U.S. suspect kills self in jail

PARIS — French prison authorities, defending themselves after a U.S. murder suspect hanged himself in jail while on suicide watch, said yesterday they could not have kept him under 24-hour surveillance.

Paul Eduardovich Goldman, 39, a naturalized U.S. citizen, killed himself Sunday in a prison in the suburbs of Grenoble in the French Alps, said his attorney, Arnaud Levy-Soussan.

The New Jersey resident was captured Jan. 20 in France, where he fled after reputedly killing his lover in the United States.

A spokeswoman for the Penitentiary Administration Department declined to provide information about the case but said guards could not watch prisoners at all times.

“We can’t take on or allow for surveillance 24 hours a day, every second,” said the spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mr. Levy-Soussan said his client had attempted to kill himself in January.

“I don’t understand,” the lawyer said. “He was not meant to be left alone and [was supposed] to be under constant surveillance.”

A court in Grenoble ruled Friday that Mr. Goldman could be extradited to Pennsylvania to face first-degree murder charges in the fatal stabbing of Faina “Fay” Zonis, 42, a Philadelphia mortgage processor found dead in her office on Dec. 29.

A postcard found at Mr. Goldman’s Mount Laurel, N.J., town house ultimately led investigators to a residence in Grenoble, a city in southeastern France where he was caught and where his extradition hearing took place.

He also faced U.S. federal charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Mr. Levy-Soussan said Mr. Goldman learned just last week of the January deaths of his parents — news that likely contributed to his distress.

Edward Goldman, 66, and his wife, Inessa Lemashova, 63, committed suicide by slitting their wrists. The couple left a note saying they were disgraced by their son’s conduct and didn’t want to live. Police found their bodies on Jan. 13.

The lawyer said he learned of the deaths in late March through a news report and then told his client.

“I contacted the prison director to say, ’Be careful. Mr. Goldman must be watched because he’s not doing well and, on top of that, this type of news is not likely to make him feel better,’” Mr. Levy-Soussan said in a telephone interview.