Uncle John’s True Crime (17 page)

After a few months, Ed and Jack convinced Katherine that they were innocent and asked her to help them escape so they could live honest lives as coal miners in Canada. She agreed.

DARING ESCAPE

As luck would have it, Ed’s cell could be seen from Katherine’s bedroom window. The two designed a secret alphabet code with which Katherine could point to various body parts, representing different letters, and spell out messages about the warden’s movements. This allowed the Biddles to devise a plan. Then they had Katherine—at great risk to herself—smuggle in two saws and a revolver.

On Wednesday night, January 29, 1902, the boys cut through their cell bars. They apprehended three guards and locked them in a cell. As they were leaving the prison, they were met by a waiting Katherine, which was
not
a part of the plan. She was supposed to lay low and meet them in Canada a month later. But Katherine, mad with love, took a page out of the Biddles’ book and chloroformed her husband, then snuck away in the night. She didn’t want to be away from Ed Biddle.

The warden awoke to a nasty headache and an empty house. When he was told the Biddle Boys had escaped, he knew Katherine was involved and immediately put out an all-points-bulletin on the three of them.

ON THE RUN

Meanwhile, Ed agreed to let Katherine come along, much to the dismay of Jack, who thought she’d slow them down. But Ed was the boss. They stole a horse and a sleigh from a nearby farm and made it to Cooperstown,
38 miles north of Pittsburgh. They planned to have a quiet breakfast there and slip away unnoticed, but news of the breakout had beat them to the town. The Pennsylvania winter was harsh, and the three fugitives didn’t have any warm clothes. They were easily identified and the police were now hot on their trail. They stopped for lunch in Mount Chestnut, 54 miles from Pittsburgh, and Ed and Katherine consummated their relationship. Time, however, was running out.

Killed by cops in 1934: Bonnie & Clyde, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson
.

FINAL SHOWDOWN

With their horse and sleigh, the Biddle Boys and Katherine Soffel left Mount Chestnut on the snowy afternoon of January 31, 1902. They had only traveled a few miles when a posse met them head-on at the crest of a hill. Ed stopped the sleigh, handed the reins to Katherine, and he and Jack jumped off, each with gun in hand. The sherriff ordered the two men to surrender. Ed told them to go to hell and opened fire. The lawmen responded with a hail of bullets.

When the shootout was over, Ed was shot twice, Jack 15 times, and Katherine—who had grabbed a gun and joined in the fray—was shot once by Ed after pleading for him to take her life. She didn’t want to live without him.

The three were taken to nearby Butler Hospital. Katherine’s wound was treatable; Ed and Jack were not so lucky. As they lay on their deathbeds, they told police varying accounts of what had happened. Ed claimed he’d never loved Katherine, that he just used her to help him escape. Katherine claimed that Ed was just saying that to protect her. Love letters he wrote her while still in prison backed her up, but only Ed knew for sure. He and Jack both died on the night of February 1, 1902.

POSTMORTEM

The Biddle Boys’ bodies were put on display at the Allegheny County Jail for two hours. More than 4,000 people came to see the famous bandits. Katherine served 20 months in prison and lived out the rest of her life in shame. She died a brokenhearted woman on August 30, 1909.

*
*
*

“We wouldn’t have been captured if we hadn’t stuck to the woman.”

—Jack Biddle

1st known official autopsy: Julius Caesar’s. The coroner ruled that the second stab was the fatal one
.

One of the 20th century’s most notorious men disappeared nearly four decades ago...and hasn’t been heard from since
.

T
HE MAN

Born in 1913, James Riddle “Jimmy” Hoffa was president of the Teamsters Union from 1957 to ‘67. In that time, he turned it into America’s largest, richest, and most corrupt union—with overt connections to the Mafia. In a highly publicized 1967 trial, Hoffa was convicted of jury tampering and sent to federal prison. Four years later, he was released—on condition that he not hold union office until 1980.

But Hoffa didn’t stay inactive for long: In 1972 he filed a lawsuit to overturn the arrangement and began a campaign to return to power. By 1975, he’d gained enough support in the union to pose a threat to the leaders who’d replaced him...if his lawsuit succeeded.

THE MYSTERY

On July 30, 1975, Hoffa told his wife he was going to a Detroit restaurant for a meeting with two men—an eastern Teamster official and a Detroit mobster. Hoffa never returned. Police dug up fields, ripped up cement floors, and dredged rivers, but besides Hoffa’s car—which was discovered at the restaurant—no trace of him was ever found. The two men he was supposed to have met with both had alibis, and neither admitted to knowing anything about the meeting.

THE THEORY

Most experts, including the FBI, believe the Mafia had Hoffa killed. Why? The mob had switched allegiance to Hoffa’s successors while he was in prison and didn’t want him messing things up. Hoffa’s bodyguard, however, insists it was the government that killed the union boss. The reason? They were still trying to cover up the fact that they used the Mafia to try to kill Fidel Castro, and Hoffa knew too much.

He was officially declared dead seven years to the day after he disappeared. A tip in 2006 led police to dig up a Michigan field, but they found nothing. Hoffa’s fate remains unknown, but his legacy lives on: His son, James P. Hoffa, is currently in charge of the Teamster’s Union.

Most successful police dog: Trepp, a Florida golden retriever, has over 100 arrests to his credit
.

A few tales of dishonest people getting their comeuppance
.

C
ULPRIT:
Nigel Hardman, a.k.a. “Prince Razaq,” of Warton, England

GRAND SCHEME:
After a number of civil servant jobs—mail sorter, meter reader, and accident insurance advisor—Hardman was ready for something different. His chance came after a 2002 car accident, when he applied for disability payments and housing assistance, claiming he was “too ill to work.” Now, with a supplemental income, Hardman started training to be a magician. After he recovered, he stuck with his act...but kept on receiving government payments. Donning a turban, long robes, curly-toed sandals, and the name “Prince Razaq,” he appeared on the British TV show
The Big Breakfast
(he escaped from a straight jacket while standing on a bed of nails), and his career took off. With newfound fame, Hardman started living in lavish style, even purchasing a 31-foot-long stretch limousine so he could, according to the
Guardian
, “drive stag and hen party guests around Blackpool.”

EXPOSED!
British fraud investigators, it turned out, had also seen the talent show and soon learned that the man who was “too ill to work” was moonlighting as a death-defying daredevil who swallowed swords and tamed lions. In 2008 Hardman, 40, pleaded guilty to 11 counts of fraud—in all, he bilked £18,000 ($35,000) from the British benefits system. (He was also nearly bankrupt.)

OUTCOME:
Hardman was tagged for six months, which means he can’t leave his home from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. If he does, the magistrate warned him, the court will come down on him “like a ton of bricks.”

CULPRIT:
Martino Garibaldi, a 45-year-old shop owner from Montecalvo, Italy

GRAND SCHEME:
Garibaldi’s wife (first name not released) thought her marriage was fine...until one day in 2007, when she discovered that all of her money—37,000 euros ($73,000)—was missing from her bank account. And Martino was missing, too. Did he run off? Was he kidnapped? Mrs. Garibaldi hired a private investigator to track down her
husband, but the search yielded nothing. Her husband and her money were both gone.

First Sherlock Holmes movie:
Sherlock Holmes Baffled
(1900)
.

EXPOSED!
A few months later, in early 2008, Mrs. Garibaldi received a call from one of her friends: watch the new movie,
Natale in Crociera
(
Christmas on a Cruise
), said the friend, and pay close attention to the background people. Mrs. Garibaldi watched it, and sure enough, there was Martino—along with his mistress—sitting at a table enjoying themselves in the background of a scene that was filmed in the Dominican Republic.

OUTCOME:
Thanks to the new evidence, Mrs. Garibaldi was able to track Martino down and has since served him with divorce papers...and is suing him to get all of her money back.

CULPRIT:
Michael Cosmi, a 29-year-old man from Wayne, New Jersey

GRAND SCHEME:
From December 2005 to February ‘06, Cosmi would routinely wander around New York City’s JFK Airport while speaking loudly into his cell phone: “Yes, yes, I’ve been robbed! And my patient doesn’t have much time!” When a concerned citizen showed interest, Cosmi introduced himself as “Dr. Michael Harris” or “Dr. Michael Stanley” and explained that he desperately needed cab fare to get to Brigantine Hospital in New Jersey to perform emergency surgery. “I promise I’ll pay you back,” he’d say. “It’s a matter of life and death!” In all, Cosmi conned ten people out of more than $800, including a flight attendant; a rabbi; a cop’s widow; and an off-duty NYPD captain named Bill Tobin, who gave the scam artist $100.

EXPOSED!
A week after he’d been unknowingly conned at the airport, Tobin was riding on the LIRR (Long Island Railroad) and heard Cosmi giving the same spiel to an elderly woman. “I wasn’t carrying my gun, which was probably good, because I wanted to stick it in his ear,” said Tobin, who arrested Cosmi for fraud.

OUTCOME:
Authorities were able to track down Cosmi’s other victims (he still had all of their names and addresses in his notebook because he’d promised to pay them back). It was later revealed that Cosmi is the son of a New Jersey prosecutor...and that there is no “Brigantine Hospital” in New Jersey or anywhere else. Cosmi was ordered to pay $2,165 in restitution and undergo drug counseling to avoid a jail term.

First FBI agent killed in the line of duty: Edwin Shanahan (1925)
.

When the James-Younger gang rode into Northfield, Minnesota, on September 7, 1876, their plan was to rob a bank. The townspeople, however, had other ideas, and the band of burgling brothers was never the same
.

B
ROTHERS IN ARMS

After the Civil War ended in 1865, Confederate guerrilla fighters Jesse and Frank James were in a bind: They couldn’t surrender for fear of being shot by the conquering Union army, and they certainly didn’t want to ally themselves with their former enemies. Figuring there was safety in numbers, the James brothers teamed up with another group of brothers that had sided with the South during the war: the Youngers, specifically Cole, Bob, and Jim. The James and Younger brothers (and a few other outlaws) formed the James-Younger gang. They made it their mission to strike back at the Northern victors.

For the next 10 years, the James-Younger gang went on a violent crime spree throughout the reunified United States. They robbed banks, stores, stagecoaches, and individuals and even committed murder. In 1873 they pulled off their first train robbery, killing the engineer and stealing $3,000 from the passengers. These dastardly deeds quickly earned the James-Younger gang a reputation as the most notorious—and wanted—criminals of their time.

GO NORTH, YOUNG MEN

In 1876 Bill Stiles, a gang member from Minnesota, suggested that his home state would be an easy target for a bank robbery. Stiles boasted that the banks there were full of money and that the locals (mostly farmers) would be poor shots and unable to defend themselves.

The gang posed as railroad surveyors and cased varous Minnesota cities, including Red Wing, St. Paul, and Mankato, before deciding on the First National Bank of Northfield. It seemed like a good choice; the bank was rumored to hold a lot of Union money, and the former Confederates were always looking for ways to get back at their old enemies. Given the relatively small size of the town and the experience of the gang, the men looked forward to a quick and profitable job.

Last NASCAR driver to serve jail time for running moonshine: Junior Johnson, in 1956
.

THE JOB

On the afternoon of September 7, 1876, eight gang members rode into Northfield wearing long coats that concealed their weapons. Frank James, Bob Younger, and Charlie Pitts entered the bank around two o’clock in the afternoon. Cole Younger and Clell Miller stood guard at the front door, while Jesse James, Jim Younger, and Bill Stiles protected the planned escape route.

Inside the bank, one of the robbers (possibly Frank James, though no one is certain) ordered cashier Joseph Lee Heywood to open the safe. Heywood refused. Things heated up when merchant J. S. Allen walked by the bank and noticed the commotion. He tried to get past Miller at the front door but couldn’t; Miller shoved him away. Allen then ran off yelling, “The bank is being robbed! The bank is being robbed!” That’s when Miller and Cole Younger started shooting at him.

NOT IN OUR TOWN!

The unexpected gunfire outside startled the robbers and the hostages inside the bank. Mayhem broke out. During the battle, bank clerk A. E. Bunker made a mad dash out the back door, but not before taking a bullet in his shoulder. Then Frank James shot and killed Heywood, who went down
still
refusing to open the safe.

Meanwhile, several Northfield citizens had armed themselves and taken up strategic positions around the town. As the outlaws tried to get away, they were met by a barrage of bullets from the townsfolk. Clell Miller and Bill Stiles fell dead in the street. Frank James was shot in the leg; Jesse James rode by on a horse, grabbed his brother’s arm, and pulled him along. The Younger brothers and Pitts also took some bullets. A local named Nicolas Gustafson was caught in the crossfire and fatally shot. When the smoke cleared, two gang members and two townies were dead.