Jailed American recaptured after Monaco prison escape

MONACO -- An American jailed for the arson death of billionaire banker Edmond Safra staged a daring escape by sawing through the bars of his Monaco cell but was quickly recaptured Wednesday.

Ted Maher, a former Green Beret who had worked as Safra's nurse, was caught in a hotel in the French Riviera city of Nice hours after his overnight jailbreak.

Maher and another inmate escaped Tuesday night after sawing through two of the 16 bars on their cell window.

When their absence was noticed, Monaco police blocked off routes leading into the principality and launched a manhunt.

Maher began serving a 10-year arson sentence late last year after a sensational court drama that gripped the U.S. and European tabloid press.

Dubbed Monaco's "trial of the century" by a local newspaper, the case brought a new kind of attention to the tiny Mediterranean principality.

Maher admitted on the stand to setting the Dec. 3, 1999, fire that killed Safra, the 67-year-old founder and principal stock owner of the Republic National Bank of New York.

Safra, who had Parkinson's disease, had paid Maher $600 a day to provide him constant care.

But Maher said he never expected the blaze in Safra's Monaco penthouse to rage out of control, but only to advance a bizarre plan to ingratiate himself with his employer.

He said he started the blaze in a small wastebasket, expecting it to set off a fire alarm that would bring help and allow him to reap the credit for saving the billionaire.

The fire also killed one of Safra's other nurses, Vivian Torrente.

Donald Manasse, a Monaco lawyer who represented Maher in the trial, said he could not immediately comment on reports on his client's escape and capture.