August 8, 2023 • 32 mins
Remus looks for ways to get out of prison, including having Imogene befriend one of the agents that put him behind bars, Franklin Dodge. It’s a decision Remus will come to regret.
Remus: The Mad Bootleg King is a Curiosity Podcast and is a co-production of iHeart Podcasts and School of Humans. This podcast is based on Abbott Kahler’s book, “The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America.”
You can learn more about Abbott and her books here.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
As strange as this story may seem, this is a
work of nonfiction with no invented dialogue. Every reenactment you
hear comes from government files, archives, diaries, letters, newspaper articles, books,
or trial testimony. It's nineteen twenty four, a wintry January
(00:41):
day in Georgia. As George and Imagenrimas step off the train,
Rema stares in wonder at the building that will be
his home for the next two years. The Atlanta Federal Penitentiary.
Bars clamped over the windows look like gritted teeth, and
Remas sees arms protruding between them, waving eagerly. In Remas's mind,
the prisoners inside are giving him an ovation, arousing greeting
(01:04):
for the new, newiest, and most famous prisoner, the king
of the bootleggers, and he acts like a king. The
minute he goes inside, Remus knows the warden is Albert Sartainn,
appointed to the post by US Attorney General Harry Dougherty.
Remus has been paying bribes of Dougherty's underlings for years,
so he figures Sartaigne is an easy mark. Two. He
(01:26):
greases Sartagne's palm and gets himself assigned to a private
cell in a section of the prison known as Millionaire's Row.
His immediate neighbor is another bootlegger, Willie Harr, the leader
of a notorious Southern bootlegging ring called the Savannah Four.
He sends Imagine out to buy a new mattress, blankets,
and a set of fine sheets for his bunk. An
(01:47):
additional twenty five hundred bucks to Sartayne buys him his
own refrigerator, a private bath, a prized job in the library,
and the privilege of eating his meal separate from the
rest of the inmates. But even these comforts do nothing
to calm his fevered mind. Every day he has what
he can call his brainstorms, powerful zaps of energy that
(02:08):
spark without warning and buzz like flies inside his skull.
He goes a little crazier every night, lying on his
silken sheets and letting his resentments create threatening voices in
his head, and in the dark of the wee hours,
he talks to himself and the third person, as if
he's narrating his own story.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Remus eight millions to buy his way was inside prison walls,
while those who made it possible for him to act
where enjoin the wealth eight possible by the operations of Remus.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
The longer he stays in prison, the worse his brainstorms get.
I'm Abbi Taylor, and this is Remus, the mad bootleg
king in jail, Remus lived in a kind of opulence
(03:07):
that other prisoners could only imagine. Still, his worried mind
was breaking him in two. Immajean was his only comfort.
She had taken a suite at the Georgian Terrace hotel
and came to see him nearly every day. She'd bring flowers,
some roast chicken, a cake. On days she didn't visit,
they spoke on the phone. They spent hours talking. Remus
(03:30):
paid extra bribes five hundred or one thousand bucks at
a time for the warden to let imageen into the prison.
She'd cook for her husband and scrubbed the floor of
his cell on her hands and knees. She caught him Daddy,
loud enough for everyone to hear. It pleased Remus to
see the other prisoners notice her. They called her the
Angel of the pen, but under currents of tension ran
(03:52):
through all their conversations. Remus adored her, loved her with
all his heart, but his fevered mind would not let
him trust her completely. For every declaration of love he
threw Imma Jane's way, there would also an abusive cutting remark.
One evening, Remus got a phone call from Immajeen's sister.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Why does my sister cry after she's seen you? Why
is she unable to sleep?
Speaker 1 (04:17):
For a moment, Remus wouldn't answer, Then he finally spoke.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Because she doesn't understand me.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
The more distressed Imagy became, the less often she should
up at the penitentiary. She made trips back to Cincinnati,
checking on the mansion and looking in on her sixteen
year old daughter, Ruth, who was still boarding at the
elite Sacred Heart Academy. When she did come back to Atlanta,
she holed up in her hotel suite. She visited Remas
only briefly, or stayed away altogether until her anger subsided.
(04:50):
Her absence tormented Remus. He atoned the only way he
knew how, by retreating to his cell to compose efusive
letters to her, rambling florid letters, sometimes almost incoherent.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
So if you will be true and sweet as this
little girl in the whole dear world, to the apple
of my eye, not one, but both, little one, you
do not know what it means to have you away
from me long. My nerves are one mass of tension.
You must, by all means forgive me for my spontaneous
combustion of the mind. Sweet and dear little one, nothing
(05:27):
more than a brainstorm predicated upon no substantial facts. Sweet one,
I did not know this would be so horrible. I
crave you, I would devour you. I care only for
you are human madness. All other matters are infintesible against.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
You, and only you.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I wish I had you in my arms, to squeeze
so tightly, so dearly, so tenderly. How great and glorious
it would be. I tremble with emotion, your bundle of sweetness, Geene,
I want you near me, talent.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
What's the world?
Speaker 1 (06:08):
She had always forgiven his temper, but things were different.
Now he was trapped, she was free, and Remus didn't
like it. Trouble was also brewing for Mabel Willebrandt and
her boss, Attorney General Dougherty. Dougherty's assistant Jess Smith, had
died by suicide, but the bribes he had taken from
Remus finally landed his boss in trouble. In March nineteen
(06:32):
twenty four, a Senate committee called a hearing to investigate
Dougherty's misconduct. One of the main witnesses was Gaston Means,
a former agent for the Bureau of Investigation who had
been Jess Smith's partner as he shook down Remus and
other bootleggers. Means was awaiting trial on charges of violating
the Volstadt Act. Means described the late President Harding's clandestine activities,
(06:54):
how he served boos to his guests and poker buddies
in the White House, but Means held back when asked
about Smiths and Dougherty's involvement in taking bribes from bootleggers.
Followed the hearings in the news, and he was outraged.
Remus knew all the dirt on Smith and Dougherty, and,
unlike Gaeston Means, he wanted to spill it. During Imagen's
next visit, he shared his frustration and assigned her a
(07:17):
task send a telegram to the committee suggesting that they
might want to hear from the bootlegger George Remas, who
knew well the system of graph payments coordinated by Means
in Smith. She should sign the telegram. John Adams in
honor of the nation's second president, known to be an
ardent drinker who began every morning with a mug of
hard cider. Imageing dead As instructed and Remus waited for
(07:39):
the subpoena to come. When it came, Remus boarded a
train to Washington. Despite his desire to testify, Remas was nervous.
He confessed that since he entered prison his mind had
not been normal. He declared that all that is sacred
and holy had been taken from him. He chastised America
as a nation of hypocrites.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Every person who has one ounce of whiskey in his
possession is a bootlegger, not one grouple of liquor prescribed
by physicians as ever used for medicine.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
He delivered the answers that the committee wanted to hear.
He spoke of Jessmas's many promises, including his assurance that
Dougherty would intervene should Remus find himself in deep legal trouble.
He described the generous checks he'd given to Smith for
bride pavements. The committee pressed him, you.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Never had any doubt about his influence.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
There was none from my viewpoint.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
And you have been double crossed.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Remus paused and thought about Jess Smith, lifeless on the
floor of his room at the Willard Park Hotel in Washington.
Then he answered, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
The dead don't speak, but if the committee is interested,
I would be happy to produce the checks. I stored
them in good and secluded spots.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Dougherty resigned in disgrace. Soon Mabel will and Brand had
a new boss, Attorney General Harlan Stone. She focused her
energy on bringing more charges against Remus and his gang
for selling bootleg whiskey from the Jack Daniels distillery in
Saint Louis. Her special agent there, Franklin Dodge, had fed
her enough information to make the case. Willebrandt issued indictments
(09:20):
for seventeen people, including Remus and Imageing. On the evening
of May twenty, first, Deputy Us Marshals knocked on the
door of the Remas Mansion. Deputies informed Imageing she was
under arrest for conspiring to violate the Volsett Act. She
pleaded with the marshals, insisting that she could prove she
was at home with Ruth and not at the distillery
(09:41):
in Saint Louis. She claimed she knew very little about
her husband's business. The agents didn't buy it. The next morning,
out on bail, Imaging issued a statement.
Speaker 6 (09:51):
I had nothing to do with the alleged conspiracy to
purchase the Jack Daniels distillery at Saint Louis. Whatever business
transactions I have had, either as to real estate or otherwise,
were at the direction of mister Remus, and so far
as I am concerned, they were all perfectly proper. I
regret exceedingly my name was mentioned in the case, for
(10:13):
while mister Remus knows I had nothing to do with it,
that he has trials and tribulations enough without adding this
to his burdens.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Imma Jeen's daddy was busy and troubling.
Reports were going to Willebranton Washington. Remus was getting special privileges,
but worse, he was also obstructing justice in the Jack
Daniels case, threatening potential witnesses to keep them quiet. With
Remus intimidating potential witnesses. Will and Brand sent Franklin Dodge
(10:42):
to Atlanta with two jobs to investigate the corruption in
the Atlanta pen and As salvaged the Jack Daniels investigation.
He had studied Remas intently and would know how to
handle him. Remus got some happy news from his neighbor
on Millionaire's Row, the Savannah bootlegger Willie Harr. One night
over dinner, Hart told Remus that a new federal agent
(11:04):
had arrived at the penitenti purportedly to investigate corruption among
prison officials. Harr knew the man because he had worked
under cover as a bootlegger in Savannah. Although Harror had
the good sense to recognize the ruse and steer clear
of him, from what Horror understood, the agent was approachable
and amenable to bribes. If Remus provided certain information about
(11:25):
crooked officials, the agent might reward him. The next day,
Harr pointed out the agent, and Remus realized he also
knew the man. He had seen him in Cincinnati, parked
outside of the mansion day and night, an ominous presence
invading his life. Finally, Remus learned his name, Franklin Dodge.
(11:46):
He sent a message that Agent Dodge was welcome to
visit him any time. Franklin Dodge somehow managed to appear
both intimidating and inviting at the same time. Like Remus,
he was flashy in dress and boisterous in conversation, But
unlike Remus, there was an ease about Dodge, the kind
of confidence bestowed only upon those with deep connections and
(12:08):
old money, allowing him to wander through life unquestioned and undenied.
Supremely confident. Dodd to put on an assured silence during
his first meeting with Remus, letting the bootlegger take the lead.
Remas spoke in a brusque, conspiratorial whisper.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
I have information you might find very useful. Would you
be interested to know that Remus secured whiskey permits from
the Prohibition Director of Ohio and that several federal officials
were complicit in these deals?
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Interesting? Tell me more.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
I could provide it with paperwork that proves every bit
of this. I could also testify to the rampant corruption
that goes on inside this very penitentiary. Okay, go on
in exchange, I want your influence in Washington, a commutation
of my senates, or even a full part.
Speaker 6 (13:03):
I can't promise anything, and I'll be back to talk again.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
While he waited for his next meeting with Dodge, Remus
called upon his truest and sweetest during Imageing's next visit.
He confided to her about Dodge and issued an order,
I want.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
You to pull toivate Frankly, Dodge, play up to him
because he is the last chance to help me get out.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Of jaiir imageing did indeed cultivate Dodge, but not quite
in the way Remus had hoped. Mabel Willebrandt was keeping
her eye on a young man in the Bureau of
(13:46):
Investigation once she thought had the potential to become the director.
She wrote to the new Attorney General, Harlan Stone and
urged him to promote the young deputy. He is honest
and informed, and one who operates like an electric wire
with almost trigger. Response, Stone wrote.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Back, everyone says he's too young.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
Maybe that's his asset. Apparently he hasn't learned to be
afraid of the politicians.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
He wasn't and never would be. His name was j
Edgar Hoover, and at age twenty nine, he became director
of the Bureau. Hoover had grand plans to remake and
modernize the Bureau and told Stone he intended to identify
and dismiss all crooked agents.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
Every effort will be made by employees of the Bureau
to strengthen the morale and to carry out to the
letter your policies.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
When Franklin Dodge filed a report about his meeting with Remus,
Hoover read it. He was impressed Dodge had acquired enough
information from Remas to indict eleven men for conspiracy to
violate the Volset Act. The report also included evidence that
Warden Sartainne was providing perks to Remus and other wealthy bootleggers.
It seemed to Hoover that Dodge was one of the
(14:59):
honest agents, a true asset to the Bureau. In December
of nineteen twenty four, Mus and his bootlegger friend Willie
Harr testified in a closed grand jury hearing against Wardens Sartainne.
The warden resigned but still faced criminal prosecution. Willembrandt sent
Remus and Hahr sixty miles east to Athens for their
own protection until it was time for them to testify.
(15:22):
Unbeknownst to Willembrandt, her prisoners were housed in an old hospital,
where the Athens deputies allowed them even more luxuries than
in the Atlanta pen. Remus and Harr enjoyed their own
private room suites and a uniform made to cook and
serve their meals. They held dinner parties in the hospital chapel,
inviting their gang members as guests. At the appointed hour,
(15:43):
they gathered around a long table draped with a lace
runner and adored with fresh flowers replenished often by Imaging.
They could even entertain prostitutes, an indulgence that harr often
took advantage of, while Remus remained true to imagin In Athens,
Imaging was permitted free access to his rooms and an
occasional stay overnight. While in George, she also made time
(16:06):
for Johns to Atlanta, where Franklin Dodge was still gathering
evidence against Warden Sartaine for the upcoming trial. When Imageing
was in Atlanta, Remus called her every night, often keeping
her on the line for an hour and a half.
He inquired about their plan.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Are you still cultivating Franklin Dodge?
Speaker 6 (16:25):
Well, Daddy, I think mister Dodge will be able to
do you some good.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
He let his mind conjure scenes of a pardon or
early parole handed down from on high by Washington, stamped
with Mabel will and Brandt's signature. Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Imaging
conjured different things entirely in the serene hush of the chapel,
George Remas and Willie Marr sat down to dinner. As
(16:50):
the maid refilled their glasses, har leaned forward and said
there was something Remas ought to know. Remus waited, his
fork poised in the air.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
George, I've been hearing that Missus Remas is engaging and
some shall we say misconduct was Franklin Dodge. Our friends
here in the pan are corroborating this. They've seen them together.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
I don't believe it. Imaging is just doing what I told.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Her to do.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Silently, Harr studied Remus's face, watching a crimson flush spread
across his skin. Remus stood, dropped his linen napkin, and
retreated to his room. He wanted revenge, not on imaging,
but on horror. Whether his words were true or not.
He picked his opportunity. One day, he saw a prostitute
(17:39):
slipped through Harr's door. Remus waited and seethed, the confrontation
looming in his mind. As soon as the woman left,
Remus barged into Harr's room and yelled.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Your visitor has contaminated the air where my wife is.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
He propelled himself at Horror with the force and velocity
of a cannonball, his arms retracting and releasing and disconnecting.
That smack of skin and again he wanted to crack
horse skull. He pulled back again, preparing the strike, but
felt his limbs pinned behind him. The guards prided him
from Horror and hauled him back to his room. By
(18:18):
the following evening, Remus had apologized and the two bootleggers
met once again in the prison chapel to share a
quiet dinner. Back at Atlanta, prepared to testify at Warden
Sartine's trial, Remus and Horror were put up in another hotel,
the Robert Fulton. The prisoners were free to roam the
streets until their eight pm curfew, but the deputies led
(18:41):
Horror and his associates out at night too. Remus, for
reasons unknown, was kept on evening lockdown in his room.
Remus banged at the door and pleaded to be let out,
but the three deputies outside his room would not budge. Unnerved,
Remus talked a Horror about the situation.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Are you going out at night?
Speaker 7 (19:02):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (19:03):
I don't understand whyle you men can go out at.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Night, Harr promised to ask around for some answers. After
the trial, which ended in Sartaine's conviction, Willebrand sent Remus
and Horror back to Athens until things in Atlanta cooled down.
Imageing took the train home to Cincinnati and stayed longer.
This time feverishly. Remus wrote to her, but unlike before,
(19:26):
Imageing did not reply to every missive. Her absence became
its own entity. His obsessive thoughts of imaging haunted him,
conquering his mind. He kept writing. He couldn't stop himself.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
My only wife, you know very well, no matter how
often you phone or why, I do extremely expect a
letter in between moments. I will judiciously obey all of
your injunctions and restrictions, but an obedience that is alarming,
even none to you.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
How is Ruthie.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
I hope she's home, and your beautiful and faithful care
is only you can and give it. I only wish
that you and I were back again. It seems to
me as though it will be much longer than we
expected it to be.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
At dinner one night, Harr finally told Remus that he'd
learned the truth about what happened at the Robert Fulton Hotel.
It was agent Franklin Dodge who had ordered the guards
to let everyone out at night. But remis not only that,
but one of Harr's men had spotted imaging often in
Dodge's company, lingering over lunch, sitting side by side in
the courtroom, strolling the streets of Atlanta, laughing and taking
(20:40):
their time. Remus felt his world begin to crumble. A
swarm of questions pecked at his mind. Remus put his
fork down and aimed his gaze at her.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
I don't think my wife is treating me right. I
don't know what she's doing.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Troubling reports also began to reach Mabel will and Brandt's office,
rumors about misconduct on the part of Franklin Dodge. She
was rattled. Dodge had been her most skilled and reliable
special agent, someone whose character had seemed as impeccable as
his performance, but she couldn't ignore what she was hearing.
The report said Dodge was engaging in a variety of
(21:18):
unsavory behaviors, conducting business with bootleggers, accepting bribes, even consorting
with George Riams's wife, Imageen will And Brad had already
indicted imaging in the upcoming Jack Daniels matter, and she
could not let Dodge mess up her case. She had
to act, so she sent other agents to spy on Dodge.
(21:39):
Their first meeting was with a car thief named E. J. Sweeney,
who was doing time in the Atlanta penn and had
worked with Dodge previously as an informant. Sweeney told them
that in February nineteen twenty five, Imagen had invited him
to a party she'd planned at an Atlanta hotel. She
seemed pleased that Dodge had already accepted. Sweeney caught up
with Dodge alone and advised him not to go.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Frank, you're getting yourself in a hot spot. If George
ever finds out that you are mixing up in company
with his wife, he will shoot you.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Old kid.
Speaker 5 (22:11):
If you don't want to come, you don't have to,
but I am going.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Reluctantly, Sweeney dropped into the party for a few moments
and discovered that all the prisoners who had testified against
Borden Sartaine were there except for one, George Remas. The
next night, Dodge asked Sweeney to accompany him to Cleveland
to help with another prohibition case. The men met on
the train platform. Sweeney noticed that Dodge had two tickets
(22:35):
for the drawing room, a luxurious and spacious sleeping car.
Sweeney pointed at the tickets, what.
Speaker 4 (22:41):
Do you want the drawing room for? Why would you
want to go to the expensive paying for it?
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Dodge smirked, I.
Speaker 6 (22:47):
Didn't pay for these, Missus Remus did.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Is she going with you?
Speaker 4 (22:52):
Well, I'm not going alone, Frank Immajen Remus is a
scheming woman. She's simply trying to trap you and please
you in a position where she can force you to
use your influence on behalf of George.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Dodge just laughed. He turned away and boarded the train.
Will and Brand got the report about Sweeney, and then
another even more damning report about Dodge's behavior. In Cleveland,
the clerk at the Holland And Hotel where Dodge was
staying realized that an unmarried couple was in room nine
oh two, which was against house rules. The clerk barged
(23:27):
into the room and saw that Dodge had his trousers on,
but his fly was open and his belt wasn't buckled.
The clerk confronted Imma Jean who was in bed.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Why did you allow this man to be in your
room when you knew it was the order of the
hotel not to have any men visit at this hour
in the morning.
Speaker 6 (23:46):
I intend to marry him. He's my fellow. He happened
to be in town and he came over to see me.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Will and Brandt also learned that Dodge had accepted money
and whiskey from the bootlegger Willie Harr. Furthermore, Dodge planned
to go into business with Horror as soon as the
bootlegger left prison. The final report, will and brand heard
more about Dodge's disturbing relationship with Immageen Remus. Ruth Remas's
boyfriend claimed that he had met quote mister Dodge at
(24:15):
the Remas mansion in Cincinnati. The boyfriend watched Immageen and
Dodge rush from room to room, lifting paintings from walls,
clutching stacks of papers, pushing furniture around packing boxes. At
one point, Dodge called the boy over and asked for
help in carrying a trunk from the second floor to
the first. Only later did he learn that everything in
(24:37):
the trunk belonged to George Remis. During this same visit,
Immagean pulled the boyfriend aside.
Speaker 6 (24:43):
Please don't mention to anyone that you've seen me here
with mister Dodge. Well, people might misunderstand he's simply doing
some business for me, and I'd never want anyone to
think we're just going around together. He is a very
nice and well educated man. I think he can be
a great assistance to me in a lot of respects.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
On August tenth, nineteen twenty five, Mabel Willembrandt requested and
accepted Franklin Dodge's resignation from the Department of Justice. The
press and public so far remained unaware that he was
under investigation, and Willembrandt hoped it would never come to light.
If it did become known, the public would blame her
for her bad judgment and hiring Dodge, while giving Dodge
(25:25):
a pass for his bad behavior. The negative publicity would
hurt not only her career, but also the careers of
women who hoped to follow in her footsteps. She was
not willing to sacrifice herself in ways that her male
colleagues never would. Two weeks later, Immageen visited Remas one
last time at the Atlanta Penitentiary. He was ten days
(25:45):
away from being released. She went to the office of
the new Warden, John Snook, and asked to see Remus.
Snook had instituted a policy that all of Remas's visits
must be conducted in the warden's office. Snook summoned a
guard and told him to fetch the prisoner. Remas centered
the office and sat down in a chair across from Imaging.
(26:07):
Snook sat at his desk within earshot.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Why haven't you been staying in Cincinnati where I could
reach you by telegram? I telegraphed him, was unable to
reach you.
Speaker 6 (26:16):
I went to Michigan with some friends.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
This is important business.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
My liberty is at stake.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
I want you to stay in Cincinnati where I can
reach you, so that you can handle my business.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Their conversation grew more heated. With every word, Snook saw
Imaging get up and start inching backward toward his desk.
Remus was ranting, and she leaned towards Snook and whispered.
Speaker 6 (26:41):
I'm afraid of him. He threatened to strike me.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Remus overheard, I.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Won't strike you.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
I have no reason to.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Then Remus softened his voice.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
You're my little honey bunch. You're my little bunch of sugar.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Snook told her to take her seat and finish the conversation.
Imageing did as she was told, but pushed her chair
farther away from her husband. Remus produced a sheet of
papers and gave her instructions about various business matters back
in Cincinnati. Then he reached into his pocket.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
My little sweetness, I want you to wear this diamond ring.
Think if it as a token of what's to come.
I'll soon be out of here and we will get
to enjoy that new quiet life we've dreamed about.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Imaging didn't say a single word. She just took the ring,
kissed him, and walked away. Later that afternoon, Smook got
a package addressed to Remus. Inside he found a petition
for divorce from Imaging. The papers were accompanied by a
note that seemed quite odd after their.
Speaker 6 (27:44):
Visit, George, after our conversation today, it is very plain
that you have lost confidence in me, and as you
told me to go ahead and file for divorce, I
think I will follow your advice. If at any time
I can assist to you, please let me know. My
heart weighs too heavy to say anymore.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Remus would look back on this moment mark it as
the onset of his diseased wine.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
On this date, November twenty third, nineteen twenty seven, this
session of the Criminal Division of Common Police Court in
Hamilton County will come to order.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
I call missus Olive Weber Long to testify. State whether
or not you saw missus Remas at your sister's home.
Speaker 8 (28:48):
Well, I saw her there several times.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
Do you recall an occasion when you heard Missus Remas
call somebody in Cincinnati with reference to mister Remus.
Speaker 8 (28:59):
She was on the telephone at the time I entered
the room. She said, did you get in touch with
my lawyers there? Well, I will take care of him.
Never mind, don't worry about it. I will take care
of him.
Speaker 5 (29:10):
Then what did she do?
Speaker 8 (29:12):
Well? With that? She hung up the phone. She said
to me that she had remised just exactly where she
wanted him to, poor boob. She said also that if
he kept fooling around the way he did, she would
take care of him, and that she could shoot him
and then plead self defense.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
After making that statement, what did she next do there?
Speaker 8 (29:34):
Well, then she took the telephone and put in a
long distance call to Franklin Dodge at Lansing, Michigan. She said, Franklin,
do you love me? Are you sure that you love me?
How much do you love me? And she was sitting
on the bed and she said, say it again. And
then she reached over the bed right alongside of me,
and she put the receiver to my ear. I heard
(29:56):
the gentleman's voice say, you know I love you, dear.
So after she hung up, she said to me, don't
you think he has a marvelous voice? He is so one.
Speaker 5 (30:06):
After hanging up the receiver, did she say anything else
to you?
Speaker 8 (30:11):
She repeated many times over again that she had been
miss just where she wanted him.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Next time on Remus the mad bootleg, king.
Speaker 6 (30:29):
That he wouldn't hurt me, that he is good to me,
but please don't let him hurt mister Dodge.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Please.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
My heart was being eaten out of me because I
did love this woman. But that pimmed Dodge, that social pervert,
that's social leopard, that social parasite.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
I would mash him flat as a pancake.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Absolutely feel this muscle.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
I got this for Remus. I could crush him like
an egg. That's for Remis when he's ready.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Remus the Mad Bootleg King is a co production of
iHeart Podcasts and School of Humans. It's hosted by Me Abbot, Kaylor,
Chuck Reese, and I wrote the show. Our producer is
Miranda Hawkins. Our senior producer is Jessica Metzker. Executive producers
are Virginia Prescott, Brandon Barr, l C. Crowley, and Jason English.
Sound design and mixed by Chris Childs. Elise McCoy composed
(31:21):
original music. Additional scoring by Chris Childs. Voices in this
episode provided by Ben Bolan, Lauren Vogelbaum, Julia, Chris Gau,
Dylan Fagan, Noel Brown, Matt Frederick, Brittany Wilkerson, Zubin Hensler,
Charles Edwards, Nate Beagle, Chuck Reese, Tiago Macklin, Mike Coscarelli,
and Nicole Britton. Casting support services provided by Breakdown Services.
(31:45):
Special thanks to John Higgins from Curiosity Stream and the
team at c DM Studios in New York. If you're
a fan of the podcast, please give it a review
in your podcast app. You can also check out other
Curiosity podcasts to learn about history, pop culture, true crime,
and more.
Speaker 6 (32:03):
School of Humans
As strange as this story may seem, this is a
work of nonfiction with no invented dialogue. Every reenactment you
hear comes from government files, archives, diaries, letters, newspaper articles, books,
or trial testimony. It's nineteen twenty four, a wintry January
(00:41):
day in Georgia. As George and Imagenrimas step off the train,
Rema stares in wonder at the building that will be
his home for the next two years. The Atlanta Federal Penitentiary.
Bars clamped over the windows look like gritted teeth, and
Remas sees arms protruding between them, waving eagerly. In Remas's mind,
the prisoners inside are giving him an ovation, arousing greeting
(01:04):
for the new, newiest, and most famous prisoner, the king
of the bootleggers, and he acts like a king. The
minute he goes inside, Remus knows the warden is Albert Sartainn,
appointed to the post by US Attorney General Harry Dougherty.
Remus has been paying bribes of Dougherty's underlings for years,
so he figures Sartaigne is an easy mark. Two. He
(01:26):
greases Sartagne's palm and gets himself assigned to a private
cell in a section of the prison known as Millionaire's Row.
His immediate neighbor is another bootlegger, Willie Harr, the leader
of a notorious Southern bootlegging ring called the Savannah Four.
He sends Imagine out to buy a new mattress, blankets,
and a set of fine sheets for his bunk. An
(01:47):
additional twenty five hundred bucks to Sartayne buys him his
own refrigerator, a private bath, a prized job in the library,
and the privilege of eating his meal separate from the
rest of the inmates. But even these comforts do nothing
to calm his fevered mind. Every day he has what
he can call his brainstorms, powerful zaps of energy that
(02:08):
spark without warning and buzz like flies inside his skull.
He goes a little crazier every night, lying on his
silken sheets and letting his resentments create threatening voices in
his head, and in the dark of the wee hours,
he talks to himself and the third person, as if
he's narrating his own story.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Remus eight millions to buy his way was inside prison walls,
while those who made it possible for him to act
where enjoin the wealth eight possible by the operations of Remus.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
The longer he stays in prison, the worse his brainstorms get.
I'm Abbi Taylor, and this is Remus, the mad bootleg
king in jail, Remus lived in a kind of opulence
(03:07):
that other prisoners could only imagine. Still, his worried mind
was breaking him in two. Immajean was his only comfort.
She had taken a suite at the Georgian Terrace hotel
and came to see him nearly every day. She'd bring flowers,
some roast chicken, a cake. On days she didn't visit,
they spoke on the phone. They spent hours talking. Remus
(03:30):
paid extra bribes five hundred or one thousand bucks at
a time for the warden to let imageen into the prison.
She'd cook for her husband and scrubbed the floor of
his cell on her hands and knees. She caught him Daddy,
loud enough for everyone to hear. It pleased Remus to
see the other prisoners notice her. They called her the
Angel of the pen, but under currents of tension ran
(03:52):
through all their conversations. Remus adored her, loved her with
all his heart, but his fevered mind would not let
him trust her completely. For every declaration of love he
threw Imma Jane's way, there would also an abusive cutting remark.
One evening, Remus got a phone call from Immajeen's sister.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Why does my sister cry after she's seen you? Why
is she unable to sleep?
Speaker 1 (04:17):
For a moment, Remus wouldn't answer, Then he finally spoke.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Because she doesn't understand me.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
The more distressed Imagy became, the less often she should
up at the penitentiary. She made trips back to Cincinnati,
checking on the mansion and looking in on her sixteen
year old daughter, Ruth, who was still boarding at the
elite Sacred Heart Academy. When she did come back to Atlanta,
she holed up in her hotel suite. She visited Remas
only briefly, or stayed away altogether until her anger subsided.
(04:50):
Her absence tormented Remus. He atoned the only way he
knew how, by retreating to his cell to compose efusive
letters to her, rambling florid letters, sometimes almost incoherent.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
So if you will be true and sweet as this
little girl in the whole dear world, to the apple
of my eye, not one, but both, little one, you
do not know what it means to have you away
from me long. My nerves are one mass of tension.
You must, by all means forgive me for my spontaneous
combustion of the mind. Sweet and dear little one, nothing
(05:27):
more than a brainstorm predicated upon no substantial facts. Sweet one,
I did not know this would be so horrible. I
crave you, I would devour you. I care only for
you are human madness. All other matters are infintesible against.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
You, and only you.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I wish I had you in my arms, to squeeze
so tightly, so dearly, so tenderly. How great and glorious
it would be. I tremble with emotion, your bundle of sweetness, Geene,
I want you near me, talent.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
What's the world?
Speaker 1 (06:08):
She had always forgiven his temper, but things were different.
Now he was trapped, she was free, and Remus didn't
like it. Trouble was also brewing for Mabel Willebrandt and
her boss, Attorney General Dougherty. Dougherty's assistant Jess Smith, had
died by suicide, but the bribes he had taken from
Remus finally landed his boss in trouble. In March nineteen
(06:32):
twenty four, a Senate committee called a hearing to investigate
Dougherty's misconduct. One of the main witnesses was Gaston Means,
a former agent for the Bureau of Investigation who had
been Jess Smith's partner as he shook down Remus and
other bootleggers. Means was awaiting trial on charges of violating
the Volstadt Act. Means described the late President Harding's clandestine activities,
(06:54):
how he served boos to his guests and poker buddies
in the White House, but Means held back when asked
about Smiths and Dougherty's involvement in taking bribes from bootleggers.
Followed the hearings in the news, and he was outraged.
Remus knew all the dirt on Smith and Dougherty, and,
unlike Gaeston Means, he wanted to spill it. During Imagen's
next visit, he shared his frustration and assigned her a
(07:17):
task send a telegram to the committee suggesting that they
might want to hear from the bootlegger George Remas, who
knew well the system of graph payments coordinated by Means
in Smith. She should sign the telegram. John Adams in
honor of the nation's second president, known to be an
ardent drinker who began every morning with a mug of
hard cider. Imageing dead As instructed and Remus waited for
(07:39):
the subpoena to come. When it came, Remus boarded a
train to Washington. Despite his desire to testify, Remas was nervous.
He confessed that since he entered prison his mind had
not been normal. He declared that all that is sacred
and holy had been taken from him. He chastised America
as a nation of hypocrites.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Every person who has one ounce of whiskey in his
possession is a bootlegger, not one grouple of liquor prescribed
by physicians as ever used for medicine.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
He delivered the answers that the committee wanted to hear.
He spoke of Jessmas's many promises, including his assurance that
Dougherty would intervene should Remus find himself in deep legal trouble.
He described the generous checks he'd given to Smith for
bride pavements. The committee pressed him, you.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Never had any doubt about his influence.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
There was none from my viewpoint.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
And you have been double crossed.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Remus paused and thought about Jess Smith, lifeless on the
floor of his room at the Willard Park Hotel in Washington.
Then he answered, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
The dead don't speak, but if the committee is interested,
I would be happy to produce the checks. I stored
them in good and secluded spots.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Dougherty resigned in disgrace. Soon Mabel will and Brand had
a new boss, Attorney General Harlan Stone. She focused her
energy on bringing more charges against Remus and his gang
for selling bootleg whiskey from the Jack Daniels distillery in
Saint Louis. Her special agent there, Franklin Dodge, had fed
her enough information to make the case. Willebrandt issued indictments
(09:20):
for seventeen people, including Remus and Imageing. On the evening
of May twenty, first, Deputy Us Marshals knocked on the
door of the Remas Mansion. Deputies informed Imageing she was
under arrest for conspiring to violate the Volsett Act. She
pleaded with the marshals, insisting that she could prove she
was at home with Ruth and not at the distillery
(09:41):
in Saint Louis. She claimed she knew very little about
her husband's business. The agents didn't buy it. The next morning,
out on bail, Imaging issued a statement.
Speaker 6 (09:51):
I had nothing to do with the alleged conspiracy to
purchase the Jack Daniels distillery at Saint Louis. Whatever business
transactions I have had, either as to real estate or otherwise,
were at the direction of mister Remus, and so far
as I am concerned, they were all perfectly proper. I
regret exceedingly my name was mentioned in the case, for
(10:13):
while mister Remus knows I had nothing to do with it,
that he has trials and tribulations enough without adding this
to his burdens.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Imma Jeen's daddy was busy and troubling.
Reports were going to Willebranton Washington. Remus was getting special privileges,
but worse, he was also obstructing justice in the Jack
Daniels case, threatening potential witnesses to keep them quiet. With
Remus intimidating potential witnesses. Will and Brand sent Franklin Dodge
(10:42):
to Atlanta with two jobs to investigate the corruption in
the Atlanta pen and As salvaged the Jack Daniels investigation.
He had studied Remas intently and would know how to
handle him. Remus got some happy news from his neighbor
on Millionaire's Row, the Savannah bootlegger Willie Harr. One night
over dinner, Hart told Remus that a new federal agent
(11:04):
had arrived at the penitenti purportedly to investigate corruption among
prison officials. Harr knew the man because he had worked
under cover as a bootlegger in Savannah. Although Harror had
the good sense to recognize the ruse and steer clear
of him, from what Horror understood, the agent was approachable
and amenable to bribes. If Remus provided certain information about
(11:25):
crooked officials, the agent might reward him. The next day,
Harr pointed out the agent, and Remus realized he also
knew the man. He had seen him in Cincinnati, parked
outside of the mansion day and night, an ominous presence
invading his life. Finally, Remus learned his name, Franklin Dodge.
(11:46):
He sent a message that Agent Dodge was welcome to
visit him any time. Franklin Dodge somehow managed to appear
both intimidating and inviting at the same time. Like Remus,
he was flashy in dress and boisterous in conversation, But
unlike Remus, there was an ease about Dodge, the kind
of confidence bestowed only upon those with deep connections and
(12:08):
old money, allowing him to wander through life unquestioned and undenied.
Supremely confident. Dodd to put on an assured silence during
his first meeting with Remus, letting the bootlegger take the lead.
Remas spoke in a brusque, conspiratorial whisper.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
I have information you might find very useful. Would you
be interested to know that Remus secured whiskey permits from
the Prohibition Director of Ohio and that several federal officials
were complicit in these deals?
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Interesting? Tell me more.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
I could provide it with paperwork that proves every bit
of this. I could also testify to the rampant corruption
that goes on inside this very penitentiary. Okay, go on
in exchange, I want your influence in Washington, a commutation
of my senates, or even a full part.
Speaker 6 (13:03):
I can't promise anything, and I'll be back to talk again.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
While he waited for his next meeting with Dodge, Remus
called upon his truest and sweetest during Imageing's next visit.
He confided to her about Dodge and issued an order,
I want.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
You to pull toivate Frankly, Dodge, play up to him
because he is the last chance to help me get out.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Of jaiir imageing did indeed cultivate Dodge, but not quite
in the way Remus had hoped. Mabel Willebrandt was keeping
her eye on a young man in the Bureau of
(13:46):
Investigation once she thought had the potential to become the director.
She wrote to the new Attorney General, Harlan Stone and
urged him to promote the young deputy. He is honest
and informed, and one who operates like an electric wire
with almost trigger. Response, Stone wrote.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Back, everyone says he's too young.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
Maybe that's his asset. Apparently he hasn't learned to be
afraid of the politicians.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
He wasn't and never would be. His name was j
Edgar Hoover, and at age twenty nine, he became director
of the Bureau. Hoover had grand plans to remake and
modernize the Bureau and told Stone he intended to identify
and dismiss all crooked agents.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
Every effort will be made by employees of the Bureau
to strengthen the morale and to carry out to the
letter your policies.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
When Franklin Dodge filed a report about his meeting with Remus,
Hoover read it. He was impressed Dodge had acquired enough
information from Remas to indict eleven men for conspiracy to
violate the Volset Act. The report also included evidence that
Warden Sartainne was providing perks to Remus and other wealthy bootleggers.
It seemed to Hoover that Dodge was one of the
(14:59):
honest agents, a true asset to the Bureau. In December
of nineteen twenty four, Mus and his bootlegger friend Willie
Harr testified in a closed grand jury hearing against Wardens Sartainne.
The warden resigned but still faced criminal prosecution. Willembrandt sent
Remus and Hahr sixty miles east to Athens for their
own protection until it was time for them to testify.
(15:22):
Unbeknownst to Willembrandt, her prisoners were housed in an old hospital,
where the Athens deputies allowed them even more luxuries than
in the Atlanta pen. Remus and Harr enjoyed their own
private room suites and a uniform made to cook and
serve their meals. They held dinner parties in the hospital chapel,
inviting their gang members as guests. At the appointed hour,
(15:43):
they gathered around a long table draped with a lace
runner and adored with fresh flowers replenished often by Imaging.
They could even entertain prostitutes, an indulgence that harr often
took advantage of, while Remus remained true to imagin In Athens,
Imaging was permitted free access to his rooms and an
occasional stay overnight. While in George, she also made time
(16:06):
for Johns to Atlanta, where Franklin Dodge was still gathering
evidence against Warden Sartaine for the upcoming trial. When Imageing
was in Atlanta, Remus called her every night, often keeping
her on the line for an hour and a half.
He inquired about their plan.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Are you still cultivating Franklin Dodge?
Speaker 6 (16:25):
Well, Daddy, I think mister Dodge will be able to
do you some good.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
He let his mind conjure scenes of a pardon or
early parole handed down from on high by Washington, stamped
with Mabel will and Brandt's signature. Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Imaging
conjured different things entirely in the serene hush of the chapel,
George Remas and Willie Marr sat down to dinner. As
(16:50):
the maid refilled their glasses, har leaned forward and said
there was something Remas ought to know. Remus waited, his
fork poised in the air.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
George, I've been hearing that Missus Remas is engaging and
some shall we say misconduct was Franklin Dodge. Our friends
here in the pan are corroborating this. They've seen them together.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
I don't believe it. Imaging is just doing what I told.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Her to do.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Silently, Harr studied Remus's face, watching a crimson flush spread
across his skin. Remus stood, dropped his linen napkin, and
retreated to his room. He wanted revenge, not on imaging,
but on horror. Whether his words were true or not.
He picked his opportunity. One day, he saw a prostitute
(17:39):
slipped through Harr's door. Remus waited and seethed, the confrontation
looming in his mind. As soon as the woman left,
Remus barged into Harr's room and yelled.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Your visitor has contaminated the air where my wife is.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
He propelled himself at Horror with the force and velocity
of a cannonball, his arms retracting and releasing and disconnecting.
That smack of skin and again he wanted to crack
horse skull. He pulled back again, preparing the strike, but
felt his limbs pinned behind him. The guards prided him
from Horror and hauled him back to his room. By
(18:18):
the following evening, Remus had apologized and the two bootleggers
met once again in the prison chapel to share a
quiet dinner. Back at Atlanta, prepared to testify at Warden
Sartine's trial, Remus and Horror were put up in another hotel,
the Robert Fulton. The prisoners were free to roam the
streets until their eight pm curfew, but the deputies led
(18:41):
Horror and his associates out at night too. Remus, for
reasons unknown, was kept on evening lockdown in his room.
Remus banged at the door and pleaded to be let out,
but the three deputies outside his room would not budge. Unnerved,
Remus talked a Horror about the situation.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Are you going out at night?
Speaker 7 (19:02):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (19:03):
I don't understand whyle you men can go out at.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Night, Harr promised to ask around for some answers. After
the trial, which ended in Sartaine's conviction, Willebrand sent Remus
and Horror back to Athens until things in Atlanta cooled down.
Imageing took the train home to Cincinnati and stayed longer.
This time feverishly. Remus wrote to her, but unlike before,
(19:26):
Imageing did not reply to every missive. Her absence became
its own entity. His obsessive thoughts of imaging haunted him,
conquering his mind. He kept writing. He couldn't stop himself.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
My only wife, you know very well, no matter how
often you phone or why, I do extremely expect a
letter in between moments. I will judiciously obey all of
your injunctions and restrictions, but an obedience that is alarming,
even none to you.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
How is Ruthie.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
I hope she's home, and your beautiful and faithful care
is only you can and give it. I only wish
that you and I were back again. It seems to
me as though it will be much longer than we
expected it to be.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
At dinner one night, Harr finally told Remus that he'd
learned the truth about what happened at the Robert Fulton Hotel.
It was agent Franklin Dodge who had ordered the guards
to let everyone out at night. But remis not only that,
but one of Harr's men had spotted imaging often in
Dodge's company, lingering over lunch, sitting side by side in
the courtroom, strolling the streets of Atlanta, laughing and taking
(20:40):
their time. Remus felt his world begin to crumble. A
swarm of questions pecked at his mind. Remus put his
fork down and aimed his gaze at her.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
I don't think my wife is treating me right. I
don't know what she's doing.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Troubling reports also began to reach Mabel will and Brandt's office,
rumors about misconduct on the part of Franklin Dodge. She
was rattled. Dodge had been her most skilled and reliable
special agent, someone whose character had seemed as impeccable as
his performance, but she couldn't ignore what she was hearing.
The report said Dodge was engaging in a variety of
(21:18):
unsavory behaviors, conducting business with bootleggers, accepting bribes, even consorting
with George Riams's wife, Imageen will And Brad had already
indicted imaging in the upcoming Jack Daniels matter, and she
could not let Dodge mess up her case. She had
to act, so she sent other agents to spy on Dodge.
(21:39):
Their first meeting was with a car thief named E. J. Sweeney,
who was doing time in the Atlanta penn and had
worked with Dodge previously as an informant. Sweeney told them
that in February nineteen twenty five, Imagen had invited him
to a party she'd planned at an Atlanta hotel. She
seemed pleased that Dodge had already accepted. Sweeney caught up
with Dodge alone and advised him not to go.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Frank, you're getting yourself in a hot spot. If George
ever finds out that you are mixing up in company
with his wife, he will shoot you.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Old kid.
Speaker 5 (22:11):
If you don't want to come, you don't have to,
but I am going.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Reluctantly, Sweeney dropped into the party for a few moments
and discovered that all the prisoners who had testified against
Borden Sartaine were there except for one, George Remas. The
next night, Dodge asked Sweeney to accompany him to Cleveland
to help with another prohibition case. The men met on
the train platform. Sweeney noticed that Dodge had two tickets
(22:35):
for the drawing room, a luxurious and spacious sleeping car.
Sweeney pointed at the tickets, what.
Speaker 4 (22:41):
Do you want the drawing room for? Why would you
want to go to the expensive paying for it?
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Dodge smirked, I.
Speaker 6 (22:47):
Didn't pay for these, Missus Remus did.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Is she going with you?
Speaker 4 (22:52):
Well, I'm not going alone, Frank Immajen Remus is a
scheming woman. She's simply trying to trap you and please
you in a position where she can force you to
use your influence on behalf of George.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Dodge just laughed. He turned away and boarded the train.
Will and Brand got the report about Sweeney, and then
another even more damning report about Dodge's behavior. In Cleveland,
the clerk at the Holland And Hotel where Dodge was
staying realized that an unmarried couple was in room nine
oh two, which was against house rules. The clerk barged
(23:27):
into the room and saw that Dodge had his trousers on,
but his fly was open and his belt wasn't buckled.
The clerk confronted Imma Jean who was in bed.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Why did you allow this man to be in your
room when you knew it was the order of the
hotel not to have any men visit at this hour
in the morning.
Speaker 6 (23:46):
I intend to marry him. He's my fellow. He happened
to be in town and he came over to see me.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Will and Brandt also learned that Dodge had accepted money
and whiskey from the bootlegger Willie Harr. Furthermore, Dodge planned
to go into business with Horror as soon as the
bootlegger left prison. The final report, will and brand heard
more about Dodge's disturbing relationship with Immageen Remus. Ruth Remas's
boyfriend claimed that he had met quote mister Dodge at
(24:15):
the Remas mansion in Cincinnati. The boyfriend watched Immageen and
Dodge rush from room to room, lifting paintings from walls,
clutching stacks of papers, pushing furniture around packing boxes. At
one point, Dodge called the boy over and asked for
help in carrying a trunk from the second floor to
the first. Only later did he learn that everything in
(24:37):
the trunk belonged to George Remis. During this same visit,
Immagean pulled the boyfriend aside.
Speaker 6 (24:43):
Please don't mention to anyone that you've seen me here
with mister Dodge. Well, people might misunderstand he's simply doing
some business for me, and I'd never want anyone to
think we're just going around together. He is a very
nice and well educated man. I think he can be
a great assistance to me in a lot of respects.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
On August tenth, nineteen twenty five, Mabel Willembrandt requested and
accepted Franklin Dodge's resignation from the Department of Justice. The
press and public so far remained unaware that he was
under investigation, and Willembrandt hoped it would never come to light.
If it did become known, the public would blame her
for her bad judgment and hiring Dodge, while giving Dodge
(25:25):
a pass for his bad behavior. The negative publicity would
hurt not only her career, but also the careers of
women who hoped to follow in her footsteps. She was
not willing to sacrifice herself in ways that her male
colleagues never would. Two weeks later, Immageen visited Remas one
last time at the Atlanta Penitentiary. He was ten days
(25:45):
away from being released. She went to the office of
the new Warden, John Snook, and asked to see Remus.
Snook had instituted a policy that all of Remas's visits
must be conducted in the warden's office. Snook summoned a
guard and told him to fetch the prisoner. Remas centered
the office and sat down in a chair across from Imaging.
(26:07):
Snook sat at his desk within earshot.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Why haven't you been staying in Cincinnati where I could
reach you by telegram? I telegraphed him, was unable to
reach you.
Speaker 6 (26:16):
I went to Michigan with some friends.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
This is important business.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
My liberty is at stake.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
I want you to stay in Cincinnati where I can
reach you, so that you can handle my business.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Their conversation grew more heated. With every word, Snook saw
Imaging get up and start inching backward toward his desk.
Remus was ranting, and she leaned towards Snook and whispered.
Speaker 6 (26:41):
I'm afraid of him. He threatened to strike me.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Remus overheard, I.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Won't strike you.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
I have no reason to.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Then Remus softened his voice.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
You're my little honey bunch. You're my little bunch of sugar.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Snook told her to take her seat and finish the conversation.
Imageing did as she was told, but pushed her chair
farther away from her husband. Remus produced a sheet of
papers and gave her instructions about various business matters back
in Cincinnati. Then he reached into his pocket.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
My little sweetness, I want you to wear this diamond ring.
Think if it as a token of what's to come.
I'll soon be out of here and we will get
to enjoy that new quiet life we've dreamed about.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Imaging didn't say a single word. She just took the ring,
kissed him, and walked away. Later that afternoon, Smook got
a package addressed to Remus. Inside he found a petition
for divorce from Imaging. The papers were accompanied by a
note that seemed quite odd after their.
Speaker 6 (27:44):
Visit, George, after our conversation today, it is very plain
that you have lost confidence in me, and as you
told me to go ahead and file for divorce, I
think I will follow your advice. If at any time
I can assist to you, please let me know. My
heart weighs too heavy to say anymore.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Remus would look back on this moment mark it as
the onset of his diseased wine.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
On this date, November twenty third, nineteen twenty seven, this
session of the Criminal Division of Common Police Court in
Hamilton County will come to order.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
I call missus Olive Weber Long to testify. State whether
or not you saw missus Remas at your sister's home.
Speaker 8 (28:48):
Well, I saw her there several times.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
Do you recall an occasion when you heard Missus Remas
call somebody in Cincinnati with reference to mister Remus.
Speaker 8 (28:59):
She was on the telephone at the time I entered
the room. She said, did you get in touch with
my lawyers there? Well, I will take care of him.
Never mind, don't worry about it. I will take care
of him.
Speaker 5 (29:10):
Then what did she do?
Speaker 8 (29:12):
Well? With that? She hung up the phone. She said
to me that she had remised just exactly where she
wanted him to, poor boob. She said also that if
he kept fooling around the way he did, she would
take care of him, and that she could shoot him
and then plead self defense.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
After making that statement, what did she next do there?
Speaker 8 (29:34):
Well, then she took the telephone and put in a
long distance call to Franklin Dodge at Lansing, Michigan. She said, Franklin,
do you love me? Are you sure that you love me?
How much do you love me? And she was sitting
on the bed and she said, say it again. And
then she reached over the bed right alongside of me,
and she put the receiver to my ear. I heard
(29:56):
the gentleman's voice say, you know I love you, dear.
So after she hung up, she said to me, don't
you think he has a marvelous voice? He is so one.
Speaker 5 (30:06):
After hanging up the receiver, did she say anything else
to you?
Speaker 8 (30:11):
She repeated many times over again that she had been
miss just where she wanted him.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Next time on Remus the mad bootleg, king.
Speaker 6 (30:29):
That he wouldn't hurt me, that he is good to me,
but please don't let him hurt mister Dodge.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Please.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
My heart was being eaten out of me because I
did love this woman. But that pimmed Dodge, that social pervert,
that's social leopard, that social parasite.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
I would mash him flat as a pancake.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Absolutely feel this muscle.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
I got this for Remus. I could crush him like
an egg. That's for Remis when he's ready.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Remus the Mad Bootleg King is a co production of
iHeart Podcasts and School of Humans. It's hosted by Me Abbot, Kaylor,
Chuck Reese, and I wrote the show. Our producer is
Miranda Hawkins. Our senior producer is Jessica Metzker. Executive producers
are Virginia Prescott, Brandon Barr, l C. Crowley, and Jason English.
Sound design and mixed by Chris Childs. Elise McCoy composed
(31:21):
original music. Additional scoring by Chris Childs. Voices in this
episode provided by Ben Bolan, Lauren Vogelbaum, Julia, Chris Gau,
Dylan Fagan, Noel Brown, Matt Frederick, Brittany Wilkerson, Zubin Hensler,
Charles Edwards, Nate Beagle, Chuck Reese, Tiago Macklin, Mike Coscarelli,
and Nicole Britton. Casting support services provided by Breakdown Services.
(31:45):
Special thanks to John Higgins from Curiosity Stream and the
team at c DM Studios in New York. If you're
a fan of the podcast, please give it a review
in your podcast app. You can also check out other
Curiosity podcasts to learn about history, pop culture, true crime,
and more.
Speaker 6 (32:03):
School of Humans
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