UPITN 4 11 79 AFTERMATH OF SHOTTING OF CRIMINAL JACQUES MESRINE IN PARIS

(4 Nov 1979) Aftermath of the shooting of criminal Jacques Mesrine in Paris. Mesrine, an audacious publicity hungry bank robber and kidnapper, became one of the all time great prison escapees, and a French folk hero of the 60s and 70s. Mesrine was constantly protesting over prison conditions and exploiting his notoriety to highlight the issue and put his personal hatred of incarceration into practice by escaping from prison in both France and Canada no less than four times, including both the highest security prisons in France and Canada. Following a three month incarceraiton, Mesrine escaped jail again, almost immediately robbing a Paris gunsmiths for weaponry in broad daylight. Mesrine stayed in Paris and ten days later robbed a casino. After another kidnapping of a wealthy banker and industrialist, Mesrine began planning a series of even more high profile kidnappings of major political and media figures. It was while he was engaged in this task that, on 2nd November 1979, as he was waiting at a traffic light, his car was ambushed and surrounded by armed police. Mesrine was shot over 20 times in an execution style killing.

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