It was the crime that had everything. The cast of characters, including beautiful, amoral women and recklessly brutal men, seemed right out of the nouvelle vague French films. One of the nation's greatest fortunes was involved. Best of all, the crime itself was inspired by what Frenchmen believe to be the fountainhead of criminal violence, the U.S.
Smuggled Pinballs. It began last year when a small-time Parisian hoodlum named Pierre Larcher, 38, got in trouble. Stocky, heavy-featured Pierre, known to the police derisively as "Pretty Boy," specialized in stealing cars and smuggling pinball machines into France. On the run and out of money, Pierre hid out in an abandoned farmhouse near tiny Grisy-lesPlâtres, 30 miles from Paris. There he read the French translation of an obscure 1953 novel about kidnapers, by Lionel White, called The Snatchers. Hurrying back to Paris, Pierre sought out his friend, Ray mond Rolland, 24. Tossing the book on a table, he said: "Here's a good way to make money. This would solve our problems." In his own way, handsome and dashing Raymond was in nearly as much trouble as Pierre. Born in Brittany — France's economic and cultural equivalent of the Deep South — Raymond longed for money, social position, fast cars and dames. On his discharge as a French army commando, he adopted the aristocratic-sounding name of Raymond de Beaufort. Calling on his mother, a factory worker in a Paris suburb, Raymond turned up in new U.S. cars (rented), airily told his childhood pals he was going to build a factory and give them all jobs. "No matter how high I rise, I shall never forget you," Raymond would say, as he drove off in a Thunderbird.
Reality for Raymond, however, was a third-floor walk-up in Paris. Occasionally, he would drop in on his pretty exwife, Ginette, or drink in bistros with a few old army buddies. He traveled about Europe, supporting himself by small-scale smuggling and illegal currency deals. In Copenhagen, one of those entranced by his tall tales was a stunning, 20-year-old blonde, Ingelise Bodin, who was Miss Denmark in London's 1960 Miss World contest.
Delinquent Girls. Pierre and Raymond leafed through the social register, Bottin Mondain, to find a victim, settled on four-year-old Eric Peugeot, heir to one of France's greatest fortunes (autos, appliances, heavy machinery). After studying the habits of the Peugeot family, Raymond kidnaped little Eric on April 12 last year from a sandbox at the exclusive St.-Cloud country club, left behind a typewritten note to the boy's father, demanding $100,000 ransom. Bundling the boy into a stolen Peugeot 403 sedan, Raymond and Pierre drove to the farmhouse at Grisy-les-Plâtres. Pierre Larcher's mistress, 19-year-old Rolande Niemezyk—who had twice escaped from a school for delinquent girls—watched over the child, and a TV set kept him amused. The kidnapers sent ransom instructions to the Peugeot family.