Poor Little Rich Girl: Alice de Janze
On March 25, 1927 a well-dressed couple boarded a train at the Gare du Nord. A shot was heard, followed immediately by another. When the conductor opened the door to the compartment, the woman gasped, "I did it," before collapsing. The woman who pulled the trigger was an twenty-seven year old American heiress named Alice de Janzé, married to a French count. The victim was her lover, 32 year old Raymund de Trafford, the son of an English baronet. Raymund had informed Alice that couldn't marry her. His parents, who were strict Catholics, had threatened to disinherit him if he married her. Alice had tried desperately to change his mind . She managed to get him to agree to lunch before he left. After they ate, the couple went to visit a sporting goods store where Alice insisted on buying him a present. Raymund chose some knives and a twelve-bore shotgun. Alice purchased a small revolver, a 3.8 caliber Colt with a pearl inlay handle and a box of nickel-plated bullets. At the ...