Editing Jacques Mesrine (section)

==Death==
The special [[Gendarmerie|gendarme]] unit tasked with finding and capturing Mesrine found it impossible to track him down directly. Eventually, by using information supplied by Tillier, they ascertained the licence number of the car that a woman named Sylvia Jeanjacquot, believed to be Mesrine's mistress, had used and checked parking tickets which it had received months previously. These tickets indicated that she had been frequenting a certain district without any obvious cause. Undercover patrols combed the area and a man fitting Mesrine's description was spotted walking with a woman believed to be Jeanjacquot on 31 October 1979. One officer who had seen Mesrine at court confirmed the identification by noting Mesrine's distinctive build. The couple were followed home and their building watched around the clock.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="Carey Schofield 1981"/>

Two days later, on 2 November 1979, the couple left the apartment for a weekend in the country, taking Jeanjacquot's pet poodle with them. Mesrine and Jeanjacquot had reached [[Porte de Clignancourt]] on the outskirts of Paris, when the gold [[BMW 5 Series (E12)|BMW 520]] they were driving was boxed in at the entrance to a junction. Police marksmen in the rear of a lorry immediately in front of their car threw open a tarpaulin. Reportedly, in the instant before the gendarmerie opened fire, Mesrine's eyes were described as being so shocked they seemed to be bursting from his head, as he realised he was trapped. Twenty rounds were fired at point-blank range and Mesrine was shot 15 times. A [[coup de grâce]] was then administered with a pistol. Sylvia Jeanjacquot lost one eye and suffered lasting damage to her arm. Her pet dog was killed.<ref name="Mesrine, Penguin Books 1980"/>