Description:

HOMICIDE! Mid-19th C. French Prosecutor's Notes from Sensational Murder Trial

39pp of handwritten notes in French prepared by a French prosecutor likely employed by the Assize Court at Pau, France, ca. 1864. The notes pertained to a murder trial. The victim was a wealthy farmer named Nicolas Amestoy, who hailed from Arnéguy in southwestern France. Accompanied by background research in French.

The unpaginated notes are inscribed on scratch paper comprised of single sheets and bifold pages that were loosely bound into a sort of booklet. The draft includes numerous edits and pencil corrections. The cover wrapper is slightly torn and there are minor chipped edges, else near fine. Each page measures 6.625" x 9.125". Spelling and punctuation mistakes have been silently corrected in the translated excerpts. Should yield more fascinating details when fully translated!

The Crime

The murder victim was Pierre Nicolas Amestoy (ca. 1803-1864), referred to in the prosecutor's notes as "Nicolas Amestoy." He was killed sometime between his disappearance on September 8, 1864 and the discovery of his body the following day. The 61-year-old was a farmer in the mountain village of Arnéguy, located on the Spanish/French border some 77 km southwest of the nearest largest city of Pau. Amestoy was not just a country bumpkin; he had recently returned from America with considerable wealth. (Indeed, an online French genealogy website listed Amestoy's profession as "rentier," meaning a man of independent means.) As we shall see, Amestoy's money was the principal motive behind his murder. The killing was, in the prosecutor's words, "un crime longuement + froidement médité" [a crime for a longtime coldly meditated" (p. 4).

September 8th was a religious festival--the celebration of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. The crime thus took place against a backdrop of jubilant revelry, and drinking was involved. It's unclear how exactly Amestoy was killed, but his death was confirmed by two witnesses (his neighbors) and listed in the Arnéguy town register (see attached detail found in the volume covering 1861-1872, p. 13).

The Evidence

Evidence cited in the prosecutor's notes include "un chiffon ensanglanté," "drap de lit, taché de sang," and "pantalon de velours taché, lavé - à deux reprises" ["a bloody rag, a bed sheet stained with blood, and stained velvet pants, washed twice" (p. 8; see also p. 20)]. This physical evidence, considered along with the doctor's report, would have painted a fuller picture of the fatal injuries. A number of witnesses were interviewed during October 1864; their testimony was used to substantiate many of the prosecutor's arguments.

The Suspects

The prosecutor maintained that three men were involved in the murder of Nicolas Amestoy: the master mind Jean Harriet (b. 1809), and two accomplices or hitmen, village men named Ferrango Landa and one Garat. Jean Harriet was the married father of six children, one of whom was very unhappily married to the murder victim. Thus the prosecutor argued that Amestoy's wife Agnès (b. 1839) knew of her father's homicidal intentions and approved of them. He posited that Harriet ordered the murder of his own son-in-law, fueled by the dual motives of financial gain and revenge.

The Verdict

The prosecutor's notes show how he strove to create a courtroom atmosphere of supercharged high drama. His opening and closing arguments are written out word for word, and even include cues for dramatic pauses and artfully inserted exclamations of horror and pity. A perfect example of this overwrought presentation style can be seen when the prosecutor talks about a key witness who had withheld important evidence (Landa's sister Marie.) "Painful situation in which she finds herself - She tells (despite herself) the truth and it hurts her! They accuse her of being a monster! an artisan of infamy. I don't know what the jury thinks. For me, I believe her and I pity her; her situation is awful…" (p. 15).

If the prosecutor closely followed his notes during the 3-day-long trial, then his purple prose, mannered exclamations, and rhetorical flourishes were successful in bringing a conviction. The Assize Court at Pau sentenced Jean Harriet to a life sentence of forced labor for his role in Amestoy's murder. Considering that the convicted murder's father Arnaud Jean Harriet (1788-1855) was once mayor of Arnéguy, this was indeed a shameful conclusion to a sensational trial. Agnès Harriet, who greatly benefited from her father's crime, married twice more after her husband's murder, once around 1866, and once in 1869.

Select Excerpts:

From the prosecutor's opening remarks:

"I enter into this sad debate with profound and painful emotion…I enter it under the impression of difficult feelings born out of this long and lamentable inquest, to which, for the last three days, MM [the Jury] have been a part! …

One more time, cruelty, instrument of an odious + low cupidity, has fulfilled his task; the wagered arms of assassins cut off a human life; gold, it is gold that paid for the blood, that accomplished this work, and this antique and eternal precept of Divine + Human Laws 'You shall not kill' was again outrageously violated by three perverse men, linked together in a gruesome pact! …

Ah certainly! There are many aspects that provoke sad and painful reflections, + arouse difficult emotions; I understand them and share them.

But I don't want, nor must I let myself be carried away…it is...Duty, large + imperious duty that Society has devolved on us, of which you act as its diverse titles, representatives, and organs" (p. 1-2).

--

"Narration of Facts =

8 September -

Amestoy's departure for the mountain

Seen around 7h by Marie Autguy

then disappeared -

The 9th in the morning, discovery of the body

Description of the locations

[Description] of the Body

Injuries

Recall the doctor's report…" (p. 6).

--

"What are the causes?

[What are] the authors?

The causes

Not a murder followed by a theft.

Not [a murder] on a grand boulevard

…

Not [a murder] committed by a Foreigner.

You must perfectly know the inhabitants of the victim - and the places" (p. 7).

--

"The thought of the crime began to germinate. It formed itself little by little. Harriet didn't resist it…Soon it dominated and absorbed him. It was more than thought, it was desire…His bad feelings burst out under the influence of wine vapours…" (p. 24).

--

"His complicity [Harriet's] is established

+ his participation in the crime, demonstrated.

His guilt, the largest -

He conceived of the crime,

for a longtime made it ripen

searched for assassins

won them over

bribed them" (p. 32).

--

From the prosecutor's closing argument:

"And then, if; despite how odious and horrible the crime seems, that is not a reason to evade analysis, there is still a place for other things besides a rigorous and absolute Justice, and that is that an attenuation is possible, and indeed, proclaim that in your verdict - It is the domain of your Conscience…..

But that the arrest condemning these three guilty men acts as a salutary example and like a brake for those who would be tempted to imitate them" (p. 38).

A mid-nineteenth-century French murder trial, seen through the impassioned notes of its prosecutor! An incredible document granting us insights into the French legal system and penal code!

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE!