‘King of Escapes’ from BH left prison and went straight to the newspaper to give an interview

In the last century, newspapers were citizens’ main tool for denunciations or self-promotion. A bit of both things happened on September 22, 1936, when it appeared in the editorial office of State of Minasin BH, the thief José de Paula, the “King of Escapes”.

The story that occurred 87 years ago is the theme of this edition of EM file. Every Sunday, the State of Minas recovers cases that appeared on newspaper covers during the last century. The research is based on a collection of 96 years of printed pages from the Documentation Management (Gedoc), in Belo Horizonte.

“When the work was getting more intense yesterday, in the newsroom, our attention was drawn to a newcomer, a well-known person in our reporting”, begins the text of the report. IN that day. José de Paula was the city’s main thief, having gained “considerable fortune” from his crimes. There was the man also called the “millionaire thief”, who left on his motorbike every time he carried out a robbery, “disappearing with the last noise of the machine”.

But this time, the “King of Escapes” was not at large. On the contrary, he had been released from Dores do Indaiá prison, in the Center-West of Minas, three days ago, through a release permit, the result of the efforts of lawyer Amynthas de Barros – future mayor of BH and at that time very present in the press. The visit to the newsroom was a way of publicizing gratitude to the defender and denouncing the mistreatment of prisoners, who, according to de Paula, were forced to sleep on the tiles.

“I have been persecuted by the police for nine years. I am finally free and can lead a peaceful life. I feel happy now. I have two children, named Adão and Eva, who are already grown up and to whom I need to set an example”, summarized the then resident of Rua Silvianópolis, in Santa Tereza, Eastern Region of BH, who planned to move to Rio de Janeiro.

The infallible method

Until that moment, the “King of Escapes”, at 36 years old, had already undertaken four evasions. “The main weapon he uses for his famous escapes is the fake key, which he manufactures, as he told us, in just 30 minutes”, said the IN. Recalling the adventures, José de Paula classified the first escape as the “most exciting” of his career.

It was in September 1928, in the prison on Rua Rio de Janeiro, in the center of BH. After making a fake key, he took advantage of the watchmen’s sleep and left, hiding in a thicket. “I slept in the open for several nights, passed through dangerous forests and deserted until I reached Rio, where I got a job.”

There, he worked at the now defunct Mesbla until he was denounced by a nephew and arrested again, this time at the Casa de Correção, in BH. He fled again in October 1933, motivated by “injustice”: the “King of Escapes” had been taken to solitary confinement for fighting with the police chief, who had attacked him with a skewer. De Paula took a hidden tool and broke into the cell wall.

Two months later, on the run and back in Rio, he was traveling to Mato Grosso when he ran over a pedestrian. He served 15 days in prison in Rio until the Rio police discovered his criminal record, taking him back to BH. Here, he found an old companion in his cell, Manoel Nunes de Carvalho, convicted of robbing a jewelry store in the Center, along with 14 other thieves. Using one of the fake keys, they undertook a mass escape, in which seven escaped at 2am on December 31st.

Back in Rio, he moved to Paquetá Island. But it was in a coup that the “King of Escapes” found himself in trouble once again. A supposed investigator offered to withdraw the arrest warrant against de Paula for 700 réis. Then he demanded another 1,000 réis. The “King of Escapes” denied it and the scammer reported him. He returned to prison in Minas, being taken to Dores do Indaiá, where he stayed for another four months until he was released and went straight to the newsroom to tell his story.

Do you remember any history of the city or do you know more about today’s case? Write to us: [email protected]