The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-04-25
BY SAMUEL DASHIELL AND
THOMAS COPE
United Press STAFF Correspondents


PARIS, April 25-Monsieur LIE
Baron Gaetan L'Herbon De LuSsats
languishes elegantly, and with cyni-
cal indifference, in a Paris prison.
awaiting only the disposition of
minor charge-the theft of a dia-
mond-before he goes back to the
French underworld from which he
was hailed not long ago to answer
to an accusation of murder.
Because they knew Monsieur LIE
Baron was an intimate of Serge
Stavisky, and of many other Of the
sinister, shadowy characters who
surrounded that master of crime,
the police picked him up to find out
if he knew who murdered the late
Albert Prince, chief magistrate in
the prosecutors office.
The baron easily proved an iron
clad alibi His two companions,
Carbone, lord of the LarseilleS un-
derworld, and Spirito, his chief lieu
tenant, also had alibis and were
released, to return to Marseilles and
a triumphant welcome from the
teeming underworld of Europe's
wickedest city.
Originated in Monaco
The police had figured the baron
might easily have killed Judge
Prince. The baron was a o-Worker
in the devious plots of Stavisky and
friend of certain high officials.
When the judges body was found,
after having been tied to the rail-
road tracks near Dion and run
over suspicion fell on those closest
to the suicide banker. Among those
shady figures, none was closer than
the baron.
De LuSsats originated in the small
principally of Monaco, where there
are many barons, real and other
wise. He appeared in Paris, having
conveniently lost his family, and
struck out for himself in the jun
giles of Montmartre. His company
were Apaches and over the more
VI UGdl VI Vic 1OO llC IulCO Wy VII
tue of quick wit, imagination, and
a certain easy manner. He sur
rounded himself with gamblers,
tricksters, swindlers, and strong
arm men.
In Prison at 10
At 10, he served thirteen months
for theft. At 20 he wandered to
England and was sent to prison for
eighteen months. In 1915, he was in
the trenches, but not caring for a
soldiers life he succeeded in malin-
gering, as a war maniac, and as a
result escaped further military duty
At this point his big opportunity
exactly as it had come in the
case of Serge Alexander Stavisky,
who stayed home and made love to
the women and took their money
away from them while their huS-
bands were in the trenches.
The baron's speciality was running
illicit gambling houses where lone
some women might have a futter
when they chose. Stavisky, on the
other hand, took beautiful Arlette
Simon as mistress and capitalized
on her lovely personality. The
baron never became entangled in
any such alliance.
AN operator who allows himself
to see the same woman too often"
he used to say inevitably ends up
at Devils island"
Barred by the Gamblers
In 1922, the baron was barred
from all recognized gambling houses
in Paris and along the Riviera and
did little time in the clink for
dope peddling. Out of this trouble,
thanks to men in high places whom
he had captivated, he installed him
self in palatial apartment in
Bourgeois section of Montmartre.
He went in for blackmail and dope
smuggling in a large way. With less
power than Stavisky, he found it