DRAMATIC SUICIDE

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 52, 25 November 1930, Page 7

DRAMATIC SUICIDE

Before Eyes of Police A Pole, Paul Dezezakowsky, who was arrested in Paris a few weeks ago for having murdered his former companion by clubbing her to death with an iron bar at Maisons Alfort, made a dramatic escape from justice. During his interrogation the Pole gave rather vague replies concerning the spot where he said he had thrown the weapon into the River Marne. It was therefore decided to reconstruct the crime on the spot. Dezezakowsky, accompanied by the magistrate and several police officers, was taken to the river bank at a spot quite near to a popular bathing resort. There he led his escort through a clump of trees to a place where the bank is very steep. That, he said, was the spot at which he had thrown the iron bar into the water. A detective was holding the prisoner firmly by one arm, but as other members of the party began their search, the prisoner, with a sudden wrench of his shoulder, flung off the detective and dived straight into the river.

A young workman dived in after the man, carrying a lifebelt. After a stiff swim against the current he overtook the Pole. But the fugitive was unwilling to be rescued, and there was a desperate fight in the water. Finally the workman was compelled to let go his hold. The prisoner then deliberately kept his head under water, evidently determined to drown himself. He succeeded. Befor? rescuers in boats could approach he disappeared beneath the water, his body being recovered later.