International: Marriage v. Politics

All during the choosing of the cabinet, up & coming Pierre Chevallier, 42, parliamentary leader of Pleven's own party, was repeatedly called to the telephone. Each time it was his wife. Yvonne, high-strung, green-eyed and 38, wanted him to come right home. He tried to tell her that big things were in the air; he was about to get his first cabinet job: Secretary of State for Technical Training, Youth and Sports. Yvonne was not impressed.

As soon as the investiture ceremony was over, Secretary Chevallier jumped into an official car and a chauffeur drove him home to Orleans, 70 miles southwest of Paris, where he is mayor.

Pierre went into the bedroom to change his clothes for a bridge-dedicating ceremony. Yvonne followed him. They quarreled, as they often had recently, over which came first—marriage or career—and Pierre announced: "I want a divorce." Yvonne went to her dresser, pulled out a revolver she had bought a few days before. She fired three shots into Pierre's chest, then as he lay dying, pumped two more slugs into his head to be sure. The Chevalliers' eight-year-old son Phugel came running in. She told him to be quiet, calmly telephoned the police. Said she: "Would you mind coming over at once? My husband wants to speak to you." When the police arrived, she announced: "I have just killed my husband." They took her to jail, charged her with murder. Next morning Yvonne asked for a woman lawyer to defend her. Sobbed she: "Only a woman could understand me."