ABSTRACT
The news of the tsar's assassination redoubled Andrew Zhelyabov's determination that he should not escape the gallows. Unmindful of the woman who loved him, of his friends, and seemingly even of the cause he served, he spared no efforts to make certain that he should be considered the chief figure behind the events of March 1. None of those facing the court—even Zhelyabov—had been so responsible for the terror campaign as Alexander Mikhailov, in prison since November. When arrested, both Zhelyabov and Sophia Perovskaya were found to possess coded messages concerning Serge Nechayev's subversion of soldiers in the fortress—another reason to doubt that the plot to free him had been betrayed by Mirski. In August 1883, Lev Tikhomirov announced Nechayev's death in the Messenger of the People's Will, though he was wrong both as to the date, December 8, and the cause, suicide.
