Jacques Mesrine - Public Enemy No. 1

Public Enemy No. 1

Mesrine's next exploit occurred in November 1978. It was a daring attempt to kidnap a judge (who had sentenced him) as part of a campaign to get maximum security prisons closed. His accomplice was captured but Mesrine escaped by running downstairs past several policemen telling them "Quick! Mesrine's up there!" A young policeman posted outside was found handcuffed to a drainpipe weeping. On June 21, 1979, Mesrine kidnapped millionaire real estate mogul Henri Lelièvre and received a ransom of six million francs.

Those who viewed Mesrine sympathetically because he was embarrassing the government did not seem to dwell on the murder of the forest rangers (and even less on that of the elderly woman in Canada). Mesrine made good copy for the press, clowning for the camera and asserting that his criminal activity was politically motivated.

Jacques Tillier (a former Directorate of Territorial Security policeman) had written disparagingly about Mesrine in the French newspaper Minute but on September 10, 1979 he went, rather incautiously, to a clandestine meeting with Mesrine on the promise of an interview. The incensed Mesrine had other plans: he shot Tillier in the face, leg and arm. However, during his contact with Mesrine, Tillier had discovered the identity of Mesrine's accomplice.