Show aw T ator IC C aue ddll 4 TS aaa THE POETRY OF POISON the prison regulations at geneva are re extremely liberal so BO for many ears years prior to 1881 1884 hundreds hundred ot of tourists it from fro nil all over the world verc lvere permitted to bee and converso converse with marie jeanneret Jeanner ct the swiss BrIn villiers marlea maries cell was a large comfortable well lighted room and there she bhe sat lay day after day making laco lace and exulting in the fact that her fame was worldwide world wide having no conscience and being incapable of remorse marle marie has ham been described by the historians of crime na as a monster however abhorrent her character may have been there hero was nothing repulsive in her appearance 44 jr Q 1 i to to r r am she mixed up a tempting effervescent beverage and handed it to bertho bertha who drank it eagerly I 1 or manners site she was rather short and slight and her face pale ns as marble was lighted up by largo large dark id tell igent eyes and she had masses of beautiful black hair iler her voice was soft off gentle and caressing and ull all her actions seemed to indicate an affectionate ti sensitive nature when she was tried for her crimes and convicted she looked so BO much like a martyr that the jurors find it in their hearts to assess the death penalty which was then the prescribed punishment for murder so BO she was given 20 years the canton legislators then reasoned that it would be unfair to bring any anny other murderer to the gallows after permitting her to escape so they abolished capital punishment so marle marie did some good in the world site she began experimenting with poisons when a girl she seemed to have a fascination for her she always kept in herr herroon her room a medicine chest and was forever toying with its little boxes and bottles one day her room mate berthe berthet complained of feeling ill the helpful marle marie opened her medicine chest and said 1 I know just what to do for you my dear so she mixed up n tempting effervescent beverage and handed it to berthe who drank it eagerly and a few minutes later was in a paroxysm of pain the landl landlady atly heard her sc screams reanis and sent for doctor lambessy lambais Lam bassy who saved her ter life when berthe had told him of the drink given her by marle marie the doctor said you have escaped death by a hairs breadth the girl made a mistake that would have been fatal hod had there been any delay in sending for me she gave you belladonna that usually was the verdict whenever marle marie scored a victim it was assumed that she had made it a mistake it was impossible to licile believe ve that a girl with stich such a gentle wistful face could have administered poisons deliberately era tely toly for n time marie dispensed her poisons as occasion offered but site she wanted larger opportunities so she went into training us its a nurse and although she did not finish her course she had no trouble in securing employment in the desired capacity nature evidently y hod had designed her for service in the sick room she was so quiet ro P gentle so lint patient lent her hands tind voice were so boo boething thIng she went to nurse madama chabloz and promptly gave her poison which brought her to the edge of the grave but the madam was waa a strong woman and she rallied madame juvet of geneva conceived the idea ol of establishing n private hospital and marlc applied for the alo post tiou of aced nurse L 1 11 dont ask for a salary said the gentle soft eyed girl 1 I have private means and dont need the money lioney my ambition in to do what good I 1 fun can by ministering to the sirk and suffering madame juvet was surn sure she had gained a n treasure when she engaged murle marie tho the hospital was opened and baarle soon wits was in full control despite her gentle yielding manners she had a will of iron the tha ni tn adamo adame as well nf as the stuff took their orders from her madame juvet had two iwo bright children a boy and a girl marlo marle professed to 1 be very fond of them and one day she said to the mother 1 I tint afraid julle julie to Is very delicate and I 1 am sure anille Is about to beierl be seriously sick the mother was amused for the children were pictures of health meanwhile marle marie told some 0 of f the servants in strict confidence that she was greatly worried over madame juvet she to Is a do doomed omed woman said marle marie j 1 I read her fate in her ter eyes presently julle julie fell sick and then little emile and then madame juvet took to her bed suffering miserably tho the doctors came and worn puzzled they seemed to recognize the symptoms of poisoning but poisoning was impossible was not all the medicine administered by that gentle creft creatura with the yearning eyes there was s sc much filc sickness kness in the house that buich was cent bent away and his life was saved julle julie grow grew worse and died billed at christ mas time 1807 and a month later be aci mother lied died and almost her last wor won wits was an expression of gratitude to th tb faithful nurse who had been at liei hee bedside night and day through so mun weary weeks meanwhile marlo marie had not bearl bacr neglecting her other opportunities during the lingering sickness j os madame juvet three patients in th tho hospital died and it was afterwards proved that their deaths we ware due to poison when marlo marie had finished her campaign she and 31 juvet and a couple of servants were the only survivors of 0 the household then marle harle still intent upon doing good went to nurse a madame lenoir and the funeral occurred n few days daya after her arrival by tills this time her reputation ns as a death abenth angel wits was beginning to attract attention and she found it difficult to get patients the strange thing Is that nobody seemed to suspect herup her up to this time time and again the doctors had found indications of poisoning in her suffering patients and yet they seemed unable to believe that marle marie could bo be anything but what she seemed it Is tills this that makra makes the story of her ter career remarkable silo she was careless tu to the point of recklessness silo she would predict the early death of people in perfect health and when these people died nobody seemed to see anything strange in it it speaks much for her ingratiating manner that she could so long he be 11 shaking from out her condor wings invisible woe and still avola suspicion when at last she was wag arrested it was easy to secure the proofs of lier her crimes and the indictment against lier her accused her of the murder of nine persons lier her attempts at murder were too numerous for consideration she was vas an artist in crime site she had nono none of the ordinary motives it was art tor for arts sake with her she never tried to profit by her horrid deeds site she was as willing milling to work for nothing any time if it would give her ber a chance to remove somebody she bhe was absolutely pitiless and enjoyed the sufferings of her victims death had such beautiful moments she said when asked why she committed her crimes there Is poetry in poison she remarked upon another occasion she lied died in 1884 in her little white cell nud and to the last sho she retained her berj beauty uty ifer her marble white face with its ita beautiful dark eyes haunted the memories of tho the thousands who journeyed to geneva to see the lie s strangest tr angest criminal of modern times |