Most Wanted French Criminal Kills Himself

Philippe Delaire, France’s most wanted criminal, killed himself early Saturday after he and two accomplices, cornered by police on the roof of an apartment building, tossed part of $720,000 in ransom money to onlookers on the street below.

A spokeswoman for the public prosecutor said Delaire, 28, appeared to have committed suicide just as police burst into a building in Droixhe, near Liege, where he had taken refuge with his two accomplices. She did not say how he died.

Police said earlier that Delaire, known in the underworld as Beau Mec (Pretty Boy) because of his good looks, had died of head wounds in a hail of bullets after being cornered on the staircase of an apartment block.

Delaire, who had broken out of at least four jails in France and Belgium including one jailbreak in Nice by helicopter, had held a woman and her two daughters in a suburban villa for six days.

His two accomplices were arrested. one of them was shot and wounded by police when he threatened them with a hand grenade, the spokeswoman said.

The three gunmen earlier released their hostages, Marie-Madeleine Bolland and daughters Francoise, 12, and Gaelle, 10, in exchange for the ransom and a getaway car.

After zig-zagging around the Liege area and switching cars several times to throw off police, the gang headed for Delaire’s hideout in Droixhe. But police already had it staked out.