Isabella Mueller (crime writer)
An exciting drama unfolded in the circles of Parisian high society during the fin de siècle. It was sparked by the dazzling Marguerite Steinheil, who was accused of killing her husband and her mother, for which she was put on trial. But let’s take it one step at a time. Marguerite, better known as Meg, was the wealthy daughter of the respected Japy industrialist family, who enjoyed an upbringing befitting a young lady of high society. When a rumor arose at a garrison ball in 1889 that Meg was having an affair with a non-commissioned officer, her parents sent her and her older sister to Bayonne, where she met and fell in love with the painter Adolphe Steinheil, who was 20 years her senior and a nephew of the grand master of Salon art, Ernest Meissonier. They were married in Beaucourt as early as July 9, 1890. Soon after, their daughter Marthe was born. The small family moved into a house in Paris on Impasse Ronsin, a cul-de-sac in the 15th arrondissement. This address quickly became a popular gathering place for well-known artists and writers, who would meet there to exchange ideas. Meg and her husband were part of Parisian high society and were even invited by French President Félix Faure, as Adolphe had received a government commission from him. When Faure met Meg, he was immediately fascinated by her; what followed was a passionate affair that became world-famous, as Meg was literally involved in his death. The president had met with Meg in the Blue Salon of the Élysée Palace between two sessions. While she was performing oral sex on him, he suffered a stroke and died that very evening. From then on, Meg was nicknamed “la Pompe Funébre,” the funeral doll. But this was not the only reason for her worldwide fame. On May 31, 1908, Whit Monday, her husband Adolphe and her mother Emilie were found strangled in their bedroom by their servant Rémy. Meg lay bound but still alive in the nursery. According to her statement, three masked men and a red-haired woman had beaten them all and demanded to know where her jewelry was hidden. Since they mistook Meg for the daughter, she had spared Meg. Unlike the police and the investigating judge Leydet, the press harbored doubts about Meg’s story. Her marriage to Adolphe had long been in crisis, as his paintings were selling only moderately well. To maintain her luxurious lifestyle, Meg had rented a Swiss-style villa in the Parisian suburb of Meudon, where she regularly received wealthy gentlemen to fulfill their sexual desires. Meg was a seductive woman with men falling at her feet in droves. It was rumored that Meg intended to marry Monsieur Borderel. He was a widower with three children who owned a castle as well as other properties in the Ardennes. The only drawback was that he did not want to marry a divorced woman, as this was frowned upon in high society. Was that perhaps the motive for the murder? If so, why did Meg’s mother have to die as well? The autopsy revealed that the rope around Meg’s mother’s neck was only loosely tied and that she had not been strangled, but had choked to death on her own dentures, which she had swallowed. Furthermore, Meg’s restraints had been very loose, leading experts to conclude that she could have easily freed herself. Meg was arrested on November 28, 1908, on strong suspicion of the crime and charged after a year in pretrial detention. There was a mountain of incriminating evidence against her. For instance, the rope used to bind all three victims came from the kitchen of the house. Meg’s gag showed no traces of saliva. There were no signs that anyone had forced their way into the house. Furthermore, neither the guard dog nor her daughter Marthe were in the house that night. Moreover, Meg had shared a good amount of grog with both of them before going to bed. Meg’s husband Adolphe also took opium as a sleep aid, which is why Meg could have easily murdered him. Another incriminating factor was that, after the night of the murder, Meg had visited a jeweler to have the stolen jewelry altered so that no one would recognize it. During the trial, Meg repeatedly contradicted herself and accused her servant, Rémy, of being the culprit. But Meg knew how to use fainting spells and crying fits to portray herself to the jury as a poor victim who would never have been capable of such a crime. This tactic actually worked. On November 14, 1909, Meg was acquitted due to lack of evidence. Everyone knew that Meg was a murderer, which is why Parisian high society now banished her from their circles. Even her daughter Marthe cut off all contact with her mother. But Meg was lucky: a young English lawyer had followed her trial and fallen madly in love with her. When Meg learned that he was wealthy and would also inherit a baronetcy, she moved with him to England, where on June 26, 1917, she became the wife of Robert Brook Campbell Scarlett, 6th Baron Abinger. Meg became Lady Brook-Abinger, who died in 1954 at the age of 86 in a nursing home in Hove. Thus ended the life of the former mistress of the French president and the alleged murderer Meg, who was officially acquitted by the jury.
