Crimes of passion

Man has been moved to kill for many reasons, mostly shameful. But there is one reason that can evoke some sympathy during a jury trial; this is when the culprit has become obsessed with passion based on love. There was a time when the French made allowance for what is known as the ‘crime of passion’.

Sometimes, this is a defendant’s excuse for committing murder due to sudden anger or heartbreak, thus eliminating the element of premeditation. This usually arises when a spouse or lover finds out that his or her beloved is having an affair, and kills one or both of the couple. To justify the murder, the defendant must prove that he or she acted instinctively, without premeditation or allowing for time to ‘cool off’. Once premeditation is ruled out, the homicide may be downgraded to manslaughter and consequently carry a lighter penalty. An emotionally charged jury may even acquit the defendant.

The tenth volume in the series Delitti li Jibqgħu Jissemmew – which includes an introduction on the subject matter – Maltese crime historian Eddie Attard deals with 16 murders instigated by jealousy or a desire to get rid of one’s spouse or lover. The ‘Champagne Murder’ is a classic example of a man who took the law into his own hands to punish his wife’s lover.

On June 25, 1906, Harry Kendall Thaw shot Stanford White during the premiere of the musical Mam’zelle Champagne at the rooftop theatre of Madison Square Garden in New York. The first jury was deadlocked. Another trial took place and Thaw was eventually found guilty by reason of insanity; he was sent to a state hospital for the criminally insane.

Dr Carl Coppolino, an anaesthetist, lived with his wife Dr Carmela Musetto in New Jersey. After Coppolino started an affair with his neighbour Marjorie Farber, the woman’s husband died in his sleep. When the Coppolinos moved to Florida, Coppolino asked for a divorce but his wife, who was a fervent Catholic, did not consent. Soon afterwards, Musetto also died in her sleep. Grand juries in New Jersey and Florida indicted him for homicide.

In another case, surgeon Paul Vickers and Pamela Collison were both charged with the murder of Vickers’ wife, Margaret. At first, she was certified dead due to natural causes. However, it transpired that Margaret was given a drug overdose.

More shocking, perhaps, is the case of Henriette Caillaux, the second wife of a French Minister of Finance, Joseph Caillaux. She was acquitted of murdering Gaston Calmette, the editor of the prestigious newspaper Le Figaro, which had just published several letters sent by the minister. Fearing that the editor would also publish a love letter that proved that the minister was having an affair with her when he was still married to his first wife, on March 16, 1914, Henriette entered Calmette’s office and shot him four times.

The book does not deal only with crimes of passion. One day in September 1900, William Marsh Rice, a millionaire living in Houston, Texas, was found dead. At first he was presumed to have died in his sleep. Later, a bank teller noticed a cheque for a suspiciously large amount of money, bearing Rice’s signature. This gave rise to investigations which led to the arrest of Albert Patrick and Charles Jones, a hotel storekeeper. This edition includes a two-page index of all the crime stories narrated in the ten books.

Delitti li Jibqgħu Jissemmew is available from leading booksellers, or directly from the publishers at Giorgio Preca Street, San Ġwann, tel. 2138 0351/2.

Source: The Sunday Times, November 2, 2008