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Failed De Gaulle Assassin Hangs Self in Cell

Sept. 15, 1962 - A former French army officer, named as the organizer of the attempt to kill President Charles de Gaulle on Aug. 22, hanged himself in his Paris jail cell last night. Police said the man was Henri Niaux (pictured), 48 years old, a retired major, who had once served in Algeria. He was arrested at his home in southern France. The former soldier told officers: “I will tell you everything. I will assume my responsibilities.” The police said the suspect had taken his life by knotting his shirt around his neck and attaching part of the garment to the window in his cell. The police had not questioned him in detail before his death. Niaux and nine other persons had been arrested within the last thirty-six hours. The police said they now had most of the participants in the machine-gun attack on the President’s car at Petit Clamart, near Paris. The suspects were said to have been connected with the Secret Army terrorist group that sought to block Algerian independence and to kill or overthrow President de Gaulle.

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