The trial of Madame Clovis Hugues for the murder of a man named Morin, took place yesterday, and resulted in a verdict of “Not guilty.” The case from beginning to end displayed all the elements of a sensational romance. Morin was what, in England, would be termed a “private enquiry officer,” and it was not disputed that he manufactured evidence that mounted to a gross calumny upon the honour of Madame Hugues. This lady appears to have been a somewhat distinguished personage, for her husband had already fought with and killed a man who had previously aspersed her character. Upon this occasion Madame Hugues determined to avenge her own honour. She awaited a favourable opportunity and then shot Morin “like a dog.”  He lingered for some weeks in fearful agony and then died. Madame Hugues admitted, candidly, that the deed was premeditated, and when under examination she did not hesitate to justify her crime as a well-deserved punishment. The trial of such a woman was naturally a scene of considerable excitement. The circumstances of the crime were recounted by eye witnesses, and there was abundant testimony of the abominable persecution to which Madame Hugues had been subjected, and of the purity of her maiden life. M. Gatineau, her counsel, very skillfully availed himself of the favourable points of his client’s case. With consummate art he described her uneventful life as an unmarried girl, her marriage, essentially one of inclination, and then the blight caused by an unworthy imputation of pre-nuptial unchastity. The jury, after a very short deliberation, acquitted Madame Hugues on both charges of murder and premeditation, but they condemned her to pay two thousand francs by way of indemnity to the father of the victim. It is impossible to conceive that such a result could have been brought about in England. Although we hold equally high notions of honour, an English Jury could scarcely be induced to justify a premeditated murder simply upon the grounds of such provocation. The contrast between the offence for which the Captain and mate of the Mignonette are now serving six months’ imprisonment, and that for which Madame Hugues has to pay the nominal penalty of two thousand francs, is by no means in favour of the latter.

Culled from the January 9, 1885 issue of the Gloucester Echo.