A RUSSIAN BOY MURDERER.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1184, 25 September 1882, Page 2

A RUSSIAN BOY MURDERER.

A terrible case a short time ago came before the Yaronege Court of*< Law. A boy of IG, Nicholas ' uanni-

koff, was tried for murdering his father, his mother, and his sister aged 18. This monster (handsome and even interesting looking) appeared in court quite calm and collected, and answered clearly and distinctly all the questions that were put to him. I ! is mother had sent him to borrow a sum from his uncle, which, having received, he went to church, where the money was stolen from him. Afraid to say he had been robbed, and fearing he would not be believed, to avoid punishment he resolved to kill his father. As soon a> the family were all in bed, he took a sharp hatchet used to cut wood, and with one blow on the head killed his sleeping father. When hU mother came terrified from an inner chamber crying, " Nicholas, what has happened?' he raised the bloody hatchet a second time, and split his mother's head in two ; he then rushed upon his sister, who had been awakened by a noise and felled her to the ground. Then he went and laid down on his bed, but could not sleep. When daylight appeared he went and looked at the corpses of father, mother, and and sister weltering in blood, then hurriedly dressing himself, he went out to give the alarm. If Nicholas, tortured as ho said by horrible remorse had not confessed his unnatural crime, no one would have ever suspected hiir, and he might have escaped punishment but he avowed all with a sort of dogged cynicism perfectly hideous. He confessed that the murder of his father had been premeditated, that he had long " thirsted for the old miser's blood.' but he had no intention of killing his mother and sister, " whom he loved," that he did it no the spur of the moment as the eaisest way of escaping detection, and that if they had not be-on witnesses of his iirst crime he would not have hurt hair of their heads. This horrible murderer inspired every one in court with fear and repugnance, lie was condomened to four years' hard labor in Siberia, not being of :r_e : ' but 1 1 1 i .-=. venikt excited universal clis - ! gust and discontent — indeed, a boy of J

16 capable of committing such afcrocities ought to bo mado responsible, were it only to give fear to others. This indulgence towards murderers is tlie weakest side of the Russian code, and is bringing forth' terrible fruit hese sorts of affairs, besides, are led as they ought to be. It is thought that the boy must have been the instrument of some other person, for the motives given by him for killing his father arc; too imbrobable. Whatever may have been the motives, however, the incredible fact remains.