Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,652
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Post by Joe on Aug 21, 2023 9:52:50 GMT -5
Evening Graphic, Saturday, April 23, 1932
‘WOULD HAVE PROTECTED BABY WITH VERY LIVES,’ RED WRITES IN OWN STORY
In this, the fifth chapter of his account of his connection with the Lindbergh case, Henry (Red) Johnson details what happened on his second visit to the Lindbergh home, how he saw the baby and what took place afterward. By HENRY (RED) JOHNSON
CHAPTER V
The first time I visited the Lindbergh home while the family was there was on New Year’s Day. It was about this time that the Lindberghs began to spend week ends at their new house. Sometimes Betty went down with them and sometimes she didn’t, because it seems that Mrs. Lindbergh like to take these holiday opportunities of having the baby entirely to herself.
It was at this time that I had the chance of a more or less private chat with Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr., who was then around 19 months old.
Betty and I were sitting in the servants’ sitting room when young Mr. Lindbergh came toddling in. It is my firm opinion that he was just returning from an unsuccessful foraging campaign in the kitchen.
He was very fond of crackers and various sorts of biscuits, and it was no secret to him that the supply base lay in the kitchen, where Mrs. Whateley was on guard. Often he would try to trick the guard by all sorts of clever stratagems and even outright pleas. But he was successful only when his plans were approved by his headquarters staff—Mrs. Lindbergh or Betty.
When he came into the room he gave no indication of the failure of his campaign. Evidently he had made up his mind to make the best of his defeat, like a real soldier, and hope for the best next time. When he saw Betty he broke into a broad grin and said, "Bet-tee" and he said it with a strong Scotch accent, far stronger, it seemed to me, than Betty's own Scotch accent, which is very slight.
Young Charles Not Timid
Young Charles stuck close to Betty when he first came into the room because I was there. He was not exactly timid, but still he wasn’t used to strangers, so he gave me a wide berth for a while. I asked him where his father was, and he said, “Dair," pointing toward the garage, where the Colonel, in rough trousers and sweater, was tinkering with a car. He also indicated where his mother was by pointing toward the living room where Mrs. Lindbergh was reading.
At that time the little fox terrier came bouncing in. With a laugh, the baby bounced after him and began to play with him, talking all the while in a language which I guess the dog understood, but which escaped my small ability by the matter of languages. Suddenly the little terrier happened to think of something that required his attention elsewhere, and he bounced out of the room just as he had bounced in. Baby Charles stared in amazement at this sudden desertion, then burst into a smile, raised his arm haphazardly toward the door and said to me: “Dog all gone." Then he started after the dog. Halfway to the door he turned to me again and smiled, as if to say, “Pardon me, but I've got to go out and take care of that dog. He’ll probably get into some mischief if I don’t watch out for him.” Soon I heard Baby Charles romping with the dog in another room.
Child Healthy
There has been so much mystery about little Charles that most everybody is wondering about him. There have even been rumors that the child had some defect because of the way he was kept secluded. But what I have just related should scotch that rumor once and for all.
I am certainly not an expert on the matter of children, but I come from a large family and there are a lot of children in it, and it is my nature to observe things, so I can say truthfully that little Charles Lindbergh is as fine a youngster as I ever saw.
He is alert, intelligent, happy and greatly loved by every one that comes in contact with him. He has the pleasantest smile I ever saw on a youngster. And he is not at all spoiled. His mother and father and Betty won't allow that.
He is far more obedient than most children I have seen. He has never been allowed to get the idea that he's the cock of walk. His mother treats him with sensible tenderness, and his father looks on him as a sort of miniature pal, from what I can gather. I figure the way to look at it is this: The baby was not given to them just for their selfish amusement, but to make him into a real fine, upstanding boy and man.
Right after the kidnapping, a lot of people were convinced that some servant, or someone connected with the Lindbergh or Morrow families must have had something to do with it. Well, I know how much all the servants loved that baby and I know that if any of them had ever suspected that that child was in danger they would have volunteered to watch him every minute, day and night, and defend him with their very lives. Besides that, all the servants are loyal to the Lindbergh and Morrow families, and they should be, because they get fine treatment. I know there are a lot of people who think the Colonel is a hard, sour, stubborn man; but that's not true. Maybe they get that idea because he's a timid man in a crowd, a straightforward man, who doesn't shoot off a lot of hot air and go in for a lot of show.
I’ve have seen him often, mainly during my visits to the Morrow home to see Betty. Frequently when I came in he would be in the garden and he always nodded pleasantly or spoke a pleasant word to me.
And I know that when others were still suspicious of me, he had faith in my innocence of any knowledge of the kidnaping. And Mrs. Lindbergh is one of the finest ladies in the world. Anybody who has ever had any closes contact with them will tell you that they are swell people, and nobody who really knows them would want to do them any harm.
Well, I’m wandering away from the thread of my story. That day I left the Lindbergh home in the early evening around 6 or 7 o'clock and made the drive back to Englewood in about two to two and a half hours, as nearly as I can remember.
The next time I visited the Lindbergh estate was about the middle of February, two weeks before the kidnapping. It was on a Sunday and the Lindberghs and the baby were at Englewood.
Betty and I drove down to visit the Whatleys (sic) who remained permanently at the Hopewell place. Without a doubt, when we made that trip, the plans for the kidnapping were already being perfected. Monday I’ll have something to say about the week end just before the crime occurred, and show what connection I had with it.
© 1932 Famous Features Syndicate, Inc.
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,652
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Post by Joe on Aug 21, 2023 9:55:39 GMT -5
Evening Graphic, Monday, April 25, 1932
RED DESCRIBES MOVEMENTS ON KIDNAPING EVE TO PROVE HE AND BETTY GOW INNOCENT
Red Johnson, in this chapter of his connections with the Lindbergh case, tells how he went to Hartford and his journeys were misconstrued. By HENRY (RED) JOHNSON
CHAPTER VI
On the week end before the Tuesday of the kidnaping the Lindberghs went to Hopewell. They left Englewood about 6 o’clock Saturday evening, and left Betty behind at the Morrow home. At that time the Lindberghs were spending their week ends at their place, usually returning to Englewood Monday morning.
As I have said, Betty did not always go with them because Mrs. Lindbergh took those occasions to have the baby to herself.
On that Saturday night Betty and I went for a ride in my rackety car, Depression. It has since been rumored that we went to a roadhouse. I suppose there are people who would like to think that we did go to a roadhouse to make arrangements with the kidnapers, but there is nothing to all that. We merely took a ride around the countryside, just as we did on many an evening.
On Sunday we went to the movies in Englewood as we often did, and I made a date with her on Monday night to play cards at the Morrow place with the Morrow servants, Capt. Christensen, master of the Lamont yacht, and his wife. During the game the captain told me that his car needed some work done on it and I promised to come to his home next day (Tuesday) and help him with it.
Tells of Hartford Trip
That night I also told Betty that I expected to go to Hartford Wednesday to visit my brother. I had already written to him saying that I was coming. I wanted to go up and have about a week’s visit with him, and there wasn't much time left. I had been laid off from my job on the yacht for the whole winter on the 15th of January and I was supposed to go back to work on the 15th of March, so there were only a few days left for me to visit my brother and then get ready for the season on the yacht.
So you see, there was no mystery about my going to Hartford on the day after the kidnapping. Betty told the police I had announced my plan to her on Monday. And it must be remembered that at that time the Lindberghs hadn’t planned to stay at Hopewell over Tuesday. Well, our card game broke up about midnight, and after making a date with Betty for Tuesday night in Englewood I went home. Next morning I was up about 7, and at 8 I took the bus for Dumont, where Capt. Christensen lived, to help him with his car.
We worked until somewhere around 3 or 3:30 and then I took the bus for Englewood, arriving home about 4 p.m. When I came into the house, my landlady said that Betty had phoned during the forenoon and left a message for me to call her back. When I phoned the Morrow home I was told that Betty had gone to Hopewell.
Lindy Jr. Sick
The baby was sick and Mrs. Lindbergh had asked her to come help take care of it. All this was on Tuesday, the day of the kidnapping. I am going into all of this in detail to show that I couldn’t have had anything to do with the kidnaping and also to show how easy it is for a man to get tangled up in such cases unless he's got some perfect witnesses to his alibi.
Well, I was disappointed because Betty had to go down to Hopewell, for we had a date that evening, and here I was at a loose end. I figured I'd phone her at the Lindbergh home later in the evening, when the night rates went into effect. Since I wouldn't be back at work for another couple of weeks, I had to be careful of my expenses. That certainly wouldn’t have been the case if I was in any kidnaping gang! Anyway, I washed up and put on some clean clothes, and fooled around the house until about 6:30, then I went down to a restaurant to get my supper. I sat around there reading my paper until 7:30 and then started for a walk along Palisade Avenue. I figured that about 8 o'clock I’d drop over to the Junges' house at 69 Engle St.
Mrs. Junge is a seamstress in the Morrow home, and her husband is a marine surveyor. Often, when for some reason Betty had to change her plans after she'd made a date with me, she'd give some sort of message for me to Mrs. Junge. I thought now that I might get some news of her that way. Besides, I like Mr. and Mrs. Junge and I enjoyed dropping in to see them for a chat.
Mr. Junge let me in. His wife had not yet come from the Morrows, but she arrived in a few minutes and told me that Burke, the Morrow chauffeur, had-driven Betty down to the Lindbergh estate because the baby wasn't well.
Phones to Hopewell
I decided to phone Betty at Hopewell, and told the Junges I'd he back in a few minutes. There was a phone downstairs in the hall, belonging to the Junges' landlady, but I didn't want to disturb her when it was so easy to run around to the drug store, and, besides, sweethearts don't like to have what they're saying overheard by other people. So I jumped in my car and rode up to the drug store.
Of course, in the first excitement of the case, there are people who thought that phone call might have been overheard and that's how the kidnapers got their information about the Lindberghs staying over that evening. But that couldn’t have been.
At the time there was nobody in the store but the clerk, and he was in the rear. I made the call from a booth. There was a booth next to it, but there was nobody in it. I figured I made the call about 8:45. When the police checked up on it they found it had been made at 8:47, so figured it pretty close. We talked four minutes. As I remember, the rate was 35 cents for three minutes, and I had to pay a dime for the extra minute.
Explains the Call
After the kidnaping there was a theory that I phoned Betty to find out if the coast was clear, and then I phoned the information to the kidnapers. But I made no other call, and the police investigation proved that. Every time I heard of anybody thinking of Betty having anything to do with that kidnaping it makes me boil, because I know how fond she was of that baby.
Ollie Whateley answered the call out at the Lindberghs, and we passed the time of day while Betty was coming to the phone.
Tomorrow I'll tell you what we talked about.
© 1932 Famous Features Syndicate, Inc.
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Post by IloveDFW on Aug 21, 2023 15:49:22 GMT -5
Evening Graphic, Friday, April 22, 1932 BETTY GOW’S FIANCE SEES KIDNAP LADDER AS BLIND Henry (Red) Johnson was the first man actually detained by the authorities in the Lindbergh kidnapping case. Because he was the sweet-heart of Betty Gow, the nurse of the Lindbergh baby; because he left the vicinity of the crime on the following day, and because of various other clues, he seemed a logical suspect. He was put through severe grillings by the authorities of several cities, and although exonerated, he is now being held at Ellis Island pending a deportation decision because he entered the country illegally front Norway. In this story he gives intimate glimpses of the baby and the Lindbergh family, and tells how it feels to be a suspect in one of the most sensational cases in the history of crime. By HENRY (RED) JOHNSON CHAPTER IV When Betty took little Charles Lindbergh back to the Morrow home from their summer place in Maine during the latter part of October, 1931, I moved over to Englewood to be near her. Before that I had lived aboard the yacht. As I have related, Betty had a lot of time off because Mrs. Morrow liked to care for the baby herself, so Betty and I could spend many evenings together, and I wanted to be nearby so that we could take advantage of all the time she had free from her duties. I bought a small second-hand car. If anybody thinks I was getting money from some kidnapping gang or anything like that, they just ought to see that car. It certainly tested my mechanical skill to keep it running. I named it the Depression, because that’s just how it looked. But Betty and I had a lot of fun with it. From helping me make repairs on it, she developed into quite a mechanic. And more than once during an evening ride something would go wrong with it and she would have to hold the flashlight while I tinkered with it. Crowds at Estate
The first time we ever went to the Lindbergh home near Hopewell was about the middle of November. We went down to visit Ollie Whateley, the Lindbergh butler, and his wife. Betty and I were very fond of them. The house was being built then, but the Whateleys were living there and taking care of things. Their main job was to keep the curious away, and that was quite a job. When we reached the town of Hopewell, we asked a man in the street how to find our way to the Lindbergh home. He laughed and said: "I can tell you, but it won't do much good. There's a couple hundred cars down there now, not nobody can get in." I smiled and said I'd take my chances, so he told us how to get there. About a quarter of a mile before we reached the Lindbergh property we struck a line of cars that extended all the way to the gate. They ranged from fine limousines to small, battered touring cars. It seemed that curiosity about the Lindberghs and their home was the great leveler. As we started past the line, people began to call at me that nobody was allowed on the grounds, and there wasn't any use trying. I just grinned and went on. At the gate to the estate, Ollie Whateley met us, and to the astonishment of the assembled multitude the gate was thrown open and little old “Depression” chugged on through while the limousine customers were barred. Kidnapers' Opportunity
Anyway, the hundreds of people that day and many another day would have plenty of opportunity to have a good look at the lay of the land and the surrounding country. Who knows? Maybe the kidnapers were there that day having a look around. And maybe they came back time after time until they had every feature of the surrounding country firm in their minds. Maybe they had already begun to rehearse the actual kidnaping and getaway. Although cars couldn't come through the gate on the little side road that led directly to the house, plenty of the curious passengers would get out and walk around the grounds. Many of them got very near the house and surveyed it from all angles. Whateley was kept busy chasing them away, but many of them were very persistent about coming back after they were chased away, so he had quite a time. It would have taken a squad of policemen to have kept the place entirely clear. The visitors could see how the house lay, with trees in the back, open toward Hopewell and the road, and with a field in front. Most of the surrounding property was covered with small scrub growth, which could give concealment, but which would not interfere with the vision of any one who wanted to lie there night after night and study the movements of the household. No Informer Needed
That, in my opinion, is just what happened. It wasn't necessary for the kidnapers to have information from the inside, as many people believe. A clever observer could have concealed himself near the house and studied every movement of the household every evening, until he was certain of the routine. It's my impression that most of the house was not equipped with shades, and even if there were shades throughout nobody would bother very much about them because the house was so isolated. So it was not very difficult to get a pretty good idea from the outside of just what was going on. Anybody lying out there in the bushes, while the Lindberghs were home, could soon find out just when the baby was put to bed, just when the household dined, where the servants were likely to be as a certain time, how often the baby was visited after it was put to bed, where the Colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh spent their time in the evenings, and all the other necessary details. That’s my idea of how the thing was done. The kidnapers could have taken plenty of time for their preliminary surveys, because they were playing for big stakes. Ladder a Blind?
That ladder which was found against the window of the baby's nursery could have been some sort of a blind or false clue. It would have been possible for the kidnaper to have opened the front door softly, slipped up the stairs, taken the baby from his crib and then retraced his steps. I heard that some of the investigators believe that the marks of the ladder in the ground were too shallow, showing that it hadn't supported the weight of a man. Well, I don't know about that, but I do know that under the circumstances, the kidnaper would have been fairly safe in using the stairway. On our first visit to the Lindbergh home, Betty and I went all over the place, and from that and following visits the whole plan stands out clearly in my mind. The stairway is to the left, just as you come in the door. From the head of the stairs to the baby's nursery is only a couple of steps. And as the Lindberghs were in the rear of the house and the servants in their own quarters on the windy night of the kidnaping, the baby could have been taken away without the use of the ladder. Tomorrow I want to tell about another visit to the Lindbergh home when I had quite a chat with young Charles! © 1932 Famous Features Syndicate, Inc. Thanks Joe! Wouldn't be able to read these without your help 🤟
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Post by IloveDFW on Aug 21, 2023 16:11:27 GMT -5
Evening Graphic, Monday, April 25, 1932 RED DESCRIBES MOVEMENTS ON KIDNAPING EVE TO PROVE HE AND BETTY GOW INNOCENT Red Johnson, in this chapter of his connections with the Lindbergh case, tells how he went to Hartford and his journeys were misconstrued. By HENRY (RED) JOHNSON CHAPTER VI On the week end before the Tuesday of the kidnaping the Lindberghs went to Hopewell. They left Englewood about 6 o’clock Saturday evening, and left Betty behind at the Morrow home. At that time the Lindberghs were spending their week ends at their place, usually returning to Englewood Monday morning. As I have said, Betty did not always go with them because Mrs. Lindbergh took those occasions to have the baby to herself. On that Saturday night Betty and I went for a ride in my rackety car, Depression. It has since been rumored that we went to a roadhouse. I suppose there are people who would like to think that we did go to a roadhouse to make arrangements with the kidnapers, but there is nothing to all that. We merely took a ride around the countryside, just as we did on many an evening. On Sunday we went to the movies in Englewood as we often did, and I made a date with her on Monday night to play cards at the Morrow place with the Morrow servants, Capt. Christensen, master of the Lamont yacht, and his wife. During the game the captain told me that his car needed some work done on it and I promised to come to his home next day (Tuesday) and help him with it. Tells of Hartford Trip
That night I also told Betty that I expected to go to Hartford Wednesday to visit my brother. I had already written to him saying that I was coming. I wanted to go up and have about a week’s visit with him, and there wasn't much time left. I had been laid off from my job on the yacht for the whole winter on the 15th of January and I was supposed to go back to work on the 15th of March, so there were only a few days left for me to visit my brother and then get ready for the season on the yacht. So you see, there was no mystery about my going to Hartford on the day after the kidnapping. Betty told the police I had announced my plan to her on Monday. And it must be remembered that at that time the Lindberghs hadn’t planned to stay at Hopewell over Tuesday. Well, our card game broke up about midnight, and after making a date with Betty for Tuesday night in Englewood I went home. Next morning I was up about 7, and at 8 I took the bus for Dumont, where Capt. Christensen lived, to help him with his car. We worked until somewhere around 3 or 3:30 and then I took the bus for Englewood, arriving home about 4 p.m. When I came into the house, my landlady said that Betty had phoned during the forenoon and left a message for me to call her back. When I phoned the Morrow home I was told that Betty had gone to Hopewell. Lindy Jr. Sick
The baby was sick and Mrs. Lindbergh had asked her to come help take care of it. All this was on Tuesday, the day of the kidnapping. I am going into all of this in detail to show that I couldn’t have had anything to do with the kidnaping and also to show how easy it is for a man to get tangled up in such cases unless he's got some perfect witnesses to his alibi. Well, I was disappointed because Betty had to go down to Hopewell, for we had a date that evening, and here I was at a loose end. I figured I'd phone her at the Lindbergh home later in the evening, when the night rates went into effect. Since I wouldn't be back at work for another couple of weeks, I had to be careful of my expenses. That certainly wouldn’t have been the case if I was in any kidnaping gang! Anyway, I washed up and put on some clean clothes, and fooled around the house until about 6:30, then I went down to a restaurant to get my supper. I sat around there reading my paper until 7:30 and then started for a walk along Palisade Avenue. I figured that about 8 o'clock I’d drop over to the Junges' house at 69 Engle St. Mrs. Junge is a seamstress in the Morrow home, and her husband is a marine surveyor. Often, when for some reason Betty had to change her plans after she'd made a date with me, she'd give some sort of message for me to Mrs. Junge. I thought now that I might get some news of her that way. Besides, I like Mr. and Mrs. Junge and I enjoyed dropping in to see them for a chat. Mr. Junge let me in. His wife had not yet come from the Morrows, but she arrived in a few minutes and told me that Burke, the Morrow chauffeur, had-driven Betty down to the Lindbergh estate because the baby wasn't well. Phones to Hopewell
I decided to phone Betty at Hopewell, and told the Junges I'd he back in a few minutes. There was a phone downstairs in the hall, belonging to the Junges' landlady, but I didn't want to disturb her when it was so easy to run around to the drug store, and, besides, sweethearts don't like to have what they're saying overheard by other people. So I jumped in my car and rode up to the drug store. Of course, in the first excitement of the case, there are people who thought that phone call might have been overheard and that's how the kidnapers got their information about the Lindberghs staying over that evening. But that couldn’t have been. At the time there was nobody in the store but the clerk, and he was in the rear. I made the call from a booth. There was a booth next to it, but there was nobody in it. I figured I made the call about 8:45. When the police checked up on it they found it had been made at 8:47, so figured it pretty close. We talked four minutes. As I remember, the rate was 35 cents for three minutes, and I had to pay a dime for the extra minute. Explains the Call
After the kidnaping there was a theory that I phoned Betty to find out if the coast was clear, and then I phoned the information to the kidnapers. But I made no other call, and the police investigation proved that. Every time I heard of anybody thinking of Betty having anything to do with that kidnaping it makes me boil, because I know how fond she was of that baby. Ollie Whateley answered the call out at the Lindberghs, and we passed the time of day while Betty was coming to the phone. Tomorrow I'll tell you what we talked about. © 1932 Famous Features Syndicate, Inc. Why is he saying BURKE drove Betty to Hopewell? Who was Burke?
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Post by IloveDFW on Aug 21, 2023 16:23:04 GMT -5
I highly doubt Red Johnson said or wrote this. Could he speak English that well? It was a journalist for a yellow paper trying for readers. Good Lowered.
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Post by Michael on Aug 21, 2023 21:50:27 GMT -5
Why is he saying BURKE drove Betty to Hopewell? Who was Burke? Burke was the other Morrow chauffeur. He was the one who supposedly introduced Gow and Red up at North Haven. Red claimed to have known him from the year before but Burke said he hadn't met him until after he had made Betty's acquaintance (V1, Pages 104-5). This discrepancy always bothered me but the police never followed it up.
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,652
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Post by Joe on Aug 26, 2023 6:45:52 GMT -5
Evening Graphic, Tuesday, April 26, 1932
INNOCENT TELEPHONE CALL TO BETTY AT LINDY HOME BROUGHT TROUBLE FOR RED
In this, the seventh chapter of his account of his connection with the Lindbergh case, Henry (Red) Johnson tells how an innocent phone call to Betty Gow caused him great trouble. By HENRY (RED) JOHNSON
CHAPTER VII
That phone call that I made to Betty Gow at 8:47 on the night of the kidnaping caused me more trouble than almost anything else. I had a hard time convincing the authorities that our conversation was just innocent talk between a boy and a girl who were very fond of each other.
After our greeting, I asked her how was the trip down, and she said it was very pleasant, except that it was pretty chilly. Then I asked about the baby, because I already knew that’s why she had gone down to Hopewell. She replied that young Charles just had a slight cold that wasn’t at all serious. Then I told her I had been at the Junges, and would go back there after I left the drug store, where I was calling.
I asked her what she thought about my going to Hartford the next day, and whether I should wait until she got back. She said that I should go on and she’d see me when I returned.
Was Lonesome
When I wanted to know when she expected to come back to Englewood she said it might be the next day, or later; it all depended on how the baby was. She asked how long I expected to be gone, I said about a week. Then she told me to be sure and write to her at Englewood. She didn’t have to say that, but that’s how girls are. I asked her how she found it down at Hopewell and she said it was a little lonesome any place without me.
Betty told me to drive carefully and be a good boy. Then we said good-bye after saying we’d be seeing each other in about a week, and hung up.
Now this is the first time that conversation has ever come out before the public. Anybody can see that it was certainly innocent enough, but that call caused me plenty of trouble later, being made when it was, a short time before the kidnaping was discovered.
Near Police Station
The drug store where I made the call was at Palisade Avenue and Humphrey Street, across the street from police headquarters. It stands to reason that if I had been mixed up in the crime, I would be a little shy about hanging around so close to the police.
Even some people who know I am innocent figure that somehow somebody interested must have got hold of the information contained in that call, that the Lindberghs were going to stay down at Hopewell over Tuesday night. But the kidnapers could have got that information in other ways. For instance, they might have spotted Betty somewhere on her way to Hopewell.
It is my theory that the criminals had been studying the lay of the land for a long time and discovering by observation all the habits of the family. In that case, they would know that Betty wouldn't be going down unless the Lindberghs were going to spend the night in their own home. From the way the whole thing was done, it seems to me that the kidnapers had put a lot of twos and twos together and had things down pretty fine.
Took Auto Ride
Well, after I made the call, I went back to the Junges, and got there about 9 o'clock. I suggested a ride. They didn't seem very anxious to go, but I persuaded them, and we left about 9:45. Mrs. Junge wanted some ice cream, so we went to a confectionery store near the Plaza Theater, about two blocks from the drug store where I made the phone call. We sat there about half an hour. There was no one else sitting around us the whole time.
We left there about 10:20, which was within a few minutes of the time the kidnaping was discovered. Luckily for us, two waitresses in the place identified us positively as having been there at the time; otherwise all three of us might have been in difficulties. But it was obvious that we could not be at more than one place at a time. When we left the confectionery store we drove along Palisade Avenue to the Dyckman ferry, and then turned into Hendrik Hudson Drive and went as far as Alpine. It was a nice night, except for the wind, and we stopped several times to admire the river scenery. At Alpine we turned into State Highway 9-W and followed it back to Palisade Avenue, and on to the Morrow home, where Mrs. Junge was to stay the night as she sometimes did. We got there about 11:30 because we had been driving slowly all the time. Mrs. Junge got out and I drove her husband on home. We sat in the car and talked a while, and then he went in. I drove on home to 41 James St., and put the car in the back yard, where I kept it. The house was dark and I went on up to my room without seeing any one. When I got into my room, my roommate, Heimo Hattu, a Palisades Park policeman of Finnish descent, stirred, but didn't wake up. I left a note for him to call me at 7 o'clock and went to bed. He routed me out in the morning, and after dressing, I went out to a restaurant for breakfast.
As I came in the waitress said: "Have you heard the news?" "What news?" I asked. "About the Lindbergh baby."
Of course, everybody in Englewood was interested in Charles Lindbergh, Jr.
She showed me the headlines and then I went out and got my own paper and read while I ate.
Well, I just refused to believe the story. I was especially doubtful when I read that the kidnaping had occurred about 8 o'clock. Why, I had 'talked to Betty at 8:45 and she hadn’t mentioned a word. So the whole thing must be crazy, I thought.
I went back to the house and showed the paper to my landlady. She asked me what I thought about it, and I said I didn't believe it. Then I told her I was going to Hartford that morning. I had already told her two days before that I had planned to go.
Left Address
I wrote my brother’s address on a card and left it with her. I thought maybe somebody from the yacht might want to get in touch with me. Of course, it never once occurred to me that the police might want to get in touch with me. In the first place, I took no stock in the kidnaping story. And even if I had, I never would have figured that I could be connected with it. Anyway, the fact that I left my address with the landlady shows plain enough that I wasn't running away.
When one of my fellow Norwegians was asked why I had gone to Hartford under such circumstances, he answered: “When a Norwegian makes up his mind to go to Hartford, he goes to Hartford and nothing can stop him.”
But it wasn’t that I was stubborn. I just never thought that there was any reason why I shouldn’t go to Hartford as I had been planning for several days. So at about 8:30 (?) I left on what the authorities first thought was my “flight.”
Tomorrow I shall tell about the trip and how I was entangled with the police.
© 1932 Famous Features Syndicate, Inc.
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Post by Joe on Aug 26, 2023 6:52:08 GMT -5
Evening Graphic, Wednesday, April 27, 1932
RED TELLS HOW MILK BOTTLE IN HIS CAR LED TO GRILLING AS LINDY KIDNAP SUSPECT
In this, the eighth chapter of his account of his connection with the Lindbergh case, Henry (Red) Johnson tells of his arrest after leaving New Jersey for a trip into Connecticut. By HENRY (RED) JOHNSON
CHAPTER VIII
My trip to Hartford, which I made so innocently, was given all sorts of interpretations , but as I crossed Dyckman Ferry and drove along Fordham Road, I had neither fears nor worries. As I have related, it never occurred to me that the story I read in the morning paper was anything more than a false rumor.
As I turned into the Boston Post Road I picked up a hitch-hiker who waved to me. I guess the kidnapping story was beginning to worry me subconsciously, for after we had driven a little way I asked my companion what he thought of the news. He said he hadn’t seen the papers that day. I told him I didn't believe the story and then I said that I knew Betty Gow, the baby's nurse.
Parted at Bridgeport
When we got to Norwalk, Conn., I asked him how he would like to have a cup of coffee and he said that would be fine because he hadn't eaten anything that day. That, was between 10:30 and 11 a. m. So I bought him his breakfast. He was going to Bridgeport, and when we arrived there about 11:30 he left me.
Later when I was being held by the authorities, this same fellow volunteered to the Bridgeport police that he had some information about me. He picked me out of the lineup at Newark and informed the police that I had told him during our ride about phoning Betty Gow and she had told me about the kidnaping. Of course, that was absolutely false, as the check-up on my phone call proved. I confronted this fellow and said something like this:
“Why are you telling such lies? Here I gave you a lift and bought you something to eat when you were hungry, and then you turn around and try to involve me with the police.”
Changed story
Later he changed his story and told the thing as it actually happened. I don’t know whether he was honestly mistaken or, like many other people just dragged himself into the case for publicity or something like that.
The next stop I made was at Milford. Last year about this time I smashed up the car I then owned in Milford, and sold it to a wrecker there. As I passed by the wrecker’s place I saw my old car all fixed up and looking fine. I was interested, and stopped to look it over, and there was the man I sold it to. He said he had fixed it up to drive himself.
Then he looked over the car I was driving. Luckily for me, during his inspection, he lifted up the rear deck and looked in. Of course, he was able to testify later that there was no baby or anything else in the rear compartment.
Visited Brother
Well, I reached Hartford about 1:30, and went to my brother's house. He is a private chauffeur for the Chase family of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company. He was staying home that day because he wasn't feeling very well. As soon as I greeted him he began to ask me about the kidnaping. He had a copy of a New York paper and the Hartford Times. As the Hartford Times is an afternoon paper, it had more about the case than I had read that morning. Sure enough, the baby had been kidnaped. There was no doubt about it.
My first thought was how Betty and the Lindbergh and Morrow families would be heartbroken. And I remember how I hoped that the baby would not be harmed and would soon be returned. He is such a fine little fellow.
Didn’t Try to Hide
My brother asked me if I thought I would be involved in any way. I told him I didn't think so, because I was sure I couldn't supply any valuable information to the police. Then he questioned me about the night before and I told him everything that happened just as I have set it down in this story.
We talked over the whole thing and tried to decide what to do. Then I figured that if the police wanted to ask me any questions they wouldn’t have any trouble locating me, because my landlady in Englewood had my Hartford address. I afterwards learned that the investigators at the Lindbergh home questioned Betty about her friends and she told them about me and where I was. So they could gotten hold of me that very day if they had wanted to. In spite of what some papers said, there never was any question of the police trailing me. They knew all along were I was.
Followed Stories
That afternoon (this was Wednesday, the day after the kidnaping) I went out with my brother and his family in his car for about three hours. They were looking for a new place to live. On the way home we bought the papers, because we were all anxious to know what was happening in the kidnaping case. And by that time, too, reports were coming in over the radio. I don't suppose there was anyone who listened with more anxiety and hope than we did.
The next day, Thursday, my brother went to work, and I went to the garage where he kept his car to do some work on it. I stayed there all day. That night I wrote to Betty at Hopewell, expressing my sympathy. I knew that regardless of how it happened, Betty was the kind who would blame herself. I also expressed sympathy for the Lindberghs and the Morrows. I afterwards learned that she got the letter all right.
Went Willingly
On Friday, I went again to the garage and stayed there all day until 5. When I reached my brother’s house, his wife showed me a little piece in the papers saying that the police wanted me. She also said that there had been a man looking for me, and he said he would be back about 6, so I read the papers until he came.
At 6:00 he was back. He was Capt. Sullivan of the West Hartford police. He was a very nice man. He explained that the Englewood police had asked him to get hold of me, and he wanted me to go around to the station house with him. I said, “Sure.” If there was anything I could do to help I’d be very glad, although I didn’t see where I could be of much value.
When we got to the station house he telephoned to the Englewood police, and from what I gathered they replied that they didn’t want me. Then he called Trenton, where the activities seemed to be centered at the time, but it seems they didn’t want me either, so the West Hartford police thought they’d better put me through the paces themselves.
Put on Grill County Detective Edward Hickey, who was one of the chief forces in the Chapman case, started in on me. In the beginning he was stern, but not nasty. He kept shooting questions at me, and I answered them calmly, because if my answers could be of any help I would be glad. As the questioning progressed, Detective Hickey became sharper.
About 9 p. m. he sent a policeman over to my brother’s house to get my belongings and my car. And the policeman came back bearing triumphantly a milk bottle, with the cap marked Wednesday.
That just about cooked my goose. That was all that was needed to put me on the grill for fair. Here I was trying to explain that I didn’t know anything about the Lindbergh baby, and a milk bottle is discovered in my car after my “flight from the scene of the crime.” That was a tough spot, believe me!
Tomorrow I’ll tell how Prosecutor Alcorn, who sent Gerald Chapman to the chair, entered the case with fireworks.
© 1932 Famous Features Syndicate, Inc.
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Post by Joe on Aug 26, 2023 7:01:58 GMT -5
Evening Graphic, Thursday, April 28, 1932
RED TELLS HOW TEN-HOUR GRILLING FAILED TO SHAKE HIS STORY OF MILK BOTTLE
In this, the ninth chapter of his account of his connection with the Lindbergh case, Henry (Red) Johnson tells how he was grilled for ten hours by authorities at Hartford and then brought back to New Jersey.
By HENRY (RED) JOHNSON
CHAPTER IX
When that policeman walked into the West Hartford station carrying a milk bottle found in my car, I wasn’t much disturbed, because to me the explanation was very simple. But I noticed an immediate change in the attitude of Detective Hickey.
Now, he thought, he had something on me, and he began pounding away with questions. I suppose that it was about this time that Prosecutor Hugh Alcorn was notified, because he joined us later. I explained that milk bottle business over and over, but it was like dropping water on a duck's back. Here is the way it happened: Almost every day I used to buy a bottle of milk for my lunch at a delicatessen in Englewood. I’d have my lunch in the room and later take the bottle down and dump it in my car, so that the next day I could turn it in and get another bottle without leaving a deposit.
Had Two Bottles
Shortly before, I happened to collect two bottles, and in my daily exchange one was left in the car. I never stopped to pick out the latest one. So it happened that the bottle that was found was over a week old, and the “Wednesday” on the cap was from the week before the kidnaping. The milk sold in Englewood comes from Newark and is dated the day before it is actually sold. I couldn't have bought on Wednesday a bottle dated Wednesday. The policed checked up on that and found my story correct, but none of my explanations did much good when I was on the grill in Hartford.
It does sound like a funny story, and I can't blame the Hartford authorities for doubting it; but after they found that milk bottle they certainly put me through the paces. After that they didn't seem to believe anything I said.
Crowds Collected
About 10 o’clock they took me from the West Hartford police station to the State House. By then, crowds had begun to collect. I guess the rumor had begun to spread around that they had captured the Lindbergh baby kidnaper. At the State House, guards were placed around the building, and we were completely shut off, for crowds began to gather there soon after we arrived.
In the room with me were Prosecutor Alcorn, Detective Hickey and four other detectives. The first two started in on me, both shooting questions at the same time. I was doing my best to keep up with both of them, and I didn't have an easy time. I kept cool and didn’t lose my head. I think the fact that I was cool and deliberate made them all the more suspicious, and it made them angry, too. They wanted me to get excited. They didn't try any third-degree methods, but they were plenty hard boiled.
Quizzed About House
They wanted to know what I knew about the plans of the Lindbergh house, and, of course, I admitted freely that I was very familiar with the whole layout. They questioned me about my friends and tried to figure out if I knew anybody that could be a member of some gang. They also wanted to know about Betty. They went over and over the same ground, expecting me to change my story. The Alcorn-Hickey team was like a couple of machine guns, shooting away at me in rapid-fire fashion.
Once, when there was a little letup, I walked over to the window. The crowd outside saw me and let out a roar. That wasn’t pleasant, because crowds can get in an ugly mood about crimes like the Lindbergh baby kidnaping.
Well, the rapid-fire examination kept up until 5 o'clock in the morning.
Once, when I was sailing in a fishing smack in the North Sea, our boat turned up and we had to take to the lifeboats. We were tossed around on the waves for two days before we were picked up. But that harrowing experience was mild compared to the ten-hour grilling I got in Hartford.
Hundreds of Calls
Almost all through the grilling phone calls were coming in from all over the country, from newspapers, radio stations. I gathered that the whole country was excited about me. But through the whole thing I wasn't frightened because I knew that I could clear myself in every way.
In the meanwhile, the Englewood police decided they wanted to question me. They arrived at West Hartford about 11 a. m. For some reason, the Hartford authorities would not tell them where I was. At about 2 p. m. the Newark police arrived for me, and were kept waiting until 8 p.m.
In the meanwhile, Detective Hickey and a couple of other detectives put me in a car and hustled me away to Englewood. I can't figure why they didn't want the Englewood or Newark men to take me back, and I don’t see why the Hartford people kept them in the dark as to where I was. Seems to me there was a lack of co-operation somewhere.
When we started for Englewood, I had had only an hour's sleep in the past twenty-four hours. I was allowed to lie down at 5 a. m. and was called again at 6, but after that there wasn't anything for me to do but wait.
Grilled Again
We got to Englewood at 7 p. m. and Chief Pederson took charge of me. I had to go all through my whole story again. I was questioned thoroughly, and there weren't any loopholes left. I was treated very nicely by the Englewood police, and they allowed me to sleep until 7 a.m. Sunday. After that I was questioned off and on until 2 o'clock, when the Newark police came for me. When we got to Newark I waited until 6 p.m., when Deputy Chief Brex came to question me. He had Betty's story, and he wanted to check my story against hers.
He questioned me from 6 in the evening until 3 o'clock the next morning. It was a real grilling, too, as I shall describe tomorrow. © 1932 Famous Features Syndicate, Inc.
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Joe
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Post by Joe on Aug 26, 2023 7:04:11 GMT -5
I highly doubt Red Johnson said or wrote this. Could he speak English that well? It was a journalist for a yellow paper trying for readers. Good Lowered.
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Joe
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Post by Joe on Aug 26, 2023 8:12:16 GMT -5
I highly doubt Red Johnson said or wrote this. Could he speak English that well? It was a journalist for a yellow paper trying for readers. Good Lowered. Red Johnson could understand, write and speak English extremely well for someone who had only been on American soil for five years, the period after which he was taken into custody for his suspected role in the kidnapping. Certainly his extensive work experience and social life within that time, would have contributed greatly towards an excellent command of the English language. In Their Fifteen Minutes, Mark Falzini writes, "While Red was growing up, he was very clever in school. He received the highest grades and he wanted to continue his studies. His grades were so good that in the early 1920s, the community offered him a scholarship for university. "But his father wouldn't have that. He was not allowed to go and study. And he got angry and went to America..." In this same book, there is a description of Betty as noted, "... a pretty, dark-haired Glasgow girl, (who) came to the United States... and worked in various homes and hotels in the West as a nursemaid and housemaid before she was recommended... by Elisabeth Morrow, Mrs. Lindbergh's sister, as an ideal attendant and companion for the [Lindbergh's] baby. She is a friend of Miss Morrow's personal maid... Miss Gow is 26 years old, cheerful, with an undiminishing smile, slender and extremely light on her feet." I believe the aforementioned description of Betty could have come from Red, but I’m not a hundred percent sure of this. It’s certainly very much within the expressed literary style and ‘colour’ of the twelve published Johnson kidnapping adventure articles, although this particular quote doesn't seem to appear in any of them. I’d also point out this prime example of one of the five voluntary statements made by Red at the NJSP Headquarters in Newark N.J. on March 8, 1932. Even a cursory read of this statement will clearly demonstrate Red’s excellent command of the English language in writing. As somewhat of a stickler for grammar and punctuation myself, which can at times entirely redirect the actual meaning of any given piece of writing, it’s gratifying to see this level of clarity within his statements, so often missing within poorly-written police reports. It’s clear that he also understood well the gravity of the situation he found himself in, as is portrayed by his reporting of the facts without undue and inappropriate ‘flavouring,’ one would expect to find in a more colourful newspaper feature. Henry Johnsen Statement No. 3.pdf (956.87 KB) I believe that Red Johnson, if not solely responsible for his adventure articles pretty much word-for-word as they appeared in the newspapers, presented something to the assigned journalist from his cell at Ellis Island pending his deportation decision, that required very little or no further wordsmithing. And I’d venture his contribution was very much appreciated by the newspaper editor.
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Joe
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Post by Joe on Aug 27, 2023 7:07:54 GMT -5
Why is he saying BURKE drove Betty to Hopewell? Who was Burke? Burke was the other Morrow chauffeur. He was the one who supposedly introduced Gow and Red up at North Haven. Red claimed to have known him from the year before but Burke said he hadn't met him until after he had made Betty's acquaintance (V1, Pages 104-5). This discrepancy always bothered me but the police never followed it up. In the March 10, 1932 statement she made to Lieutenant John J. Sweeney and Detective Hugh J. Strong of the Newark Police Dept. Betty Gow claims: "On July 29, 1931 I was accompanied to the Morrow estate in North Haven, Maine, on a vacation with the Lindbergh child. The baby and I stayed there until October 15, 1931 and on this date Mrs. Morrow and Miss Elizabeth came to North Haven and accompanied the baby back to Englewood. I met a young fellow named Henry Johnson around the first part of August 1931 at North Haven. I was introduced to him by the Morrow’s chauffeur, Alfred Burke."
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Post by Michael on Aug 27, 2023 21:43:01 GMT -5
In the March 10, 1932 statement she made to Lieutenant John J. Sweeney and Detective Hugh J. Strong of the Newark Police Dept. Betty Gow claims: "On July 29, 1931 I was accompanied to the Morrow estate in North Haven, Maine, on a vacation with the Lindbergh child. The baby and I stayed there until October 15, 1931 and on this date Mrs. Morrow and Miss Elizabeth came to North Haven and accompanied the baby back to Englewood. I met a young fellow named Henry Johnson around the first part of August 1931 at North Haven. I was introduced to him by the Morrow’s chauffeur, Alfred Burke."In the April 14, 1932 statement Burke made to Inspector Walsh: Q. Did you know him [Red Johnson] before he kept company with Betty Gow? A. No, I didn't. I met him after he made Betty's acquaintance at a dance Friday nights at the village.
Q. Have you ever held any conversation with Henry Johnson? A. No, not more than to say hello.
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Joe
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Post by Joe on Aug 28, 2023 6:29:08 GMT -5
In the March 10, 1932 statement she made to Lieutenant John J. Sweeney and Detective Hugh J. Strong of the Newark Police Dept. Betty Gow claims: "On July 29, 1931 I was accompanied to the Morrow estate in North Haven, Maine, on a vacation with the Lindbergh child. The baby and I stayed there until October 15, 1931 and on this date Mrs. Morrow and Miss Elizabeth came to North Haven and accompanied the baby back to Englewood. I met a young fellow named Henry Johnson around the first part of August 1931 at North Haven. I was introduced to him by the Morrow’s chauffeur, Alfred Burke."In the April 14, 1932 statement Burke made to Inspector Walsh: Q. Did you know him [Red Johnson] before he kept company with Betty Gow? A. No, I didn't. I met him after he made Betty's acquaintance at a dance Friday nights at the village.
Q. Have you ever held any conversation with Henry Johnson? A. No, not more than to say hello. It's an odd discrepancy, given that both Betty and Red corroborate each other's account. I speculate here that perhaps Red and Betty decided together to use Burke's name as a kind of buffer so that their introduction to each other would appear more 'proper,' without realizing Burke would be questioned and reveal otherwise. At the same time, could Burke, concerned about his own skin, have been trying to effectively distance himself from Red, believing at the time that the latter may have been involved in the kidnapping, and that he himself might somehow be drawn in, by association? On a further note and from my own perspective, any time Harry Walsh is the questioner or 'reporter of facts,' it's a good idea to keep one eyebrow raised and remain extra objective.
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Post by Michael on Aug 28, 2023 7:49:59 GMT -5
It's an odd discrepancy, given that both Betty and Red corroborate each other's account. I speculate here that perhaps Red and Betty decided together to use Burke's name as a kind of buffer so that their introduction to each other would appear more 'proper,' without realizing Burke would be questioned and reveal otherwise. At the same time, could Burke, concerned about his own skin, have been trying to effectively distance himself from Red, believing at the time that the latter may have been involved in the kidnapping, and that he himself might somehow be drawn in, by association? These are exactly the possibilities I've considered too. It could have been something the two came up with if anyone asked ... something like "if any of the servants wonder how we met, since you know Burke, just say he introduced us" ... that type of thing. (Knowing Betty like I do, I blush to think how they might have actually met if not under those circumstances). Then there's even the possibility that both are true - right? He may not have introduced them but knew Red better than he was willing to admit. On a further note and from my own perspective, any time Harry Walsh is the questioner or 'reporter of facts,' it's a good idea to keep one eyebrow raised and remain extra objective. Aside from disliking Walsh because he pinned down Condon, what other issues do you have with him?
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Joe
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Post by Joe on Aug 29, 2023 11:07:37 GMT -5
It's an odd discrepancy, given that both Betty and Red corroborate each other's account. I speculate here that perhaps Red and Betty decided together to use Burke's name as a kind of buffer so that their introduction to each other would appear more 'proper,' without realizing Burke would be questioned and reveal otherwise. At the same time, could Burke, concerned about his own skin, have been trying to effectively distance himself from Red, believing at the time that the latter may have been involved in the kidnapping, and that he himself might somehow be drawn in, by association? These are exactly the possibilities I've considered too. It could have been something the two came up with if anyone asked ... something like "if any of the servants wonder how we met, since you know Burke, just say he introduced us" ... that type of thing. (Knowing Betty like I do, I blush to think how they might have actually met if not under those circumstances). Then there's even the possibility that both are true - right? He may not have introduced them but knew Red better than he was willing to admit. Now, now.. we were all young at one point. Maybe a good thing that some of us weren't involved in this type of world event in our youth, thereby keeping a lid on anything we might not want exposed for the record or in the press..
Still, it would have been very unusual for everyone else to have understood what you're suggesting, but not Burke himself. And if Burke in fact told investigators that he hadn't met Red until after Red and Betty had met, wouldn't he also have told them that Betty and Red tried to make it look like he had introduced them? If Burke is distancing himself from Red here, then he's holding back by not divulging this, and so would only have drawn himself in to deeper questioning. Given everything, and I could be wrong, I believe Burke is mistaken or lying and he in fact, did introduce Red and Betty to each other, approximately a summer after meeting Red in North Haven.On a further note and from my own perspective, any time Harry Walsh is the questioner or 'reporter of facts,' it's a good idea to keep one eyebrow raised and remain extra objective. Aside from disliking Walsh because he pinned down Condon, what other issues do you have with him? Walsh's buttonholing of Condon at Alpine, under the pretense of the latter being asked to look at additional mug shots, was a high profile train wreck that Walsh engineered and came out of looking very poorly in front of the other fellow investigators he no doubt made sure, were in attendance. Condon of course, had nothing to confess other than his shock in being considered by Walsh to be an accomplice within the extortion. I wouldn't be surprised if Walsh never backed down from his position Clearly, he mistakenly believed this was another John Hughes Curtis type of saga, where Condon was simply going to unravel as Curtis did. Walsh rolled his own high stakes dice here, and lost big time.
I don't 'dislike' the man but do I believe he was a clumsy and ham-fisted investigator whose very large personal ego, unfortunately, outstripped his professional skills and abilities. He was the classic good and bad cops, only rolled into one, and further belaboured by a myopic understanding of the case and his base bully nature. His handling of the Violet Sharp interviews, while hampered by Violet's unstable emotional nature, illustrates his inability to remain objective within the full scope of information he had at his disposal.
Schwarzkopf didn't need any further negative press by the time he sent Walsh packing back to Jersey City.
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Post by Joe on Sept 2, 2023 15:31:39 GMT -5
Evening Graphic, Friday, April 29, 1932
HOW POLICE TREATED HIM BEFORE FEDERAL SEIZURE REVEALED BY RED JOHNSON
In this, the tenth chapter of his account of his connection with the Lindbergh case, Henry (Red) Johnson tells how he faced further grilling and was taken into custody by Federal agents for illegal entry into the United States.
By HENRY (RED) JOHNSON CHAPTER X
The grilling I got from Deputy Chief Brex of Newark was the most thorough I had. He certainly knows his business. He was stern and firm, but there was no rough stuff, and he kept right at me for nine hours.
He stressed the phone call and tried to figure out how strong my influence was over Betty. He inquired about my friends and tried to find out if I had ever dropped any information about the Lindberghs or the baby. I never talked to people about such things.
If I could have been tripped up on anything, Deputy Chief Brex certainly would have done it. I think at the end of the first session he felt that I didn't have any guilty knowledge of the kidnaping. But he didn't let it rest at that. He put two men on the job to check up every angle of the story.
I was in Newark fourteen days. During that time scores of people who had seen my picture in the paper came in with stories as to how they had seen me in this place and that, and some even identified me as a criminal whom they accused of all sorts of things. Of course, their stories didn't stand the test.
Picked Out of Line-up
A restaurant keeper came down from Norwalk and identified me as a man who had bought some warm milk from him on the Thursday night after the kidnaping. Of course, on Thursday night I was at my brother's house in West Hartford. This fellow picked me out of the line-up. That wasn't very hard to do, because he had seen my picture and knew I was called Red, and I was the only red-head in the line-up.
The Newark police realized that that wasn’t fair, so, after that, they put me in a waiting room with a lot of other people, and those who thought they could identify me were brought into the waiting room without being told I was there.
The Newark police treated me fairly all the way through. I underwent fully twenty hours of thorough questioning at their hands, and I’ll say that they gave me a square deal. After they had checked my story all the way through, they exonerated me completely.
Entered U. S. Illegally
Then two Federal agents came to question me about my immigration status. I was in the country illegally. I left my ship, the Topdalsfjord, during a trip to New York in 1927, and remained in the country. I had been in the United States about twenty times as a sailor on the Norwegian-American line. I had come to love America very much, and on this particular trip it seemed to me I just had to remain. I did.
All the time I have been here my illegal status has worried me, and before I got into this mess I was making plans to have it remedied. Three years ago I started to work on it. I had my mother and friends get in touch with the American consulate at home and arrange for a visa under the quota. I filled out an application and had my mother file it. This summer I planned to go home, get my visa under the quota and come back to America. Then I could become a citizen.
One reason I never proposed to Betty was because of my status in this country. It wouldn’t have been fair to her to ask her to marry me when I might be discovered and sent away at any time. That's why I was anxious to get my status cleared up by going home to Norway and then coming back again under the quota. It is my greatest ambition that I will still have a chance to do that.
That's up to the authorities in Washington. Anyway, I'm now being held at Ellis Island under $50,000 Federal bail, which is about the highest bail I ever heard of in a deportation case. Of course, I guess they wanted to be sure to hold on to me in case something came up. But in the meantime, even the Newark police have recommended that the bail be reduced to $1,000.
Well, to get back to my story, after I had been in Newark two weeks, word suddenly came from Jersey City that they had some new clues and wanted me there for questioning, so to Jersey City I went.
So far as I could see, they didn't have anything new at all. And I got worse treatment in Jersey City than anywhere else.
Called a Liar
I started going through my story, just as I had many times before. Almost every time I opened my mouth, they yelled at me.
“You're a liar. We know different."
On Friday night they got a request to take me to the Lindbergh estate at Hopewell. Two Jersey City detectives and two state troopers took me down.
I afterward discovered that on the same night they swooped down on my brother Fred’s house in Brooklyn. They routed him out of bed and also routed out a girl in the same house with who he had merely a nodding acquaintance. They also went to his sweetheart's house and got her. The Jersey City detectives ordered Fred, who is the master of the yacht Morning Star, belonging to the Wall Street broker, O. M. Mitchell, to get his car and come along with them. Before that, the police had ransacked his room, turning everything upside down.
They gave him directions where to drive and he didn't realize where he was going until they got to the Holland Tunnel. Incidentally, they made him pay the tunnel toll.
Brother Grilled
When they reached Jersey City, Fred was put through a thorough examination. The girls were released next morning, but Fred was held for the immigration authorities, due to some technicality about his status in this country. He is now out on $1000 bail pending decision.
Of course, Betty and I had been at Fred's house at 6922 7th Ave., Brooklyn, and we had met his sweetheart's family. But we never had talked to them about the Lindbergh home or the baby, except to answer a few questions such as anybody might ask about so famous a family.
Anyway, the questioning of Fred and the girls didn’t gain anything. While they had them on the grill, I was on my way to face the authorities at Hopewell. I’ll tell about that tomorrow.
© 1932 Famous Features Syndicate, Inc.
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Post by Joe on Sept 2, 2023 16:07:46 GMT -5
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Saturday, April 30, 1932
MY ADVENTURES IN THE LINDBERGH CASE
By HENRY (RED) JOHNSON
CHAPTER XI
When I got to the Lindbergh house at Hopewell I am pretty sure the authorities were convinced I had no guilty knowledge of the kidnaping. But I think they still had the theory that I might innocently have dropped some information of value to the kidnapers. I was questioned thoroughly by Colonel Schwarzkopf, Captain Lamb, Inspector Walsh and Major Schoeffel, especially along the line of my friends and acquaintances. The questioning was carried on at various times all during Saturday.
So far as I could see, the investigation at Hopewell was carried out efficiently, but now and then I could feel that there was some sort of lack of cooperation among the various authorities concerned. But they seemed to follow up closely every single clue that turned up, no matter how slight it seemed to be, nor how difficult it was to trace.
Meeting With Betty
That evening a meeting was arranged between Betty and me in the servants’ waiting room. A detective was present. I think the idea of the meeting was so that Betty and I could talk things over and maybe develop some clues between us.
Betty certainly was a changed girl. She was pale and haggard and spiritless, so different from the bright, healthy, cheerful Betty I had known before. I’m sure she never had a shock like the kidnaping of that dear baby she loved so well.
Although she is only 23, she has had responsible positions as a nurse in prominent families in Detroit and New Jersey, and she took her work seriously. Then, to have a thing like this happen was just too much for her.
It was a dramatic meeting between us in that little room of the Lindbergh home. First off, I told her how sorry I was about the baby, and she told me how sorry she was that I had been involved in the whole business. Then we started to talk about the days before the kidnaping, where we had been, what we had done, what people we had seen, what we had talked about, and all that. We were trying to help the police find even the tiniest clue, if we could, but nothing developed that we hadn’t already told.
I left Hopewell late Sunday afternoon for Jersey City. During my stay at Hopewell, I saw Colonel Lindbergh several times, and once he greeted me. He looked haggard and worried, and morose. He would wander about aimlessly. Then some official would come up to get his opinion or something, and then he would perk up and a glint of determination would come into his eye. I never felt sorrier for a man in my life.
Colonel Man of Action
The Colonel is a man of action and unless he can act he seems lost. If only he could have come to some sort of grips with the enemy and done some real fighting, he would have been all right. But here he was, not knowing where to strike. It was terrible for him.
I saw Mrs. Lindbergh, too. It could be seen that she was trying to bear up bravely, but it could be seen, too, that her heart was aching for her child. She sat around a good deal, but now and then, with a determined effort, she would get up and try to busy herself around the house.
Over everything hung an air of tragedy. I have been in some pretty tight spots during my 10 years as a sailor, but never did I feel such an overpowering sense of tragedy.
I made one bad mistake at Hopewell. I mentioned to one of the Newark officers that I hadn’t been treated as well in Jersey City as I had been at Newark; in fact I was rather severe in my criticisms of the Jersey City Police. One of the Jersey City men was in the room at the time, and when we were on the way back to Jersey City from Hopewell he began calling me rotten names and then struck me three times in the stomach and knocked the breath out of me.
Then he said I wasn’t so innocent as I made out, and he intended to get something out of me. He said they had some nice rubber hose back at the police station, and he was going to use it on me. Then he wound up saying:
“If you don’t come clean, you won’t come out except in a black box.”
Fortunately for me, nothing ever came of his threats, and the three blows he struck me were the only ones I suffered during all my experience with the police.
Taken Back to Newark
Next day, at the request of Deputy Chief Brex, I was brought back to Newark, and on the following day, two Federal agents appeared. So far as I know, the only business I had with the Federal authorities was in connection with my illegal entrance into the country, so I couldn’t figure out just why it was that they took me in their car and started to retrace my trip to Hartford. Maybe they were going beyond their authority, but it didn’t make any difference to me because I had nothing to hide, and I was anxious to do anything I could for the baby, for the Lindberghs, and Morrows, and for Betty. And I guess the Federal men figured that if they could solve the kidnaping mystery it wouldn’t do them or their future any harm.
We left Newark late in the afternoon and followed the exact route I had taken to Hartford. We stopped at a filing station in Port Chester, where I had bought five gallons of gas. The same man wasn’t on duty, so, I wasn’t identified. But I was identified in the restaurant at Norwalk where I had bought breakfast for the hitch-hiker who later turned against me. And at Milford, where I stopped at a garage, as I have told before, the garage man called out my name just as we drew up. So, everything checked up with the story I had been telling all along. Then we turned around and headed back to New York.
All along the way the two Federal agents kept up a fire of questions. They went over the whole ground, which had been covered so many times already, but I guess they thought that just one little clue would be worth all the time.
We got back to New York about 1 o’clock in the morning and they took me to some Federal office on or near Fifth Avenue.
Tomorrow I will tell how I was offered anything I wanted, even a fortune, if I would supply some definite clue to the kidnaping.
© 1932 Famous Features Syndicate, Inc.
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,652
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Post by Joe on Sept 2, 2023 16:13:24 GMT -5
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Monday, May 2, 1932
MY ADVENTURES IN THE LINDBERGH CASE
By HENRY (RED) JOHNSON
CHAPTER XII
When I was brought back to the Federal office on or near Fifth Avenue, New York, after having retraced my trip though New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, I was questioned for three solid hours, although I had been undergoing a thorough examination by the Federal men all through the trip.
Three men were conducting the examination. From what I gathered, two of them believed I actually had something to do with the kidnaping, and the other believed I was innocent. When every other method failed to bring out anything valuable from me, they began to plead and make all sorts of promises. They said I would be granted immunity if only I would “tip them off.”
Then they promised me money, almost any amount I wanted, if I could furnish information that would lead to the solution of the case. If I did know anything, I certainly would have “spilled it” under those inducements. Anxious for Baby’s Return
As I have said, I don’t know whether these Federal men had any authority to put me “on the grill” or not, but I wasn’t standing on any technicalities, because I was just as anxious as everybody else to see the case cleared up and little Charles Lindbergh restored to his family and Betty. And I can’t blame anybody for wanting to solve the mystery. But, of course, I had no clues to give.
After the Federal agents saw that, they took me back to Newark, where we arrived at 5 o’clock in the morning. As you can see, the police and investigators weren’t exactly keeping union hours on this case.
At Newark I was now being hold (sic) under $50,000 bail for the immigration authorities, for I had already been completely exonerated by the local and state police. After my exoneration, I was treated very well indeed by the Newark police. Instead of being held in jail, I was given a furnished witness room for my quarters.
Comes a Friend in Need
Along about this time, Mr. Konrad Furubotn came to visit me and offer the assistance. He has been director of the Scandinavian division of the Republican national committee in all campaigns since 1924 and he is prominent in the Norwegian community. He also aided the late Senator Morrow in his campaign. Through Mr. Furubotn, a prominent friend of the Morrow family asked the Newark police to give me as good treatment as possible. Certainly this would never have been done if the Morrows and Lindberghs were convinced of my absolute innocence.
After my exoneration in Newark, a week after I got there, I might have applied for release on habeas corpus proceedings, but I was perfectly willing to be detained so long as anybody thought my detention would serve any purpose. During the whole investigation I never made any protests. I didn’t object to being brought back to New Jersey from Hartford. I didn’t object to being transferred around, and I didn’t demand or seek any legal advice. The first time a lawyer figured in the case so far as I was concerned was when my immigration status was under fire. Then Mr. Furubotn put me in touch with Mr. Hult Lawrence Wilson, a Brooklyn attorney who is president of the Norse Republican League of America.
On April 11 I was brought to Ellis Island, where I am at the moment of writing. By that time I had made some good friends in Newark and in a way I was sorry to leave. I got a nice sendoff, and many of them laughed and said they were sorry to see me go, and wished me good luck. The girls around the office in Newark used to bring ice cream and cake and treated me fine.
Of course, I had heard bad stories about Ellis Island, but I was pleasantly surprised when I got there. I found the guards and investigators pleasant and friendly. Mr. Edward Corsi, the commissioner of immigration, is a fine gentleman. The quarters are nice. We are allowed out in the fresh air for an hour or so a day. There is plenty of reading matter for us, and a radio. The food is clean and wholesome. It’s really not a bad place at all, except it is depressing to me to see so many pitiful cases of people who have in some way run afoul of the immigration laws.
At the moment of writing my case is due to come up for review in Washington almost any day. I am so happy to say that Congressman Paul John Kvale had expressed an interest in the case, and Senator Peter Norbeck’s good offices have also been sought. I want to take this opportunity, too, to thank several others who have helped me: Major Sigur J. Arnesen of Brooklyn, Mr. Hans (?) Olay and Dr. Walter F. Erikson, chairman of the Danish Republican committee.
Hopes for Citizenship
What I want to do is to get my bail reduced to $1,000, then arrange my affairs and go back to Norway voluntarily. If I am deported I can never come back. If I am allowed to go voluntarily, perhaps I can come back under the quota and become a full-fledged citizen of the United States. That is my fondest hope.
I have been in this country five years, and I would never be happy anywhere else. I love America and I love the people. I have found great kindness here, and no matter what happens I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for all that America has meant to me. I am sure that if I am allowed to become a citizen in the future I will do everything to fulfill my obligations.
While I was here at Ellis Island, Secretary of Labor Doak visited the Island and expressed a desire to see me. He asked me a lot of details about the kidnaping case, about my theories, etc. I found him a very pleasant man.
Of course, I took the opportunity to mention my own case and ask him what my chances were. He just smiled, but didn’t commit himself. He told me this immigration business was pretty ticklish sometimes. He said that there was quite a gang of racketeers who smuggled in immigrants and then these gangsters extorted money from them on the threat of turning them up. When they didn’t pay, the smugglers tipped off the authorities, and, of course, the victims had to be deported.
Admits Foolish Haste
Then the secretary said there were a lot of people who had to be deported because they were criminals. Of course, I can see that, and I don’t blame the country for wanting only good solid people to come here and stay.
I was foolish. I know that now if I had waited, I could have come in under the quota, which is not being filled. But on that bright day in March 1927, it seemed that I just couldn’t wait any longer to live here. The magnet of America was just too strong for me to resist. But if I hadn’t got mixed up in this mess, all would have been well, for I was planning to go home and then come back according to the law. Now, I am being penalized by accidental circumstances. But no matter what happens, I’ll never bear any grudge. I’ll have only myself to blame. But it will break my heart if circumstances prevent me from coming back.
Soon, I’ll be sailing away, either as a deportee or voluntarily. I’ll go back to my childhood home at Moss, Norway. I’m sure my mother will be glad to see me after five years, no matter what the circumstances. I’ll find work with my brother who took over my father’s shipping business. He owns a few small coasting vessels.
Trained for the Sea
I was born almost at the water’s edge. During a high wind and heavy sea the water floods our little home. I shall live over the days of my childhood when my stern, honest father trained me for the sea. I shall live over the days of my youth when I sailed on fishing smacks in the cold North Sea. I shall tell my mother, my three brothers and three sisters at home, some wonderful tales of America. They will be most interested in the Lindbergh baby kidnaping, for kidnaping is an unknown crime in Norway.
By that time I hope little Charles Lindbergh will be restored, well and happy, to his family, and to Betty, who loves him so much. After all, my worries and troubles are small compared with theirs. If the baby could be brought back, I wouldn’t care much what happened to me. Whether I left as a deportee or as a free man, my story would not have an unhappy ending, if only the baby comes back safe.
But if I go as a deportee, all my dreams of years, especially those since I met Betty, will fade. Well, there’s no need squawking. I can just hope, that’s all.
Goodbye, America. Thank you for all you have done for me. And my hope is that you will give me a chance to show my appreciation by becoming a hard-working American citizen. Goodbye, America.
© 1932 Famous Features Syndicate, Inc.
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Post by IloveDFW on Sept 2, 2023 16:48:51 GMT -5
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Saturday, April 30, 1932 MY ADVENTURES IN THE LINDBERGH CASE By HENRY (RED) JOHNSON CHAPTER XI When I got to the Lindbergh house at Hopewell I am pretty sure the authorities were convinced I had no guilty knowledge of the kidnaping. But I think they still had the theory that I might innocently have dropped some information of value to the kidnapers. I was questioned thoroughly by Colonel Schwarzkopf, Captain Lamb, Inspector Walsh and Major Schoeffel, especially along the line of my friends and acquaintances. The questioning was carried on at various times all during Saturday. So far as I could see, the investigation at Hopewell was carried out efficiently, but now and then I could feel that there was some sort of lack of cooperation among the various authorities concerned. But they seemed to follow up closely every single clue that turned up, no matter how slight it seemed to be, nor how difficult it was to trace. Meeting With Betty That evening a meeting was arranged between Betty and me in the servants’ waiting room. A detective was present. I think the idea of the meeting was so that Betty and I could talk things over and maybe develop some clues between us. Betty certainly was a changed girl. She was pale and haggard and spiritless, so different from the bright, healthy, cheerful Betty I had known before. I’m sure she never had a shock like the kidnaping of that dear baby she loved so well. Although she is only 23, she has had responsible positions as a nurse in prominent families in Detroit and New Jersey, and she took her work seriously. Then, to have a thing like this happen was just too much for her. It was a dramatic meeting between us in that little room of the Lindbergh home. First off, I told her how sorry I was about the baby, and she told me how sorry she was that I had been involved in the whole business. Then we started to talk about the days before the kidnaping, where we had been, what we had done, what people we had seen, what we had talked about, and all that. We were trying to help the police find even the tiniest clue, if we could, but nothing developed that we hadn’t already told. I left Hopewell late Sunday afternoon for Jersey City. During my stay at Hopewell, I saw Colonel Lindbergh several times, and once he greeted me. He looked haggard and worried, and morose. He would wander about aimlessly. Then some official would come up to get his opinion or something, and then he would perk up and a glint of determination would come into his eye. I never felt sorrier for a man in my life. Colonel Man of Action The Colonel is a man of action and unless he can act he seems lost. If only he could have come to some sort of grips with the enemy and done some real fighting, he would have been all right. But here he was, not knowing where to strike. It was terrible for him. I saw Mrs. Lindbergh, too. It could be seen that she was trying to bear up bravely, but it could be seen, too, that her heart was aching for her child. She sat around a good deal, but now and then, with a determined effort, she would get up and try to busy herself around the house. Over everything hung an air of tragedy. I have been in some pretty tight spots during my 10 years as a sailor, but never did I feel such an overpowering sense of tragedy. I made one bad mistake at Hopewell. I mentioned to one of the Newark officers that I hadn’t been treated as well in Jersey City as I had been at Newark; in fact I was rather severe in my criticisms of the Jersey City Police. One of the Jersey City men was in the room at the time, and when we were on the way back to Jersey City from Hopewell he began calling me rotten names and then struck me three times in the stomach and knocked the breath out of me. Then he said I wasn’t so innocent as I made out, and he intended to get something out of me. He said they had some nice rubber hose back at the police station, and he was going to use it on me. Then he wound up saying: “If you don’t come clean, you won’t come out except in a black box.” Fortunately for me, nothing ever came of his threats, and the three blows he struck me were the only ones I suffered during all my experience with the police. Taken Back to Newark Next day, at the request of Deputy Chief Brex, I was brought back to Newark, and on the following day, two Federal agents appeared. So far as I know, the only business I had with the Federal authorities was in connection with my illegal entrance into the country, so I couldn’t figure out just why it was that they took me in their car and started to retrace my trip to Hartford. Maybe they were going beyond their authority, but it didn’t make any difference to me because I had nothing to hide, and I was anxious to do anything I could for the baby, for the Lindberghs, and Morrows, and for Betty. And I guess the Federal men figured that if they could solve the kidnaping mystery it wouldn’t do them or their future any harm. We left Newark late in the afternoon and followed the exact route I had taken to Hartford. We stopped at a filing station in Port Chester, where I had bought five gallons of gas. The same man wasn’t on duty, so, I wasn’t identified. But I was identified in the restaurant at Norwalk where I had bought breakfast for the hitch-hiker who later turned against me. And at Milford, where I stopped at a garage, as I have told before, the garage man called out my name just as we drew up. So, everything checked up with the story I had been telling all along. Then we turned around and headed back to New York. All along the way the two Federal agents kept up a fire of questions. They went over the whole ground, which had been covered so many times already, but I guess they thought that just one little clue would be worth all the time. We got back to New York about 1 o’clock in the morning and they took me to some Federal office on or near Fifth Avenue. Tomorrow I will tell how I was offered anything I wanted, even a fortune, if I would supply some definite clue to the kidnaping. © 1932 Famous Features Syndicate, Inc. BETTY WAS NEVER A NURSE FOR PROMINENT FAMILIES IN DETROIT AND NEW JERSEY. BETTY. WAS. NEVER. A NURSE.
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,652
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Post by Joe on Sept 2, 2023 18:56:14 GMT -5
IloveDFW, if Johnson had said "nursemaid" or "caregiver," would that have helped in your concern?
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Post by IloveDFW on Sept 3, 2023 9:32:42 GMT -5
Michael, how many positions was Betty fired from before the Lindberghs hired her as opposed to her statements that she quit "because she didn't like it". Didn't she have 3-4 jobs in Detroit in the very short time she was there?
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Post by Michael on Sept 3, 2023 21:37:07 GMT -5
Michael, how many positions was Betty fired from before the Lindberghs hired her as opposed to her statements that she quit "because she didn't like it". Didn't she have 3-4 jobs in Detroit in the very short time she was there? While in Detroit, she moved in with her sister-in-law's sister and husband whose last name was Jackson. Sometime during her stay she started working for the Ross family and lasted only two days. In her statement she claimed she left because she didn't like the job but none of the reports say what really happened. Her next job was working for the Mosher family. In her statement she also claims here too that she left because she didn't like the job. Mrs. Mosher, once interviewed by Detroit Police, claimed she was fired after only two weeks because she was a "slip-shod" girl. Additionally, Mosher claimed that upon her termination Betty asked for a reference which she refused to give. Betty's next job was at the Whittier Hotel/Apartments which she left after about three months and returned to NJ. Police examined her employment card at the Whittier and learned the phone number she listed was fake, and that her only two references listed on the card were both Ross and Mosher. Something else I just caught while looking this up for you.... In Betty's statement she gives an address, that is not the Jackson residence, and says she couldn't remember who the family was that she boarded with. When Special Agent Brown went by to visit Adam Jackson, he claimed Betty lived with them the entire time she was in Detroit.
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Post by IloveDFW on Sept 4, 2023 6:36:01 GMT -5
Michael, how many positions was Betty fired from before the Lindberghs hired her as opposed to her statements that she quit "because she didn't like it". Didn't she have 3-4 jobs in Detroit in the very short time she was there? While in Detroit, she moved in with her sister-in-law's sister and husband whose last name was Jackson. Sometime during her stay she started working for the Ross family and lasted only two days. In her statement she claimed she left because she didn't like the job but none of the reports say what really happened. Her next job was working for the Mosher family. In her statement she also claims here too that she left because she didn't like the job. Mrs. Mosher, once interviewed by Detroit Police, claimed she was fired after only two weeks because she was a "slip-shod" girl. Additionally, Mosher claimed that upon her termination Betty asked for a reference which she refused to give. Betty's next job was at the Whittier Hotel/Apartments which she left after about three months and returned to NJ. Police examined her employment card at the Whittier and learned the phone number she listed was fake, and that her only two references listed on the card were both Ross and Mosher. Something else I just caught while looking this up for you.... In Betty's statement she gives an address, that is not the Jackson residence, and says she couldn't remember who the family was that she boarded with. When Special Agent Brown went by to visit Adam Jackson, he claimed Betty lived with them the entire time she was in Detroit. Thanks Michael! Did they live in that apartment building she said she lived in? There is no way she could have afforded rent on her own there.
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Post by Michael on Sept 4, 2023 8:35:08 GMT -5
Thanks Michael! Did they live in that apartment building she said she lived in? There is no way she could have afforded rent on her own there. There are so many addresses scattered throughout a ton of sources that my head is spinning…. If what Jackson told Agent Brown is correct, Betty stayed with him and his wife at 5212 Lakewood Street her entire stay. In her statements, Betty claimed to have been out there visiting the Jacksons, but claimed in her March 10 statement she couldn’t remember the names of who she boarded with. In her March 3 statement she claims there were others boarding where she was staying having gone out with one of the men who also boarded there. An NJSP report places both Mary Jackson and Betty living in a house at 8737 St. Paul St. during the time she worked at Whittier. Jackson was interviewed here too and it claims he said she moved after working at Whittier. Mary was Adams sister. The owner of that residence/building, Mrs. Duggan, said Betty had stayed there but “could not recommend” Betty too highly.
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