1: handsome white casket, was viewed by thousands. A wreath of
Speaker 1: pure white flowers encircled the brow of the youthful victim
Speaker 1: of Beauchamp's perfidy. At the head of the coffin, behind
Speaker 1: a table stood an employee of the establishment, who listed
Speaker 1: in hand solicited subscriptions from the visitors. Quite a sum
Speaker 1: had been subscribed when Captain Journey arrived and informed mister
Speaker 1: Bonart that the collection would have to be discontinued. Mister
Speaker 1: Bonart explained that he desired to raise a fund for
Speaker 1: the father of the child, who was in needy circumstances.
Speaker 1: As Captain Journey did not think further collections were appropriate,
Speaker 1: he requested mister Bonart to discontinue the same. Mister Bonart
Speaker 1: acquiesced it is impossible to estimate the number of people
Speaker 1: who viewed the remains. Thousands and thousands came and looked
Speaker 1: at the fair corpse. The crowd was very orderly. The
Speaker 1: officers remained on duty until relieved at night by others.
Speaker 1: Yesterday afternoon, a reporter accompanied by an artist visited the
Speaker 1: parish prison for the purpose of seeing and putting a
Speaker 1: few direct questions to that murderer of murderers, Etienne Duchamp.
Speaker 1: Duchamp is a short, thickset man, probably not over five
Speaker 1: feet seven inches in height. He is of the decidedly
Speaker 1: French type, his skin being dark and his hair, which
Speaker 1: is thick and bushy, very black. He has a full
Speaker 1: beard which is decidedly touched with the gray hairs of
Speaker 1: a man who has past the middle age of life.
Speaker 1: His eyebrows are quite heavy, shading a pair of piercing
Speaker 1: eyes of hazel color. The face as a whole is
Speaker 1: not striking, but of such a type as to affect
Speaker 1: the individual with a feeling of nervousness or insecurity, were
Speaker 1: he to once even for a second rivet his closely
Speaker 1: set piercing eyes upon you. His cheek bones are rather prominent,
Speaker 1: made especially so by his low receding forehead. The jawbone
Speaker 1: is firmly set, and his whole facial expression betokens an
Speaker 1: air of determination. His general appearance is shabby, with a
Speaker 1: light cotton shirt open at the neck. He had on
Speaker 1: a black coat, a dark pair of pantaloons, but feet
Speaker 1: uncovered save by a pair of unlaced shoes. To all appearances,
Speaker 1: he suffers very little from the wounds he inflicted upon
Speaker 1: himself or from the effects of a good, big dose
Speaker 1: of chloroform. His step is quite firm, though he stoops
Speaker 1: just a trifle in walking. Having been told to take
Speaker 1: a seat, Deuchamp was immediately engaged in conversation by the reporter,
Speaker 1: who attempted to interest him while the artist was busy
Speaker 1: in sketching the face of the murderer. Although the professor
Speaker 1: of physical magnetism. Spoke in the tongue of France. His
Speaker 1: speech was rapid in his gesticulations many there was no
Speaker 1: difficulty in following up as every idea. He wrote his
Speaker 1: name without trembling or hesitancy, upon a piece of paper
Speaker 1: which was handed him. I am fifty years old, he said,
Speaker 1: and was born in the town of Renee, France. He
Speaker 1: claims to have practiced dentistry his profession in France, but
Speaker 1: he made no pretense as a dentist in this city. Certainly,
Speaker 1: according to his account, he made no money at it.
Speaker 1: Here his father was a merchant, and both his parents
Speaker 1: were natives of France. Deuchamp claimed to have been able
Speaker 1: to cure any disease by his power of magnetism, which however,
Speaker 1: could be made brought to bear only through his medium
Speaker 1: to be found in the person of a virgin. He
Speaker 1: stated that he loved his profession or art above all
Speaker 1: things else, that in the person of this young and
Speaker 1: lovely child, Juliet, he had found a most fit subject
Speaker 1: for the perfecting of his wonderful art as a doctor
Speaker 1: of magnetism. And because he realized this fact and what
Speaker 1: an opportunity had offered himself for his beloved cause he
Speaker 1: had cultivated the friendship of the father and children from
Speaker 1: the very first meeting at the Pension Francais. That the
Speaker 1: girl was pure up to five months ago. The murderer
Speaker 1: does not deny. Indeed, purity of the flesh and mind
Speaker 1: were essentials to the charm m to be worked through
Speaker 1: her as his medium. But this astonishing statement he considerably
Speaker 1: muddles by declaring that the girl's father was used occasionally
Speaker 1: as a medium in his practice. Was the father an
Speaker 1: ideal of purity as was the innocence of the beautiful child?
Speaker 1: This is one of the questions that remain unanswered. Have
Speaker 1: you ever cured or attended any cases in this city? Many?
Speaker 1: Was the nervous reply, for he seemed to realize what
Speaker 1: was coming next, mention any one case, giving the particulars
Speaker 1: a name. This too received no reply, though the doctor
Speaker 1: pleaded as an excuse the delicacy of giving the names
Speaker 1: of any parties. One month and some few days ago,
Speaker 1: this learned professor of physical magnetism discovered so he says
Speaker 1: that his personal magnetism of his victim was fast losing hold,
Speaker 1: and that and his experiments were suffering.
Speaker 2: In consequence.
Speaker 1: He found that he had lost a beautiful subject, for
Speaker 1: the child was no longer pure. Then he lost heart.
Speaker 1: There was no further hope for his cause. Opportunities of
Speaker 1: that kind are very rare, he replied, in answer to
Speaker 1: the statement that all the childlike purity of the world
Speaker 1: had not been blotted out at this stage of the conversation.
Speaker 1: He suddenly became aware of the work of the artist, and,
Speaker 1: brushing aside the tears and countenancing not the person addressing him,
Speaker 1: he hastily arose from his seat in an endeavor to
Speaker 1: smooth and to turn down the lapel of his coat,
Speaker 1: muttering some remark as to his general appearance. The uniform
Speaker 1: look of absolute disgust and total loathing which spread over
Speaker 1: the faces of the few present, spoke louder than words
Speaker 1: the innermost feelings of the interrogator and his companions. He continued,
Speaker 1: She loved me, told me through private letters, and voluntarily
Speaker 1: gave me the privilege of all liberties.
Speaker 2: With her.
Speaker 1: Question, why did you abuse your power? Answer? Because I
Speaker 1: was urged question, have you any money? He replied in
Speaker 1: the negative, and further stated that he had never succeeded
Speaker 1: financially with his business. I am not guilty of the
Speaker 1: crime of murder, he said boldly in reply to a
Speaker 1: direct question. He denies having given the girl chloroform, and
Speaker 1: says that his best hopes having been blasted, he had
Speaker 1: made up his mind to die by his own hand.
Speaker 1: The girl Juliet, had expressed her desire to die with him,
Speaker 1: and that they had taken the fatal drug together. He
Speaker 1: claims to remember nothing of the n of the tragedy,
Speaker 1: and declares that the news of the girl's death, when
Speaker 1: told him yesterday morning by a police officer, had filled
Speaker 1: him with the greatest sorrow.
Speaker 2: Quote.
Speaker 1: I have no more use for life. I want to die,
Speaker 1: but I will not plead guilty to murder, as I
Speaker 1: did not kill the girl, said Dechamp as he was
Speaker 1: conducted back to his cell. February second, eighteen eighty nine.
Speaker 1: There was no abatement yesterday in the excitement occasioned by
Speaker 1: Deschamp's horrible crime and the exchanges on the streets and
Speaker 1: public places and at the fireside, the terrible details of
Speaker 1: the dastardly murder of the fair young girl were discussed,
Speaker 1: and no end of theories were advanced as to the
Speaker 1: causes which prompted the killing. That Dechamp was jealous of
Speaker 1: the girl. All agreed, and it was generally conceded that,
Speaker 1: fearing that the day was fast approaching when she would
Speaker 1: learn to love another and leave him alone and desolate,
Speaker 1: the miserable wretch determined that he would blot out her
Speaker 1: young life and then fittingly end his miserable existence by
Speaker 1: committing suicide. The accounts of the murder give ample proof
Speaker 1: of the great deliberation with which the murderer had planned
Speaker 1: and executed his diabolical crime, and they also furnish evidence
Speaker 1: that even in the hour of death, decham was vain
Speaker 1: of his conquest. He had destroyed every article, every scrap
Speaker 1: of paper, everything in fact which might serve as a
Speaker 1: clue to his previous history. But with devilish conceit, he
Speaker 1: had carefully preserved her love letters and placed them in
Speaker 1: his trunk, where he knew they must be found when
Speaker 1: his effects were searched. The construction and maturity of expression
Speaker 1: in these letters caused many to doubt that no one
Speaker 1: so young could have written them. It was at first
Speaker 1: thought that the letters were forgeries written by Deschamp and
Speaker 1: had not been penned by the child. A reporter yesterday
Speaker 1: obtained one of these letters. The handwriting in her copybook,
Speaker 1: given to the reporter by her father, proves beyond the
Speaker 1: shadow of a doubt that Juliette penned the letters. Whether
Speaker 1: she composed them or not, however, is an open question.
Speaker 1: The reporter visited the parish prison and obtained from Descham
Speaker 1: his signature, it does not in the least resemble the
Speaker 1: girl's handwriting. Yesterday morning, little Juliette Deech lay in her
Speaker 1: coffin and mister Bernot's undertaking establishment. Thousands of morbidly curious
Speaker 1: people swarmed into the narrow street and jostled each other
Speaker 1: in their eagerness to intrude themselves into the small apartment
Speaker 1: and gaze upon the remains of the poor child, whose
Speaker 1: sad story should have inspired respectful pity rather than vulgar, purient,
Speaker 1: callous curiosity. She was a pitiful sight, still beautiful in death,
Speaker 1: as she lay there in her snowy shroud, exposed to
Speaker 1: the rude gaze of thousands of idlers, who, while she lived,
Speaker 1: had neither known of nor cared for her. Of course,
Speaker 1: everybody denounced the miserable wretch who had wrecked her young
Speaker 1: life and some few made small contributions toward defraying the
Speaker 1: funeral expenses. The coffin, shroud and ceremonial appointments, though inexpensive,
Speaker 1: were pretty and tasteful. Shortly before ten o'clock, the hour
Speaker 1: appointed for the funeral, the father and the little sister
Speaker 1: of the dead child were taken in the undertaker's carriage,
Speaker 1: and with two or three friends, took their position beside
Speaker 1: the coffin. Father, baronet with acolytes, performed basic religious ceremonies.
Speaker 1: The sorrowing father and little sister kissed the cold forehead
Speaker 1: of their lost one, and the coffin lid was screwed down.
Speaker 1: The pallbearers then carried the casket to the hearse. When
Speaker 1: the procession, which consists of six carriages, proceeded to the
Speaker 1: old Saint Louis Cemetery, there was an immense crowd at
Speaker 1: the cemetery, and it was with some difficulty that a
Speaker 1: path was cleared by which the pallbearers and those accompanying
Speaker 1: them reached the vault. The priest read the day Profundus
Speaker 1: and sprinkled the vault, and after the tomb had been closed,
Speaker 1: all knelt and offered a prayer. A winding stairway in
Speaker 1: the courtyard of a certain old Spanish building, which sets
Speaker 1: at the southeast corner of Charters in Saint Louis Streets,
Speaker 1: leads the intruder to a partitioned room on the first floor,
Speaker 1: where mister John Deech and his humble family live and
Speaker 1: have been living ever since their arrival in the city
Speaker 1: eighteen months ago. The apartments are but poorly furnished. Still,
Speaker 1: the mutual happiness and love of this simple little family
Speaker 1: of four made up for all deficiencies. For mister Deech
Speaker 1: had brought his old mother with him, she being in
Speaker 1: her declining years, the one comfort to him and the
Speaker 1: only mother to his two little girls. And these gloomy
Speaker 1: surroundings with an inconsolable grief. Upon him, having just come
Speaker 1: from the funeral of his beloved child, mister Deech was
Speaker 1: found in the early part of yesterday afternoon, a small
Speaker 1: sized man who, even in poverty, dresses with all the
Speaker 1: tidiness of a friend schman and a gentleman. Has quite
Speaker 1: a florid expression, a sandy mustache, with clean shaven face
Speaker 1: and rather dark hair. His appearance is pleasing, though perhaps
Speaker 1: it is difficult to judge of the true spirit of
Speaker 1: the man under his present most trying circumstances. He is
Speaker 1: forty years of age and replied quietly, but always unhesitatingly,
Speaker 1: to the questions put to him. He speaks only in
Speaker 1: his native tongue, not even appreciating the extremes conveyed in
Speaker 1: the Anglo Saxons.
Speaker 2: Yes or no.
Speaker 1: Through a translator, he said quote, I arrived in New
Speaker 1: Orleans on the twelfth day of July eighteen eighty seven,
Speaker 1: having come via New York in San Antonio, Texas, in
Speaker 1: which latter place.
Speaker 2: I remained eight days.
Speaker 1: He showed his authorized papers, proving himself to have been
Speaker 1: a competent workman in the railroad yards of Leone, France.
Speaker 1: It seems that as a mechanic, he is an expert
Speaker 1: and superintended a large core of workmen in this railroad factory,
Speaker 1: as his card of merit shows to prove. When in
Speaker 1: the early spring of eighteen eighty seven the factory closed
Speaker 1: due to the failure of the firm, he resolved to
Speaker 1: come to America and seek his fortunes in the vicinity
Speaker 1: of San Antonio, where he had been led to believe
Speaker 1: by immigration agents that it was shortly coming to be
Speaker 1: a great railroad center in San Antonio. He remained eight
Speaker 1: days and then came to New Orleans, thinking that among
Speaker 1: a large French population he could find some ready means
Speaker 1: of a livelihood. But here too he received the disappointment,
Speaker 1: for the wealth was in the hands of the English
Speaker 1: speaking people, and how could he be expected to follow
Speaker 1: his trade when the main essential was missing in his
Speaker 1: absolute ignorance of the English tongue. Meanwhile, his funds had
Speaker 1: been consumed in traveling, and he had to provide bread
Speaker 1: for the maintenance of his already suffering family. So securing
Speaker 1: these modest apartments at one sixteen Charter Street, he made
Speaker 1: a bedchamber and workshop out of the same room, and
Speaker 1: pursued his father's trade, that of a cabinet maker, but
Speaker 1: mostly doing odd jobs of carpenter's work, for when a
Speaker 1: very young man he had received many instructive lessons from
Speaker 1: his father in this particular trade. So thus they had
Speaker 1: been living quietly and modestly for many months, the family, however,
Speaker 1: having to live from hand to mouth. He said that
Speaker 1: his friends were few outside of those he met in
Speaker 1: connection with his work. He probably does not know twenty people,
Speaker 1: what are the respective ages of the children?
Speaker 2: He was asked.
Speaker 1: Thereupon, mister Deech went to a trunk in the corner
Speaker 1: of the room, and, bringing forth two papers, placed them
Speaker 1: in the hands of the reporter. A glance showed them
Speaker 1: to be two certificates of birthing, positive proof of the
Speaker 1: child's birth on the twenty eighth day of August eighteen
Speaker 1: seventy six, which forever more than settles the disputed fact
Speaker 1: of the murdered girl's age. Laurence, the other sister, an
Speaker 1: only remaining child, was nine years old on the twenty
Speaker 1: third of November last In reply to a query about
Speaker 1: the mother of pretty little Laurance, Dietsch said, you have
Speaker 1: the image of my wife and my poor remaining child.
Speaker 1: But Laurence seems to be of a gay disposition, the
Speaker 1: exact opposite of her deceased sister, who, according to all accounts,
Speaker 1: was quiet and retiring in disposition. The mother was mild
Speaker 1: and gentle in all her actions and words. Her life
Speaker 1: was so characterized up to the time of her death
Speaker 1: in January eighteen eighty one. Juliette had the mother's disposition,
Speaker 1: being one of the good, timid and a fectionate children,
Speaker 1: at least so both father and grandmother say. It seems
Speaker 1: that the two sisters were very fond of each other.
Speaker 1: In company with missus A Moulan's little three year old boy,
Speaker 1: these three children played together as if one in the
Speaker 1: same age. When questioned about the four letters written by
Speaker 1: Juliette Deech de de Champs, which letters it will be remembered,
Speaker 1: were the only unburned papers found in the room at
Speaker 1: number sixty five Saint Peter Street upon the night of
Speaker 1: the tragedy, mister Deech said it was an impossibility for
Speaker 1: any letter or writing to have come from her own hand,
Speaker 1: for my child could but barely write, much less express
Speaker 1: her thoughts on paper. He then showed the unfinished copybook,
Speaker 1: in which there were numerous repetitions of the verbs au
Speaker 1: revoir and eetre, and several exercises copied, some from French primer, containing,
Speaker 1: said the sorrow stricken father, the great balk of Juliette's
Speaker 1: writings during her schooling with miss Adelaide Roue, whose little
Speaker 1: school is at number sixty eight Saint Peter Street, a
Speaker 1: few doors from Dechamp's office. Dietsch then went on to
Speaker 1: state that Juliette could not have written two lines of
Speaker 1: her own accord, that she was always timid, and that he,
Speaker 1: as well as his child, had been basely deceived under
Speaker 1: plea of friendship. In August eighteen eighty seven he had
Speaker 1: met Dechamp, and that ever since November the same year,
Speaker 1: that man had visited them daily in their humble apartments.
Speaker 1: Thus he was deceived by the man's constant pretenses, by
Speaker 1: his repeated attentions to the children. He would let both
Speaker 1: children go out together with the doctor, for his confidence
Speaker 1: was always nursed by the impostor, but that he was
Speaker 1: always careful with whom the children associated, and that no
Speaker 1: one ever came to see them. Both Diech and Missus Aimon,
Speaker 1: who owns the and lives upon the same floor, denied
Speaker 1: the existence of any young man or personage by the
Speaker 1: name of Charlie referred to in one of the letters
Speaker 1: bearing Juliette's signature, and claimed by Dechamp to have been
Speaker 1: the seducer of the twelve year old girl. Finally, mister
Speaker 1: Deech says that the whole tragedy was undoubtedly a premeditated
Speaker 1: affair of Deuchamp, arranged in the villainy of his heart,
Speaker 1: to rob a child of its honor, and to throw
Speaker 1: a parent in despair. He was asked, were you Dechamp's medium.
Speaker 1: The reply was in the negative, but mister Deech acknowledged
Speaker 1: that Dechamp had several times tried to mesmerize him, but
Speaker 1: without success. He simply looked upon it as one of
Speaker 1: the doctor's hobbies. Miss Adelaide Roue, who has a small
Speaker 1: French and English school on Saint Peter Street, was interviewed
Speaker 1: by the reporter about the characteristics of Juliette Diech.
Speaker 2: Quote.
Speaker 1: Juliet was a timid child. She got along very nicely
Speaker 1: in her classes, but was not particularly bright. She has
Speaker 1: not been attending school for the past two weeks. It
Speaker 1: was not possible for her to have written those letters
Speaker 1: unless she copied or took them from dictation unquote. Mister Plairotel,
Speaker 1: proprietor of the Pinch in Francis, was also seen, but
Speaker 1: knows little or nothing about either Diech's family or Dechamp,
Speaker 1: who he characterizes as a quiet and affable fellow who
Speaker 1: owes him a month's pay for board. The old German
Speaker 1: lady who keeps the house at number sixty four Saint
Speaker 1: Peter Street, the scene of the tragedy. States that Deschamp's
Speaker 1: habits were regular, except that he left town occasionally for
Speaker 1: a month or two. She stated that he first commenced
Speaker 1: bringing the Diets children to his room last summer. Question
Speaker 1: and what kind of a girl was Juliette?
Speaker 2: Answer?
Speaker 1: Quiet always in fact, a pretty and well behaved child.
Speaker 1: It will be remembered that all parties who knew the
Speaker 1: child have concurred in that same opinion that she was
Speaker 1: a well behaved, quiet and affectionate child. While those who
Speaker 1: saw the corpse at Bnot's Undertaking establishments on Thursday night
Speaker 1: will testify to the delicate beauty of the girl who
Speaker 1: now rests in peace. May fourteenth, eighteen ninety two, after
Speaker 1: nearly four years imprisonment, two trials, two convictions in the
Speaker 1: Criminal District Court, two affirmations of the sentences by the
Speaker 1: Louisiana Supreme Court, two applications for pardon, and one reprieved
Speaker 1: by the Governor. Eddie Anne de Champ, the hypnotic doctor
Speaker 1: who on January thirtieth, eighteen eighty nine, murdered little Juliette
Speaker 1: Deach xpiated his crime upon the gallows yesterday afternoon. The
Speaker 1: facilities afforded the representatives of the press for learning how
Speaker 1: Eddie Anne Dechamp spent his last hours were so extremely
Speaker 1: limited as to not be worth mentioning. By the courtesy
Speaker 1: of Sheriff Villaire and the parish prison authorities, the reporters
Speaker 1: were permitted to spend the night on the Orleans Street banquette,
Speaker 1: just outside the main entrance to the prison, where they
Speaker 1: were occasionally able to hear the tread of one of
Speaker 1: the guards pacing up and down the ground floor corridor.
Speaker 1: But beyond this the proceedings within the building were left
Speaker 1: purely to conjecture and hearsay. Spending nearly a whole night
Speaker 1: with absolutely nothing to do except watching in wait is
Speaker 1: not pleasant under any circumstances. But to spend the latter
Speaker 1: half of the night in the very shadow of such
Speaker 1: a gloomy and gruesome old pile as the Parish prison,
Speaker 1: fairly saturated as it is with the atmosphere of crime, violence,
Speaker 1: misery and tragedy, is even worse. Fortunately for the weary watchers,
Speaker 1: the night was a pleasant one, as there was not
Speaker 1: only an almost full moon, but a soft and balmy
Speaker 1: and atmosphere as that of midsummer. Slowly, the hours dragged along,
Speaker 1: with only an occasional break in the monotony caused by
Speaker 1: the passing in or out of one of the prison officials, who,
Speaker 1: in answer to the eager inquiries for news pressed upon
Speaker 1: them by the watchers outside the gate, always gave the
Speaker 1: same stereotyped answer, he is resting quietly, and there is
Speaker 1: nothing at all stirring. The longest night must have an ending, however,
Speaker 1: and at last came signs that the weary vigil was drawn.
Speaker 2: Going to a close.
Speaker 1: Floating in its halo of silver mist rimmed with gold,
Speaker 1: the moon, as it hung low over the dark, shining
Speaker 1: slate roofs that clustered about the canal basin just beyond
Speaker 1: Orleans Street, began to grow wan and pale, while the
Speaker 1: mists of early morning slowly began to assert themselves in thin,
Speaker 1: bluish mantles of subtransparent gauze that wrapped the big shade
Speaker 1: trees in Congo's Square. While the gradual lifting of the
Speaker 1: night shadows was almost imperceptibly changing them from black to
Speaker 1: the darkest green, still the streets were silent as a
Speaker 1: tomb and that dim, uncertain light, the deep shadows of
Speaker 1: the grim old gallows Tree in its leafy and more
Speaker 1: youthful neighbors cast an almost impenetrable gloom with grisly recollections
Speaker 1: inseparably connected with the spot was almost awe and as
Speaker 1: the light of the coming morning widened, the gloomy shadows
Speaker 1: about the blighted gallows Tree only seemed to deepen, and
Speaker 1: the dismal, ghostly suggestions of the place and the hour
Speaker 1: were intensified, as one after one, dim shadowy form was
Speaker 1: seen trooping along in those deep shadows towards the market.
Speaker 1: They were only prosaic commonplace people on their way to
Speaker 1: their daily avocations, but it required no vivid effort of
Speaker 1: the imagination to associate them in the mind of the
Speaker 1: beholder with the troubled spirits of some one or other
Speaker 1: of the many who have met death in its most
Speaker 1: direful form, in and about this historic spot. As dawn
Speaker 1: widened to daylight and the bright sunshine of Eddie end
Speaker 1: de Shamp's last morning on earth flooded the rusty and
Speaker 1: gingy looking streets about the old prison, anyone passing would
Speaker 1: never have mistrusted that anything outside the ordinary course of
Speaker 1: events was about to take place. There was no scene
Speaker 1: of Sightseers collected. Why this was so, nobody appeared to
Speaker 1: be able to explain, and it seemed more than strange
Speaker 1: that the crowd in front of the prison should have
Speaker 1: been so slow in gathering. One explanation, and probably the
Speaker 1: most reasonable one, was that, knowing something of Descham's religious views,
Speaker 1: the general public were under the impression that he would
Speaker 1: not make his appearance in the chapel as other condemned
Speaker 1: men had done, and therefore they did not think it
Speaker 1: worth their while to spend their time in waiting for
Speaker 1: a man who was not at all likely to show
Speaker 1: himself at any of the front windows where they could
Speaker 1: procure even the briefest glimpse of him. Another reason why
Speaker 1: the crowd was slow in gathering may be found in
Speaker 1: the general belief that, having postponed the evil days so long,
Speaker 1: Descham would, at the last moment succeed in securing still
Speaker 1: another postponement in the prison. All the necessary preparations were
Speaker 1: steadily going forward, and though the condemned man had steadily
Speaker 1: refused to receive the consolations of religion, the sisters and
Speaker 1: the reverend Father LeBlanc were admitted at an early hour,
Speaker 1: as it was understood that the doomed man had promised,
Speaker 1: under certain stipulated conditions to attend mass. He had a
Speaker 1: great aversion to being made a spectacle of and before
Speaker 1: he would promise to even set foot in the chapel,
Speaker 1: he had a distinct understanding with the sheriff that no
Speaker 1: one was to approach or speak to him. The upper
Speaker 1: corridor was cleared of everybody but the prison officials when
Speaker 1: de Champ walked to the chapel, which was soon afterward
Speaker 1: filled with other prisoners and officials. Des Schamp occupied a
Speaker 1: seat on the bench near the chapel door, but it
Speaker 1: was close against the wall so as to make it
Speaker 1: impossible for anyone outside the chapel to catch even a
Speaker 1: glimpse of him. For the first time since his trial,
Speaker 1: he had made an effort to dress well. He wore
Speaker 1: a white shirt, black trousers and black alpaca coat, but
Speaker 1: no waistcoat, collar nor necktie. His hair had been closely
Speaker 1: cut and his face, with the exception of his upper lip,
Speaker 1: cleanly shaven. This had made a remarkable difference in the
Speaker 1: facial expression, and was not for the better. The long
Speaker 1: and almost flowing beard he had worn at the time
Speaker 1: of Baker's execution had given him a patriarchal expression, but
Speaker 1: its removal had revealed a weak looking receding chin, which
Speaker 1: is perhaps the most objectionable peculiarity of de Champ's face.
Speaker 1: Besides this, however, the absence of a full beard brings
Speaker 1: to light a broad, sensuous looking lower jaw which had
Speaker 1: hitherto been wholly concealed. Altogether, the prisoner did not present
Speaker 1: an appearance that was at all prepossessing, as he sat
Speaker 1: in the chapel, looking worried and nervous, and paying but
Speaker 1: scant and perfunctory attention to the solemn service. After Mass,
Speaker 1: he managed to slip unobserved back to his cell as
Speaker 1: the other prisoners were leaving the chapel and taking the
Speaker 1: opposite direction. Very soon after Mass, he had a brief
Speaker 1: conference with the French consul, during which Dechamp displayed a
Speaker 1: nervous anxiety and eagerness calculated to induce the belief that
Speaker 1: he had not quite yet abandoned hope of reprieve. As
Speaker 1: the consul was leaving the condemned cell, the prisoner bade
Speaker 1: him goodbye with unwonted cordiality, and seemed loath to part
Speaker 1: with him. But what the nature of the talk had
Speaker 1: been could not be ascertained, the consul saying that his
Speaker 1: official position precluded the propriety of his speaking upon the subject.
Speaker 1: By ten o'clock there was a large crowd in front
Speaker 1: of the prison, and it was receiving many additions every minute.
Speaker 1: The number of outsiders admitted to the prison was altogether extraordinary,
Speaker 1: many estimating the number as high as eight hundred. Of
Speaker 1: these many swarmed into the first, second, and third corridors,
Speaker 1: wedging themselves as tightly as herrings in a box around
Speaker 1: each of the small grated windows, commanding a view of
Speaker 1: the gloomy looking oven like court containing the gallows. But
Speaker 1: the favorite resort of those whose morbid curiosity had prompted
Speaker 1: them to wish to witness the awful ending of the
Speaker 1: Chomp tragedy was the gallows court. It appeared to be
Speaker 1: to the desire Sheriff Vulaire that this court should contain
Speaker 1: only a very few spectators, But by some mysterious means,
Speaker 1: it was suddenly occupied by two hundred or more, and
Speaker 1: the whole crowd was promptly ordered out of it by
Speaker 1: the sheriff. The deputies drove the crowd back toward the entrance,
Speaker 1: and in a very few minutes only twenty or thirty
Speaker 1: people were to be seen, and most of these were
Speaker 1: officials and properly accredited press representatives. Then the sheriff disappeared,
Speaker 1: and in an incredibly short space the court was mysteriously
Speaker 1: filled again. Once more, the sheriff put in an appearance,
Speaker 1: and again the crowd vanished, only to reappear again as
Speaker 1: soon as he had passed. Finally, it was discovered that
Speaker 1: instead of going out of the court altogether, these eager
Speaker 1: spectators were playing a rather undignified game of hide and
Speaker 1: seek with the sheriff. As many as forty or fifty
Speaker 1: would conceal themselves in a door at the end of
Speaker 1: the ground floor quarridor which skirted the court, where they
Speaker 1: could crouch beneath the winding stairway leading to the upper gallery,
Speaker 1: while others would dodge into the ground floor cells, which
Speaker 1: are always emptied of their tenants on the day of
Speaker 1: a hanging, the supposition probably being that many are so
Speaker 1: anxious to witness a hanging that if the prisoners were
Speaker 1: permitted to witness one of these elevating and soul refining exhibitions.
Speaker 1: The gloomy old place would be overrun with men serving
Speaker 1: ten days sentences in the hope that they might be
Speaker 1: lucky enough to occupy cells fronting on the gallows Court.
Speaker 1: It was certainly amusing to see fat and puffy businessmen
Speaker 1: and politicians, weighing two hundred pounds or more, and evidently
Speaker 1: accustomed to slow and pompous locomotion, dodging about pillars and
Speaker 1: ducking under stairways, and otherwise playing hide and seek with
Speaker 1: the sheriff and his deputies, and a manner not more
Speaker 1: dignified than that of the commonest guttersnipe stealing a ride
Speaker 1: on a street car. At eleven o'clock.
Speaker 2: Or a little earlier.
Speaker 1: These people first found their way into the Gallows Court,
Speaker 1: upon whose stone, brick and plastered floor and walls, the
Speaker 1: fierce summer sun was beating pitilessly. They were hunted and
Speaker 1: chased about like a crowd of schoolboys in a farmer's orchard.
Speaker 1: They were crowded together at times in dark corners so
Speaker 1: tightly that they were on the point of suffocation. They panted, perspired,
Speaker 1: and ran imminent risks of sunstroke, but they were bound
Speaker 1: to see the hanging at all hazards. All that was
Speaker 1: seen of the tragedy from this ground floor of the
Speaker 1: Galaws Court may be told in a few words. About
Speaker 1: twelve ten, the hangman and his loose black domino adjusted
Speaker 1: the chair on the black hen's platform and connected it
Speaker 1: with the cell gallery by a little plank bridge. Then
Speaker 1: he fully measured the rope examined and the noose, and
Speaker 1: measured to the rope, so that the condemned man might
Speaker 1: have the greatest fall possible without permitting his toes to
Speaker 1: reach the pavement, after making due allowance for any possible
Speaker 1: stretching of the rope and tightening of the news. Then
Speaker 1: from time to time one and another of the officials
Speaker 1: visited the hangman in his cage, and again and again
Speaker 1: the people beneath the gallery were startled into a fever
Speaker 1: of expectation by hearing the tramp and shuffling of many
Speaker 1: feet over ahead. But again and again it had proved
Speaker 1: a false alarm. The hangman stood in his cell, looking
Speaker 1: through the small grating, frequently working at his cow with
Speaker 1: trembling fingers, as if the long suspense were having its effect.
Speaker 1: Even upon his iron nerves. At last, a few minutes
Speaker 1: after one o'clock, everybody in the Gallow's court was driven
Speaker 1: back close under the gallery. There was more shuffling and
Speaker 1: tramping overhead, and then the hangman stepped quickly out of
Speaker 1: his cell with a small cord in his hand. Then
Speaker 1: those who were nearing the outer edge of the gallery
Speaker 1: looking up, saw a pair of bleached, bloodless and withered
Speaker 1: looking hands extended toward the hangman, though no portion of
Speaker 1: his body was visible to these occupants of the ground floor.
Speaker 1: As they craned their necks and peered out from under
Speaker 1: the gallery during the early portion of the morning, Dechamp
Speaker 1: took advantage of doctor Lemanier's presence in his cell to
Speaker 1: attack him roundly. He said, you could have saved me,
Speaker 1: you even you of all the others, but no, you
Speaker 1: preferred to disgrace an honorable name in France. After services
Speaker 1: in the chapel, the old man again returned to the
Speaker 1: death cell and sat among his guards. He had specially
Speaker 1: requested that no reporters be allowed to approach him, and this,
Speaker 1: having been made in the nature of a last request,
Speaker 1: was granted by the sheriff, and the press excluded from
Speaker 1: the little gallery in its one open cell. From the
Speaker 1: time of services until the march to the gallows, Dechamp
Speaker 1: did not again leave the limits of the condemned cell
Speaker 1: and corridor. He seemed not at all familiar with the
Speaker 1: new cell into which he had been moved, and spent
Speaker 1: as much of his time as possible outside of it.
Speaker 1: It had been like saying a last farewell to an
Speaker 1: old home for Dechamp to leave his old cell and
Speaker 1: go into the strange one from which his companion Philip
Speaker 1: Baker had walked forth to that awful black platform from
Speaker 1: which he never returned. De Champ knew every mark on
Speaker 1: the old cell, every notch on the floor, every spot
Speaker 1: on the wall and ceiling, every shadow of every time
Speaker 1: of day. All of his rude treasures were in the
Speaker 1: old cell. His beloved books of the French Infidels, his
Speaker 1: piles of newspapers, each containing something which had interested him
Speaker 1: very much at the time of its publication, His sketches
Speaker 1: of those vulgar, prying, curiosity mongers who all through the
Speaker 1: long Nightmare had haunted his soal by day and by night.
Speaker 1: And the blue moon to which he once had prayed
Speaker 1: that all the world might think him insane. All of
Speaker 1: these he had left, and in the other cells a
Speaker 1: swarm of new associations, all interwarped in the subdued tangle
Speaker 1: of muttering voices, curious, pitying glances, and holy visits of
Speaker 1: priests and nuns, made the place so strange and palling
Speaker 1: that he shunned it as the living do a tomb.
Speaker 1: He sat upon the little gallery most of the time,
Speaker 1: only entering the soal now and then to speak with
Speaker 1: the Good Father, who never relinquished his purpose of trying
Speaker 1: to get the old man to become reconciled to his God.
Speaker 1: The priest would come and go, but those who watched
Speaker 1: his expression as he tripped down the long corridor to
Speaker 1: the chapel after each talk with the man knew that
Speaker 1: Dechamp had not yet yielded to the holy supplications of
Speaker 1: the Father. He was very restless in his last hours.
Speaker 1: His face was that of a man whose mind had
Speaker 1: long been fixed upon the contemplation of some horrible fancy,
Speaker 1: with all the fervor of which it is capable. Beneath
Speaker 1: his eyes were dark rings, and the eyes themselves were
Speaker 1: bright and keen, as are coals of fire. That are
Speaker 1: blown upon by the winds. Beside the death watch. None
Speaker 1: but his friends sat outside his last hours upon the
Speaker 1: little gallery beside him. Those who were fortunate enough to
Speaker 1: have gotten places by certain of the barred windows, looking
Speaker 1: upon the white yard, would ever and Anon catch a
Speaker 1: glimpse of Dechamp by the back door of a cell.
Speaker 1: He was careful, though, that no curious eyes should feast
Speaker 1: too highly, for when his furtive glance fell upon the
Speaker 1: peering eyes of some looker who had a particularly good
Speaker 1: point of observation, he would at once change his position.
Speaker 1: All of the entreaties of the priest, the sisters, and
Speaker 1: his good Catholic friends availed nothing toward getting the old
Speaker 1: man to go to holy confession. His purpose of going
Speaker 1: down into the dim valley as he had lived, with
Speaker 1: his secrets known to none but himself, was as immovable
Speaker 1: as the great pile of that same gray prison in
Speaker 1: which he would die. Through it all, Deucham had never
Speaker 1: lost his childish faith in the certainty of his being saved,
Speaker 1: even at the last second. All through the slow dragging
Speaker 1: hours of the morning, he had ever in Anon said
Speaker 1: to his death watch, I shall not die. The acting
Speaker 1: French counsel, mister Minnie, was in the building and walked
Speaker 1: back and forth between the death cell and the office below.
Speaker 1: Those who saw him moving so hurriedly began to doubt,
Speaker 1: after all, whether this wizard of an old man.
Speaker 2: Was going to die.
Speaker 1: So many times before he had leaped from the very
Speaker 1: jaws of death. Why not again? Can you give the
Speaker 1: old man any hope? Was asked the counsel upon his
Speaker 1: coming out of the cell after one of his interviews
Speaker 1: with the old man. You must pardon me, he replied,
Speaker 1: I am here in an official capacity, and I trust
Speaker 1: you will understand that under the circumstances I can say nothing.
Speaker 1: Looking back upon events now, it appears probable that the
Speaker 1: consul's motive and entering and re entering the condemned cell
Speaker 1: was more the result of solicitude for the religious well
Speaker 1: being of the old man than of any plan or
Speaker 1: hope of being able to save him from the gallows.
Speaker 1: Yet with Descham it was an abiding faith, and it
Speaker 1: was only when the coroner's jury filed into the little
Speaker 1: gallery that his hope fled him. Then, when a figure
Speaker 1: of a man entered his cell and a hand was
Speaker 1: laid upon his shoulder with a gentle come de Champ.
Speaker 1: The time has come. He arose wearily, and all the
Speaker 1: hope that had brightened his eye was gone, leaving in
Speaker 1: its place a steely glitter that momentarily grew deader, until
Speaker 1: as he stepped into the gallows it flared up for
Speaker 1: a single moment into a flash of unwonted brightness, and
Speaker 1: then changed to a leaden dullness, as if even then
Speaker 1: he was gazing through the damp half light of the
Speaker 1: vapors that had hung over the valley of the Shadows.
Speaker 1: It was about a quarter afternoon when the coroner's jury
Speaker 1: stepped into the death cell. When the jury was all gathered,
Speaker 1: the silent Chief Deputy Arnaud read the death warrant to
Speaker 1: the condemned man, stepped out of his cell and stood
Speaker 1: by the door. There was no fear upon the face.
Speaker 2: Of the old man. At the moment that he.
Speaker 1: Stepped out of his cell, a bystander made some unimportant
Speaker 1: remark to him. His reply was but a shrug of
Speaker 1: the shoulders. It was almost ludicrous. The deputy had just
Speaker 1: started reading the death warrant when Deschamp made a light
Speaker 1: step forward and held up his hand. Gentlemen, he said
Speaker 1: in a loud voice, craning his neck toward the jury.
Speaker 1: I have but one thing to say. You are killing
Speaker 1: an innocent man. Do not speak, said Deputy Arnault to him,
Speaker 1: in a low tone. You will simply excite yourself, holding
Speaker 1: the death warrant in his hand and tapping Deschamp gently
Speaker 1: upon the chest with it. No, I am not excited,
Speaker 1: he said, in a calm tone. That was all he
Speaker 1: said for the present. An absolute hush, save for the
Speaker 1: buzz of voices in the distant yard below. The death
Speaker 1: warrant was read. The Champ stood perfectly upright, with his
Speaker 1: feet slightly apart, his chest well out, and his head
Speaker 1: held back. He was under a terrific physical strain, and
Speaker 1: he stood it magnificently. Every muscle in his body was
Speaker 1: stretched to the utmost in the one overmastering desire to
Speaker 1: keep unmoved. Had he relaxed his muscles, he might have trembled.
Speaker 1: He scarcely even moved his eyes. His hands were held
Speaker 1: fairly in front of him, the fingers knit and the
Speaker 1: palms downward. Nothing perhaps about his position indicated more strongly
Speaker 1: than this the physical mastery which he was exerting over himself.
Speaker 1: He did not listen to the death warrant. His thoughts were,
Speaker 1: no doubt, on other very different things. Now and then
Speaker 1: he would glance through the bars of the crowd, upon
Speaker 1: the roof, and in the couple of the prison. There
Speaker 1: was a contemptuous defiance in the expression of his eyes.
Speaker 1: At such times as the last words of the warrant
Speaker 1: were being read, Dechamp cast his eye about among the
Speaker 1: jury until they rested upon someone whom he had been seeking.
Speaker 1: It was Coroner le Monier, And when his glance had
Speaker 1: found him, Dechamp did not again look away until he
Speaker 1: walked from the death cell. An expression of animation came
Speaker 1: into the old man's eyes. At the close of the
Speaker 1: death warrant. Again he brought up his hand, and again
Speaker 1: the jury leaned forward to hear what he had to say. Listen,
Speaker 1: you men of the jury. He said, I am not
Speaker 1: the murderer. There he is, and his wrinkled hand pointed
Speaker 1: away to where Coroner le Monier was leaning against the bars.
Speaker 1: Dechamp speaks no English. All that he said was in French.
Speaker 1: At his last words, even those who did not understand
Speaker 1: the language knew from his expression that what he had
Speaker 1: said was a very grave import What did he say?
Speaker 1: What did he say? Cried the English speaking portion of
Speaker 1: the jury, putting their heads together. Gentlemen, said Coroner le
Speaker 1: Monier in a loud voice. He says, I am a murderer.
Speaker 1: Then the coroner looked at him and smiled grimly. Is
Speaker 1: this your first criminal offense, doctor, asked the Times Democrat reporter,
Speaker 1: who stood by the coroner's side. Yes, I suppose so,
Speaker 1: he said, laughing. It is one of my eccentricities. I
Speaker 1: would rather.
Speaker 2: Murder a murderer than let a.
Speaker 1: Murderer or murder society. The march was now started to
Speaker 1: the scaffold, and the lead marched the doomed old man,
Speaker 1: walking firmly between his guards. He had donned his death clothes,
Speaker 1: a pair of dark ches trousers and I'll pack a
Speaker 1: coat and wide French shoes. His shirt was a pleted
Speaker 1: when secured with bone collar buttons, and he wore no collar.
Speaker 1: The coroner's jury marched in twos behind the guards. It
Speaker 1: took all the energies of the prison authorities to keep
Speaker 1: the excited throng who filled the corridors from joining the
Speaker 1: death march and filling out into the gallery, even as
Speaker 1: it was a number of these managed to get through,
Speaker 1: and were only expelled by elimination, that is, by calling
Speaker 1: off the names of the jury, and excluding from the
Speaker 1: gallery all of those whose names had not been called.
Speaker 1: Deschamp and Father LeBlanc, the Jesuit priest, now entered together
Speaker 1: Cell number eight, that fateful prison room from which so
Speaker 1: many condemned men have walked forth to the death rope.
Speaker 1: In this cell the last prayers were to be said.
Speaker 1: It was now nearly twelve thirty. A hush fell over
Speaker 1: the great crowds in the windows and courtyards when it
Speaker 1: became known that these last rites were being performed. Outside
Speaker 1: of the cell, two sisters of Charity prayed fervently.
Speaker 2: Upon their knees.
Speaker 1: It was a long and anxious weight. While the prayers
Speaker 1: were going on, the jury walked up and down the gallery,
Speaker 1: and the excited throng in the yard below, unable to
Speaker 1: contain themselves, finally burst out into a subdued hum of conversation.
Speaker 1: During the weight, men fidgeted nervously, smoked a great deal
Speaker 1: as nervous men will, and amused themselves in a grim
Speaker 1: kind of way by gazing at the strained faces of
Speaker 1: those crowded upon the roof of the prison, in the
Speaker 1: dormer windows, and clustered about the cupola. That there was
Speaker 1: among the authorities some apprehension that the old man might
Speaker 1: attempts suicide was clearly evinced by the words which Sheriff
Speaker 1: Valaire was overheard to say to a deputy, Sheriff, be
Speaker 1: very careful to get the rope on him before he
Speaker 1: gets outside of the railing, so that he can't throw
Speaker 1: himself off. After priest and criminal had been in the
Speaker 1: cell for ten minutes, it being then twelve thirty five,
Speaker 1: Father LeBlanc appeared at the door and requested that three
Speaker 1: chairs be sent into the cell, and that Sheriff Valaire
Speaker 1: and deputy are no enter. Send pen, ink and paper,
Speaker 1: cried Sheriff Vlaire, appearing at the door. After a few
Speaker 1: moments a confession, said everybody, and the strain of interest increased.
Speaker 1: In ten minutes more, the crowd again had been mastered
Speaker 1: by their nerves and were talking rather too loud. At
Speaker 1: this moment, Father LeBlanc again.
Speaker 2: Appeared at the door.
Speaker 1: Keep quiet and pray with the sisters, said he everything
Speaker 1: will be all right in a few minutes. With that
Speaker 1: he closed the door and re entered the cell. There
Speaker 1: was not enough light in the cell and a crack
Speaker 1: was let in the door. Through the crack, the party
Speaker 1: within could be seen. It was a curious tableau in
Speaker 1: the half light. Dechamp had his chair drawn up to
Speaker 1: a table upon which stood facing him a crucifix next
Speaker 1: to him, leaning back in his chair, with Sheriff v
Speaker 1: Laire on the opposite side of the table set Deputy
Speaker 1: Arnaud writing upon a slip of paper, with Father LeBlanc
Speaker 1: standing and leaning over his shoulder. Dechamp was apparently dictating
Speaker 1: something now and then he would rise nervously from his
Speaker 1: seat and lean over the table. It was evident that
Speaker 1: he was saying something. Deputy Arnaud would listen closely and
Speaker 1: then consult with Father LeBlanc and finally write upon the paper.
Speaker 1: At twelve fifty a sharp rap sounded upon the floor
Speaker 1: inside the cell. It was Sheriff Vlaire bringing his chair
Speaker 1: down from his tip back position to sign the document.
Speaker 1: Within a minute, Sheriff Vlaire and Deputy Arnault came out
Speaker 1: of the cell, leaving the priest and the doomed man
Speaker 1: together for the final prayers. The execution was now in
Speaker 1: a matter of a very few minutes. In the meanwhile,
Speaker 1: the reporters were busy trying to find out what the
Speaker 1: purport of the document was. Neither of the men who
Speaker 1: had been in the cell would say there was no
Speaker 1: further time for investigation, for at this moment the cell
Speaker 1: door swung slowly open, and the black robed priest appeared,
Speaker 1: with the doomed man following like a child behind him.
Speaker 1: At one o seven, the old man stepped upon the
Speaker 1: platform leading to the gallows. It cannot be said that
Speaker 1: he was pale, his face was too sallow for that.
Speaker 1: In a few words, he said goodbye to those about him,
Speaker 1: while the priest held the crucifix up to his mouth. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: the great shrouded form of the executioner, who looked like
Speaker 1: nothing so much as some enormous demon, had advanced to
Speaker 1: the gallows and was now engaged in binding the hands
Speaker 1: of the doomed man behind his back. As the executioner
Speaker 1: caught his hands and his great vice like grip, the
Speaker 1: old man made not the slightest resistance. He looked straight
Speaker 1: before him once, as the knot was being tied, his
Speaker 1: eyes fell for a moment, and his shoulders moved with
Speaker 1: a barely perceptible convulsive movement. The hands were quickly lashed
Speaker 1: firmly together by the hangman, who then stepped toward the
Speaker 1: gallows in order to reach his rope. And just as
Speaker 1: he did so, Eddie end Is showed stepped out into
Speaker 1: the little gallery and stood in full view of the
Speaker 1: eager crowd of spectators. But it was only for an instant,
Speaker 1: and one of the officials quickly stepped between him and
Speaker 1: the front rail of the gallery, as if to guard
Speaker 1: against the possibility of any last desperate attempt at suicide.
Speaker 1: His arms tied, he was led out to the gallows,
Speaker 1: walking with firm tread at the juncture of the platform
Speaker 1: and the plank leading to the gallows. The executioner stopped
Speaker 1: the old man and put the rope over his neck.
Speaker 1: The priests stood close beside the doomed man, holding the
Speaker 1: crucifix before him, while the hangman adjusted the noose quickly,
Speaker 1: but with considerable care and workmanlike accuracy. Right here was
Speaker 1: gotten the clue into champseral condition of mine. He was
Speaker 1: physically weak with apprehension, possibly fright, but a magnificent intellectuality
Speaker 1: and pride bore him up as he felt the smooth
Speaker 1: hardness of the waxed noose drop over his neck, a wild,
Speaker 1: despairing look came into his eyes, and his head jerked back,
Speaker 1: and for the merest fraction of a second it seemed
Speaker 1: to the close observer that he was on the point
Speaker 1: of breaking down.
Speaker 2: In another moment, he.
Speaker 1: Had conquered himself, and as he turned and walked out
Speaker 1: to the trap, his eyes were steady as the nailhead's.
Speaker 1: Then Deschamp crossed the little bridge with the hangman and
Speaker 1: took his seat on the chair. There was not a
Speaker 1: tremor and a step, nor had the color left his face.
Speaker 1: As he took his seat. The hangman again tightened the
Speaker 1: noose a little, and as he did so, the prisoner
Speaker 1: cast a contemptuous look at the eager crowd below. Not
Speaker 1: a muscle of his face moved, nor was there a
Speaker 1: suspicion of moisture to dim the cold, steely glitter of
Speaker 1: his clear, light blue eye. But if there ever was
Speaker 1: expression in a look, there was cold, withering contempt in
Speaker 1: that last glance that Ideenne de Champ cast upon his
Speaker 1: fellow creatures huddled together in the gallows court. He had
Speaker 1: announced that from the scaffold, he would make a general
Speaker 1: denunciation of those who wronged him.
Speaker 2: This he did not do.
Speaker 1: It may have been the result of his talks with
Speaker 1: the Holy Father, or may have been, on the other hand,
Speaker 1: that he was afraid or unable to speak. Once upon
Speaker 1: the scaffold, he sat down in the chair, and the
Speaker 1: hangman proceeded to bind his feet tightly together. It was
Speaker 1: during the performance of this the Deputy Share of Carrie
Speaker 1: stepped into the center of the courtyard below and waved
Speaker 1: his hat at de Champ with an encouraging smile. Adieu,
Speaker 1: replied Dechamp to the deputy in a shrill voice. That
Speaker 1: single word was his last. His feet were now bound.
Speaker 1: The great executioners sprang from the trap, ran rapidly around
Speaker 1: the rope block. There was the sound of a mighty
Speaker 1: axe blow, and the trap fell with a rushing noise.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, the hangman had lashed his legs together,
Speaker 1: and the look of bitterness was extinguished by the black
Speaker 1: cap that was quickly pulled down over his face. The
Speaker 1: hangman sprang from the gallows and dashed into his cell,
Speaker 1: while one of the officials quickly snatched away the little
Speaker 1: bridge and this service was not performed an instant too soon,
Speaker 1: for hardly had the hangman disappeared. When the rope was severed.
Speaker 1: At a single blow, the trap fell and eddy end
Speaker 1: as shunk was launched into eternity. Dechamp had fallen eight
Speaker 1: feet and hung swinging over the stones of the court.
Speaker 1: Immediately there was a great rush of the crowd to
Speaker 1: feast upon the sight of the miserable creature hanging from
Speaker 1: the gallows. It was a disgusting exhibit of morbid curiosity.
Speaker 1: For eight minutes, the struggle continued. At the end of
Speaker 1: sixteen minutes, pulsation had apparently ceased, and as it was
Speaker 1: not renewed during the thirty two minutes that the body
Speaker 1: was kept in suspension, it was concluded at one forty
Speaker 1: one that the man was dead. Death resulted from strangulation,
Speaker 1: the neck not having been broken. An autopsy was held
Speaker 1: by Deputy coroner Archanard, and it was announced by a
Speaker 1: committee of medical men in collaboration with him that the
Speaker 1: brain was perfectly normal, and that the congestion of the
Speaker 1: brain which the autopsy revealed, was the result of strangulation.
Speaker 1: This sets to rest forever the question of Eddieanne Deschamp's
Speaker 1: sanity that was atrocity at Saint Peter Street, La Chateain
Speaker 1: Juliet and the Perverted Professor of Magnetic Physiology. Called from
Speaker 1: the historic pages of the New Orleans Times, Democrat, the
Speaker 1: New Orleans Times, Picayune, and other newspapers of the era.
Speaker 1: True Crime Historian is a creation of popular media. Opening
Speaker 1: theme by Nico Vitessen, closing theme by Dave Sam's and
Speaker 1: Rachel shott In engineered by David Hish at Third Street
Speaker 1: Music Media Management, and original graphics for each episode by
Speaker 1: Sean R.
Speaker 2: Miller Jones.
Speaker 1: And as for me, yeah, the latest reviews are in
Speaker 1: fairly saturated with the atmosphere of crime, violence, misery, and
Speaker 1: tragedy is even worse. I'm True Crime Historian Richard O.
Speaker 2: Jones signing off for now Amity