NOTORIOUS GAOL BREAKER

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume L, Issue 16424, 7 May 1924, Page 6

NOTORIOUS GAOL BREAKER

REMARKABLE ESCAPE

THOUGHT TO BE IN AUSTRALIA

(Special to the Herald.' CHRISTCHURCH, this day

From information received the New Zealand authorities have reason to believe that Fredrick Marshall, who escaped from Baparua prison about six weeks ago, is at present enjoying his liberty in Australia. Posters bearing the photograph of the convict, together with a comprehensive description of his appearance regarding height and other personal details, have been circulated throughout the Commonwealth, and the police, both in Australia and New Zealand, are leaving no stone unturned in order to capture the notorious criminal and gaol breaker. There are many reasons why Marshall should make for Australia. In the first place he is an Australian by birth. It is understood that Marshall has spent the major part of his life in the' Commonwealth, and that he has an intimate knowledge of the country round Sydney and Melbourne.

Marshall, who was undergoing a long sentence for forgery and uttering, was committed to Paparua some fourteen months ago. He is described as sft, 9£in in height, of medium build, dark, and of what is known in police vernacular as the “criminal type.” The prisoner must have long premediated his escape, and lie could not have chosen a more opportune time than on the afternoon of March 24 last, the occasion of the visit of the Minister in charge of prisons (Hon. C. J. Parr) to the institution. No one saw Marshall make his break for freedom, ns he was not under direct surveillance at the time. Shortly after his escape was made known, however, a prison horse was found in a plantation some distance from the institution, and it was supposed by the authorities that the prisoner used the animal in effecting his escape. It was stated that the escapee had no friends in the district from whom he could expect assistance, and the police force throughout the Dominion maintained incessant vigilance on railway stations and shipping wharves, but Marshall was not caught.