Escaped

Autographed letter signed "Ton N°I el Viejo" to his mistress Jeanne Schneider Prison de Fleury-Mérogis, December 3, 1976, 3 pages. Between rage, resentment, and tenderness, Mesrine delivers in this long letter an uncompromising portrait of himself. "I am not a patient man with the 97% of queers that the general population is. I might kill one at the first serious discussion." "My love Nanou, Good evening my angel.

Very pleasant visiting room, it is true that our understanding as 'old lovers' is still going strong. Tell me my dear, I find you a bit thin. You could use to gain a few kilos.] Yes my angel, Judge Xuereb is a very good guy, I find him direct and above all logical.

You will need to keep in touch with him and one day go there with Sabrina [Jacques Mesrine's daughter] so he can see her change. Tell me 'mother hen', I really appreciate your conversations with Mr. Monteuil, but don't talk about my detention conditions and my isolation, okay my beautiful?

I am isolated for reasons that I understand very well and even if it is still unfair, I have nothing to complain about my detention which is very humane on all levels. Except if they put you with me, but reforms are not at that stage yet. It is certain that this solitude weighs on me, but I have prepared for it for a long time with moral discipline.

And I hide my feelings so well that no one can know if I suffer or not. The only thing I know is that I am a bit more 'wild' every day.

Those who find themselves facing me (if one day the cage opens) will regret it, because the gifts I have given in the past, I will never do again. I played the game by agreeing to surrender. They cheated on me by isolating me.

You know my angel, in Canada I had the same promises (we laughed about it) but once escaped, I kept them all without exception. It is this 'vengeful' side that makes me a dangerous guy. I have too much pride and I know it. I have been backed into a corner for a long time and I have only one choice to make: either accept to die in my cell or fight one day for my freedom. My choice has been made for a long time and in the meantime, I am 'the model prisoner' with a shout away.

I know where I am going and I have no worry for my future, because my past is a hell of a guarantee. You know my angel, a guy like me in detention is almost impossible. Because there is immediately the 'caïda' and since I am not a patient man with the 97% of queers that the general population is, I might kill one at the first serious discussion.

However, I would like to have a little cat, that! That would be some great company. Especially me who adores them. But this might be asking too much. Several inmates had them in their cells here.

I agree for Maxim's on your birthday. But I don't know if it's open on Mondays. Moreover, you will be disappointed!

I have been there several times and besides the 'prices', there is nothing exceptional. Except for a certain snobbery in going there.

I think there is better in Paris [... There you go little girl, 'Mister' your husband finishes with sweet kisses of love on everything that is you. If you are good, I will marry you.

But before doing such a stupid thing, I will consult my lawyers - yes, for the noose around the neck. I have the right to my request for clemency!! Not more complicated than that." Jacques Mesrine meets Jeanne Schneider in 1968.

She is a call-girl, whose pimps were allegedly killed by Mesrine, according to his claims. After several thefts committed in Europe, they both flee to Quebec and continue their criminal activities. They spend several years in prison, despite the couple's acquittal following the murder of Évelyne Le Bouthilier (the owner of a motel in Percé where the Mesrine-Schneider couple had stayed the night of the murder). Back in France to serve her sentence in Fleury-Mérogis in early 1973, Jeanne learns that Mesrine has just been arrested in Boulogne-Billancourt and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Tired of this gangster life, Jeanne Schneider eventually settles down and breaks up while Mesrine is still in prison.

The public enemy number 1 does not stop. He relentlessly condemns his detention conditions in the High-Security Unit and then escapes. He falls under the bullets of the BRI after 16 months on the run, on November 2, 1979, at the age of 42.