January 20, 2025 • 34 mins
On the morning of April 29, 1992, Sidney Reso did what he did almost every morning: he took the long drive down to the end of his driveway to pick up the daily newspaper. However, this morning was different: the husband and father of five never made it to work that morning. Sidney was shot in the arm, bound and gagged, and thrown into the back of a waiting van at his home in Morris Township, New Jersey. Sidney’s kidnappers quickly contacted not only Exxon but Sidney’s wife, Pat. They asked for a notorious amount of money in exchange for the safe return of Sidney: $18.5 million in $100 bills. With a series of complex ransom notes, detectives worked against the clock in an attempt to rescue Sidney.
SOURCES:
1) YouTube--"Kidnapped: The Story of Sidney Reso"
2) The Seattle Times: Mystery: Powerful, Private Man Vanishes -- No Clues In Disappearance Of Key Exxon Executive
3) Obituary for Gregory Steve Reso
4) Find a Grave: Sidney Reso
5) The New York Times: Portrait of 2 Accused of Kidnapping: Ardent, Hapless Pursuit of Affluence
6) United States of America v. Arthur Seale
7) The New York Times: Kidnapped Executive Dies After 4 Days in a Locked Wooden Box
8) TIME Magazine: Four Days in Hell
9) NJ.com: Killer involved in 1992 kidnapping and murder of Exxon executive denied compassionate release
SOURCES:
1) YouTube--"Kidnapped: The Story of Sidney Reso"
2) The Seattle Times: Mystery: Powerful, Private Man Vanishes -- No Clues In Disappearance Of Key Exxon Executive
3) Obituary for Gregory Steve Reso
4) Find a Grave: Sidney Reso
5) The New York Times: Portrait of 2 Accused of Kidnapping: Ardent, Hapless Pursuit of Affluence
6) United States of America v. Arthur Seale
7) The New York Times: Kidnapped Executive Dies After 4 Days in a Locked Wooden Box
8) TIME Magazine: Four Days in Hell
9) NJ.com: Killer involved in 1992 kidnapping and murder of Exxon executive denied compassionate release
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
This episode MA contained content of a graphic nature, including
descriptions of physical and sexual violence against adults, children, and animals.
Listener discretion is advised. Hi, this is Tanya. Hi this
(00:37):
is Shannon, and we are Crimes and Consequences, a hardcore
true crime podcast. Hey Shannon, Hey Tanya, how are you?
I'm doing good? If I was doing bad, does anybody
really care?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
It's a bear shit in the woods kind of question
against Bet, little Bet, But.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
I do get it. Why bother?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Complaining? Why bother? And really it just it wastes time.
It's that energy I had. Just for an example, I
told Brooke the other day, my daughter, I said, you
know what, Brooke, when I was going through stuff as
we do, and I would think about, oh, just rage
and things that I hated and justice that I needed
to see and past of it. She's going through some
(01:23):
stuff of heartbreak and betrayal. And then I would think
of you, and then that would make me happy, like
it would bring me out of that hate and rage.
And then I realized, Wow, I think I'm gonna use
my anytime I start to get in a way that
I can feel like, oh, I'll think of Brooke because
all that energy can go to her. And I'm a
big believer in sending good and bad energy, so I
(01:45):
want to send all this. She lifts my spirit, so
to give her an example.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Oh that's yeah, you try.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I know our girls, right, what we won't do? We
heal ourselves? My God.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
That's some right there.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Amen? Amen? Oh my God.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
So I'm God.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I told Broke. I'm going to start saying on God,
I'm bad. Lil Rilla says that I'm God.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
So I have an interesting story today. It's kind of
similar to things that have been happening in the news.
But before I get into it, I just like to
remind everyone to hit the subscriber follow button on whatever
app you're listening to. So I'm gonna tell you a
story about a man named Sidney Joseph Riso, and he
was born February twelfth, nineteen thirty five, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
(02:37):
He was always destined to make something of himself from
the day he was born. He was a pride and
joy of his family growing up, and he had three siblings.
Growing up in New Orleans the Riso family. They were
devout Catholic. Sydney didn't only have brains, but he was
also the star of his high school football team, so
(02:58):
he was also an athlete. Sidney went on to graduate
from Louisiana State University after he spent his college years
studying in the petroleum engineering program. Before Sydney had even
graduated college, he had met and married his wife, Patricia,
and Patricia gave birth to their first son in nineteen
fifty eight, which was only a year after he graduated college.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Oh right out the gate, get at the fad gone
right there.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
And Sydney started his career at Humble Oil as a
junior engineer. Sydney and Patricia's relationship was described by friends
and family as one of the rare ones. The couple
truly were write or die for each other and were
completely committed in choosing to love one another every single day.
The couple went on to have four more children, and
(03:48):
as a family of five, they were thriving. That was
until the family experienced their first tragedy when their son, Gregory,
died at the age of twenty seven from AIDS. A
few months Gregory was dying in the hospital in Houston
with his mom by his side. His father, Sidney, who
was in New Jersey, at this point for work, would
(04:09):
fly down every weekend to support a son. In nineteen
ninety two, Sydney and Patricia had been married for thirty
six years.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
So, as we know now, fifty seven year old Sydney
was always destined to make something for himself and he
did just that because at the age of fifty seven,
Sidney held the title of president of Eggson International, the
oil company. Some in the business would argue that he
was the most important person in this massive corporation, and
(04:39):
he had powerful influence over the oil industry. In nineteen
ninety two, Sidney was making really good money too. He
was clearing about half a million dollars a year in
salary before stocks and bonuses. Oh my gosh, was back
in ninety two, So this is an ass ton of mind.
(04:59):
He ran all of Eggxon's oil and gas activities and
subsidiaries that were outside of the United States. He was
responsible for over half of Eggxon's worldwide assets, and that
was a huge responsibility. Sydney, Patricia, and their children lived
in a sleepy little cul de sac and a nearly
(05:20):
seven hundred thousand dollars home. Their beautiful home was perfectly
placed amongst the trees about two hundred and fifty feet
away from the road, and at the time of the
story it was late April, so the trees, bushes, and
flowers were just starting to bloom, not fully shielding the
home from the neighbors. On the morning of April twenty ninth,
(05:41):
Kddie Benson, who was a neighbor of the Risos, was
putting out her recyclicables at seven point fifteen when she
noticed a woman with blonde hair walking down the street
in her direction. She'd never seen this woman before, and
since they lived in a cul de sac, this was odd.
It wasn't typically for people people who didn't live down
(06:01):
there to be walking that way. I kind of understand,
I live on a street like on a court, and
I have a call to Sack, so not a lot
of people walking by. I mean, I don't live down
in the cull A Sack area, but I mean.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
You wouldn't know. Yeah, yeah, that's not a lot.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Of traffic from the neighborhood, and there's not like a
lot of people out walking past my house, so I
get it. About fifteen minutes later, at seven point thirty,
Sydney had finished up his breakfast and was getting into
his car to head to the office that day. Sydney
had a typical routine, like his morning routine just like
most of us. He would go back and forth between
driving himself to work and having his driver take him.
(06:40):
Every day that he drove himself, he would drive down
the long driveway, stop and just reach down and grab
the paper from the end of the driveway without even
getting out of the car, so he'd like open up
his door and grab it. That morning, April twenty ninth,
the paper wasn't in the normal spot, so Sydney had
to park his car and walk to go get it.
By eight am, another neighbor whose husband also worked at Exon,
(07:03):
was on her morning walk when she noticed Sidney's car
idling in the driveway. This was obviously strange since Sidney
was nowhere to be found, and she called the Exon
offices right away to see if Sydney was already at
the office, and he wasn't, so his secretary immediately called
his wife at home. Patricia went to check out the
(07:23):
scene for herself and walk down the driveway. When she
got down there, she saw Sydney's car idling, just like
the neighbor had said. The driver's side door was slightly open,
and his briefcase and coat were still on the passenger seat.
She pulled a driver's side door open further with a
tissue from her pocket and turned the car off before
(07:44):
calling police. At this point, police knew immediately that there
was foul play involved, and an investigation was opened because like,
Sydney was nowhere to be found.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Yeah, and he's a million and he's Exxon.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I mean, this is right, one of the big rulers
of the world, so right on missing, yeah, exactly. About
twenty six hours later, both Patricia and the Exon office
in Florham Park where Sidney Worke had received messages from
a group who was calling themselves the Rainbow Warriors. At first,
(08:18):
police weren't sure if this was a prank or if
it was serious, because news had broken out about this
pretty quickly, and it could have been some random people
doing things like to just you know, be funny.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Right. While the thought of it being a prank was quick,
the reality of the situation came forward even quicker. The
Exxon office had received a random call that there was
a letter taped to a lamppost at Livingston Mall. They
called police, and sure enough, when the police arrived at
the mall, there was a letter right where they said
it was. That letter was where investigators found out that
(08:52):
Sidney had been kidnapped and they were making demands. They
also provided proof that they had Sydney in their custody.
The proof was that the kidnappers included his credit card
with the letter. The card that they had attached was
his company credit card from Eggson. The next day May first,
investigators received another call with instructions on how to find
(09:14):
another letter. This letter was hidden behind a rock in
Lewis Morris Park, New Jersey. This letter had further instructions
of what they had to do to be able to
get Sydney back safely. In the second letter, they indicated
that they wanted eighteen point five million dollars in one
hundred dollars bills. Oh my gosh, this was the largest
(09:38):
ransom asking in history. At this time, investigators were still
operating like they were an echo terrorist group. So let's
quickly discuss the history of the name Rainbow Warriors. Okay,
this so called group, the environmental group Greenpeace, owned a
ship called the Rainbow Warrior that was sunk in nineteen
(09:59):
eighty five. In the ransom letter, the kidnappers had identified
themselves as an environmental group, but they described themselves more
like an eco terrorist group. This led police to believe
that this was an attack against the oil industry and
Exon Mobil Corporation specifically. In the ransom letters, the kidnappers
wrote multiple paragraphs about the world's impact on the environment
(10:23):
and that their goal was to have large corporations donate
to and commit to the end of what the Rainbow
Warriors were calling destruction of the environment. The kidnappers stated
that in return for the release of Sydney, they would
need assurance that no one would interfere with the delivery.
If there was interference, the Rainbow Warriors threatened that Sydney
(10:43):
would be the first of their examples they planned to set.
At this point, the FBI was involved in the case.
After the second letter, investigators made a plan with the
kidnappers to exchange the ransom money and Sydney. Their plan
was that one of the investigators, Ed Peterson, was going
to pose as an EGXON executive who was the public
(11:03):
information officer. Ed was going to be the one who
was taking all the calls made to the EGXON office,
which were actually being re routed to another office. Ed
was at to organize the meeting as well as the
one to go to the meeting. The kidnappers directed Ed
to go to a phone booth in a place called
Villa Restaurant in Summit, New Jersey. They instructed Ed to
(11:26):
just wait there for a call and have the ransom
money with him. Ed waited several hours for the phone
call that never came. After the kidnappers failed to show,
Sydney's family and investigators went about two weeks with no
communication from them. With pressure and fear building, a manhunt
to find Sydney ensued. On the night of June eighteenth,
(11:50):
nineteen ninety two, a phone call came into what the
kidnappers believed was the EXON office phone number, and Ed answered.
The kidnappers gave very clear instruction of what the plan
was for the meetup. They were to be driving the
family Subaru station wagon. They wanted the eighteen point five
million dollars and used one hundred dollars bills, and they
(12:12):
wanted the bills equally divided into ten different Eddie Bauer
laundry bags. The two delivery people were going to be
a family member of the Riese family and an Exon spokesperson.
The kidnappers basically started the evening by leading investigators from
one phone booth to the next. Driving the station wagon
was an FBI agent who looked similar to Renee Risso.
(12:36):
Sydney and Patricia's daughter at Peterson went with her posing
as the spokesperson. They were also leaving notes under benches
and such that were giving other directions. The kidnappers repeatedly
reminded investigators that they were being watched during the delivery
process and that it was crucial for them to follow
all instructions to a tee and to drive at normal
(12:58):
speeds In these no The directions were very specific with
exactly how many miles a drive in landmarks that they
would pass or could use to help them ensure that
they were in the right place. They ended up on
a stone driveway to a plant for an engineering corporation
called Conlean Sanderson. On this driveway there was a phone booth.
(13:20):
They needed to be there before ten pm to wait
for the call. The agents standing in and there. Rene
Riso needed to be the one to answer the phone
so that she could answer questions and then receive further instructions.
When that call came in, the agents were wired in.
All of the FBI agents, which there was over two
hundred and fifty of them on this investigations I know,
(13:42):
were able to hear the call and be on standby
for further instructions. Basically, they had FBI agents watching phone
booths all over the area that could potentially be the
one that the kidnappers made the call from. So as
soon as the investigators at the phone booth the kidnappers
sent them to start to receive a call, other agents
were alerted and when the phone call ended, the agents
(14:05):
were alerted as well. The agent that was at a
strip mall called Chester Mall in Chester, New Jersey, saw
a man approach a phone booth and make a call
at the exact time that the other agents were receiving
the call. The man at the Chester Mall also ended
the call at the same time the ransom call ended.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
And that was I know.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
And if that wasn't enough. After hanging up the phone,
the man at Chester Mall slyly removed latex gloves and
slipped them into his pocket.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Oh this smells like chicken dinner.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yes, yes, exactly So the agent that was at the
Chester Mall was a woman, and she knew that she
probably had the kidnapper under her surveillance. She ran the
plate of the car that the man got into and
it was registered to a rental car agency in Hackettstown,
New Jersey. The man hunt continues, so investigators decid to
(15:00):
abort the mission that evening and wait untill the kidnappers
went to return the rentel car, and at that time,
on June nineteenth, nineteen ninety two, they arrested him in
the trunk of the rental car. Was all types of
evidence that indicated this suspect was most likely involved in
the kidnapping of Sydney. Shortly after they made the arrest
(15:21):
at the rental car place, the kidnappers accomplice came to
pick him up and they arrested her as well. So
who in the hell are these kidnappers? Yes, it turns
out they were actually a husband and wife team, not
an echo terrorist group called Rainbow Warriors. Their names were
Arthur and Jackie Seal. Both Arthur and Jackie had good
(15:43):
upbringings and during their childhoods, the couple's families were considered
rich for their time in nineteen sixty seven, the pair
got married and Arthur joined the police force in nineteen
sixty eight. Both Jackie and Arthur were well educated. They
had two children, Courtney, and Arthur was a retired police
officer who was off from work on disability. Arthur also
(16:06):
actually worked as head of security at the Exon Mobile
office in Floorsham Park in nineteen eighty two and was
promoted to security manager before resigning in nineteen eighty four
to pursue starting his own furniture company in the Carolinas
with his wife, Jackie. Arthur was only on the police
force for six years, and during those six years he
(16:27):
was fined three times and suspended twice for insubordination and
pulling out his gun when he shouldn't have. Yeah wow yeah.
While the disability claim was legit, it was also the
most beneficial situation for both the force and Arthur. So
this is when Arthur became a sixty thousand dollars a
(16:50):
year employee working as head of security at the Exon
office and the family settled in Chester, New Jersey. Neighbors
always recalled them as living a quiet life. Jackie worked
as an office manager and a wine cellar that sounds
like fun.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
And it's comfortable, I know, right, like my.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Wine cellar and her boss at the time would describe
her as an honest, hard worker. In nineteen eighty six,
they moved to Hilton Head, South Carolina. I've always wanted
to go there.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Yeah, I mean too.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
To pursue their dreams as a family, the seals Is
purchased a five hundred thousand dollars interior design company and
a thirty eight foot sloop, which is a type of
sailboat that they named Galon.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I know right, that sounds nice.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
That sounds really nice. They bought a home within a
resort on Hilton Head that was one of the most
expensive ones on the property. Neighbors in hilton had recall
Arthur really taking a liking to sailing and working on
improving his sailing skills while they lived there.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Man, it would be so fucking cool, right, Oh my gosh,
if that you know, I just I'd love a little
time to get back into water color painting, let alone
sailing ailing.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
No, I'm.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
I love it failing.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I know, I think of the Wedding Crashers when.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
That movie was funny, awesome. It was reported that he
would often take Gallant on frequent trips to Florida. Unfortunately,
the business was not successful and they ended up leaving
town in the middle of the night to attempt a
fresh start in Veil, Colorado. Talk about going to rich
places no.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
And other yes, I mean ping pong, leaving under the
veil of darkness and framing it as a new opportunity.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
They left a trail of lawsuits seeking over seven hundred
and fifteen thousand dollars. The seals Is were also being
sued by Bill and Sally Hunter, who they had bought
their store from. Thompson, an advertising account executive that worked
with the couple, said that Arthur and Jackie were an
outgoing and ambitious couple who really wanted to give it
(19:09):
their all and take a real shot at this business.
Upon moving to Vail, the seals were somehow able to
purchase a five hundred thousand dollars home, but this was
short lived because Arthur and Jackie had no real job prospects.
Other than issues with not having a job, the family
was having issues amongst themselves as well. Police were often
(19:31):
called to their home and on three different occasions, their daughter, Courtney,
who was fifteen at the time, had attempted to run
away from home. Joe Veneman, a police officer in Veil,
recalled that Courtney expressed on multiple occasions that she did
not have a good relationship with her father, Arthur. After
their failure to start fresh in Veil, the family moved
(19:52):
to Arthur's parents' house in Lebanon Township, New Jersey, and
they were really hitting rock bottom. They were three quarters
of a million dollars in debt and had no job prospects.
To say that they were in desperate times would be
an understatement. Everyone who knew the couple personally was completely shocked.
The seals Is drove nice cars and sent their children
(20:13):
to private school. Arthur had told friends that he was
awarded a million dollars in a settlement after he was
hit by another police officer's car while on duty. However,
the department says that he retired in nineteen seventy seven
on disability and only received two thirds of his fifteen
thousand dollars annual salary.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Oh my gosh, I know the annual salary for a
police officer is in nineteen.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Seven and seven. Yeah, that's wow.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Peanuts, peanuts exactly. It seemed that the pressure of maintaining
their lifestyle and being overwhelmed with the financial hardship that
they faced, the seals Is were becoming desperate and more extrain.
That's when they devised a plan. Arthur knew that Exon
had paid a ransom in the past, and so he
going to copycat that plan, but significantly up the dollar amount.
(21:04):
This whole plan was Arthur's idea, and Jackie was just
going to be a participant to help make it happen.
Once Arthur decided on Sydney as their target, he worked
for three months perfecting their plan. If only he had
put that energy into finding a job, I'm no kidding,
Oh my gosh. Arthur and Jackie would conduct regular surveillance
(21:24):
of the Riso Houme to figure out Sidney's basic day
to day schedule. During these three months, Arthur spent a
lot of time researching how to avoid paying taxes on
the ransom money he planned to collect. Like, really, dude,
you're gonna how's the I Rex gonna know about this money? Right?
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Yeah? I know he you know, a little big for
the Birches.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Yeah, I mean, I know you can't put it in
the bank. I know, I know that bank's going to
raise an eyebrow if you go to deposit eighteen point
five million dollars.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Or ninety nine every week. Yes, one hundred years ye.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Right. Arthur finally decided on the final plan of how
he and Jackie would kidnap Sydney. He built a coffin
like box and put padlocks on it for them to
keep Sydney inside during kidnapping and holding him hostage. Then
came the morning of April twenty ninth, nineteen ninety two.
Jackie posed as a runner in the neighborhood. That's the
(22:28):
woman that the neighbor saw, yeah, And after the daily
paper was delivered, she ran past and kicked it to
the grassy area next to the driveway. Because Jackie kicked
the newspaper, Sydney needed to get out of the car
and walked to pick up the paper, and he did
just that. Suddenly, a white van pulled up at the
end of the driveway and Jackie hopped out with Arthur
still inside. She was holding a gun and the couple
(22:51):
instructed Sydney to get inside the van. Jackie fired the
gun and accidentally shot Sydney. When a struggle ensued, when
Sydney realized that not only did they want him to
get into the van, they wanted him to get into
a wooden box. Once inside the box, Sidney's eyes and
mouth were duct taped, as well as his wrists were
(23:12):
duct taped together. He was restrained even further by rope
stretched across his body and tied lattice style. Jackie would
recall that Sidney tried to reason with them, begging them
that he would cooperate, but just didn't want to get
inside that wooden box and be restrained. Arthur and Jackie
really just completely disregarded any pleas from Sydney, and from
(23:35):
the start it didn't seem like they truly cared if
he lived or died. They just wanted this payout. After
kidnapping Sydney, Arthur and Jackie took him to a storage
facility in Warren County, New Jersey, where they capped the
storage box in a safe storage room. While it was
not Arthur and Jackie's intention to actually kill Sydney, they
(23:56):
found him dead after not taking proper care of him
while they held him hostage. Authorities continued to work the scene,
wanting to figure out how hot it was inside the
storage unit and the box itself to try and find
out more about what Sidney had to endure before he died.
When they found him dead, Arthur and Jackie moved Sidney's
(24:16):
body to the Base River State Forest near the Garden
State Parkway and buried him. When investigators found him, Sidney's
body had already started decomposing. Arthur had gone to school
in the area, so he was very familiar with it
and felt comfortable hiding a body there. Without the help
of Jackie, who had a very good memory of where
Arthur had chosen to bury Sydney, they may have never
(24:38):
been able to find him. Wow In court, Arthur actually
testified that Sidney died in his arms. The couple had
arrived to check on him when they realized he was dying.
When police arrested Jackie and Arthur, they asked Jackie to
be honest and that they needed to know if they
were looking for someone that was alive or dead. Jackie
only replied that they were looking for someone one who
(25:00):
was probably dead. Turned out that Sidney had actually died
only four days after he was kidnapped, and Arthur and
Jackie decided to continue on with their plan despite knowing
he was already dead and would potentially be paid the
ransom for nothing. Arthur and Jackie literally left no way
for Sidney to potentially be able to escape or call
(25:20):
for help. After transporting and bearing Sydney in the forest,
Arthur destroyed the homemade box that Sidney was kept in.
Jackie was the first to cooperate with police and the investigation.
Not only was she able to lead them to the body,
but she was able to uncover the entire scheme to investigators.
She was also able to give key details behind why
(25:41):
the first exchange went wrong and the reason that the
kidnappers never called ed at the payphone at the Villa restaurant,
and it was because Arthur was dyslexic and mixed up
the last four digits of the phone number, calling the
wrong payphone without realizing it. Jackie Seal took a plea deal,
and she pleaded guilty to one count of extortion and
(26:01):
one count of conspiracy to extort, avoiding the kidnapping and
murder charges. She was sentenced to twenty years in prison
and five years of supervised release. She was also fined
five hundred thousand dollars. Jackie spent seventeen years in prison,
where she taught pilates to other inmates and Pele waited
(26:22):
to be released. On January ten, twenty ten, she was freed. Arthur,
on the other hand, did not take a plea deal
from the government. He ended up pleading guilty to a
seven count indictment two days before his trial was set
to start. This indictment included conspiracy to commit extortion, mailing
(26:43):
of threats, using a firearm during a violent crime, using
the mail with intent to extort, use of telephone with
intent to extort, two counts of travel with the intent
to extort. Who knew that these were all crimes? Wow?
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Exactly?
Speaker 1 (26:58):
And Hobbs Act extortion. Arthur was sentenced to ninety five
years in prison without the possibility of parole and five
years of supervised release. Oh ninety five with five years
Come on, I mean, that's just almost like a flick
on the dick to add that you learned to make
ninety five years, I know, isn't it funny?
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (27:20):
He was ordered to pay one point seventy five million
dollars in fines. Due to the fact that both Arthur
and Jackie were unable to pay fines at this time,
they actually had a negative net worth, so they both
appealed the fines. But in addition to these fines, the
Riso family also decided to suit Arthur and Jackie for
(27:40):
wrongful death. Despite knowing that Sydney had passed away, and
even despite moving and bearing his body, Arthur and Jackie
Seal continued to push that he was alive and his
family would get him back safely if the ransom was paid.
Can't believe this.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
That is just so diabolic. Call right, you give falls hope?
Are you kidding me? That's fucking fucked up.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
It's so fucked up. In twenty twenty, our third attempted
defile for early release on a release called compassionate release,
but the judge had little to no sympathy for the
killer and he was denied zero compassion. Right, can't get
what you didn't give? Honestly, Yeah, I think the courts
(28:27):
intend for him to just die, yes, and that is
the end.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
I cannot believe, like you said, this whole plan just
search for a job. You have the brains obviously, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
They were well educated, families were rich. I don't understand.
I don't know, you know, because I think of someone
who follows the law or I think like someone who
follows the law. Yes, right, I don't think like a criminal.
So I'm just.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
To that frame of mind.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
As you were telling the story, I would think of
the movie Ransom, you know, with Mel Gibson and Renee Russo,
and you know, because of the little the ransom notes,
do this, bring this, do five cartwheels before you answer the.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Phone with his daughter, you know, come on?
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Yeah, and then then I get like.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
I've parlayed into the other guys in the meeting room
at the end there in the slow motion. Yeah, just
I don't know, but yeah, the Reso family. That's terrible
and diabolical for her really too to kick that paper
that I mean, she was so integral and getting him
(29:38):
in that van. Oh yeah, it's Arthur's plan, right, but
she is right hand. She is Bonnie to his Clyde.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Definitely, while she didn't think it up, fully participated. So
that's what happens. Though people take plea deals. I'm sure
finding Sydney's body part of it, like she needed.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Yeah, that was very helpful.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
I know there's like this, Okay, she did good here,
but this is like, oh you right, but I don't
understand how like She tells them where the body is,
but then continues to tell the family, Oh, don't worry
if you just.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
That is oh such a betrayal.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Yeah, like oh the rainbow, Yeah that was genius.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Because the Exxon valdis that wasn't that spill?
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Yeah? Nine? So yeah, echo terrorists just kind of go
hand and glove with this ye spinning.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
And Arthur could see the big picture in that.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
That's pretty impressive in a dark way. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
So I'm so glad that I did not know what
I'm thinking. Where was I in nineteen ninety two? Oh,
I was just getting out of the army. I was,
you know, I'm sure I was. Yeah, ninety two is
the honorably discharged? And was I getting divorced or married?
Speaker 3 (31:02):
I was getting married. That's right.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Where you didn't get divorced yet because I knew your
ex husband, so eight years later that didn't for a
few years.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Oh, I loved when you read us our horoscopes on
the way to bingo. That is all that lives rent
free in my hand.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Tell that story, Shannon, Yes, we know your X husband
and I were on our way to go play bingo
in Ontario, Canada, which was a hot place in the
mid nineties. You could smoke in there.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
I was.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
I was a wonderful smoker.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
I could stay for hours at the bingo hall. I
just remember where I got introduced to gravy fries.
Speaker 3 (31:43):
They're the best.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Yeah. So the three of us are driving to, you know,
go play bingo, and we had bought a book and
it was all about horoscopes. Your ex husband was an Aquarius.
I remember, Yeah, I read the because they had in
the book like, oh, you know your sign and your
significant other sign and this is the hour one.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Yes, the partnerships between the signs and how they work
out exactly.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
And it wasn't good. I was like, oh sorry, guys, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
It was such an awkward silence.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
It was I think the last even sudden was like
these relationships rarely last, and then the silence and then
the apology, and then I think I had that running
joke where I would call him my first.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
Husband before we even spoke about the war.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
My first husband. Nana's first husband was an islander.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
Oh yes, he had read in Hawaii.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Yes, yeah, good person.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I was like, oh, sorry, apparently you know I didn't read.
I didn't read ahead.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
So it was just I was just happy to be
going to Bengo.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I can at some level I knew this was first
marriage in a you know, just learning life experience way.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
So yeah, whoops, good times.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
We gotta go to Bingo girl.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
I know there's one right down the street.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
I've never in all these years i've lived here, I've
never gone, let's wear wigs and go. Oh my gosh, yes,
let's go buy some wigs and we'll go.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
I want to bob like some anime plays. Oh my gosh, Cosplay.
You should fucking go cosplay Bingo.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
God. I love you, Shannon. No. So, before I end
this podcast, just remind everybody to hit subscriber follow if
you want to join our Patreon, which means you could
get one extra episode a week. Members only, that's right,
numbers only. You can join Patreon, p A t R
(33:50):
e O N dot com slash t n T crimes,
or you can go to the Apple podcast app if
you listen there and you can sign up there just
hit a little button. It's so easy. It's so easy,
and it's so fun, and videos are coming.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
We're learning and got two girls.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
It'll be a good twenty twenty five for the pod.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
So yes, very much excited.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
I already wear my Space phones. Can't wait to show
you guys, I really hear too. No waits for my girls,
for my gangs.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
So all right, you and I will talk to you,
my dear, I'll talk to you baby, Love you, love you,
Bye bye
This episode MA contained content of a graphic nature, including
descriptions of physical and sexual violence against adults, children, and animals.
Listener discretion is advised. Hi, this is Tanya. Hi this
(00:37):
is Shannon, and we are Crimes and Consequences, a hardcore
true crime podcast. Hey Shannon, Hey Tanya, how are you?
I'm doing good? If I was doing bad, does anybody
really care?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
It's a bear shit in the woods kind of question
against Bet, little Bet, But.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
I do get it. Why bother?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Complaining? Why bother? And really it just it wastes time.
It's that energy I had. Just for an example, I
told Brooke the other day, my daughter, I said, you
know what, Brooke, when I was going through stuff as
we do, and I would think about, oh, just rage
and things that I hated and justice that I needed
to see and past of it. She's going through some
(01:23):
stuff of heartbreak and betrayal. And then I would think
of you, and then that would make me happy, like
it would bring me out of that hate and rage.
And then I realized, Wow, I think I'm gonna use
my anytime I start to get in a way that
I can feel like, oh, I'll think of Brooke because
all that energy can go to her. And I'm a
big believer in sending good and bad energy, so I
(01:45):
want to send all this. She lifts my spirit, so
to give her an example.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Oh that's yeah, you try.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I know our girls, right, what we won't do? We
heal ourselves? My God.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
That's some right there.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Amen? Amen? Oh my God.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
So I'm God.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I told Broke. I'm going to start saying on God,
I'm bad. Lil Rilla says that I'm God.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
So I have an interesting story today. It's kind of
similar to things that have been happening in the news.
But before I get into it, I just like to
remind everyone to hit the subscriber follow button on whatever
app you're listening to. So I'm gonna tell you a
story about a man named Sidney Joseph Riso, and he
was born February twelfth, nineteen thirty five, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
(02:37):
He was always destined to make something of himself from
the day he was born. He was a pride and
joy of his family growing up, and he had three siblings.
Growing up in New Orleans the Riso family. They were
devout Catholic. Sydney didn't only have brains, but he was
also the star of his high school football team, so
(02:58):
he was also an athlete. Sidney went on to graduate
from Louisiana State University after he spent his college years
studying in the petroleum engineering program. Before Sydney had even
graduated college, he had met and married his wife, Patricia,
and Patricia gave birth to their first son in nineteen
fifty eight, which was only a year after he graduated college.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Oh right out the gate, get at the fad gone
right there.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
And Sydney started his career at Humble Oil as a
junior engineer. Sydney and Patricia's relationship was described by friends
and family as one of the rare ones. The couple
truly were write or die for each other and were
completely committed in choosing to love one another every single day.
The couple went on to have four more children, and
(03:48):
as a family of five, they were thriving. That was
until the family experienced their first tragedy when their son, Gregory,
died at the age of twenty seven from AIDS. A
few months Gregory was dying in the hospital in Houston
with his mom by his side. His father, Sidney, who
was in New Jersey, at this point for work, would
(04:09):
fly down every weekend to support a son. In nineteen
ninety two, Sydney and Patricia had been married for thirty
six years.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
So, as we know now, fifty seven year old Sydney
was always destined to make something for himself and he
did just that because at the age of fifty seven,
Sidney held the title of president of Eggson International, the
oil company. Some in the business would argue that he
was the most important person in this massive corporation, and
(04:39):
he had powerful influence over the oil industry. In nineteen
ninety two, Sidney was making really good money too. He
was clearing about half a million dollars a year in
salary before stocks and bonuses. Oh my gosh, was back
in ninety two, So this is an ass ton of mind.
(04:59):
He ran all of Eggxon's oil and gas activities and
subsidiaries that were outside of the United States. He was
responsible for over half of Eggxon's worldwide assets, and that
was a huge responsibility. Sydney, Patricia, and their children lived
in a sleepy little cul de sac and a nearly
(05:20):
seven hundred thousand dollars home. Their beautiful home was perfectly
placed amongst the trees about two hundred and fifty feet
away from the road, and at the time of the
story it was late April, so the trees, bushes, and
flowers were just starting to bloom, not fully shielding the
home from the neighbors. On the morning of April twenty ninth,
(05:41):
Kddie Benson, who was a neighbor of the Risos, was
putting out her recyclicables at seven point fifteen when she
noticed a woman with blonde hair walking down the street
in her direction. She'd never seen this woman before, and
since they lived in a cul de sac, this was odd.
It wasn't typically for people people who didn't live down
(06:01):
there to be walking that way. I kind of understand,
I live on a street like on a court, and
I have a call to Sack, so not a lot
of people walking by. I mean, I don't live down
in the cull A Sack area, but I mean.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
You wouldn't know. Yeah, yeah, that's not a lot.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Of traffic from the neighborhood, and there's not like a
lot of people out walking past my house, so I
get it. About fifteen minutes later, at seven point thirty,
Sydney had finished up his breakfast and was getting into
his car to head to the office that day. Sydney
had a typical routine, like his morning routine just like
most of us. He would go back and forth between
driving himself to work and having his driver take him.
(06:40):
Every day that he drove himself, he would drive down
the long driveway, stop and just reach down and grab
the paper from the end of the driveway without even
getting out of the car, so he'd like open up
his door and grab it. That morning, April twenty ninth,
the paper wasn't in the normal spot, so Sydney had
to park his car and walk to go get it.
By eight am, another neighbor whose husband also worked at Exon,
(07:03):
was on her morning walk when she noticed Sidney's car
idling in the driveway. This was obviously strange since Sidney
was nowhere to be found, and she called the Exon
offices right away to see if Sydney was already at
the office, and he wasn't, so his secretary immediately called
his wife at home. Patricia went to check out the
(07:23):
scene for herself and walk down the driveway. When she
got down there, she saw Sydney's car idling, just like
the neighbor had said. The driver's side door was slightly open,
and his briefcase and coat were still on the passenger seat.
She pulled a driver's side door open further with a
tissue from her pocket and turned the car off before
(07:44):
calling police. At this point, police knew immediately that there
was foul play involved, and an investigation was opened because like,
Sydney was nowhere to be found.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Yeah, and he's a million and he's Exxon.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I mean, this is right, one of the big rulers
of the world, so right on missing, yeah, exactly. About
twenty six hours later, both Patricia and the Exon office
in Florham Park where Sidney Worke had received messages from
a group who was calling themselves the Rainbow Warriors. At first,
(08:18):
police weren't sure if this was a prank or if
it was serious, because news had broken out about this
pretty quickly, and it could have been some random people
doing things like to just you know, be funny.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Right. While the thought of it being a prank was quick,
the reality of the situation came forward even quicker. The
Exxon office had received a random call that there was
a letter taped to a lamppost at Livingston Mall. They
called police, and sure enough, when the police arrived at
the mall, there was a letter right where they said
it was. That letter was where investigators found out that
(08:52):
Sidney had been kidnapped and they were making demands. They
also provided proof that they had Sydney in their custody.
The proof was that the kidnappers included his credit card
with the letter. The card that they had attached was
his company credit card from Eggson. The next day May first,
investigators received another call with instructions on how to find
(09:14):
another letter. This letter was hidden behind a rock in
Lewis Morris Park, New Jersey. This letter had further instructions
of what they had to do to be able to
get Sydney back safely. In the second letter, they indicated
that they wanted eighteen point five million dollars in one
hundred dollars bills. Oh my gosh, this was the largest
(09:38):
ransom asking in history. At this time, investigators were still
operating like they were an echo terrorist group. So let's
quickly discuss the history of the name Rainbow Warriors. Okay,
this so called group, the environmental group Greenpeace, owned a
ship called the Rainbow Warrior that was sunk in nineteen
(09:59):
eighty five. In the ransom letter, the kidnappers had identified
themselves as an environmental group, but they described themselves more
like an eco terrorist group. This led police to believe
that this was an attack against the oil industry and
Exon Mobil Corporation specifically. In the ransom letters, the kidnappers
wrote multiple paragraphs about the world's impact on the environment
(10:23):
and that their goal was to have large corporations donate
to and commit to the end of what the Rainbow
Warriors were calling destruction of the environment. The kidnappers stated
that in return for the release of Sydney, they would
need assurance that no one would interfere with the delivery.
If there was interference, the Rainbow Warriors threatened that Sydney
(10:43):
would be the first of their examples they planned to set.
At this point, the FBI was involved in the case.
After the second letter, investigators made a plan with the
kidnappers to exchange the ransom money and Sydney. Their plan
was that one of the investigators, Ed Peterson, was going
to pose as an EGXON executive who was the public
(11:03):
information officer. Ed was going to be the one who
was taking all the calls made to the EGXON office,
which were actually being re routed to another office. Ed
was at to organize the meeting as well as the
one to go to the meeting. The kidnappers directed Ed
to go to a phone booth in a place called
Villa Restaurant in Summit, New Jersey. They instructed Ed to
(11:26):
just wait there for a call and have the ransom
money with him. Ed waited several hours for the phone
call that never came. After the kidnappers failed to show,
Sydney's family and investigators went about two weeks with no
communication from them. With pressure and fear building, a manhunt
to find Sydney ensued. On the night of June eighteenth,
(11:50):
nineteen ninety two, a phone call came into what the
kidnappers believed was the EXON office phone number, and Ed answered.
The kidnappers gave very clear instruction of what the plan
was for the meetup. They were to be driving the
family Subaru station wagon. They wanted the eighteen point five
million dollars and used one hundred dollars bills, and they
(12:12):
wanted the bills equally divided into ten different Eddie Bauer
laundry bags. The two delivery people were going to be
a family member of the Riese family and an Exon spokesperson.
The kidnappers basically started the evening by leading investigators from
one phone booth to the next. Driving the station wagon
was an FBI agent who looked similar to Renee Risso.
(12:36):
Sydney and Patricia's daughter at Peterson went with her posing
as the spokesperson. They were also leaving notes under benches
and such that were giving other directions. The kidnappers repeatedly
reminded investigators that they were being watched during the delivery
process and that it was crucial for them to follow
all instructions to a tee and to drive at normal
(12:58):
speeds In these no The directions were very specific with
exactly how many miles a drive in landmarks that they
would pass or could use to help them ensure that
they were in the right place. They ended up on
a stone driveway to a plant for an engineering corporation
called Conlean Sanderson. On this driveway there was a phone booth.
(13:20):
They needed to be there before ten pm to wait
for the call. The agents standing in and there. Rene
Riso needed to be the one to answer the phone
so that she could answer questions and then receive further instructions.
When that call came in, the agents were wired in.
All of the FBI agents, which there was over two
hundred and fifty of them on this investigations I know,
(13:42):
were able to hear the call and be on standby
for further instructions. Basically, they had FBI agents watching phone
booths all over the area that could potentially be the
one that the kidnappers made the call from. So as
soon as the investigators at the phone booth the kidnappers
sent them to start to receive a call, other agents
were alerted and when the phone call ended, the agents
(14:05):
were alerted as well. The agent that was at a
strip mall called Chester Mall in Chester, New Jersey, saw
a man approach a phone booth and make a call
at the exact time that the other agents were receiving
the call. The man at the Chester Mall also ended
the call at the same time the ransom call ended.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
And that was I know.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
And if that wasn't enough. After hanging up the phone,
the man at Chester Mall slyly removed latex gloves and
slipped them into his pocket.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Oh this smells like chicken dinner.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yes, yes, exactly So the agent that was at the
Chester Mall was a woman, and she knew that she
probably had the kidnapper under her surveillance. She ran the
plate of the car that the man got into and
it was registered to a rental car agency in Hackettstown,
New Jersey. The man hunt continues, so investigators decid to
(15:00):
abort the mission that evening and wait untill the kidnappers
went to return the rentel car, and at that time,
on June nineteenth, nineteen ninety two, they arrested him in
the trunk of the rental car. Was all types of
evidence that indicated this suspect was most likely involved in
the kidnapping of Sydney. Shortly after they made the arrest
(15:21):
at the rental car place, the kidnappers accomplice came to
pick him up and they arrested her as well. So
who in the hell are these kidnappers? Yes, it turns
out they were actually a husband and wife team, not
an echo terrorist group called Rainbow Warriors. Their names were
Arthur and Jackie Seal. Both Arthur and Jackie had good
(15:43):
upbringings and during their childhoods, the couple's families were considered
rich for their time in nineteen sixty seven, the pair
got married and Arthur joined the police force in nineteen
sixty eight. Both Jackie and Arthur were well educated. They
had two children, Courtney, and Arthur was a retired police
officer who was off from work on disability. Arthur also
(16:06):
actually worked as head of security at the Exon Mobile
office in Floorsham Park in nineteen eighty two and was
promoted to security manager before resigning in nineteen eighty four
to pursue starting his own furniture company in the Carolinas
with his wife, Jackie. Arthur was only on the police
force for six years, and during those six years he
(16:27):
was fined three times and suspended twice for insubordination and
pulling out his gun when he shouldn't have. Yeah wow yeah.
While the disability claim was legit, it was also the
most beneficial situation for both the force and Arthur. So
this is when Arthur became a sixty thousand dollars a
(16:50):
year employee working as head of security at the Exon
office and the family settled in Chester, New Jersey. Neighbors
always recalled them as living a quiet life. Jackie worked
as an office manager and a wine cellar that sounds
like fun.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
And it's comfortable, I know, right, like my.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Wine cellar and her boss at the time would describe
her as an honest, hard worker. In nineteen eighty six,
they moved to Hilton Head, South Carolina. I've always wanted
to go there.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Yeah, I mean too.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
To pursue their dreams as a family, the seals Is
purchased a five hundred thousand dollars interior design company and
a thirty eight foot sloop, which is a type of
sailboat that they named Galon.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I know right, that sounds nice.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
That sounds really nice. They bought a home within a
resort on Hilton Head that was one of the most
expensive ones on the property. Neighbors in hilton had recall
Arthur really taking a liking to sailing and working on
improving his sailing skills while they lived there.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Man, it would be so fucking cool, right, Oh my gosh,
if that you know, I just I'd love a little
time to get back into water color painting, let alone
sailing ailing.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
No, I'm.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
I love it failing.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I know, I think of the Wedding Crashers when.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
That movie was funny, awesome. It was reported that he
would often take Gallant on frequent trips to Florida. Unfortunately,
the business was not successful and they ended up leaving
town in the middle of the night to attempt a
fresh start in Veil, Colorado. Talk about going to rich
places no.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
And other yes, I mean ping pong, leaving under the
veil of darkness and framing it as a new opportunity.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
They left a trail of lawsuits seeking over seven hundred
and fifteen thousand dollars. The seals Is were also being
sued by Bill and Sally Hunter, who they had bought
their store from. Thompson, an advertising account executive that worked
with the couple, said that Arthur and Jackie were an
outgoing and ambitious couple who really wanted to give it
(19:09):
their all and take a real shot at this business.
Upon moving to Vail, the seals were somehow able to
purchase a five hundred thousand dollars home, but this was
short lived because Arthur and Jackie had no real job prospects.
Other than issues with not having a job, the family
was having issues amongst themselves as well. Police were often
(19:31):
called to their home and on three different occasions, their daughter, Courtney,
who was fifteen at the time, had attempted to run
away from home. Joe Veneman, a police officer in Veil,
recalled that Courtney expressed on multiple occasions that she did
not have a good relationship with her father, Arthur. After
their failure to start fresh in Veil, the family moved
(19:52):
to Arthur's parents' house in Lebanon Township, New Jersey, and
they were really hitting rock bottom. They were three quarters
of a million dollars in debt and had no job prospects.
To say that they were in desperate times would be
an understatement. Everyone who knew the couple personally was completely shocked.
The seals Is drove nice cars and sent their children
(20:13):
to private school. Arthur had told friends that he was
awarded a million dollars in a settlement after he was
hit by another police officer's car while on duty. However,
the department says that he retired in nineteen seventy seven
on disability and only received two thirds of his fifteen
thousand dollars annual salary.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Oh my gosh, I know the annual salary for a
police officer is in nineteen.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Seven and seven. Yeah, that's wow.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Peanuts, peanuts exactly. It seemed that the pressure of maintaining
their lifestyle and being overwhelmed with the financial hardship that
they faced, the seals Is were becoming desperate and more extrain.
That's when they devised a plan. Arthur knew that Exon
had paid a ransom in the past, and so he
going to copycat that plan, but significantly up the dollar amount.
(21:04):
This whole plan was Arthur's idea, and Jackie was just
going to be a participant to help make it happen.
Once Arthur decided on Sydney as their target, he worked
for three months perfecting their plan. If only he had
put that energy into finding a job, I'm no kidding,
Oh my gosh. Arthur and Jackie would conduct regular surveillance
(21:24):
of the Riso Houme to figure out Sidney's basic day
to day schedule. During these three months, Arthur spent a
lot of time researching how to avoid paying taxes on
the ransom money he planned to collect. Like, really, dude,
you're gonna how's the I Rex gonna know about this money? Right?
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Yeah? I know he you know, a little big for
the Birches.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Yeah, I mean, I know you can't put it in
the bank. I know, I know that bank's going to
raise an eyebrow if you go to deposit eighteen point
five million dollars.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Or ninety nine every week. Yes, one hundred years ye.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Right. Arthur finally decided on the final plan of how
he and Jackie would kidnap Sydney. He built a coffin
like box and put padlocks on it for them to
keep Sydney inside during kidnapping and holding him hostage. Then
came the morning of April twenty ninth, nineteen ninety two.
Jackie posed as a runner in the neighborhood. That's the
(22:28):
woman that the neighbor saw, yeah, And after the daily
paper was delivered, she ran past and kicked it to
the grassy area next to the driveway. Because Jackie kicked
the newspaper, Sydney needed to get out of the car
and walked to pick up the paper, and he did
just that. Suddenly, a white van pulled up at the
end of the driveway and Jackie hopped out with Arthur
still inside. She was holding a gun and the couple
(22:51):
instructed Sydney to get inside the van. Jackie fired the
gun and accidentally shot Sydney. When a struggle ensued, when
Sydney realized that not only did they want him to
get into the van, they wanted him to get into
a wooden box. Once inside the box, Sidney's eyes and
mouth were duct taped, as well as his wrists were
(23:12):
duct taped together. He was restrained even further by rope
stretched across his body and tied lattice style. Jackie would
recall that Sidney tried to reason with them, begging them
that he would cooperate, but just didn't want to get
inside that wooden box and be restrained. Arthur and Jackie
really just completely disregarded any pleas from Sydney, and from
(23:35):
the start it didn't seem like they truly cared if
he lived or died. They just wanted this payout. After
kidnapping Sydney, Arthur and Jackie took him to a storage
facility in Warren County, New Jersey, where they capped the
storage box in a safe storage room. While it was
not Arthur and Jackie's intention to actually kill Sydney, they
(23:56):
found him dead after not taking proper care of him
while they held him hostage. Authorities continued to work the scene,
wanting to figure out how hot it was inside the
storage unit and the box itself to try and find
out more about what Sidney had to endure before he died.
When they found him dead, Arthur and Jackie moved Sidney's
(24:16):
body to the Base River State Forest near the Garden
State Parkway and buried him. When investigators found him, Sidney's
body had already started decomposing. Arthur had gone to school
in the area, so he was very familiar with it
and felt comfortable hiding a body there. Without the help
of Jackie, who had a very good memory of where
Arthur had chosen to bury Sydney, they may have never
(24:38):
been able to find him. Wow In court, Arthur actually
testified that Sidney died in his arms. The couple had
arrived to check on him when they realized he was dying.
When police arrested Jackie and Arthur, they asked Jackie to
be honest and that they needed to know if they
were looking for someone that was alive or dead. Jackie
only replied that they were looking for someone one who
(25:00):
was probably dead. Turned out that Sidney had actually died
only four days after he was kidnapped, and Arthur and
Jackie decided to continue on with their plan despite knowing
he was already dead and would potentially be paid the
ransom for nothing. Arthur and Jackie literally left no way
for Sidney to potentially be able to escape or call
(25:20):
for help. After transporting and bearing Sydney in the forest,
Arthur destroyed the homemade box that Sidney was kept in.
Jackie was the first to cooperate with police and the investigation.
Not only was she able to lead them to the body,
but she was able to uncover the entire scheme to investigators.
She was also able to give key details behind why
(25:41):
the first exchange went wrong and the reason that the
kidnappers never called ed at the payphone at the Villa restaurant,
and it was because Arthur was dyslexic and mixed up
the last four digits of the phone number, calling the
wrong payphone without realizing it. Jackie Seal took a plea deal,
and she pleaded guilty to one count of extortion and
(26:01):
one count of conspiracy to extort, avoiding the kidnapping and
murder charges. She was sentenced to twenty years in prison
and five years of supervised release. She was also fined
five hundred thousand dollars. Jackie spent seventeen years in prison,
where she taught pilates to other inmates and Pele waited
(26:22):
to be released. On January ten, twenty ten, she was freed. Arthur,
on the other hand, did not take a plea deal
from the government. He ended up pleading guilty to a
seven count indictment two days before his trial was set
to start. This indictment included conspiracy to commit extortion, mailing
(26:43):
of threats, using a firearm during a violent crime, using
the mail with intent to extort, use of telephone with
intent to extort, two counts of travel with the intent
to extort. Who knew that these were all crimes? Wow?
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Exactly?
Speaker 1 (26:58):
And Hobbs Act extortion. Arthur was sentenced to ninety five
years in prison without the possibility of parole and five
years of supervised release. Oh ninety five with five years
Come on, I mean, that's just almost like a flick
on the dick to add that you learned to make
ninety five years, I know, isn't it funny?
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (27:20):
He was ordered to pay one point seventy five million
dollars in fines. Due to the fact that both Arthur
and Jackie were unable to pay fines at this time,
they actually had a negative net worth, so they both
appealed the fines. But in addition to these fines, the
Riso family also decided to suit Arthur and Jackie for
(27:40):
wrongful death. Despite knowing that Sydney had passed away, and
even despite moving and bearing his body, Arthur and Jackie
Seal continued to push that he was alive and his
family would get him back safely if the ransom was paid.
Can't believe this.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
That is just so diabolic. Call right, you give falls hope?
Are you kidding me? That's fucking fucked up.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
It's so fucked up. In twenty twenty, our third attempted
defile for early release on a release called compassionate release,
but the judge had little to no sympathy for the
killer and he was denied zero compassion. Right, can't get
what you didn't give? Honestly, Yeah, I think the courts
(28:27):
intend for him to just die, yes, and that is
the end.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
I cannot believe, like you said, this whole plan just
search for a job. You have the brains obviously, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
They were well educated, families were rich. I don't understand.
I don't know, you know, because I think of someone
who follows the law or I think like someone who
follows the law. Yes, right, I don't think like a criminal.
So I'm just.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
To that frame of mind.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
As you were telling the story, I would think of
the movie Ransom, you know, with Mel Gibson and Renee Russo,
and you know, because of the little the ransom notes,
do this, bring this, do five cartwheels before you answer the.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Phone with his daughter, you know, come on?
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Yeah, and then then I get like.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
I've parlayed into the other guys in the meeting room
at the end there in the slow motion. Yeah, just
I don't know, but yeah, the Reso family. That's terrible
and diabolical for her really too to kick that paper
that I mean, she was so integral and getting him
(29:38):
in that van. Oh yeah, it's Arthur's plan, right, but
she is right hand. She is Bonnie to his Clyde.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Definitely, while she didn't think it up, fully participated. So
that's what happens. Though people take plea deals. I'm sure
finding Sydney's body part of it, like she needed.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Yeah, that was very helpful.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
I know there's like this, Okay, she did good here,
but this is like, oh you right, but I don't
understand how like She tells them where the body is,
but then continues to tell the family, Oh, don't worry
if you just.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
That is oh such a betrayal.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Yeah, like oh the rainbow, Yeah that was genius.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Because the Exxon valdis that wasn't that spill?
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Yeah? Nine? So yeah, echo terrorists just kind of go
hand and glove with this ye spinning.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
And Arthur could see the big picture in that.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
That's pretty impressive in a dark way. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
So I'm so glad that I did not know what
I'm thinking. Where was I in nineteen ninety two? Oh,
I was just getting out of the army. I was,
you know, I'm sure I was. Yeah, ninety two is
the honorably discharged? And was I getting divorced or married?
Speaker 3 (31:02):
I was getting married. That's right.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Where you didn't get divorced yet because I knew your
ex husband, so eight years later that didn't for a
few years.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Oh, I loved when you read us our horoscopes on
the way to bingo. That is all that lives rent
free in my hand.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Tell that story, Shannon, Yes, we know your X husband
and I were on our way to go play bingo
in Ontario, Canada, which was a hot place in the
mid nineties. You could smoke in there.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
I was.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
I was a wonderful smoker.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
I could stay for hours at the bingo hall. I
just remember where I got introduced to gravy fries.
Speaker 3 (31:43):
They're the best.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Yeah. So the three of us are driving to, you know,
go play bingo, and we had bought a book and
it was all about horoscopes. Your ex husband was an Aquarius.
I remember, Yeah, I read the because they had in
the book like, oh, you know your sign and your
significant other sign and this is the hour one.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Yes, the partnerships between the signs and how they work
out exactly.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
And it wasn't good. I was like, oh sorry, guys, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
It was such an awkward silence.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
It was I think the last even sudden was like
these relationships rarely last, and then the silence and then
the apology, and then I think I had that running
joke where I would call him my first.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
Husband before we even spoke about the war.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
My first husband. Nana's first husband was an islander.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
Oh yes, he had read in Hawaii.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Yes, yeah, good person.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I was like, oh, sorry, apparently you know I didn't read.
I didn't read ahead.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
So it was just I was just happy to be
going to Bengo.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I can at some level I knew this was first
marriage in a you know, just learning life experience way.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
So yeah, whoops, good times.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
We gotta go to Bingo girl.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
I know there's one right down the street.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
I've never in all these years i've lived here, I've
never gone, let's wear wigs and go. Oh my gosh, yes,
let's go buy some wigs and we'll go.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
I want to bob like some anime plays. Oh my gosh, Cosplay.
You should fucking go cosplay Bingo.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
God. I love you, Shannon. No. So, before I end
this podcast, just remind everybody to hit subscriber follow if
you want to join our Patreon, which means you could
get one extra episode a week. Members only, that's right,
numbers only. You can join Patreon, p A t R
(33:50):
e O N dot com slash t n T crimes,
or you can go to the Apple podcast app if
you listen there and you can sign up there just
hit a little button. It's so easy. It's so easy,
and it's so fun, and videos are coming.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
We're learning and got two girls.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
It'll be a good twenty twenty five for the pod.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
So yes, very much excited.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
I already wear my Space phones. Can't wait to show
you guys, I really hear too. No waits for my girls,
for my gangs.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
So all right, you and I will talk to you,
my dear, I'll talk to you baby, Love you, love you,
Bye bye
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!