Claude Lucas

French homicide, a thief and killer; he has written several books, none of which were translated into English. Lucas' young mother was unmarried and left the infant to be raised by his grandmother in St-Malo. His father was a married man with a family and his mother moved to La Baule to avoid a scandal in St. Malo. When Lucas was 18 months old, his parents took their own lives. He did not learn about this tragic love-affair and suicide until he was 14. When he found out in, April 1958, he was devastated. Formerly an excellent student, his school work fell dramatically and he made a suicide attempt. Lucas became a rebel, performing a series of vandalism pranks for which he was expelled from the St-Malo high school. Sent to the Vitré boarding school, he ran away and ended up in another high school. No-one appeared to help, understand or care for him. When he ran away, he was arrested by border patrol officers and ended up in jail. In 1963, at 19, he was convicted of the murder of a procurer (pimp). After serving seven years, he was released in 1970. Lucas set a pattern of being jailed and released with a rap sheet of hold ups and burglaries. While in jail, he studied and earned a philosophy diploma. He made two more hold-ups, taking hostages in January and July 1987. He fled to Spain where he was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm and sentenced to eight years in jail, 1988. Lucas married - in jail - on 1/21/1993. Extradited in France, he was sentenced to 12 years on 12/09/1996 for the 1987 hold-ups.