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Marseille bar massacre

Coordinates: 43°19′55″N 5°23′02″E / 43.332°N 5.384°E / 43.332; 5.384
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Marseille bar massacre
LocationMarseille, France
Coordinates43°19′55″N 5°23′02″E / 43.332°N 5.384°E / 43.332; 5.384
Date3 October 1978
8:10 pm
Attack type
Mass shooting
Deaths10
PerpetratorUnknown
MotiveUnknown

Marseille bar massacre refers to the mass murder of ten people in the Bar du Téléphone in Marseille, France, on 3 October 1978. Three armed gunmen entered the bar and shot everyone present in the head, with the sole survivor being the owner's wife Nicole Léoni, who was in another room.[1] The massacre was largely taken up by the French press at the time.[2]

Police believed the attack to have been part of a gang war between rival organised crime gangsters led by Tony Zampa and opposing Jack le Mat.[citation needed] The killings were compared to the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre in the United States.[3] Pierre Michel, the investigative judge in charge of the case, was himself shot dead on 21 October 1981.[citation needed] François Cecchi and François Girard, both gangsters of the 'French Sicilian Connection', were imprisoned for life for Michel's assassination.[4]

The case was still ongoing when Michel was killed and so far remains unsolved, as nobody has ever been convicted for the massacre.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "La tuerie du bar du Téléphone : le massacre de la Saint-Gérard". affairesnonresolues.free.fr.
  2. ^ "Wikiwix's cache". archive.wikiwix.com. Archived from the original on 2019-09-07. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  3. ^ "Gangsters in France gun down nine rivals". Bangor (ME) Daily News. UPI. October 5, 1978. p. 6.
  4. ^ magazine, Le Point (20 October 2011). "Marseille se souvient du juge Michel, assassiné il y a 30 ans".
  5. ^ "La tuerie du Bar du téléphone - 13ème RUE". www.13emerue.fr.