Gangster swallows can opener
NZPA-AFP Paris The trial of Christian David, a notorious French gangster, was postponed yesterday when he was reported in critical condition after swallowing a can opener, four knives, and possibly two fork handles in a new suicide attempt, his lawyers said.
David, aged 59, also known as “Le beau Serge” (Handsome Serge), is to stand trial for the killing of a Paris police officer, Maurice Galibert, in 1966. Mr Galibert was investigating the unsolved kidnapping and suspected murder of the Moroccan Left-wing Opposition
leader, Mehdi Ben Barka. In an earlier suicide attempt in September David swallowed a pocket knife. One of his lawyers said yesterday that his life was seriously endangered as he risked perforation of the intestine. By attempting to take
his life, David was trying to prove his innocence and was challenging what he sees as the bias of the court’s presiding judge, Maurice Colomb, against him, the lawyer said. He has already served 17 years in jail, including 13 years in the United States, for heroin smuggling.
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Press, 25 January 1989, Page 10
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174Gangster swallows can opener Press, 25 January 1989, Page 10
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