Post by Michael on Apr 23, 2006 12:44:10 GMT -5
Mark Falzini has been made an Honorary Member By Admin. This info has been placed into Archives by Admin with Mark's permission.
[From the unpublished essay: "In the Footsteps of Red Johnson" by Mark W. Falzini. (c) 2003. pages 12-13]
"On March 13th [1932], Red Johnson was '...cleared of all suspicion of complicity in the kidnapping by Deputy Chief of Police Brex of Newark...'(1) and was transferred to a jail in Jersey City...Red remained in the Jersey City jail for another twenty-two days before he was finally transferred to Ellis Island...In a letter from Acting Newark Police Chief F.E. Brex to the Secretary of Labor, William Doax, Brex noted that 'in 28 years as a police officer I cannot recall any subject who had received such a diversified investigation with nothing of an incriminating nature being discovered...When we turned over Johnson to your Immigration Officers simultaneously we exonerated Johnson from any connection whatsoever, directly or indirectly, with the kidnapping of the Lindbergh Baby.' (2).
"Held now on Ellis Island under what was then the largest bail ever imposed upon an immigrant -- $50,000 -- forces behind the scenes began to work to ensure that Red was not deported but allowed to leave the country voluntarily. (3) With the assistance of United States Senators and Congressmen, and other government and police officials (including the Director of the Republican National Committee), it was arranged for '...the warrant of deportation to be cancelled upon verification of [his] departure.' (4). The making of Red's departure voluntary rather than an actual deportation would allow him to return legally to the United States in the future."
Footnotes:
1 New York Times. March 13, 1932
2 May 10, 1932
3 Nordisk Tidende, July 28, 1932
4 Letter from Edward Corsi, Commissioner of Immigration to Konrad Furubotn, US Department of Labor, July 20, 1932.
Published in Nordisk Tidende 7/28/32
Web Site: www.njspmuseum.org/index.html
Contact:
Mark W. Falzini
Archivist
NJ State Police Museum
609-882-2000