25. Cole Tries to Save Himself With a Final Con
A month after Germany’s surrender, Harold Cole turned up in southern Germany, claiming to be a British undercover agent, and offering his services to the American occupation forces. He had already done a double cross by working for the Germans, so he now triple-crossed, turned against the Nazis, hunting and flushing them out of hiding, and murdering at least one of them.
The British eventually discovered Cole’s whereabouts and arrested him, but he escaped the prison where he was awaiting court-martial, and returned to France. There, French police received a tip that he was hiding in a central Paris apartment, and on January 8th, 1946, crept up a staircase to seize him. Their heavy tread gave them away, however, and he met them at the doorway, pistol in hand. In the ensuing shootout, Cole was struck multiple time, and bled to death.