LACOMBE THE SPIKY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19760, 10 April 1926, Page 18

LACOMBE THE SPIKY.

AN ANARCHIST MURDERER. MAN WHO DEFIED POLICE. HUMAN HEDGEHOG’S ADVENTURE. A story of an Anarchist murderer, who defied capture by wearing a leather suit studded with steel spikes, is told by Mill. Ashton Wolfe in a book of reminiscences and adventures in many lands. Mr Ashton Wolfe came into the public eye as the interpreter of the trials of Mme. Fahmy and of Jeanne Pierre Vaquier. In his book. “The Underworld,” he appears in a much more picturesque role. Writers of sensational fiction have a lot to learn from the author, for their best efforts have rarely surpassed his tale of "Laeombe of the Spiked Suit,” which forms one of the several lurid chapters. Mr Ashton Wolfe relates how he became an associate and helper of the late Dr Bertillon, the famous French criminologist, and the part he played in some sensational crime investigations in Paris. APACHE MURDERER. “Laeombe of the Spiked Suit” was an Anarchist apache who seems to have lived by murder and robbery. Mr Ashton Wolte hit his trail when be was called in on a Pans murder mystery to use bis special apparatus for photographing-finger-prints. An American art collector had been strangled, and in the same house a young man was found, sitting bolt upright in a chair, stabbed to-thb heart. Thanks to Mr Ashton Wolfe’s photogiapJuc records, the police identified the murderer as a shoemaker named Laeombe, who had a small heart tattooed on the back ot Ins right hand. Laeombe was run to earth in a cafe and was pounced on by detectives. Mr Ashton V\ olfe, who was with the men of the burete, tells how the murderer laughed liTm y ’ aIU sh ° Uted tllat no one co,lld take “With devilish ingenuity he had made himself a complete suit of leather, studded .‘ii top to bottom with 2iu long steel ward 8 ’ tastened on tke ‘“side, points out- “ Valiantly a half-dozen police again W r V in h vnfn Ve H UPOI ] h . im * b,lt their P^Uck was in am. His twists and struggles ;lelr lands and clothes to shreds. 3 Of course, admits the author, “he could have been shot, but we had received no instructions to this effect. His spiked suit had been hidden bv a long C ape P and everyone had been taken by surprise.” tiv V n a,Kl .“‘pi'ts Ol searcli for the fugibim a"i 9 n V S* h d bef ? re , \ he po,ice foulld mm a»ain be had masked himself. Robbed a railway station, Shot the station-master dead, petrol, 0 mail ' B houso with Burned the widow to death. BOMB IN EACH HAND. Next comes the story of Laeombe - s second encounter with the police. This is how l e greeted the detectives: , 0 hnv D ° n i 1 T no nea f " le - > he shouted. T have a bomb in each hand and two more m my pockets. At the first step you Take L thei ” and bI ° W yOU atld myself “There 1 was no mistaking his murderous hGct ‘°K ; t l ' l e j Cl ban<l be I,e:d a round, l .U,' ° bje< i i : a ',! d " e cou,d see h‘s pockets bulcmj? willi other weapons.* fl°^ b r a . h< W v retreat, and there was a terrific explosion, which hurled his pursuers to the gro-nd ■ Vr,-,, n a distance Laeombe bad thrown one of his bombs Laeombe $. next exploit was to murder his sweetheart. Casque d Or” and he followed tins up by killing Mr Ashton Wolfe s man, Due ret. Tliis so upset Mr Wolfe that he said to the private detective with whom he was working ‘We II let the nolieo do as they HKe and take Laeombe ourselves. This is how it was done. MEDIEVAL CHAIN MAIL. “At home I had some very fine medieval chain mail, complete with gauntlets. ‘T suggested we should put the mail shirts on under our clothes and put gloves over the steel gauntlets “Thus protected, we should be able to cope with the spiked monster, and resist knife thrusts besides. . Hn the second night we ran him down in a low haunt. As we came in we heard him bragging he was invulnerable. Wasting no time wc walked straight up to him. . . . “Then began n terrible fight; he tried his best to lacerate ns, Jerking his body to and fro. . . Finally wo managed to throw him down, and the handcuffs clicked on hi? wrists. . . . “A car ouickly drove us to tho headquarters. whore surprise at our capture hold all the regular police speechless.