WAR ON BANDITS

Hokitika Guardian, 2 April 1932, Page 2

WAR ON BANDITS

/ ATTRITION IN CORSICA

THE elusive SPADA

The war against the Corsican bandits has become one of attrition. A (hundred odd prisoners languish w Ajaccio’s gaol, but the elusive Spada, King of .the Green Palace, as he is called, because he reigns over the picturesque greenwood of the Maquis, and the half-dozen other highwaymen whom the police are seeking are still at large They may be captured through treachery, though it is unlikely that any of their friends will give them away. They may have the ill-luck to fall accidentally into the hands of the armed trackers. The last alternative is that the patience of the authorities will starve them into submission. Spada, who is the hero of ft talking dim now showing in Paris, in which he i 3 depicted in' a chivalrous role as a Robin Hood, is .the one man talked of in Ajaccio. Much indignation is expressed there that the exhibition of such a film should be authorised. It is his magnetic influence over women which has accounted for much of iSpada’ s glamour, for, although he is brutal and ruthless in warfare, he can be attractive and entertaining when he likes. Many are his amorous exploits and numerous are the dinner parties the picturesque criminal has given to women friends he has invited to his realm in the Maqui?.

Documents found at the house of his mistress, formerly the unofficial wife of .the bandit Bomnnetti, who is now . dead, show that among his feminine admirers was at least one 'Englishwoman. The bloodthirsty nature of the man is, however, revealed by Ihe crimes with which he is charged. A particularly brutal case was the holding up of a motor-coach and the murder of two gendarmes. ' The lone passenger was wounded, but the driver had been spared. Spada, tthrusting his revolver into the driver’s hand, said, “Finish off this wounded man. He annoys me.’’ i'YKill me, if you like,” said the driver, “J will not do that.” “Tfien take these matches and set fine to the car,” ordered Spada. AVitlf Spada’s revolver pointing at his back, the driver lifted the bonnet' and set fire to the engine. So far as active operations are concerned, General Fournier’s men continue meth.-Klically to extend their zone of occupation.