SUSPECTED THIEF

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 September 1929, Page 10

SUSPECTED THIEF

A REMARKABLE CAREER. A former member of the French Foreign Legion, Swiss mountaineer, kitchen “slushy,” interior decorator, . a guide in Bohemia, and a gondolier. These are some of the innumerable occupations followed at various times by a man arrested in Sydney recently on suspicion of being a house thief. The man speaks, reads and writes five European languages and prides himself upon a remarkable knowledge of the penal systems of many countries. Born in Swtzerland, he has roamed the world, and claims that on one occasion, ambushed in battle, he fought hand-to-hand with tribesmen in Morocco.

In Algeria, disguised as a nomad horse-deaer, he says, he mingled with a roving tribe of plunderers, and was granted the questionable privilege of witnessing a captive being torn limb from limb. The prisoner was tied, hands and feet, to two blindfolded colts, which, after being flogged almost to madness, were released. The captive was literally kicked and torn to pieces.

The detectives says they are convinced that the man’s story is true, that he has lived in many countries, and has kown failure and prosperity, poverty and luxury. According to the police, his latest adventures have been in towns on the Blue Mountains, and he has been charged with a series of household robberies, the alleged thefts amounting to more than £2OOO.