TRIAL IN PARIS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 29 April 1937, Page 7

TRIAL IN PARIS

SENSATIONAL LONDON MURDER DEATH OF “RED MAX” DUEL BETWEEN JUDGE AND ACCUSED [United Press Association—By Electric j elegraph— Copyright] (Received 29th April, 10.25 a.m.) PARIS, 28th April. The most sensational' of many murders recorded in London’s most cosmopolitan area, Soho, is being investigated by the Assize Court here, when the trial opered of Roger Vernon, alias Charles Lacroix, aged 36 years, who is charged with the murder of Max Kassel, otherwise “Red Max,” and Suzanne Bertron, aged 25 years, who is charged as an accomplice. In accordance with the usual French procedure, five minutes were allowed the photographers before the judge took his seat, in which the accused were snapped while an artist rapidly made a sketch. Then there was a duel between the judge and Vernon, in which the judge reviewed Vernon’s life. He was forced to answer the most damaging questions. The case was adjourned.

In August, 1936, at London, a coroner’s jury returned a verdict that Roger Vernon, alias Lacroix, was guilty of the murder of Max Kassel and that Suzanne Bertrand was an accessory after the fact. The British Government made a formal request to France for the extradition of Roger Vernon, alias Lacroix, on a charge of murdering Max Kassel, known as Emil Allard, whose body was found near St. Albans on 24th January, and of Suzanne Bertrand, on a charge of being an accessory after the crime. The request was refused.