Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Murder in Old Chippewa Falls - Part Three, Arrest

 Continuing the saga of Felix Fourboul, Jr. and Sr.  For the earlier installments:

The Wrong Corpse!         The Suspect

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With discovery of the body, Felix Fourboul Jr. was immediately re-arrested.  The evidence against him was strong.  He'd already pled guilty to stealing money from his father.  He claimed they'd later met near a structure variously described as The Stand Pipe or The Water Tank.  Probably this was the water tower on the East Hill.  A struggle ensued.  Supposedly a grief stricken elder Fourboul went away from it to an unknown fate.  While the younger man went to his boarding house and hid until full darkness, to avoid having to answer questions about his minor injuries and the blood on his clothes.  Here's a map showing the relevant locations, including where the body was found months later.


The decomposed state of the body made identification difficult, but based on clothing, tattoos and a repair of one shoe, it was determined that this was indeed Felix Fourboul Senior, and that the cause of death was blunt trauma to the head.  One bit of testimony that raises questions was when the very perceptive servant girl at the boarding house was asked if she thought Felix Jr. was having "intimate relations" with his land lady, Mrs. Alice Bertrand.  She thought that was likely...

The Coroner's Inquest laid out the facts quite clearly.

Felix Junior would certainly be facing trial in this case in short order.

Or would he?


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