SENSATIONAL SHOOTING

Taranaki Daily News, 1 June 1927, Page 9

SENSATIONAL SHOOTING

MAN SMASHES SHOP WINDOW REVOLVER STOLEN AND USED. DEATH IN HOSPITAL FOLLOWS. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Napier, Last Night. In Waipukurau this evening a man deliberately broke the large plate glass window of an ironmongery establishment and gained possession of a revolver with which h© shot himself in the left side before anyone could prevent him. lie was immediately removed to the hospital but died about 10.30. Papers in his pocket bear the name of H. C. Wilfred Brown. SHARE SHARK’S CAREER ARREST STOPS A MARRIAGE. CALLOUS FRAUDS PERPETRATED. Messenger boy, millionaire, swindler, and patriot, Henri Roehette, one of the most remarkable criminals in France, lias been again arrested for huge frauds on the public—and at the moment of his downfall his one thought was for the plight of his daughter, whose wedding would thus be delayed. “What I regret most is that this unfortunate affair will interfere with the marriage of my eldest daughter. Poor girl! What a disappointment for her!” So said Henri Roehette; the notorious finance swindler, when arrested in Paris on a charge of duping his clients all over France to the tune of over £300,000. While they were searching his office the financier recalled to the police the “strange coincidence” in the destiny reserved for him, “March,” he mused, “has always brought me bad luck. You remember,” he went on, turning to the inspector, “it was in March that you arrested me in 1908.” After these confidences, and when the office inspection had ended, the arrested financier was driven in a motor ear to the lock-up. Ho spent a restless night. His system included the establishment of a number of confidential evening newspapers, which, circulated among likely victims, recommended certain shares, which were shown in the accompanying price list to be bounding up. Then well-dressed agents, riding in luxurious cars, would call on the recipients of the newspapers, who showed themselves only too eager to buy the stock, even if it meant selling out other holdings. This one-time messenger boy in a provincial town, who became a multimillionaire, has been arrested a score of times, but mostly he has escaped paying the penalty for his aliened swindles. He is now 49. MASSED FLOTATION. Having inherited a small fortune from a relative, he went to Paris, and after taking lessons in book-keeping, obtained a minor position in a small private bank. When the bank failed, after the floating of a gold-mine company, young Roehette took up the business and floated a company of his own for the exploitation of the mine. He also became bankrupt, but nevertheless, between 1905 and 1908 he floated no fewer than a dozen big companies, with capital ranging from 2,000,000 to 20,000,000 francs. Then the bubble burst, his clients lost £1,600,000, and in 1910 Roehette was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, ue was provisionally set at liberty while he was appealing against the sentence.

His case came again before the Court of Appeal of Rouen in 1912, but to everybody’s surprise Roehette failed to appear before the Court. The sentence was confirmed.

A fugitive from justice, the banker was traced to New York, Mexico, Greece—in fact he''travelled round the world, and the police could not catch him.

The war broke out, and, a patriot above all, he tried to return to France to join the colours. Passing through Austria he was caught and sent to a concentration camp, but after a few months he managed to escape, and, with false papers in his pocket, reached France, and, disguising his features, enlisted in the army under the name of Bienaime. Ho was sent to the front and did very gallant work. One day, however, he left the front without leave fol' a few days to go to see hie wife and children in Brittany. He was caught bj gendarmes, was tried by court-mar-tial at Rennes, and was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment.

After the trial his real identity was revealed, and he was sent to the Sante Prison to complete his lormer three years’ sentence. As soon as he was free again the financier, under an assumed name, started new business enterprises, with the result,that ho was, in 1919, sentenced to Awo years’ imprisonment.