Last of two parts
On Sept. 22, 1892, the brothers of Paz, wife of Juan Luna, visited to check on her and her sick son. But they stayed only briefly because they went to a nearby café to have breakfast.
It must be mothers' instincts, but Doña Juliana and Paz made their way downstairs to follow the men in the café. But Juan met them at the doorway. He was carrying a gun. Juan fired several rounds at Paz and her mother but missed. The two women screamed and ran back upstairs. They ran into the living room and straight to the bathroom, where they locked themselves.
Trinidad and Felix heard the gunshots and ran back to the house as fast as they could. But Luna had already prepared for them. He waited for them at a vantage point and fired his weapon, seriously wounding both brothers. Then, he went upstairs and looked for the two women. He knew they were inside the bathroom, so he destroyed the lock and found them cowering on the floor.
With the cold pure eyes of rage, he pointed his gun at the head of Doña Juliana and fired one fatal shot. Then, he turned his gun on his wife and shot her in the head. She survived the gunshot, but eventually died in the hospital 11 days later.
The shooting of Paz and her mother, as well as the chest wound on her brother, became a cause celebre in Paris. All the newspaper reports from that time sensationalized the case and labeled it “The Drama of Pergolese Street.” But it also stoked white supremacist claims that this was how the savages behaved!
Juan Luna admitted to the charge of murder. He was arrested and imprisoned at the Mazas Prison in Paris, where he would be held for several months. A trial took place with Luna accused of murder and attempted murder.
But on Feb. 8, 1893, the Assize Court of Seine acquitted him. Later, its court records caught fire, and destroyed all papers related to the trial.
Why was Luna acquitted? A reason could be that during the late 19th century, criminal and civil laws in Paris favored men. The court said that it was “a crime of passion” and that Juan Luna did it because of “temporary insanity.” The court must also have taken cognizance of “the savagery of the inferior race” when considering the acquittal.
Going for Juan was an unwritten, anti-women law in France that was lenient to husbands who did “honor punishment,” or even “honor killings.” It meant they could punish — or even kill — their wives if they committed adultery. Luna just paid 40 francs, which was the cost of court documentation, and five days after his acquittal, he was a free man. He moved to Madrid with his son, where he lived for the next 17 years.
The Pardo de Tavera family never forgave Juan Luna for his dark deeds. The brother of Paz, Trinidad, survived and became a historian, doctor, and statesman. He blackened out the face of Juan Luna in every family photograph where Luna was found.
The eyes of history
However, this big news was not mentioned in the biographies of Luna. When historian Ambeth Ocampo perused the papers of the 1957 Luna Centennial Commission, he found a note from Luna's daughter-in-law for them to “kindly omit The Tragedy for all occasions.” Note the capital letters for The Tragedy.
The Luna murder was also mentioned in The New York Herald of Sept. 25, 1892, which carried this story:
“Mme. Luna one of the three victims of the rue Pergolese tragedy, was still in a comatose condition yesterday evening. Her brother, however, M. Felix Pardo de Tavera, manifested symptoms of improvement, which tend to the belief that in his case all danger is past.
“The identity of the M.D., whom Juan Luna suspected of a too close intimacy with his wife, is now disclosed. He is M. Dussaq. He was found at his residence, 88 avenue Kleber, yesterday afternoon, and spoke as follows:
“'I made the acquaintance of Mme. de Luna at Mont-Dore in July last. Our relations were of the most ordinary kind. On my return to Paris I called upon Mme. Luna on one of her reception days, and was introduced to M. Luna, who received me with cordiality.
“'A fortnight ago, as I was going to see a friend of mine, M. Paul Fremy, who has a bachelor's apartment at 25 rue du Mont-Thabor, I met M. Luna under the porte-cochere. He was pale, haggard and breathless. I shook hands with him, asking by what accident I met him there, and he replied that he had been following his wife and had thought she had gone in there, but that he had not been able to find her. I don't know whether or not Mme. Luna had entered the house, but I give you my word I did not see her there.
“'Six days elapsed before I heard anything more of M. Luna, and then I was called upon by M. Luna's brothers-in-law, Drs. Felix and Trinidad de Tavera, who informed me that they came on behalf of M. Luna, who accused me of guilty relations with his wife and demanded reparation.
“'Though the affair was incomprehensible, I named MM. Fremy and Closgenson as my friends; and they, in accordance with my instructions, informed M. Luna's seconds that I totally denied having had with Mme. Luna any relations other than social, and I defied them to prove the contrary. M. Luna's seconds not being able to furnish any proof, my friends refused to act as my seconds in a duel arranged under such conditions. I consented to sign a declaration on my honor that I had never corresponded or had a rendezvous with Mme. Luna. From that time on, I heard nothing more about the matter till the newspapers published reports of the horrible tragedy with which I am grieved that my name should have been linked in any way.'
“M. Dussaq's statements are fully confirmed by M. Fremy, who volunteered a further curious bit of information.
“'After the meeting of the seconds,' he said, 'I met one of M. Luna's brothers-in-law, who told me that, after receiving the anonymous letter charging his wife with adultery, M. Luna plied his wife with questions, and that she acknowledged having meetings with M. Dussaq in a fourth-floor apartment in the rue du Mont-Thabor. Now this strikes me as a most extraordinary story, as my apartment, where M. Dussaq used to call upon me occasionally, is on the ground floor.'”
Historian Ambeth Ocampo surmises that Paz Pardo de Tavera did have an affair with Monsieur Dussaq. On that day, Luna followed her to the apartment of Monsieur Fremy, where she was smuggled out, hidden in a carriage, and went out through a back door.
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