October 26, 2024 • 13 mins
Day 19 of the Crimetober Series is about the arrest of John Z DeLorean which occurred on October 19, 1982.
I apologize for the late release
Sources
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-z-delorean-is-arrested-in-24-million-cocaine-deal
https://m.imdb.com/name/nm1359338/bio/
https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/delorean-john
I apologize for the late release
Sources
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-z-delorean-is-arrested-in-24-million-cocaine-deal
https://m.imdb.com/name/nm1359338/bio/
https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/delorean-john
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Welcome back to Nature Versus Narcissism. As always, I'm your host, Heather,
and today I'm rolling solo. Many of our longtime listeners
know that each spooky season we like to throw a
bit of a curve ball and share a series with
you that doesn't quite follow the main feed format, and
this year is no different. This year, we're aiming to
bring you at least one main Feed episode per day
in October, plus some Patreon episodes sprinkled throughout, even if
(00:44):
that means you're receiving them late because life is hectic
and unpredictable, but at least you'll get an episode for
each day of October. Because this year we're bringing you
a story about a crime that occurred or has a
connection to each day in October. And today we're talking
about October nineteenth. So why don't we get started. In
(01:05):
today's episode, I want to discuss automaker John z.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Delorian and his arrest.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Yes, I said Delourian as in the Car and the
Back to the Future movies. Before discussing his arrest, let's
talk a bit about who he was. John Zachary Delourian
was born on January sixth, nineteen twenty five to parents,
Zachary and Catherine Delourian in Detroit, Michigan. He was the
oldest of four siblings and attended Detroit public schools. He
(01:34):
was accepted into cass Technical High School, which is a
technical high school for Detroit honor students, where he signed
up for the electrical curriculum. He then earned a scholarship
at Lawrence Institute of Technology in Highland Park, which today
is known as Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, but his
studies were interrupted when he was drafted for military service
(01:57):
and served three years in the US Army during World
War One. He received an honorable discharge in nineteen forty
six and returned to Detroit to find his mother and
siblings in economic difficulty. His parents had divorced in nineteen
forty two after his erratic behavior and violence towards John's
mother became more frequent by John's father. John subsequently saw
(02:20):
little of his father, who moved into a boarding house
and became a solitary individual, and he was an estranged
drug addict. He worked as a draftsman for the Public
Lighting Commission for a year and a half to improve
his family's financial status, then returned to Lawrence to finish
his degree. While back in college, he worked part time
(02:43):
at Chrysler and at a local body shop. He graduated
in nineteen forty eight with a Bachelor of Science degree
in industrial engineering, but he didn't go right into the field.
He instead sold life insurance for a time. He would
later share that he did this in order to improve
his communication skill. He briefly attended the Detroit College of
(03:03):
Law but did not graduate. In nineteen fifty two, he
graduated from the Chrysler Institute with a master's degree in
automotive engineering and joined Chrysler's engineering team. He attended night
classes at the University of Michigan's Rows School of Business
to earn credits for his MBA degree, which he completed
in nineteen fifty seven. Delaurian was at Chrysler for less
(03:27):
than a year, and then in nineteen fifty three he
was offered a salary of fourteen thousand dollars equivalent to
one hundred and fifty nine thousand, four hundred and thirty
three dollars.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
In twenty twenty three, he.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Was at Packard Motor Company under the supervision of engineer
Forest McFarland.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
When he was given that position.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Delaurian quickly gained his new employer's attention with an improvement
to the Ultramatic automatic transmission, giving it an improved torque converter.
In dual drive ranges, it was relaunched as the Twin Ultramatic.
His schooling and experience was starting to pay off finally.
While Ford, General Motors and Chrysler had begun producing affordable,
(04:07):
mainstream products designed to cater to the rising post war
middle class, Packard had retained its preorer notions of high end,
precisely engineered luxury cars. This had a positive effect on
Delaurian's attention to engineering detail, and after four years at Packard,
he became McFarland's successor as head of research and development.
(04:29):
But there was a price war, so although profitable, Packard
was suffering along with others in the industry. So Packard's
president ultimately decided to merge with Studebaker Corporation in nineteen
fifty four, and instead of keeping his job and moving
to Indiana, Delourian accepted an offer from the vice president
of engineering with General Motors, and Delurian was given his
(04:51):
pick of any of the five divisions.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
In nineteen fifty six.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Delaurian accepted a salary offer of sixteen thousand dollars, which
was equivalent to to one hundred and seventy nine three
hundred and ten in twenty twenty three, and this came
with a bonus program choosing to work at GM's Pontiac
division as an assistant to Chief Engineer PSD's and General
Manager Seaman aka Bunkie Nutsman or Nudsen. Delriian produced dozens
(05:19):
of patent innovations for the company and in nineteen sixty
one was promoted to division chief engineer. He is just
honestly climbing the ladders. He is killing it. It doesn't
matter which company he's with. He's able to provide all
of his intel and expertise in the field, and honestly,
he's killing it. So Delurian became widely known at Pontiac
(05:44):
for the Pontiac Gto, which is a muscle car named
after the Ferrari To fifty gto. Honestly, it's such a
beautiful car.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Love it.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
And even as General Motors experienced revenue declines, Pontiac remained
highly profitable under DeLorean, and despite his growing reputation as
a corporate maverick, on February fifteenth. In nineteen sixty nine,
he was again promoted. This time it was to head
up the prestigious Chevrolet Division General Motors flagship Marquee, and
(06:14):
by this time Dolourian earned an annual salary of two
hundred thousand dollars, which was equivalent to one million, six
hundred and sixty one thousand, seven hundred and six dollars
in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Like fucking sign me up. That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
And he also had yearly bonuses of up to four
hundred thousand dollars. He was ubiquitous in popular culture and
at a time when businesses executives were typically more conservative,
low key individuals, you know, in three piece suits. Very
dapper looking. Deloian wore long.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Sideburns and unbuttoned shirts.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
He was quite a trendsetter in his own right. He
went against the grain, and many didn't like that about him,
but he was living it up. He was enjoying every
ounce of his fame and fortune as one should. He
continued on succeeding with the company and lots of changes
were coming down the pike. In nineteen seventy two, Dolorian
(07:11):
was appointed to the position of vice president of car
and truck production for the entire General Motors line, and
his eventual rise to president seemed inevitable. Delorian was sharply
critical of the direction GM had been taken by the
(07:33):
start of the nineteen seventies, as well as objecting to
the idea of using rebates to sell cars. He said, quote,
there's no forward response at General Motors to what the
public wants today. A car should make people's eyes light
up when they step into the showroom. Rebates are merely
a way of convincing customers to buy bland cars that
they're not interested in.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
End quote. Smart guy.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Delorian left General Motors in nineteen seventy three to form
his own company, the DeLorean Motor Company. A two seat
sports car prototype was shown in the mid nineteen seventies
called the Dolorean Safety Vehicle or DSV, with its bodyshell
designed by Itteal Designs Giorgietto Gijaro. Sorry if I butchered
that the car entered into production as the Dolorean. The
(08:21):
car's body distinctively used stainless steel and featured goaling doors beautiful.
It was powered by the duveren V six engine developed
by Pagantte, Renault and.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Volvo, known as the PrV.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Its stainless steel body was unpainted, Its doors opened up,
not out, and it had one hundred and thirty horse
power Renault engine and could go from zero to sixty
in eight seconds. Not many people actually bought a Dolourian car.
They were much too expensive. Compare it to the ten
thousand dollars sticker for an average car and an eighteen
(08:57):
thousand dollars sticker for a souped up corvette. The Lurians
were being sold for twenty five thousand dollars. Okay, now
that you have a bit more about mister Dolorean, let's
talk about why we're here. According to the History Channel website,
on October nineteenth, nineteen eighty two, Dolorean was arrested and
charged with conspiracy to obtain and distribute fifty five pounds
(09:19):
of cocaine. This was following a videotaped steing operation in
which he was recorded by undercover federal agents agreeing to
bankroll a cocaine smuggling operation, talk about trends, letter and
the way he wants to live. This may be frowned
upon by other people. I mean I can see the
clothing and how people may want to spend their money
(09:42):
however they want. But I mean this is this is
a little over the top. Obtaining and distributing fifty five
pounds of cocaine, that's quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
So the FBI set him up with.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
More than fifty nine pounds of cocaine worth about six
point five million dollars in a hotel near Los ang
Angelis International Airport after arriving from New York, with the
FBI stating Dolorean was the financier to help them financially,
basically to help his company that was financially declining, in
(10:14):
a scheme to sell about two hundred and twenty pounds
with an estimated value of twenty four million dollars to
kind of get his company, you know, out of bankrupt
if you will. As I mentioned, they weren't selling many
of their cars, and it sounds like they were quite
expensive to make, so I guess any means necessary, that's
(10:36):
what he thought, And on August sixteenth, nineteen eighty four,
he was acquitted on the drug charges. But apparently this
was just the beginning for his legal troubles. Over the
next two decades. He would be forced to pay millions
of dollars to creditors and lawyers after going on trial
for fraud charges, because by then DMC had already collapsed
(10:56):
into bankruptcy and Dolorean's reputation as a businessman was irrevocably tarnished.
On September twenty first, nineteen eighty five, Delaurian was indicted
on charges he defrauded investors and committed tax evasion by
diverting millions of dollars raised for the company to himself.
He was eventually acquitted of all of those charges. And
(11:20):
remember when I told you how much the dolouriance costs
and the fact that not many were sold. The company's
financial trouble, Delorean's attorneys argued, was the reason that the
FBI had been able to entrap him in the twenty
four million dollar drug deal. The authorities knew he would
do anything to save his business. According to the article,
Delurian was already mired in legal problems by the time
(11:44):
Director Robert Zamachus chose a DMC twelve to serve as
Marty McFly's time machine and back to the future. Spielberg
had originally planned to use an old refrigerator instead of
a car, but had changed his mind at the last minute.
The direct director liked the Dolorian's futuristic look, but more
than that, he was worried that young fans of the
(12:04):
movie might accidentally get stuck in refrigerators and freezers while
playing meek Believe. With all of that being said, Delorian
lived quite the life. He was even married four times
before his death in two thousand and five at the
age of eighty. The Delorian Museum, based in Humble, Texas,
was established in two thousand and six to honor DeLorean
through the display, interpretation, conservation, and preservation of Deloorian vehicles, archives.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
And other objects.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Delorian died at Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, from
a stroke on March nineteen, two thousand and five, at
the age of eighty. His ashes are interned at the
Whitechapel Cemetery in Troy, Michigan. His tombstone shows a depiction
of his Dolorian sports car with the golling doors open.
And that's all I have for you guys today. Until
(12:52):
next time, staying sid stay light, and don't call the cops.
Welcome back to Nature Versus Narcissism. As always, I'm your host, Heather,
and today I'm rolling solo. Many of our longtime listeners
know that each spooky season we like to throw a
bit of a curve ball and share a series with
you that doesn't quite follow the main feed format, and
this year is no different. This year, we're aiming to
bring you at least one main Feed episode per day
in October, plus some Patreon episodes sprinkled throughout, even if
(00:44):
that means you're receiving them late because life is hectic
and unpredictable, but at least you'll get an episode for
each day of October. Because this year we're bringing you
a story about a crime that occurred or has a
connection to each day in October. And today we're talking
about October nineteenth. So why don't we get started. In
(01:05):
today's episode, I want to discuss automaker John z.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Delorian and his arrest.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Yes, I said Delourian as in the Car and the
Back to the Future movies. Before discussing his arrest, let's
talk a bit about who he was. John Zachary Delourian
was born on January sixth, nineteen twenty five to parents,
Zachary and Catherine Delourian in Detroit, Michigan. He was the
oldest of four siblings and attended Detroit public schools. He
(01:34):
was accepted into cass Technical High School, which is a
technical high school for Detroit honor students, where he signed
up for the electrical curriculum. He then earned a scholarship
at Lawrence Institute of Technology in Highland Park, which today
is known as Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, but his
studies were interrupted when he was drafted for military service
(01:57):
and served three years in the US Army during World
War One. He received an honorable discharge in nineteen forty
six and returned to Detroit to find his mother and
siblings in economic difficulty. His parents had divorced in nineteen
forty two after his erratic behavior and violence towards John's
mother became more frequent by John's father. John subsequently saw
(02:20):
little of his father, who moved into a boarding house
and became a solitary individual, and he was an estranged
drug addict. He worked as a draftsman for the Public
Lighting Commission for a year and a half to improve
his family's financial status, then returned to Lawrence to finish
his degree. While back in college, he worked part time
(02:43):
at Chrysler and at a local body shop. He graduated
in nineteen forty eight with a Bachelor of Science degree
in industrial engineering, but he didn't go right into the field.
He instead sold life insurance for a time. He would
later share that he did this in order to improve
his communication skill. He briefly attended the Detroit College of
(03:03):
Law but did not graduate. In nineteen fifty two, he
graduated from the Chrysler Institute with a master's degree in
automotive engineering and joined Chrysler's engineering team. He attended night
classes at the University of Michigan's Rows School of Business
to earn credits for his MBA degree, which he completed
in nineteen fifty seven. Delaurian was at Chrysler for less
(03:27):
than a year, and then in nineteen fifty three he
was offered a salary of fourteen thousand dollars equivalent to
one hundred and fifty nine thousand, four hundred and thirty
three dollars.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
In twenty twenty three, he.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Was at Packard Motor Company under the supervision of engineer
Forest McFarland.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
When he was given that position.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Delaurian quickly gained his new employer's attention with an improvement
to the Ultramatic automatic transmission, giving it an improved torque converter.
In dual drive ranges, it was relaunched as the Twin Ultramatic.
His schooling and experience was starting to pay off finally.
While Ford, General Motors and Chrysler had begun producing affordable,
(04:07):
mainstream products designed to cater to the rising post war
middle class, Packard had retained its preorer notions of high end,
precisely engineered luxury cars. This had a positive effect on
Delaurian's attention to engineering detail, and after four years at Packard,
he became McFarland's successor as head of research and development.
(04:29):
But there was a price war, so although profitable, Packard
was suffering along with others in the industry. So Packard's
president ultimately decided to merge with Studebaker Corporation in nineteen
fifty four, and instead of keeping his job and moving
to Indiana, Delourian accepted an offer from the vice president
of engineering with General Motors, and Delurian was given his
(04:51):
pick of any of the five divisions.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
In nineteen fifty six.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Delaurian accepted a salary offer of sixteen thousand dollars, which
was equivalent to to one hundred and seventy nine three
hundred and ten in twenty twenty three, and this came
with a bonus program choosing to work at GM's Pontiac
division as an assistant to Chief Engineer PSD's and General
Manager Seaman aka Bunkie Nutsman or Nudsen. Delriian produced dozens
(05:19):
of patent innovations for the company and in nineteen sixty
one was promoted to division chief engineer. He is just
honestly climbing the ladders. He is killing it. It doesn't
matter which company he's with. He's able to provide all
of his intel and expertise in the field, and honestly,
he's killing it. So Delurian became widely known at Pontiac
(05:44):
for the Pontiac Gto, which is a muscle car named
after the Ferrari To fifty gto. Honestly, it's such a
beautiful car.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Love it.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
And even as General Motors experienced revenue declines, Pontiac remained
highly profitable under DeLorean, and despite his growing reputation as
a corporate maverick, on February fifteenth. In nineteen sixty nine,
he was again promoted. This time it was to head
up the prestigious Chevrolet Division General Motors flagship Marquee, and
(06:14):
by this time Dolourian earned an annual salary of two
hundred thousand dollars, which was equivalent to one million, six
hundred and sixty one thousand, seven hundred and six dollars
in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Like fucking sign me up. That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
And he also had yearly bonuses of up to four
hundred thousand dollars. He was ubiquitous in popular culture and
at a time when businesses executives were typically more conservative,
low key individuals, you know, in three piece suits. Very
dapper looking. Deloian wore long.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Sideburns and unbuttoned shirts.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
He was quite a trendsetter in his own right. He
went against the grain, and many didn't like that about him,
but he was living it up. He was enjoying every
ounce of his fame and fortune as one should. He
continued on succeeding with the company and lots of changes
were coming down the pike. In nineteen seventy two, Dolorian
(07:11):
was appointed to the position of vice president of car
and truck production for the entire General Motors line, and
his eventual rise to president seemed inevitable. Delorian was sharply
critical of the direction GM had been taken by the
(07:33):
start of the nineteen seventies, as well as objecting to
the idea of using rebates to sell cars. He said, quote,
there's no forward response at General Motors to what the
public wants today. A car should make people's eyes light
up when they step into the showroom. Rebates are merely
a way of convincing customers to buy bland cars that
they're not interested in.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
End quote. Smart guy.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Delorian left General Motors in nineteen seventy three to form
his own company, the DeLorean Motor Company. A two seat
sports car prototype was shown in the mid nineteen seventies
called the Dolorean Safety Vehicle or DSV, with its bodyshell
designed by Itteal Designs Giorgietto Gijaro. Sorry if I butchered
that the car entered into production as the Dolorean. The
(08:21):
car's body distinctively used stainless steel and featured goaling doors beautiful.
It was powered by the duveren V six engine developed
by Pagantte, Renault and.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Volvo, known as the PrV.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Its stainless steel body was unpainted, Its doors opened up,
not out, and it had one hundred and thirty horse
power Renault engine and could go from zero to sixty
in eight seconds. Not many people actually bought a Dolourian car.
They were much too expensive. Compare it to the ten
thousand dollars sticker for an average car and an eighteen
(08:57):
thousand dollars sticker for a souped up corvette. The Lurians
were being sold for twenty five thousand dollars. Okay, now
that you have a bit more about mister Dolorean, let's
talk about why we're here. According to the History Channel website,
on October nineteenth, nineteen eighty two, Dolorean was arrested and
charged with conspiracy to obtain and distribute fifty five pounds
(09:19):
of cocaine. This was following a videotaped steing operation in
which he was recorded by undercover federal agents agreeing to
bankroll a cocaine smuggling operation, talk about trends, letter and
the way he wants to live. This may be frowned
upon by other people. I mean I can see the
clothing and how people may want to spend their money
(09:42):
however they want. But I mean this is this is
a little over the top. Obtaining and distributing fifty five
pounds of cocaine, that's quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
So the FBI set him up with.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
More than fifty nine pounds of cocaine worth about six
point five million dollars in a hotel near Los ang
Angelis International Airport after arriving from New York, with the
FBI stating Dolorean was the financier to help them financially,
basically to help his company that was financially declining, in
(10:14):
a scheme to sell about two hundred and twenty pounds
with an estimated value of twenty four million dollars to
kind of get his company, you know, out of bankrupt
if you will. As I mentioned, they weren't selling many
of their cars, and it sounds like they were quite
expensive to make, so I guess any means necessary, that's
(10:36):
what he thought, And on August sixteenth, nineteen eighty four,
he was acquitted on the drug charges. But apparently this
was just the beginning for his legal troubles. Over the
next two decades. He would be forced to pay millions
of dollars to creditors and lawyers after going on trial
for fraud charges, because by then DMC had already collapsed
(10:56):
into bankruptcy and Dolorean's reputation as a businessman was irrevocably tarnished.
On September twenty first, nineteen eighty five, Delaurian was indicted
on charges he defrauded investors and committed tax evasion by
diverting millions of dollars raised for the company to himself.
He was eventually acquitted of all of those charges. And
(11:20):
remember when I told you how much the dolouriance costs
and the fact that not many were sold. The company's
financial trouble, Delorean's attorneys argued, was the reason that the
FBI had been able to entrap him in the twenty
four million dollar drug deal. The authorities knew he would
do anything to save his business. According to the article,
Delurian was already mired in legal problems by the time
(11:44):
Director Robert Zamachus chose a DMC twelve to serve as
Marty McFly's time machine and back to the future. Spielberg
had originally planned to use an old refrigerator instead of
a car, but had changed his mind at the last minute.
The direct director liked the Dolorian's futuristic look, but more
than that, he was worried that young fans of the
(12:04):
movie might accidentally get stuck in refrigerators and freezers while
playing meek Believe. With all of that being said, Delorian
lived quite the life. He was even married four times
before his death in two thousand and five at the
age of eighty. The Delorian Museum, based in Humble, Texas,
was established in two thousand and six to honor DeLorean
through the display, interpretation, conservation, and preservation of Deloorian vehicles, archives.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
And other objects.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Delorian died at Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, from
a stroke on March nineteen, two thousand and five, at
the age of eighty. His ashes are interned at the
Whitechapel Cemetery in Troy, Michigan. His tombstone shows a depiction
of his Dolorian sports car with the golling doors open.
And that's all I have for you guys today. Until
(12:52):
next time, staying sid stay light, and don't call the cops.
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