October 15, 2024 • 27 mins
When Verne Sankey told his wife he and his gang were planning a kidnapping, he said, if “I don’t come back, don't identify my body.” Verne and his accomplice, Gordon Alcorn, were a pair of Depression-era outlaws whose successful high-profile kidnappings of Haskell Bohn, heir to Bohn Refrigeration, and millionaire Charles Boettcher II turned them into two of the most wanted criminals in the United States – in fact, their success inspired other gangsters to try kidnapping as a lucrative gig, and prompted FBI director J. Edgar Hoover to name Verne America's very first 'Public Enemy'.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Vern Sank and his accomplice Gordon Alcorn were a pair
of Depression era outlaws whose successful high profile kidnappings of
Haskell Bone and Charles Butcher the Second turned them into
two of the most wanted criminals in the United States.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
In fact, their.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Success prompted FBI Director jed Gar Hoover to name Vern
America's very first public enemy. Welcome to Criminalia. I'm Maria Tremurky.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
And I'm Holly Fry. Before he began a life of crime,
Gordon Alcorn was a former Canadian railroad employee a fireman.
Vern Sank also worked on the Canadian Pacific Railway as
a locomotive engineer and later attempted to start a ranch
in South Dakota. The farm was not the success that
(00:59):
he had hoped for, and that's when he and Gordon
began robbing banks in both Veland and Winter, South Dakota,
as well as in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. But this duo
saw another level of law breaking that was potentially highly
lucrative and in their eyes, potentially safer than other types
of crime kidnapping. In fact, it was potentially so lucrative
(01:23):
that their criminal operations were later copied by other gangsters,
including names like the Barker Gang and Machine Gun Kelly.
In June of nineteen thirty two, Verne and Gordon carried
out their first abduction. Their target Haskell Bone of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
The Bone family was an example of the American dream.
Their company, Bone Refrigeration, was founded in nineteen oh three
by Gabe heart Bone, a German immigrant who started with
nothing to his name. His company went global. He manufactured
white refrigeration units with state of the UK drip boxes
positioned to capture water from melting ice. Now I know
(02:05):
it might not sound very interesting, but these refrigeration units
were a game changer in people's homes because his proprietary
air circulation system eliminated food odors. He'd figured out how
to absorb unwonted smells into ice, which then melted into
the unit's drippan. The invention led to a refrigeration revolution,
(02:26):
employed hundreds of people in the Saint Paul area, and
turned Bone into a millionaire.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
After Gabbard passed away in nineteen twenty four, his son
who was also named Gaypard and who was also Haskell's father,
took over the family business. While the cracks didn't show
on the outside, Bone Refrigeration was going through hard financial
times when Vern and Gordon decided to target the family.
(02:54):
In fact, not too long after Haskell's kidnapping, the Bone
Refrigeration factory shuttered. While there's not a lot of detail
available about that closure, we do know that a rival
across town opened a new factory. Today we know that
rival as Whirlpool.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
In the meantime, the family kept up appearances. They were
well known within the boat racing scene, a popular activity
among wealthy families in the area, and as you might imagine,
those races drew spectators. Crowds of people came to cheer
on their favorite family and boats, but it was also
where criminals could learn the who's who of high society,
(03:33):
which it turned out, was how Haskell came to the
attention of a Verne. Haskell was heir to the family's
refrigeration empire, but you know, he was also considered good
looking and known to be quote, a flashy guy. At
twenty years old, he'd just graduated from the prestigious Brex
School in Saint Paul, and he was employed at the
refrigeration factory.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Unfortunately for Haskell, his flashiness caught the attention of the
wrong people. On June thirtieth, nineteen thirty two, he was
kidnapped at the family's estate on Summit Avenue as he
prepared for his work day and his chauffeur waited in
the garage, Vernon Gordon went into action. According to Haskell's
(04:15):
later testimony, he had assumed that the two men who
pulled up in a small sedan Afford V eight were
there just to visit with his chauffeur, and so he
didn't think much of it until those two men pointed
a gun at him and threatened his chauffeur with an
automatic rifle. They tied a thick roll of tape around
(04:35):
Haskell's head as a blindfold. Later they swapped it out
for a flannel bandana as a makeshift mask. They led
him to the car, where they forced him to lie
face down on the floor of the back seat. According
to the police transcript, Haskell stated, quote, I thought they
might want to take what money I had and dump
me off someplace.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Instead, they left behind a ransom note with the chauffeur,
which read quote, do not notify the authorities. If you
want our captive returned to you alive and well, do
exactly as we instruct you. Our terms are thirty five
thousand dollars in exchange for our captive for perspective. That's
roughly the equivalent of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars today.
(05:20):
And then they drove off, taking Haskell to a dark
basement and an undisclosed location. About five minutes into the ride,
Haskell got up the nerve to ask some questions, including
the big one, what did they plan to do with him?
They replied that he didn't need to worry, and that
he'd be home by dinner.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Once at their destination, a home not too far from
the bone of State. According to Haskell, one of his
captors quote talked along the lines of the infamous Lindbergh
baby kidnapping. He said, I should be good, or they
would have to kill me. The Lindburg baby kidnapping and
murder had happened only about three months earlier, and it
was still very fresh in people's minds. Later, he recalled
(06:05):
that he frequently heard the voices of a woman and
a child birds chirping and dogs barking, and it seemed
to him that he was being kept at someone's home,
sometimes in the garage and other times in the basement.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
During his captivity, Haskell, according to a forty page police report,
struck up an unlikely friendly relationship with his kidnappers. One
in particular, seemed apologetic for Haskell's inconvenience, and they got
to talking about everything from baseball to bull riding. Eventually,
they also began to discuss more intimate topics, including their
(06:41):
families and concerns they had for their mothers. What Haskell
knew but the kidnappers did not, was that the Bone
fortune was on the decline and the thirty five thousand
dollars ransom demand was likely too much for the family
to pay, and he told them so, despite not knowing
what that would mean for him. One of the captors,
(07:01):
after hearing that the ransom would be too much for
the Bone family, apologized to Haskell for demanding so much. They,
like everyone else in Saint Paul, were under a very
different impression about the family's wealth. In fact, the family's business,
it would turn out, wouldn't survive the Great Depression.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
After six days in captivity, Haskell learned that his release
had been successfully negotiated. His father agreed to pay twelve
thousand dollars. It's a roughly equivalent to two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars today. His captors, whose identities remained unknown
to him, drove for nearly an hour on a route
designed to make it hard for him to identify where
(07:42):
he'd been held. As the car stopped to let him
out on the side of the road, his kidnappers gave
him very specific instructions. Haskell later told law enforcement, quote,
that's when they told me not to say or do
anything for ten minutes, and then they told me to
walk to the right for a half hour. And when
I called up, not to call up the police, but
(08:04):
to call my home and ask for my father. As
he exited the car, one of his captors handed him
ten dollars. Haskell had loaned the guy seven dollars on
the day of the kidnapping, and his kidnapper unexpectedly repaid him. Eventually,
Haskell found himself in a stranger's home, calling his family.
(08:25):
We're now going to take a break for a word
from our sponsors, and when we're back we'll talk about
Vernon Gordon's second and final kidnapping.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Welcome back to Criminalia. The kidnappers chose Charles Betcher the
Second as their next victim. Let's talk about how that
played out and how it got vern named the FBI's
first public enemy.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
It was seven months after Haskell Bones kidnapping that Verne
and Gordon snatched wealthy Colorado businessman Charles Charlie Betcher the Second.
The family's success, like the Bones, was of rags to
riches story. Most of their fortune came from the hardware, mining, cement,
and sugar beat businesses, including the Great Western Sugar Company,
(09:23):
Ideal Cement, and the Denver Tramway Company.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Like Haskell, Charlie was taken at gunpoint, blindfolded with tape,
and put in the back of a small sedan, a
fourd V eight. Two assailants grabbed him as he pulled
up to the garage of his Capitol Hill mansion on
Washington Street in Denver, saying quote, come here, Charlie and
stick up your hands. Do as you're told, and everything
will be all right. As they drove away, they tossed
(09:50):
a ransom note typewritten on a piece of white paper
toward his pregnant wife, Anna Lou, who witnessed the abduction
from inside her husband's car. Charlie was taken to the
Sanke Turkey Ranch in South Dakota, where he stayed until
the ransom was paid.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
The kidnappers demanded sixty thousand dollars roughly equivalent to one
point five million today. Annalou followed the instructions in the
ransom note, and she did not call the police, as
was the case with the Haskell ransom missive. This note, too,
was ominously written to remind her what happened to the
(10:26):
Lindbergh baby after his father called the authorities, but she
did call her father in law, Claude, and Claude was
clear on the ransom he would have no trouble paying
it in return for his son.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Unlike Anneloeu, Claude did notify authorities, and FBI Director j.
Edgar Hoover assigned two of his Western district men to help.
The police, and federal agents turned up the heat on
those they suspected could be behind the abduction, but at
this time they really didn't have any leads.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Fifteen days passed before Claude Betcher died. He'd had enough
with what he considered the bumbling efforts of the state
and federal officers on the case. Taking matters into his
own hands, he arranged for a messenger to drop off
the sixty thousand dollars ransom at a location on Brighton
Road north of Denver, coordinated with the kidnappers through a
(11:19):
local newspaper ad and that worked. On March first, nineteen
thirty three, just a few days after the money drop,
Charlie called home, quote, Hello, father, this is Charles. Please
send someone out to the drug store at twenty two
thirty nine East thirty fourth Avenue. I'm okay.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Just moments after the kidnappers released Charlie, they led law
enforcement on a high speed chase through the neighboring area
and then all the way to Wyoming, and they escaped capture.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Like Haskell, Charlie shared as many details as he could
about his kidnapping with local and federal officers. He believed
the drive from Denver to the hideout had been about
an eighteen hour trip. That may seem like too many
hours to you, which it is if you do the math,
But remember he was blindfolded during that drive, so that
(12:12):
was really just his best guess. He added that once,
when his blindfold had slipped, he'd caught a glimpse of
a sign that read Torrington that's Torrington, Wyoming. He also
recalled that he had walked up four steps to get inside.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
And a lose. Ability to identify the two men was
critical to their capture too, and her recollection of them
was helpful in the bone case as well. Haskell was
also able to identify Vern and Gordon as the two
men who abducted him. One of them had naively allowed
him to remove his mask as long as he didn't
look at them while he was being held captive. In hindsight,
(12:49):
probably not one of their smartest moves.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Bad news for Vern, the Denver police received a tip
that a man named Carl Pearce had drunk bragged that
he knew one of the kidnappers of Charles Becher the
second and that it was Vern Sankie. Carl was an
insurance salesman who it was later discovered, had typed out
the ransom notes. He was part of a larger gang
(13:14):
of outlaws that Vern worked with, and he was sweet
on Vern's sister in law. When police officers found the
Sanki Ranch slash hideout in South Dakota. Vern considered my
authorities to be the mastermind of the kidnappings had already
fled to Chicago.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
When Verne's wife was arrested. In regard to the kidnappings,
and just how much she knew about them has never
been clear, he went into hiding where he gambled away
most of his share of the ransom money. Later, he
remarked that quote, my life's mistake was asking sixty thousand
dollars instead of two hundred grand from Becher.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
We're going to take a break for a word from
our sponsors. When we return, we'll talk about how and
when Vern and Gordon were apprehended, as well as suspicions
about the involvement of Vern's wife and sister in law.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Welcome back to criminaliat. We're off to Chicago, where Vern
and Gordon were evading capture until their luck ran out.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
It wasn't until January thirty first, nineteen thirty four, that
three federal agents and three police officers converged upon a
barber shop on Chicago's North Side. Vern, seated in the
chair with a hot towel wrapped around his head, was caught.
Stated authorities quote, don't move Vern, you're under arrest. Vern
(14:51):
confessed to the Betcher kidnapping, and during his arrest he
boasted shouted that he would never serve time for his crimes.
Jordan Alcorn, using the alias Walter Thomas, was apprehended the
next night without a struggle, also in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
In addition to the kidnappings they did pull off, Vern
and Gordon were blamed for some They had no part in.
The nineteen thirty three kidnapping of Charles Erschel by Albert
Bates and George machine Gun. Kelly was inspired by Sankee
and Alcorn's kidnapping successes, but they were not involved, and
those weren't the only kidnappings inspired by the pair. It
(15:31):
was the high profile kidnappings of William Ham Junior and
Edward Bremer by the Barker Gang other gangsters imitating Verne
and Gordon that led to Vernon Gordon's downfall. The press
accused them of being behind almost every single unsolved kidnapping
in the United States, including the kidnapping and murder of
(15:51):
the Lindburg Baby, an accusation that is said to have
infuriated Vern. The FBI considered them prime suspects in the
Lindberg case before the arrest of Bruno Houtman, the actual kidnapper,
in nineteen thirty four. On the matter, Vern said, quote,
I am a man. I would kidnap a man. I
would never kidnap a child.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
But the Lindberg case was influential with these two, not
only because they kept getting blamed for it. Vern was
the first outlaw to realize in the wake of that
abduction that kidnapping could be a lucrative gig with far
less violence than say, bank robbery. He earned the distinction
of being named the nation's first public Enemy by FBI Scoover.
(16:36):
If you wonder why his name isn't as popular in
our culture as say American gangster Al Capone, well, historians
believe it's because kidnapping isn't usually as violent as a
hail of gunfire between bank robbers and g men. It's
often not as shocking and high profile. Capone captivated the
public with violence, and as a consequence, he is often
(16:58):
miscredited as being Hoover's first public enemy.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Vern and Gordon were facing life sentences under the newly
minted Lindberg Law in the aftermath of the infamous kidnapping
of the twenty month old child of famous aviator Charles Lindberg.
United States Congress passed legislation to crack down on the
rising number of kidnappings being carried out by gangs throughout
the country. Under the new law, crossing state borders with
(17:25):
a victim was now a federal offense with a punishment
of life in prison. The law also included a provision
that stated a captive held for seven days or more
would automatically be assumed to have crossed state lines, opening
up the door for federal prosecution and life in prison.
Vern and Gordon were guilty of both.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Charlie Betcher was taken from Colorado, but because he was
held captive on the Sanky farm in Buffalo County, South Dakota,
Vern was transported to Sue Falls to stand trial. At
that time, the press alleged that he was also going
to plead guilty to the kidnapping of Haskell Bone. Okay,
we have come to a point in this story where
(18:08):
we will be very briefly talking about suicide. If you
would prefer not to hear these details, skip ahead about
fifteen or twenty seconds and we will meet you there.
Vern did not plead guilty. During his first night held
at South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, Verne was
found unresponsive after he had hung himself with a necktie
(18:30):
in his cell.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
The next day, Co Captor Gordon Alcorn, also brought to
South Dakota, was sentenced in Sioux Falls to life in
prison for the better kidnapping, a sentence he carried out
in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. While serving his sentence, Gordon was
called as a principal government witness against vern Sankei's widow
and sister in law. The federal government had hopes of
(18:54):
quote convicting Missus vern May sank and her sister, Missus
Alvina Cool, of conspiracy in the case, and Gordon testified
against them.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
He had a lot to say regarding the women. Actually,
he told the jury in Pierre, South Dakota, that while
he quote had trouble with Sankie in Chicago after the
betcher ransom had been collected, the men had fought about
the money. He was not testifying because of revenge. Gordon
also denied that he had been offered parole or pardon
(19:27):
for his testimony, though he admitted that he had hoped
for parole at least quote after a few years on
the stand, Gordon testified, quote, Missus Sankee wanted to kidnap
the Betcher girl, the five year old daughter of the victim.
She said it would be easier to look after a
child than a grown up. Gordon also stated that upon
(19:48):
hearing Vern say he was going to get some rich
man's money, Missus Kohler told Vern quote not to forget her.
Gordon also spoke of the Haskell Bone kidnapping, a crime
for which man Missus Sanki was previously tried and acquitted. Specifically,
he said that Missus Sankee did accompany her husband the
night that he collected that twelve thousand dollars ransom.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
His testimony regarding Missus Sankee's involvement was corroborated by Ray Robinson,
who was serving a sentence for his behind the scenes
participation in the Haskell Bone kidnapping. Robinson testified he'd received
one third of the twelve thousand dollars ransom. He also
testified quote Missus Sankee cooked the meals for a while.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Prosecution also introduced a letter written by Vern, sent from
the South Dakota Ranch to Missus sank in Denver, instructing
her how to find quote two good letters for you
sixty feet east of the spot where I left some
last year. It was argued by the prosecution that he
was giving her directions to money that he had hidden.
(20:54):
But the most important evidence from the prosecution standpoint was
Gordon's testimony that Missus Cohler was at the Sankee home
in Denver, quote practically every second day while the Betcher
kidnapping was being planned. He continued, quote Vern asked Missus
Kohler if she would help exchange the ransom money. She
(21:14):
said yes.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Gordon continued that quote Missus Sankee was always the boss
when she spoke Verne minded. He also described a conversation
between the Sanke couple at their Denver home just before
the Betcher kidnapping quote, Thankye told his wife we were
going to try and get Charles Betcher. He told her
that if I don't come back, don't identify my body.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
In the end, Gordon was returned to Levenworth, and as
far as Missus Sankee and Missus Kohler were concerned in
the abductions, their trial came to an indecisive conclusion when
a federal jury reported that after twenty eight hours of deliberation,
they were in quote, hopeless disagreement.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Can you imagine twenty eight hours?
Speaker 1 (22:00):
I can't imagine talking to people I adore for twenty
eight hours strange long jury deliberation. So trapped with a
bunch of strangers arguing sounds like misery?
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Do you want to make it a double?
Speaker 1 (22:12):
This is one that I will confess to you I
struggled with. There isn't a lot of language in it
that really like sparks the imagination in terms of what
was going on, at least not for me.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
No, I agree with that.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
So when those kinds of things happen, I tend to
start looking at time and place. And of course this
was all happening in the early nineteen thirties, which means
this was happening right after the Savoy Cocktail Book was published,
which was a book that was written by Harry Kratdock
that was full of recipes from the Savoy Hotel in
(22:49):
London that came out in nineteen thirty and it is,
you know, one of the all time big important cocktail books.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Right, and that hits right in this timeframe, exactly right.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
So I imagine the odds are good that they at
some point, if these two dudes were out getting a drink,
they were drinking something that may have shown up here. Yeah,
there is a drink in here. I have been wanting
to play with for a minute, and this seemed like
a good opportunity. In the Savoy Cocktail Book it is
called the de Rigueur, although there is a version of
it that is more popularly known as the brown Derby.
(23:25):
And that recipe, just in case you want it, is
two parts whiskey, one part grapefruit juice, and one part
honey syrup. So like a two ounce one ounce, one ounce.
It's a great drink. But I wanted something that was
a little more sippable. That's a very spirit forward drink.
Even though you have the grapefruit and honey, it's not
(23:47):
like something you can just chug, you know. And so
I wanted something that was like an on the rocks
version with a little bit of fizz. So we played
with some ingredients a little and some proportions, and we
added some other stuff. So into your shaking tin you
will put with ice two ounces of bourbon. If you
(24:08):
don't like bourbon and you like another whisky. Do it.
You can even use rye in this one ounce of
grapefruit liqueur instead of grapefruit juice, and then three quarters
of an ounce of honey syrup. And we're dialing back
the honey syrup for a reason you will see in
a moment. So you are gonna shake that all together.
And again, if you have never, for some reason with
us talked about honey syrup, you can make that yourself
(24:30):
by using one part honey, one part water, simmer it together.
Or some people if they're making just a little for
a drink, you can do like equal amounts, like a
tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of warm water and
get them really well stirred together. I find I never
get a smooth combination that way. But whatever you want
to do. And then once that is shaken up and
(24:52):
very very cold and well incorporated, you are going to
strain that over ice, and then to that you are
going to add two ounces of grapefruit soda and two
ounces of ginger ale.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
I'm going to interrupt you and say, I just love
when grapefruit soda shows up in our cocktail. I love
me too.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
I will confess I always want to put it in
a drink because I always seem to have an obscene
amount of it stockpiled.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
So I just want to drink it.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
I want to listen. Grapefruit soda as an aside, goes
with everything. If you want to do like a you
can do a grapefruit soda with vodka, with rum, just
with gin, with bourbon, with whiskey, just on its own.
If you just want to spirit and mixer situation spectacular.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
It gets along with a lot.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
But in this case, you know you got to you
got some other stuff. I love the honeynoe in this one.
Especially if you really love the honeynoe and you want
to taste it more, you can always bump that back
up to an ounce and make it closer to the original.
Of course, we in this one used a liqueur instead
of a grapefruit juice because we're getting some more grapefruit
from the soda, and also because we're making it a double,
(26:01):
we want extra alcohol in it. To make this as
a mocktail, it's pretty easy subouts. You're gonna do two
ounces of a black tea. In this case, I would
use one ounce of a grapefruit syrup, and you're three
quarters of an ounce of honey syrup, and then you're grapefruit,
soda and ginger ale. At that point, I will, as
(26:21):
I always do, cautioned to stick with a low sugar
or sugar free ginger ale, just because at that point
there's a lot a lot of sugar. This one we're
just gonna call public enemy because it's the obvious choice,
and sometimes the obvious choice is okay sometimes. But the
good news is I don't think it will be an
enemy to you unless you just really don't like grapefruit, yes,
(26:43):
or if you're on statins and maybe shouldn't drink grapefruit.
That's a good you know, care to consult with your
doctor about whatever medications you're on, because I know some
have a warning that you shouldn't have grapefruit exactly. But
I certainly am going to enjoy the heck out of it.
For while. This is another one that I actually like
right now. It kind of shows the time of year
(27:04):
we're recording, because this feels like a good transition drink
from summer into autumn. Yes, the honey kind of warms
it up in a way flavor wise that makes it
feel a little more autumnal. So that is the public enemy.
If you make it, I hope you enjoy it. We
have sure enjoyed talking about this story with you, and
I hope that we will have you back with us
(27:24):
next week for more crime and more cocktails. Criminalia is
a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. For
more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, please visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Vern Sank and his accomplice Gordon Alcorn were a pair
of Depression era outlaws whose successful high profile kidnappings of
Haskell Bone and Charles Butcher the Second turned them into
two of the most wanted criminals in the United States.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
In fact, their.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Success prompted FBI Director jed Gar Hoover to name Vern
America's very first public enemy. Welcome to Criminalia. I'm Maria Tremurky.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
And I'm Holly Fry. Before he began a life of crime,
Gordon Alcorn was a former Canadian railroad employee a fireman.
Vern Sank also worked on the Canadian Pacific Railway as
a locomotive engineer and later attempted to start a ranch
in South Dakota. The farm was not the success that
(00:59):
he had hoped for, and that's when he and Gordon
began robbing banks in both Veland and Winter, South Dakota,
as well as in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. But this duo
saw another level of law breaking that was potentially highly
lucrative and in their eyes, potentially safer than other types
of crime kidnapping. In fact, it was potentially so lucrative
(01:23):
that their criminal operations were later copied by other gangsters,
including names like the Barker Gang and Machine Gun Kelly.
In June of nineteen thirty two, Verne and Gordon carried
out their first abduction. Their target Haskell Bone of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
The Bone family was an example of the American dream.
Their company, Bone Refrigeration, was founded in nineteen oh three
by Gabe heart Bone, a German immigrant who started with
nothing to his name. His company went global. He manufactured
white refrigeration units with state of the UK drip boxes
positioned to capture water from melting ice. Now I know
(02:05):
it might not sound very interesting, but these refrigeration units
were a game changer in people's homes because his proprietary
air circulation system eliminated food odors. He'd figured out how
to absorb unwonted smells into ice, which then melted into
the unit's drippan. The invention led to a refrigeration revolution,
(02:26):
employed hundreds of people in the Saint Paul area, and
turned Bone into a millionaire.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
After Gabbard passed away in nineteen twenty four, his son
who was also named Gaypard and who was also Haskell's father,
took over the family business. While the cracks didn't show
on the outside, Bone Refrigeration was going through hard financial
times when Vern and Gordon decided to target the family.
(02:54):
In fact, not too long after Haskell's kidnapping, the Bone
Refrigeration factory shuttered. While there's not a lot of detail
available about that closure, we do know that a rival
across town opened a new factory. Today we know that
rival as Whirlpool.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
In the meantime, the family kept up appearances. They were
well known within the boat racing scene, a popular activity
among wealthy families in the area, and as you might imagine,
those races drew spectators. Crowds of people came to cheer
on their favorite family and boats, but it was also
where criminals could learn the who's who of high society,
(03:33):
which it turned out, was how Haskell came to the
attention of a Verne. Haskell was heir to the family's
refrigeration empire, but you know, he was also considered good
looking and known to be quote, a flashy guy. At
twenty years old, he'd just graduated from the prestigious Brex
School in Saint Paul, and he was employed at the
refrigeration factory.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Unfortunately for Haskell, his flashiness caught the attention of the
wrong people. On June thirtieth, nineteen thirty two, he was
kidnapped at the family's estate on Summit Avenue as he
prepared for his work day and his chauffeur waited in
the garage, Vernon Gordon went into action. According to Haskell's
(04:15):
later testimony, he had assumed that the two men who
pulled up in a small sedan Afford V eight were
there just to visit with his chauffeur, and so he
didn't think much of it until those two men pointed
a gun at him and threatened his chauffeur with an
automatic rifle. They tied a thick roll of tape around
(04:35):
Haskell's head as a blindfold. Later they swapped it out
for a flannel bandana as a makeshift mask. They led
him to the car, where they forced him to lie
face down on the floor of the back seat. According
to the police transcript, Haskell stated, quote, I thought they
might want to take what money I had and dump
me off someplace.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Instead, they left behind a ransom note with the chauffeur,
which read quote, do not notify the authorities. If you
want our captive returned to you alive and well, do
exactly as we instruct you. Our terms are thirty five
thousand dollars in exchange for our captive for perspective. That's
roughly the equivalent of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars today.
(05:20):
And then they drove off, taking Haskell to a dark
basement and an undisclosed location. About five minutes into the ride,
Haskell got up the nerve to ask some questions, including
the big one, what did they plan to do with him?
They replied that he didn't need to worry, and that
he'd be home by dinner.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Once at their destination, a home not too far from
the bone of State. According to Haskell, one of his
captors quote talked along the lines of the infamous Lindbergh
baby kidnapping. He said, I should be good, or they
would have to kill me. The Lindburg baby kidnapping and
murder had happened only about three months earlier, and it
was still very fresh in people's minds. Later, he recalled
(06:05):
that he frequently heard the voices of a woman and
a child birds chirping and dogs barking, and it seemed
to him that he was being kept at someone's home,
sometimes in the garage and other times in the basement.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
During his captivity, Haskell, according to a forty page police report,
struck up an unlikely friendly relationship with his kidnappers. One
in particular, seemed apologetic for Haskell's inconvenience, and they got
to talking about everything from baseball to bull riding. Eventually,
they also began to discuss more intimate topics, including their
(06:41):
families and concerns they had for their mothers. What Haskell
knew but the kidnappers did not, was that the Bone
fortune was on the decline and the thirty five thousand
dollars ransom demand was likely too much for the family
to pay, and he told them so, despite not knowing
what that would mean for him. One of the captors,
(07:01):
after hearing that the ransom would be too much for
the Bone family, apologized to Haskell for demanding so much. They,
like everyone else in Saint Paul, were under a very
different impression about the family's wealth. In fact, the family's business,
it would turn out, wouldn't survive the Great Depression.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
After six days in captivity, Haskell learned that his release
had been successfully negotiated. His father agreed to pay twelve
thousand dollars. It's a roughly equivalent to two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars today. His captors, whose identities remained unknown
to him, drove for nearly an hour on a route
designed to make it hard for him to identify where
(07:42):
he'd been held. As the car stopped to let him
out on the side of the road, his kidnappers gave
him very specific instructions. Haskell later told law enforcement, quote,
that's when they told me not to say or do
anything for ten minutes, and then they told me to
walk to the right for a half hour. And when
I called up, not to call up the police, but
(08:04):
to call my home and ask for my father. As
he exited the car, one of his captors handed him
ten dollars. Haskell had loaned the guy seven dollars on
the day of the kidnapping, and his kidnapper unexpectedly repaid him. Eventually,
Haskell found himself in a stranger's home, calling his family.
(08:25):
We're now going to take a break for a word
from our sponsors, and when we're back we'll talk about
Vernon Gordon's second and final kidnapping.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Welcome back to Criminalia. The kidnappers chose Charles Betcher the
Second as their next victim. Let's talk about how that
played out and how it got vern named the FBI's
first public enemy.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
It was seven months after Haskell Bones kidnapping that Verne
and Gordon snatched wealthy Colorado businessman Charles Charlie Betcher the Second.
The family's success, like the Bones, was of rags to
riches story. Most of their fortune came from the hardware, mining, cement,
and sugar beat businesses, including the Great Western Sugar Company,
(09:23):
Ideal Cement, and the Denver Tramway Company.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Like Haskell, Charlie was taken at gunpoint, blindfolded with tape,
and put in the back of a small sedan, a
fourd V eight. Two assailants grabbed him as he pulled
up to the garage of his Capitol Hill mansion on
Washington Street in Denver, saying quote, come here, Charlie and
stick up your hands. Do as you're told, and everything
will be all right. As they drove away, they tossed
(09:50):
a ransom note typewritten on a piece of white paper
toward his pregnant wife, Anna Lou, who witnessed the abduction
from inside her husband's car. Charlie was taken to the
Sanke Turkey Ranch in South Dakota, where he stayed until
the ransom was paid.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
The kidnappers demanded sixty thousand dollars roughly equivalent to one
point five million today. Annalou followed the instructions in the
ransom note, and she did not call the police, as
was the case with the Haskell ransom missive. This note, too,
was ominously written to remind her what happened to the
(10:26):
Lindbergh baby after his father called the authorities, but she
did call her father in law, Claude, and Claude was
clear on the ransom he would have no trouble paying
it in return for his son.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Unlike Anneloeu, Claude did notify authorities, and FBI Director j.
Edgar Hoover assigned two of his Western district men to help.
The police, and federal agents turned up the heat on
those they suspected could be behind the abduction, but at
this time they really didn't have any leads.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Fifteen days passed before Claude Betcher died. He'd had enough
with what he considered the bumbling efforts of the state
and federal officers on the case. Taking matters into his
own hands, he arranged for a messenger to drop off
the sixty thousand dollars ransom at a location on Brighton
Road north of Denver, coordinated with the kidnappers through a
(11:19):
local newspaper ad and that worked. On March first, nineteen
thirty three, just a few days after the money drop,
Charlie called home, quote, Hello, father, this is Charles. Please
send someone out to the drug store at twenty two
thirty nine East thirty fourth Avenue. I'm okay.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Just moments after the kidnappers released Charlie, they led law
enforcement on a high speed chase through the neighboring area
and then all the way to Wyoming, and they escaped capture.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Like Haskell, Charlie shared as many details as he could
about his kidnapping with local and federal officers. He believed
the drive from Denver to the hideout had been about
an eighteen hour trip. That may seem like too many
hours to you, which it is if you do the math,
But remember he was blindfolded during that drive, so that
(12:12):
was really just his best guess. He added that once,
when his blindfold had slipped, he'd caught a glimpse of
a sign that read Torrington that's Torrington, Wyoming. He also
recalled that he had walked up four steps to get inside.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
And a lose. Ability to identify the two men was
critical to their capture too, and her recollection of them
was helpful in the bone case as well. Haskell was
also able to identify Vern and Gordon as the two
men who abducted him. One of them had naively allowed
him to remove his mask as long as he didn't
look at them while he was being held captive. In hindsight,
(12:49):
probably not one of their smartest moves.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Bad news for Vern, the Denver police received a tip
that a man named Carl Pearce had drunk bragged that
he knew one of the kidnappers of Charles Becher the
second and that it was Vern Sankie. Carl was an
insurance salesman who it was later discovered, had typed out
the ransom notes. He was part of a larger gang
(13:14):
of outlaws that Vern worked with, and he was sweet
on Vern's sister in law. When police officers found the
Sanki Ranch slash hideout in South Dakota. Vern considered my
authorities to be the mastermind of the kidnappings had already
fled to Chicago.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
When Verne's wife was arrested. In regard to the kidnappings,
and just how much she knew about them has never
been clear, he went into hiding where he gambled away
most of his share of the ransom money. Later, he
remarked that quote, my life's mistake was asking sixty thousand
dollars instead of two hundred grand from Becher.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
We're going to take a break for a word from
our sponsors. When we return, we'll talk about how and
when Vern and Gordon were apprehended, as well as suspicions
about the involvement of Vern's wife and sister in law.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Welcome back to criminaliat. We're off to Chicago, where Vern
and Gordon were evading capture until their luck ran out.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
It wasn't until January thirty first, nineteen thirty four, that
three federal agents and three police officers converged upon a
barber shop on Chicago's North Side. Vern, seated in the
chair with a hot towel wrapped around his head, was caught.
Stated authorities quote, don't move Vern, you're under arrest. Vern
(14:51):
confessed to the Betcher kidnapping, and during his arrest he
boasted shouted that he would never serve time for his crimes.
Jordan Alcorn, using the alias Walter Thomas, was apprehended the
next night without a struggle, also in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
In addition to the kidnappings they did pull off, Vern
and Gordon were blamed for some They had no part in.
The nineteen thirty three kidnapping of Charles Erschel by Albert
Bates and George machine Gun. Kelly was inspired by Sankee
and Alcorn's kidnapping successes, but they were not involved, and
those weren't the only kidnappings inspired by the pair. It
(15:31):
was the high profile kidnappings of William Ham Junior and
Edward Bremer by the Barker Gang other gangsters imitating Verne
and Gordon that led to Vernon Gordon's downfall. The press
accused them of being behind almost every single unsolved kidnapping
in the United States, including the kidnapping and murder of
(15:51):
the Lindburg Baby, an accusation that is said to have
infuriated Vern. The FBI considered them prime suspects in the
Lindberg case before the arrest of Bruno Houtman, the actual kidnapper,
in nineteen thirty four. On the matter, Vern said, quote,
I am a man. I would kidnap a man. I
would never kidnap a child.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
But the Lindberg case was influential with these two, not
only because they kept getting blamed for it. Vern was
the first outlaw to realize in the wake of that
abduction that kidnapping could be a lucrative gig with far
less violence than say, bank robbery. He earned the distinction
of being named the nation's first public Enemy by FBI Scoover.
(16:36):
If you wonder why his name isn't as popular in
our culture as say American gangster Al Capone, well, historians
believe it's because kidnapping isn't usually as violent as a
hail of gunfire between bank robbers and g men. It's
often not as shocking and high profile. Capone captivated the
public with violence, and as a consequence, he is often
(16:58):
miscredited as being Hoover's first public enemy.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Vern and Gordon were facing life sentences under the newly
minted Lindberg Law in the aftermath of the infamous kidnapping
of the twenty month old child of famous aviator Charles Lindberg.
United States Congress passed legislation to crack down on the
rising number of kidnappings being carried out by gangs throughout
the country. Under the new law, crossing state borders with
(17:25):
a victim was now a federal offense with a punishment
of life in prison. The law also included a provision
that stated a captive held for seven days or more
would automatically be assumed to have crossed state lines, opening
up the door for federal prosecution and life in prison.
Vern and Gordon were guilty of both.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Charlie Betcher was taken from Colorado, but because he was
held captive on the Sanky farm in Buffalo County, South Dakota,
Vern was transported to Sue Falls to stand trial. At
that time, the press alleged that he was also going
to plead guilty to the kidnapping of Haskell Bone. Okay,
we have come to a point in this story where
(18:08):
we will be very briefly talking about suicide. If you
would prefer not to hear these details, skip ahead about
fifteen or twenty seconds and we will meet you there.
Vern did not plead guilty. During his first night held
at South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, Verne was
found unresponsive after he had hung himself with a necktie
(18:30):
in his cell.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
The next day, Co Captor Gordon Alcorn, also brought to
South Dakota, was sentenced in Sioux Falls to life in
prison for the better kidnapping, a sentence he carried out
in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. While serving his sentence, Gordon was
called as a principal government witness against vern Sankei's widow
and sister in law. The federal government had hopes of
(18:54):
quote convicting Missus vern May sank and her sister, Missus
Alvina Cool, of conspiracy in the case, and Gordon testified
against them.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
He had a lot to say regarding the women. Actually,
he told the jury in Pierre, South Dakota, that while
he quote had trouble with Sankie in Chicago after the
betcher ransom had been collected, the men had fought about
the money. He was not testifying because of revenge. Gordon
also denied that he had been offered parole or pardon
(19:27):
for his testimony, though he admitted that he had hoped
for parole at least quote after a few years on
the stand, Gordon testified, quote, Missus Sankee wanted to kidnap
the Betcher girl, the five year old daughter of the victim.
She said it would be easier to look after a
child than a grown up. Gordon also stated that upon
(19:48):
hearing Vern say he was going to get some rich
man's money, Missus Kohler told Vern quote not to forget her.
Gordon also spoke of the Haskell Bone kidnapping, a crime
for which man Missus Sanki was previously tried and acquitted. Specifically,
he said that Missus Sankee did accompany her husband the
night that he collected that twelve thousand dollars ransom.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
His testimony regarding Missus Sankee's involvement was corroborated by Ray Robinson,
who was serving a sentence for his behind the scenes
participation in the Haskell Bone kidnapping. Robinson testified he'd received
one third of the twelve thousand dollars ransom. He also
testified quote Missus Sankee cooked the meals for a while.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Prosecution also introduced a letter written by Vern, sent from
the South Dakota Ranch to Missus sank in Denver, instructing
her how to find quote two good letters for you
sixty feet east of the spot where I left some
last year. It was argued by the prosecution that he
was giving her directions to money that he had hidden.
(20:54):
But the most important evidence from the prosecution standpoint was
Gordon's testimony that Missus Cohler was at the Sankee home
in Denver, quote practically every second day while the Betcher
kidnapping was being planned. He continued, quote Vern asked Missus
Kohler if she would help exchange the ransom money. She
(21:14):
said yes.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Gordon continued that quote Missus Sankee was always the boss
when she spoke Verne minded. He also described a conversation
between the Sanke couple at their Denver home just before
the Betcher kidnapping quote, Thankye told his wife we were
going to try and get Charles Betcher. He told her
that if I don't come back, don't identify my body.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
In the end, Gordon was returned to Levenworth, and as
far as Missus Sankee and Missus Kohler were concerned in
the abductions, their trial came to an indecisive conclusion when
a federal jury reported that after twenty eight hours of deliberation,
they were in quote, hopeless disagreement.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Can you imagine twenty eight hours?
Speaker 1 (22:00):
I can't imagine talking to people I adore for twenty
eight hours strange long jury deliberation. So trapped with a
bunch of strangers arguing sounds like misery?
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Do you want to make it a double?
Speaker 1 (22:12):
This is one that I will confess to you I
struggled with. There isn't a lot of language in it
that really like sparks the imagination in terms of what
was going on, at least not for me.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
No, I agree with that.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
So when those kinds of things happen, I tend to
start looking at time and place. And of course this
was all happening in the early nineteen thirties, which means
this was happening right after the Savoy Cocktail Book was published,
which was a book that was written by Harry Kratdock
that was full of recipes from the Savoy Hotel in
(22:49):
London that came out in nineteen thirty and it is,
you know, one of the all time big important cocktail books.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Right, and that hits right in this timeframe, exactly right.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
So I imagine the odds are good that they at
some point, if these two dudes were out getting a drink,
they were drinking something that may have shown up here. Yeah,
there is a drink in here. I have been wanting
to play with for a minute, and this seemed like
a good opportunity. In the Savoy Cocktail Book it is
called the de Rigueur, although there is a version of
it that is more popularly known as the brown Derby.
(23:25):
And that recipe, just in case you want it, is
two parts whiskey, one part grapefruit juice, and one part
honey syrup. So like a two ounce one ounce, one ounce.
It's a great drink. But I wanted something that was
a little more sippable. That's a very spirit forward drink.
Even though you have the grapefruit and honey, it's not
(23:47):
like something you can just chug, you know. And so
I wanted something that was like an on the rocks
version with a little bit of fizz. So we played
with some ingredients a little and some proportions, and we
added some other stuff. So into your shaking tin you
will put with ice two ounces of bourbon. If you
(24:08):
don't like bourbon and you like another whisky. Do it.
You can even use rye in this one ounce of
grapefruit liqueur instead of grapefruit juice, and then three quarters
of an ounce of honey syrup. And we're dialing back
the honey syrup for a reason you will see in
a moment. So you are gonna shake that all together.
And again, if you have never, for some reason with
us talked about honey syrup, you can make that yourself
(24:30):
by using one part honey, one part water, simmer it together.
Or some people if they're making just a little for
a drink, you can do like equal amounts, like a
tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of warm water and
get them really well stirred together. I find I never
get a smooth combination that way. But whatever you want
to do. And then once that is shaken up and
(24:52):
very very cold and well incorporated, you are going to
strain that over ice, and then to that you are
going to add two ounces of grapefruit soda and two
ounces of ginger ale.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
I'm going to interrupt you and say, I just love
when grapefruit soda shows up in our cocktail. I love
me too.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
I will confess I always want to put it in
a drink because I always seem to have an obscene
amount of it stockpiled.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
So I just want to drink it.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
I want to listen. Grapefruit soda as an aside, goes
with everything. If you want to do like a you
can do a grapefruit soda with vodka, with rum, just
with gin, with bourbon, with whiskey, just on its own.
If you just want to spirit and mixer situation spectacular.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
It gets along with a lot.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
But in this case, you know you got to you
got some other stuff. I love the honeynoe in this one.
Especially if you really love the honeynoe and you want
to taste it more, you can always bump that back
up to an ounce and make it closer to the original.
Of course, we in this one used a liqueur instead
of a grapefruit juice because we're getting some more grapefruit
from the soda, and also because we're making it a double,
(26:01):
we want extra alcohol in it. To make this as
a mocktail, it's pretty easy subouts. You're gonna do two
ounces of a black tea. In this case, I would
use one ounce of a grapefruit syrup, and you're three
quarters of an ounce of honey syrup, and then you're grapefruit,
soda and ginger ale. At that point, I will, as
(26:21):
I always do, cautioned to stick with a low sugar
or sugar free ginger ale, just because at that point
there's a lot a lot of sugar. This one we're
just gonna call public enemy because it's the obvious choice,
and sometimes the obvious choice is okay sometimes. But the
good news is I don't think it will be an
enemy to you unless you just really don't like grapefruit, yes,
(26:43):
or if you're on statins and maybe shouldn't drink grapefruit.
That's a good you know, care to consult with your
doctor about whatever medications you're on, because I know some
have a warning that you shouldn't have grapefruit exactly. But
I certainly am going to enjoy the heck out of it.
For while. This is another one that I actually like
right now. It kind of shows the time of year
(27:04):
we're recording, because this feels like a good transition drink
from summer into autumn. Yes, the honey kind of warms
it up in a way flavor wise that makes it
feel a little more autumnal. So that is the public enemy.
If you make it, I hope you enjoy it. We
have sure enjoyed talking about this story with you, and
I hope that we will have you back with us
(27:24):
next week for more crime and more cocktails. Criminalia is
a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. For
more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, please visit the iHeartRadio app,
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Holly Frey
Maria Trimarchi
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