by David Stout
BOOKS
Aymar, Brandt, and Sagarin, Edward. A Pictorial History of the World’s Greatest Trials, From Socrates to Jean Harris. New York: Bonanza Books, 1985.
Bjorkman, Timothy W. Verne Sankey: America’s First Public Enemy. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007.
Burrough, Bryan. Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34. New York: Penguin Books, 2004.
Cahill, Robert T. Jr. Hauptmann’s Ladder: A Step-by-Step Analysis of the Lindbergh Kidnapping. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2014.
Gentry, Curt. J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1991.
Nash, Jay Robert. Bloodletters and Badmen, Volume 3. New York: Warner Books, 1975.
Neibaur, James L. Butterfly in the Rain: The 1927 Abduction and Murder of Marion Parker. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
Schechter, Harold. Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America’s Most Fiendish Killer! New York: Pocket Books, 1990.
Shoenfeld, Dudley. The Crime and the Criminal: A Psychiatric Study of the Lindbergh Case. New York: Covici-Friede, 1936.
Touhy, Roger, and Ray Brennan. The Stolen Years. Cleveland, OH: Pennington Press, 1959.
Unger, Robert. The Union Station Massacre: The Original Sin of J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI. Kansas City, MO: Kansas City Star Books, 2005.
Wood, Larry. Murder & Mayhem in Missouri. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013.
ARTICLES
Beason, Robert G. “Floyd Takes Sheriff for Buggy Ride,” The Bolivar Herald-Free Press, March 8, 2000.
Cushman, Barry. “Headline Kidnappings and the Origins of the Lindbergh Law.” Saint Louis University Law School Journal, 2011. https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/268.
Farris, David. “Massacre Suspect Bailey Drew FBI Scrutiny,” Edmond Life and Leisure, June 14, 2018. www.edmondlifeandleisure.com.
Jones, Leslie Tara. “Arthur Gooch: The Political, Social, and Economic Influences That Led Him to the Gallows.” MA thesis, University of Central Oklahoma, 2010. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.428.3355&rep=rep1&type=pdf.
Koehler, Arthur. “Techniques Used in Tracing the Lindbergh Kidnapping Ladder.” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 27 (Winter 1937): 712–24.
Koehler, Arthur. “Who Made That Ladder?” Saturday Evening Post, April 20, 1935.
Lindell, Lisa. “No Greater Menace: Verne Sankey and the Kidnapping of Charles Boettcher II.” Hilton M. Briggs Library Faculty Publications, 2004. https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/library_pubs/30/.
McClary, Daryl. “Ten-Year-Old Charles F. Mattson Is Kidnapped in Tacoma and Held for Ransom on December 27, 1936.” HistoryLink.org, December 13, 2006. https://historylink.org/File/8028.
McClary, Daryl. “Weyerhaeuser Kidnapping.” HistoryLink.org, March 27, 2006. https://historylink.org/File/7711.
Nash, Jay Robert. “Who Was Behind the Kansas City Massacre?” http://www.annalsofcrime.com/index.htm#03–05.
O’Neil, Tim. “A Look Back: The New Year’s Eve Kidnapping of a Busch Family Heir in 1930.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 1, 2019. https://www.stltoday.com/news/archives/a-look-back-busch-family-heir-kidnapped-on-new-year/article_8ffb7345-9214-5c18-a7f6–51d89c1cc78f.html.
O’Neil, Tim. “A Look Back: A Post-Dispatch Reporter Takes the Hostage Home in One of the Most Bizarre Kidnapping Cases St. Louis Has Ever Seen.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 26, 2019. https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/a-look-back-reporter-got-his-story-first-then-took/article_03ee06ac-b2cd-5f72-9966-386544c54af8.html#1.
Park, Sharon. “Gangster Era in St. Paul, 1900–1936.” MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. http://www.mnopedia.org/gangster-era-st-paul-1900–1936 (accessed July 9, 2019).
Stillwell, Ted W. “Portraits of the Past: The Nelly Don Kidnapping Sensation.” Leavenworth Times, July 31, 2014. https://www.leavenworthtimes.com/article/20140731/NEWS/140739835.
Tuohy, John William. “The World’s Richest Cop/Tubbo Gilbert, the Mob and the Power of the Press.” American Mafia, June 2002. www.americanmafia.com.
INTERVIEWS
Byeff, Dr. Peter. For his personal recollections of Dr. Dudley Shoenfeld, 2018.
Cahill, Robert T. Author of Hauptmann’s Ladder, 2018.
DeJute, David Anthony. For his personal recollection of his uncle, James DeJute Jr., 2018.
Unger, Robert. Author of The Union Station Massacre, 2018.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would not exist were it not for my agent, Deborah Hofmann of the David Black Agency. She believed in the idea from the beginning and has been tireless in her support and encouragement. She has been a terrific agent, yet so much more. Her editing and storytelling instincts are superb, and they have made me a better writer. She is my friend as well as my agent.
And I am grateful to Anna Michels of Sourcebooks, my steady navigator from the start. She is that rare editor who sees the big picture and the tiny details that go into shaping a manuscript. Her questions and suggestions have been on the mark every time.
Finally, there is my wife, Rita, without whom my life would not be worth living. She, too, has been encouraging and supportive. As I say in my dedication, she is truly my rock and my light.
ENDNOTES
1“Gang Chief Jailed in Hamm Abduction; Three Aides Held,” New York Times, July 25, 1933.
2“Abduction Arrests Grow/Hamm Kidnapping Charges Add to Long List of Recent Cases,” New York Times, July 25, 1933.
3Touhy, Roger, The Stolen Years (Cleveland: Pennington Press, 1959), 19.
4Cushman, Barry. “Headline Kidnappings and the Origins of the Lindbergh Law.” Saint Louis University Law School Journal, 2011. https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/268.
5“Hunt for Slayers of Lindbergh Baby Centres on Gangsters Who Got Ransom; President Orders Relentless Search,” New York Times, May 14, 1932.
6Ibid., “President Orders Relentless Hunt.”
7“Kidnapping: A Rising Menace to the Nation,” New York Times, May 6, 1932, Section 9.
8“Six States in Drive against Kidnapping,” New York Times, March 2, 1932.
9“Kidnapping Wave Sweeps the Nation,” New York Times, March 3, 1932.
10“Kidnapping: A Rising Menace to the Nation,” New York Times, March 6, 1932.
11“J. Edgar Hoover Made the F.B.I. Formidable with Politics, Publicity and Results,” New York Times, May 3, 1972.
12“Costly Mercy Hit by J. Edgar Hoover,” New York Times, August 1, 1933.
13“August Busch Heir Freed by Abductor,” New York Times, January 2, 1931.
14“Dr. Kelley’s Story of Experiences in Kidnapers’ Hands,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 28, 1931.
15“Dr. Kelley Released to Post-Dispatch Man,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 28, 1931.
16“Dr. Kelley’s Story of Experiences in Kidnapers’ Hands,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 28, 1931.
17“Dr. Kelley Released to Post-Dispatch Man,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 28, 1931.
18“Dr. Kelley’s Story of Experiences in Kidnapers’ Hands,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 28, 1931.
19Cahill, Richard T. Jr., Hauptmann’s Ladder, a Step-by-Step Analysis of the Lindbergh Kidnapping (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2014), 12.
20Gentry, Curt, J. Edgar Hoover, the Man and the Secrets (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991), 149–151.
21“Kidnapping of Baby Speeds Federal Law,” New York Times, March 2, 1932.
22Gentry, Curt, J. Edgar Hoover, the Man and the Secrets (New York: W.W. Norton, 1991), 151.
23“DeJute Boy Found Concealed in Wall,” New York Times, March 6, 1932.
24“DeJute Abductor Gets a Life Term,” New York Times, March 17, 1932.
25Neibaur, James L., Butterfly in the Rain: The 1927 Abduction and Murder of Marion Parker (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016), 3.
26Ibid., 114.
27Ibid., 15.
28Ibid., 17.
29Ibid., 22.
30Ibid., 33.
31“Mexicans Welcome Lindbergh’s Mother with Rush on Field,” New York Times, December 23, 1927.
32Neibaur, James L., Butterfly in the Rain: The 1927 Abduction and Murder of Marion Parker (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016), 59.
33Ibid., 77.
34Ibid., 169.
35Daniell, F. Raymond, “Progress Made in Search of the Lindbergh Baby,” New York Times, March 9, 1932.
36Daniell, F. Raymond, “Lindbergh Search Pressed near Home,” New York Times, March 10, 1932.
37Cahill, Richard T. Jr., Hauptmann’s Ladder, a Step-by-Step Analysis of the Lindbergh Kidnapping (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2014), 55.
38“Hitler’s Prospects Regarded as Slight,” New York Times, March 10, 1932.
39Daniell, F. Raymond, “Lindbergh Hopeful, Is Ready to Ransom Son,” New York Times, March 3, 1932.
40“Kidnapping: A Rising Menace to the Nation,” New York Times, March 6, 1932.
41Schechter, Harold, Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America’s Most Fiendish Killer! (New York: Pocket Books, 1990), 30.
42ibid., 54.
43Gentry, Curt, J. Edgar Hoover, the Man and the Secrets (New York: W.W. Norton & Company), 150.
44Cahill, Robert T. Jr., Hauptmann’s Ladder, a Step-by-Step Analysis of the Lindbergh Kidnapping (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2014), 84.
45“Condon Deals Anew with Kidnappers and Reassures Them,” New York Times, April 13, 1932.
46“Flier Asks Secrecy to Deal with Gang,” New York Times, April 15, 1932.
47“Lindbergh Baby Found Dead near Home,” New York Times, May 13, 1932.
48Cahill, Robert T. Jr., Hauptmann’s Ladder, A Step-by-Step Analysis of the Lindbergh Kidnapping (Kent, OH; Kent State University Press, 2014), 113.
49“Morrow Maid Ends Life; Suspected in Kidnapping,” New York Times, June 11, 1932.
50“Brinkert Supported in Kidnapping Alibi,” New York Times, June 12, 1932.
51Koehler, Arthur. “Techniques Used in Tracing the Lindbergh Kidnaping Ladder.” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 27 (Winter 1937): 712–24.
52Bjorkman, Timothy W., Verne Sankey, America’s First Public Enemy (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007), 23.
53Ibid., 62.
54Ibid., 42.
55Ibid., 62.
56Bjorkman, Timothy W., Verne Sankey, America’s First Public Enemy (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007), 94.
57“Hamm Writes His Story,” Associated Press, as published in the New York Times, June 20, 1933.
58“Kidnappers Seize St. Paul Brewer,” New York Times, June 17, 1933.
59Beason, Robert G. “Floyd Takes Sheriff for Buggy Ride,” The Bolivar Herald-Free Press, March 8, 2000.
60“5 Slain in Battle by Gang to Free Oklahoma Bandit,” New York Times, June 18, 1933.
61Ibid.
62“No Clues to Killers in Kansas City,” New York Times, June 19, 1933.
63“5 Slain in Battle by Gang to Free Oklahoma Bandit,” New York Times, June 18, 1933.
64“Seek ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd; Federal Agents Seek Arrest in Kansas City Massacre,” New York Times, July 7, 1933.
65Unger, Robert, The Union Station Massacre: The Original Sin of J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI (Kansas City, MO: Kansas City Star Books, 2005), 218.
66Ibid., 219.
67Ibid., 218.
68Ibid., 236.
69Ibid., 239.
70Ibid., 167.
71Ibid., 169.
72“M’Gee Kidnapper, Miss M’Elroy Says,” New York Times, July 26, 1933.
73“Kidnappers Take Kansas City Girl; Return Her after Day for $30,000,” New York Times, May 29, 1933.
74“Kidnapping Hunt Gets Federal Aid,” New York Times, May 30, 1933.
75“Girl Pleads to Save Her Kidnapper’s Life,” New York Times, April 27, 1935.
76“Miss M’Elroy Dies by Her Own Hand,” New York Times, January 22, 1940.
77“Kidnappers Mourn ‘Best Friend,’” New York Times, January 22, 1940.
78“Factor Kidnapped; Held for $100,000,” New York Times, July 2, 1933.
79Ibid.
80“Factor Released by Kidnap Gang,” New York Times, July 13, 1933.
81“Factor’s Freedom Cost Him $50,000,” New York Times, July 14, 1933.
82“Factor Released by Kidnap Gang,” New York Times, July 13, 1933.
83“Factor’s Freedom Cost Him $50,000,” New York Times, July 14, 1933.
84“Editorial on Thompson,” Chicago Daily Tribune, April 9, 1933.
85“Hamm Case Band Lose Bail Protest,” New York Times, July 26, 1933.
86“J.J. O’Connell Jr. Seized by Kidnappers in Albany; $250,000 Ransom Sought,” New York Times, July 11, 1933.
87“O’Connells Name New Negotiators in Ransom Demand,” New York Times, July 13, 1933.
88“O’Connell Captors Force New Agents,” New York Times, July 15, 1933.
89“Look for Release of O’Connell Soon,” New York Times, July 19, 1933.
90“O’Connells Paid in Marked Bills,” New York Times, August 2, 1933.
91“Story of Banker’s Weary Trudge over Lonely Road at Midnight,” Alton Evening Telegraph, July 17, 1933.
92“Luer Kidnapper Confesses, 6 Held,” New York Times, July 21, 1933.
93“August Luer Identified Pit That Was His Prison When Held by Gang of Kidnappers,” Alton Evening Telegraph, July 20, 1933.
94“Kidnap Case May Go to the Jury Late Thursday,” Alton Evening Telegraph, September 27, 1933.
95“Hitler Troopers Beat New Yorker,” New York Times, July 22, 1933.
96“Oklahoma Oil Man Seized for Ransom,” New York Times, July 24, 1933.
97“David Farris, Massacre Suspect Bailey Drew FBI Scrutiny,” Edmond Life and Leisure, June 14, 2018.
98“Kidnapped Oklahoma Man among the Richest,” The Austin American, July 24, 1933.
99“Federal Men Halt Hunt for Urschel,” New York Times, July 25, 1933.
100FBI History, Famous Cases and Criminals, www.fbi.gov.
101“Urschel Relates His Own Story of Seizure and Nine-Day Captivity,” New York Times, August 2, 1933.
102Godfrey, Ed, “‘Machine Gun’ Kelly Kidnaps Wealthy Oilman,” The Oklahoman, April 18, 1999. (Originally published July 22, 1933)
103Gentry, Curt, J. Edgar Hoover, the Man and the Secrets (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991), 159.
104“Payer of Ransom Called a Traitor,” New York Times, August 2, 1933.
105“Roosevelt in Thanksgiving Proclamation Deals Rebuke to ‘Greed and Selfishness,’” New York Times, November 22, 1933.
106“Smith Denounces Nazis as ‘Stupid,’” New York Times, September 11, 1933.
107“End of Army Rule in Japan Predicted,” New York Times, September 15, 1933.
108“Juror Says Hamm Case Climax Was in Failure to Identify Eddie McFadden,” Minneapolis Tribune, November 29, 1933.
109“Touhy and Trio Are Acquitted in Kidnap Trial,” Chicago Daily Tribune, November 29, 1933.
110Barker/Karpis Gang, FBI History, www.fbi.gov.
111“Hamm Ransom Money Is Found in Chicago Bank,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 6, 1935.
112“G-Men Chalk up One of Their Greatest Victories in Cleanup of the Hamm Kidnapping Gang,” New York Daily News, August 16, 1936.
113“California Youth Is Held by Kidnappers; $40,000 Ransom Asked for Merchant’s Son,” New York Times, November 11, 1933.
114“Young Hart Slain; Kidnappers Threw His Body into Bay,” New York Times, November 17, 1933.
115“Gov. Rolph Backs San Jose Lynching as Kidnap Warning,” New York Times, November 28, 1933.
116“Hoover and Rolph in Sharp Exchange,” New York Times, December 1, 1933.
117“Rolph Restates His Attitude; Sees ‘Criminals’ Day at an End,” New York Times, November 30, 1933.
118“Reich Bishop Wars on Nazis’ E
nemies as Revolt Widens,” New York Times, November 27, 1933.
119“Rush U.S. Liquor Rules to Meet Repeal Tuesday,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 4, 1933.
120“99 Years for Three Touhys,” Chicago Daily Tribune, February 23, 1934.
121“Slay One Touhy; Convict One,” Chicago Daily Tribune, March 14, 1934.
122“Kidnappers Hold St. Paul Banker; Note Asks $200,000,” New York Times, January 19, 1934.
123“Bremer Held Alive; Negotiations Near, the Ransom Ready,” New York Times, January 21, 1934.
124“Hunt for Bremer by Federal Men Covers 350 Miles,” New York Times, January 22, 1934.
125Koehler, Arthur. “Techniques Used in Tracing the Lindbergh Kidnaping Ladder.” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 27 (Winter 1937): 712–24.
126Ibid., 153.
127Ibid., 171.
128Ibid., 175.
129Koehler, Arthur. “Who Made That Ladder?” Saturday Evening Post, April 20, 1935.
130“Adolph Fiedler Names Eight Men and Woman as Kidnapers of Dr. Kelley,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 7, 1934.
131“Held for ‘Protection’ in Kidnapping Case,” New York Times, May 14, 1934.
132“License Plates Mysteriously Lost in State Bureau Were on Auto Used in Murder of Star Witness,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 14, 1934.
133“Woman Is Acquitted in Kelley Kidnapping,” New York Times, October 6, 1935.
134“Anna Ware Wins Baby Suit; Commissioner Finds Muenches Had Her Child,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 5, 1935.
135Schechter, Harold, Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America’s Most Fiendish Killer! (New York: Pocket Books, 1990), 89.
136Ibid., 93.
137Ibid., 95.
138Ibid., 92.
139Ibid., 106.
140Ibid., 115.
141“Budd Girl’s Body Found; Killed by Painter in 1928,” New York Times, December 14, 1934.
142Schechter, Harold, Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America’s Most Fiendish Killer! (New York: Pocket Books, 1990), 163.
143Nash, Jay Robert, Bloodletters and Badmen, Book 3 (New York: Warner Books, 1975), 121.
144Gentry, Curt, J. Edgar Hoover, the Man and the Secrets (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991), 172.
145“New Dillinger Killings Stir the President and He Asks Quick Action on Crime Bills,” New York Times, April 24, 1934.
