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Post by Sue on Oct 24, 2019 19:10:54 GMT -5
Is the convict's name James Bruce Russell? See "The Day's News in Pictures" for October 8, 1934 in the Journal News. There is a mugshot for a James Bruce Russell on the left side, second picture down. I think this is the convict that you are looking for, the Russell from Joyce's Milton's book. (Did Milton mean to use the name J. B. Russell instead of J. R. Russell?) The caption with the picture on page 10 reads: HAUPTMANN FRIEND --- Held as a federal prisoner in East Cambridge, Mass., James Bruce Russell, above, said he not only had been an intimate friend of Bruno Hauptmann for several years, but that the man held in the Lindbergh kidnapping helped him to escape Westchester county jail in New York. news.hrvh.org/veridian/?a=d&d=ieadbehj19341008.1.10&srpos=20&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-Bruno+hauptmann------Here is the mugshot of James Bruce Russell: imgur.com/a/EDfSivS
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Post by john on Oct 25, 2019 1:30:04 GMT -5
I appreciate the response, Amy. It would be fascinating to learn more about J.B. Russell. Good work.
Now it would be great to find out how this Mr. Russell came to know Hauptmann and whether they engaged in any "business" of one kind or another. That BRH knew this man at all, helped him escape from prison, is to the best of my knowledge the first bit of information that I know of to be true that Hauptmann was acquainted with more than just the occasional "shady" character like Isador Fisch, but a known criminal in the U.S., a man who'd spent some serious time behind bars. One of the many reasons for my long time,--and I'm still not wholly convinced otherwise--belief that contrary to David Wilentz's claim that Hauptmann was a criminal in Germany and a criminal in the U.S. (i.e. engaged in criminal activity in America), as thus far the only criminal activity we know BRH was engaged in was in Germany, with its dreadful postwar economy, as in the States he'd worked for a living and prior to his arrest in 1934 and is not known to have committed any crimes.
For me, with my perspective on the case, from a different angle than most who've studied the LKC--this is a very big deal. Maybe I simply wasn't looking in the right places.
Much thanks, John
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Post by Sue on Oct 26, 2019 8:58:27 GMT -5
Dear John,
I wonder if those who believe that Hauptmann was guilty, but had an accomplice, would name the name of JAMES BRUCE RUSSELL as Hauptmann's partner in crime in the Lindbergh kidnapping?
The primary names that figure into J. B. Russell's story are:
James Bruce Russell George W. Belhumeur Marshal John J. Murphy Bruno Richard Hauptmann Isidor Fisch
According to several newspaper accounts in early October 1934, Russell, who was from Nebraska, was quoted as saying that:
"there are a lot of angles in this Lindbergh case," and "if I talk about Hauptmann, it won't help him any, it would hurt him." According to a story told police by another prisoner, George W. Belhumeur, paroled Atlantic penitentiary prisoner..."
Belhumeur wrote to Marshal John J. Murphy about what Russell was telling Belhumeur as both men were serving time in the same prison.
There are many October 1934 newspaper accounts that you can glean additional information about the Russell story.
The following is from page 2 of the October 5, 1934 edition of The Evening Sun from Baltimore:
(sorry, but this cut and pasted and a little choppy, but most of it pertains to the Russell story)
"Hauptmann was named in Boston last night as the man who helped a prisoner escape from the Westchester County penitentiary in New York four years ago. United States Marshal John J. Murphy today said that James Bruce Russell, a Federal prisoner, gave him the information. Russell, however, declined to go into details. "If I talk about Hauptmann and the Lindbergh case," Murphy quoted him as saying, "I will be a marked man and some day will be put on the spot. Whatever I say about Hauptmann will hurt him." Hauptmann's extortion trial has been set in the Bronx County court for October 11, but his counsel, James M. Fawcett, said yesterday that he would ask for a postponement. The attorney also promised a fight against extradition. The lawyer announced he would retain handwriting and finger-print experts to combat whatever evidence District Attorney Samuel J. Foley may offer in their fields. Experts have said the writing in the ransom notes corresponds to that of the defendant. May Adjourn Trial Foley said today that, should New Jersey ask additional time for a grand jury to consider kidnapping or murder charges, or both, against Hauptmann, he would ask the Bronx County Court to adjourn the extortion case here. The Bronx prosecutor reiterated statements that he was willing to turn Hauptmann over to the New Jersey authorities, provided they make a request for extradition before the extortion case is brought to trial. To Resume Examination Hauptmann's mental examination was to be resumed this afternoon. Six psychiatrists, representatives of New Jersey, New York and the defense. are engaged in the tests. The carpenter from the Bronx was described as of average intelligence and normal reactions after the first session by Dr. James B. Spradley, New Jersey psychiatrist. "He isn't a vicious type," said Dr, Spradley, "and he certainly gave no outward indication that he is trying to fake insanity." Carpenters started today to reconstruct Hauptmann's garage, where police found $14,590 of the $50,000 which Colonel Lindbergh paid for the return of his son, already dead. The garage had been torn apart, board by board, after some of the money was found concealed in a beam. Probing Prisoner' Story Boston, Oct. 5 (U.R) The story of an East Cambridge jail prisoner who said he knew Bruno R. Hauptmann and a "lot of angels to this Lindbergh case" which would hurt Hauptmann "if he talked," was investigated today by Department of Justice officials. James B. Russell was questioned after another prisoner, George W. Belhumeur, sent a note to United States Marshal John J. Murphy saying he knew "a party here in jail" who knows about the Lindbergh case and knows Hauptmann. Under questioning, officials said, Russell admitted he had known Hauptmann since 1926 and was with him in New York with the late Isidor Fisch, from whom Hauptmann said he received the ransom money. Russell said he met Hauptmann in Buffalo, N. Y, in 1926, while working as a carpenter.- Officials said Russell told them he kept in contact with Hauptmann until September, 1932, six months after the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped, and then they lost track of each other. ' Awaiting sentence in connection with attempts to cash forged post office money orders, Russell allegedly said, "If 1 talk about Hauptmann, it won't help him any, but it would hurt him. . . . I'm going to be sentenced Monday, but I don't know to what jail I'm going, and wherever I go I'll be a marked man and known as a 'talker'."
This is from the Fitchburg Sentinel from Fitchburg, Massachusetts for October 5, 1934:
"Murphy made a quick visit to the jail after receiving a letter from another prisoner, who signed his name as "George W. Belhumeur" in which the writer said Russell had confided to him that he knew Hauptmann intimately. The letter also said Russell claimed to be well acquainted with the late Isador Fisch, who was named by Hauptmann as the man who gave him money later identified as part of the $50,000 ransom money paid by Col. Charles A. Lindbergh in a vain effort to recover his kidnapped son. The marshal said Belhumeur told him Russell claimed to be so well acquainted with Hauptmann that the latter aided him to escape from Westchester county penitentiary in 1930. Beyond this bare fact, however, Russell would tell Murphy nothing about the escape or of a get-rich-quick scheme that..."
Sue
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Post by hurtelable on Oct 28, 2019 8:38:43 GMT -5
Is the convict's name James Bruce Russell? See "The Day's News in Pictures" for October 8, 1934 in the Journal News. There is a mugshot for a James Bruce Russell on the left side, second picture down. I think this is the convict that you are looking for, the Russell from Joyce's Milton's book. (Did Milton mean to use the name J. B. Russell instead of J. R. Russell?) The caption with the picture on page 10 reads: HAUPTMANN FRIEND --- Held as a federal prisoner in East Cambridge, Mass., James Bruce Russell, above, said he not only had been an intimate friend of Bruno Hauptmann for several years, but that the man held in the Lindbergh kidnapping helped him to escape Westchester county jail in New York. news.hrvh.org/veridian/?a=d&d=ieadbehj19341008.1.10&srpos=20&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-Bruno+hauptmann------Here is the mugshot of James Bruce Russell: imgur.com/a/EDfSivSI somehow doubt any significant "friendship" between Russell and Hauptmann, simply because just about everyone else in Hauptmann's circle of friends was of German background, as was typical of newly arrived immigrants. They hung together with others of the same language and culture. Some sicko prisoners would naturally try to call attention to themselves after hearing about a famous case totally unrelated to them, with the hope that they could convince authorities to help them out of their predicament by offering up (concocted) "inside info" regarding the famous case.
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luf12
Trooper II
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Post by luf12 on Oct 28, 2019 22:12:54 GMT -5
Betty, Red and the Junges all leave the country soon after the LKC... only Red's departure is supposedly involuntary. Deportation is much preferred to prison time, wouldn't you say? A love triangle has motivated many a person - Red for Betty and Betty for CAL? In some book the Junges were referred to as among the wealthiest families in Hamburg before the depression - what some people will do to return to the wealthy style to which they are accustomed... Don't forget that according to the FBI, Junges, Red and Ellerson all lived at the same address at some point... The Junges and Red were alibis for each other for two hours the night of the kidnapping. Also the table message talked about wealthy from Hamburg. I don't know how much this was investigated. I think it was discovered by Mark at the museum. kate1, are you aware of Marlis' Warburg thesis?
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Post by Sue on Oct 29, 2019 12:02:15 GMT -5
To hurtable:
Did Hauptmann have a list of everyone he knew? What person DOES?
The Americanized version of Russell is Russel with the mark above the "u" letter.
Russell spoke fluent German.
Obviously the poster john thinks the Russell story holds water.
Joyce Milton discussed Russell in 4 pages of her book.
James Bruce Russell did indeed break out of the penitentiary in East View, New York on August 5, 1930.
There are several newspaper accounts that support that Russell escaped.
John D. Rockefeller's estate was nearby, and that is where they found Russell's discarded prison clothes.
Russell had been working with a quarry gang near the estate.
There were complaints from people that day about convict workers in that area.
Was Hauptmann up in East View, New York at that time, and could he have aided in Russell's escape?
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Post by leeforman2 on Oct 29, 2019 22:31:18 GMT -5
Article attached in two posts - amazing coincidence on the date [with thanks again to the Norwalk Public Library].
If the visitors were indeed Police - I wonder where the photo of the Prices would be today - would they be NY State Troopers? - if they were investigators and part of Hoffman's team - then you would assume that the photo of the Prices would be in his files - but why would they make the threat to Mrs. Hermann? Seems a stretch for an impersonation play just to acquire that photograph.
Furthermore - it sounds as if the handwriting of Dr. Goodman is with the Hoffman files - I wonder if that exists. Could he be the same as Chink Goodman? Including a comparison.
Would be great to know what Parker Ellis was after in Danbury.
Attachments:
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Post by leeforman2 on Oct 29, 2019 22:32:34 GMT -5
...end of article and comparison. Seems a fair likeness. Attachments:
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
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Post by Joe on Oct 30, 2019 6:36:24 GMT -5
...end of article and comparison. Seems a fair likeness. Well.. they are both wearing ties.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2019 6:45:39 GMT -5
A very interesting post, Lee. Mrs. Herman and her husband did reverse themselves on the Fisch identification. Were they bowing to pressure placed on them or had they been mistaken about that identification. I don't know what Michael might have available on this topic. Gov. Hoffman's collection at the NJSP is huge. I certainly have not gone through it in its entirety like Michael has to know what might be there on the Hermans and Chink Goodman. I will definitely take a look on my next visit to the archives. Will also look at the Ellis Parker/Paul Wendel stuff to see what that might yield. I will get back to you on this.
Dr. Goodman might also be a good fit for Paul Wendel. He would have been the type to write bogus prescriptions!
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Post by Michael on Oct 30, 2019 9:16:52 GMT -5
A very interesting post, Lee. Mrs. Herman and her husband did reverse themselves on the Fisch identification. Were they bowing to pressure placed on them or had they been mistaken about that identification. I don't know what Michael might have available on this topic. Gov. Hoffman's collection at the NJSP is huge. I certainly have not gone through it in its entirety like Michael has to know what might be there on the Hermans and Chink Goodman. I will definitely take a look on my next visit to the archives. Will also look at the Ellis Parker/Paul Wendel stuff to see what that might yield. I will get back to you on this. I'm a little behind and tied up with this "project" so my mind is swirling. But off the top of my head .... Mrs. Hermann was interviewed by Hoffman's men Buckley and Meade. Amy, the "Buckley" file in the Hoffman Collection is small but contains several items about Hermann. Price is mentioned, and Uhlig was interviewed. Hermann claimed two NJ Police came to her home after Hauptmann's arrest trying to get her to identify him as the man selling the money but they threatened her after she said it was Fisch. While it could have been NJ, sometimes this identification is merely assumed. I'd have to double check my Condon file to be sure but I don't recall an NJSP report on this. It could be it was CSP. That's the thing most people don't realize. Many agencies conducted investigations. Sometimes at a request and other times independently. Sometimes they shared their findings and sometimes they did not. Here I would expect they did so I could have missed it or just don't remember it at the moment. There's a section at the NJSP Archives were other police agencies sent their report ... NYSP as one example. Even still, not everything is there. There's PA State Police reports and "way back when" I called to see if there were more held by them not at the NJSP Archives and discovered there were. However, the person I spoke with said they could not be released. Michigan State Police has a whole slew of material that isn't at the NJSP Archives. I have them because Robert Knapp was kind enough to share his material with me. There's also some in the HRO Collection at the Archives which is also where I found CSP reports as well. I know they were following Condon at one point. Getting back to Hermann, there was a letter written to Rev. Matthiesen as well and he was always sharing his material with Parker.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2019 20:21:15 GMT -5
Thanks, Michael, for sharing where I can locate this material. I am putting this on my to-do list for my next archive visit. Your assistance is very appreciated and such a time saver for me!!
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Post by Sue on Nov 4, 2019 14:42:39 GMT -5
imgur.com/a/EDfSivSlindberghkidnap.proboards.com/thread/1097/connecticut-connection?page=3Did convict James Bruce Russell have anything to to with the Lindbergh kidnapping? If he did not, then did James B. Russell know Hauptmann at all? And if Russell knew Hauptmann, did Hauptmann help Russell escape from prison? Loss of Eden by Joyce Milton, pages 316-319, and Ghosts of Hopewell discuss the James B. Russell story. And there is someone on Jim Fisher's site that inquires about obtaining the FBI's 12-page report from an interview with James B. Russell in 1934. Russell's cellmate came forward with interesting information that Russell was feeding him. George W. Belhumeur wrote a letter to Marshal John J. Murphy. According to Belhumeur (and other prisoners), Russell said that Hauptmann helped him escape from jail in 1930. (I believe the exact date is January 23, 1930, but I also have information that says August 5, 1930 is another significant date.) I don't believe Russell had a long prison sentence left when he was interviewed in 1934. Russell bolted from prison 2 times, once on January 23, 1930, and again on August 5, 1930. Did Hauptmann give Russell a hand in escaping prison once, twice, or not at all? Russell's escape from the Westchester penitentiary in East View, New York checks out -- it is confirmed by newspaper reports. www.newspapers.com/newspage/203863401/"A corner of John D. Rockefeller's estate in East View, N. Y., was used as a dressing station by James Russell, Chicago gunman, after his escape from East View penitentiary Tuesday. Discarded prison clothing was found by a workman." Russell was working with a quarry gang near the John D. Rockefeller estate when he escaped. (Joyce Milton says the Rockefeller estate was located in Pawling, New York.) See the Berkshire County Eagle form Pittsfield, Massachusetts, page 1: www.newspapers.com/newspage/533180538/(As an aside, Judge Crater went missing on August 6, 1930, the same day that James Bruce Russell escaped from the penitentiary in Eastview, New York.) Both Russell and Hauptmann were carpenters, and Russell was fluent in German and several other languages. Several papers say that Russell was well-acquainted with Hauptmann and Isidor Fisch, and that all 3 were present in New York at one time. That information should be available from Russell's interview. The transcript of the 3-hour interview with Russell was sent to Hoover. Joyce Milton says that Russell first met Hauptmann at Childs Restaurant in Buffalo, New York in June or July 1926. I believe the last time that Russell says that he saw Hauptmann was in September 1932, six months after the kidnapping. Trial By Newspaper by Harold Wadsworth Sullivan states that J.B. Russell claimed Hauptmann planned bank robberies before the Lindbergh kidnapping. See page 123. A good idea is to have Hauptmann's Upstate New York and Northeastern United States travels included in a timeline. lindberghkidnap.proboards.com/thread/636/catskills-witness-brhs-shoes-claimsRussell's two aliases were: Nicholas E. Rosier and Albert Brooks. James B. Russell was 35 years old in the year 1934. Does James B. Russell look like any pictures from Hauptmann's family album? One of many newspapers about the Russell story is: The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts, October 6, 1934, page 2. The Boston-area newspapers have a lot of good information on the Russell story. Russell stole a cornet from a Salvation Army in Manchester, and was arrested. Well, is this Manchester, Massachusetts or Manchester, New Hampshire? There is a Russell story out of Manchester, New Hampshire. When the Russell story surfaced in 1934, authorities in New Hampshire wanted Russell returned to them (for violating parole) after he finished his prison sentence in the jail that he was in at the time. Russell was all over the place with committing crimes, escaping jails, on the run, caught, and then having to answer to the states that were looking for him. See: "Russell Will Be Returned to NH State Prison" Portsmouth, New Hampshire on October 6, 1934, page 8. www.newspapers.com/newspage/11147282/There are many more references to the James B. Russell story in the newspapers of the 1930s.
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Post by wolfman666 on Nov 6, 2019 11:45:13 GMT -5
great article sue, its to bad nobody gives you credit for good research.
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Post by stella7 on Nov 6, 2019 19:10:07 GMT -5
Yes, thank-you Sue. You've given us a lot to think about here and another direction to go in.
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Post by Sue on Nov 7, 2019 19:05:04 GMT -5
Thanks to both of you, Stella7 and Steve. There is some new information about Russell in this article that has not been posted previously. And January 23, 1930 was the date that Russell was arrested in Yonkers, NOT the date of a jail escape. I know August 5, 1930 was when he broke out of the Westchester jail in East View, New York. Russell escaped jail twice, and I have read that the other place was Sing-Sing. The following is from The Boston Globe for October 5, 1934: MANCHESTER POLICE SAY RUSSELL SPEAKS GERMAN, MANCHESTER, NH, Oct S (A. P.) James B. Russell, a Federal prisoner in East Cambridge, Mass. jail, who told officials he was acquainted with Bruno Hauptmann, held in New York in connection with the kidnapping of the infant son of Charles A. Lindbergh, speaks German fluently, according to local police. Police said they questioned Russell at the time of his arrest here in 1932 for the theft of a cornet from the Salvation Army and, they said, he spoke German as well as a half dozen other languages. Police said the fact that he spoke German apparently was unknown to Federal officials in Boston. Russell was sent to State Prison for a three-year maximum sentence, police said, but was released after serving a year. He is wanted here, police said, for violation of parole. PRISONER IN CAMBRIDGE QUIZZED ON HAUPTMANN For an hour and a half this forenoon an agent of the United States Department of Justice was closeted at the East Cambridge Jail with James B. Russell, 35, alias Nicholas E. Rosier, alias Albert Brooks, who is serving term there, in an effort to obtain from the prisoner more details of the story he told yesterday to United States Marshal John J. Murphy concerning his alleged relations with Bruno Richard Hauptmann, suspect in the Lindbergh case. The Department of Justice man refused to divulge his own identity in keeping with a departmental rule. He admitted after the interview that he obtained nothing more from Russell than what Russell told United States Marshal Murphy yesterday. He said that the department will check every detail of Russell's story and also will check back on his personal history. He said the department has received many similar stories - and as a matter of routine is checking them all in every detail. Russell has a record of six arrests and two jail escapes. He is reported to have told United States Marshal Murphy that Hauptmann helped him to escape from the Westchester County Jail at Eastview, N Y, [?] 1930. He was serving a year's sentence at the Westchester County Jail on a charge of carrying a loaded revolver in Yonkers, N Y, on Jan 23, 1930. According to his own admissions to Marshal Murphy, he was friendly with Hauptmann and also Isidor Fisch, now dead, who was involved in the ransom money investigation by Hauptmann and later absolved by the Government investigation. The marshal said that Russell told him that he was born in Wyoming, and had lived much of his life in Nebraska, and that he had met Hauptmann in Buffalo in 1926. Russell told him, the marshal said, that he was a carpenter and cabinetmaker and had tried to get Hauptmann a job in Northern New York. After that, according to Russell's story, he was friendly with Hauptmann and in frequent contact with him until September, 1932, when he lost contact with Hauptmann. "Have you been with Hauptmann in New York city and in that neighborhood?" the marshal asked. According to Mr Murphy, Russell said he had, and when questioned as to whether he thought Hauptmann had murdered the Lindbergh baby Russell replied that Hauptmann was "sort of a peculiar fellow," but he did not think Hauptmann would commit a murder. Marshal Murphy said that Russell told him Hauptmann had entered the United States illegally by way of Canada. Murphy asked him how he knew and he replied that Hauptmann told him. As Marshal Murphy pressed Russell for more information Russell is said to have replied, "If I talk about Hauptmann it won't help him any but it will hurt him." Mr Murphy argued that he should make a clean breast of all he knew. "Well, there's a lot of angles to this Lindbergh case," Russell is alleged to have replied. "I'm going to be sentenced on Monday, but I don't know to what jail. If I talk I would be a marked man." www.newspapers.com/newspage/431717374/
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Post by hurtelable on Nov 8, 2019 9:17:02 GMT -5
Thanks to both of you, Stella7 and Steve. There is some new information about Russell in this article that has not been posted previously. And January 23, 1930 was the date that Russell was arrested in Yonkers, NOT the date of a jail escape. I know August 5, 1930 was when he broke out of the Westchester jail in East View, New York. Russell escaped jail twice, and I have read that the other place was Sing-Sing. The following is from The Boston Globe for October 5, 1934: MANCHESTER POLICE SAY RUSSELL SPEAKS GERMAN, MANCHESTER, NH, Oct S (A. P.) James B. Russell, a Federal prisoner in East Cambridge, Mass. jail, who told officials he was acquainted with Bruno Hauptmann, held in New York in connection with the kidnapping of the infant son of Charles A. Lindbergh, speaks German fluently, according to local police. Police said they questioned Russell at the time of his arrest here in 1932 for the theft of a cornet from the Salvation Army and, they said, he spoke German as well as a half dozen other languages. Police said the fact that he spoke German apparently was unknown to Federal officials in Boston. Russell was sent to State Prison for a three-year maximum sentence, police said, but was released after serving a year. He is wanted here, police said, for violation of parole. PRISONER IN CAMBRIDGE QUIZZED ON HAUPTMANN For an hour and a half this forenoon an agent of the United States Department of Justice was closeted at the East Cambridge Jail with James B. Russell, 35, alias Nicholas E. Rosier, alias Albert Brooks, who is serving term there, in an effort to obtain from the prisoner more details of the story he told yesterday to United States Marshal John J. Murphy concerning his alleged relations with Bruno Richard Hauptmann, suspect in the Lindbergh case. The Department of Justice man refused to divulge his own identity in keeping with a departmental rule. He admitted after the interview that he obtained nothing more from Russell than what Russell told United States Marshal Murphy yesterday. He said that the department will check every detail of Russell's story and also will check back on his personal history. He said the department has received many similar stories - and as a matter of routine is checking them all in every detail. Russell has a record of six arrests and two jail escapes. He is reported to have told United States Marshal Murphy that Hauptmann helped him to escape from the Westchester County Jail at Eastview, N Y, [?] 1930. He was serving a year's sentence at the Westchester County Jail on a charge of carrying a loaded revolver in Yonkers, N Y, on Jan 23, 1930. According to his own admissions to Marshal Murphy, he was friendly with Hauptmann and also Isidor Fisch, now dead, who was involved in the ransom money investigation by Hauptmann and later absolved by the Government investigation. The marshal said that Russell told him that he was born in Wyoming, and had lived much of his life in Nebraska, and that he had met Hauptmann in Buffalo in 1926. Russell told him, the marshal said, that he was a carpenter and cabinetmaker and had tried to get Hauptmann a job in Northern New York. After that, according to Russell's story, he was friendly with Hauptmann and in frequent contact with him until September, 1932, when he lost contact with Hauptmann. "Have you been with Hauptmann in New York city and in that neighborhood?" the marshal asked. According to Mr Murphy, Russell said he had, and when questioned as to whether he thought Hauptmann had murdered the Lindbergh baby Russell replied that Hauptmann was "sort of a peculiar fellow," but he did not think Hauptmann would commit a murder. Marshal Murphy said that Russell told him Hauptmann had entered the United States illegally by way of Canada. Murphy asked him how he knew and he replied that Hauptmann told him. As Marshal Murphy pressed Russell for more information Russell is said to have replied, "If I talk about Hauptmann it won't help him any but it will hurt him." Mr Murphy argued that he should make a clean breast of all he knew. "Well, there's a lot of angles to this Lindbergh case," Russell is alleged to have replied. "I'm going to be sentenced on Monday, but I don't know to what jail. If I talk I would be a marked man." www.newspapers.com/newspage/431717374/I'm very skeptical about this report that Russell spoke German and a half dozen other languages. Career vagabond American criminals generally weren't into foreign languages. Generally speaking, their education levels were poor as were their intelligence levels. Two obvious questions authorities should have asked Russell were (1) Were your parents from Germany and did they speak German in the household where you were raised? and (2) Did you ever travel to Germany or to other foreign countries? In addition, they should have had a German-speaking law enforcement officer evaluate Russell's capabilities in German. Seems like the authorities could have easily been hoodwinked by Russell with respect to his claims of connection to Hauptmann in particular and to the KLC in general. If they really thought there was much truth to Russell's claims of a connection, they might have been more aggressive in offering him some quid pro quo for his information. But instead Russell seemed to have backed off in fear of retaliation by the real Lindbergh kidnap perps. Could it be that Russell was more fearful of being exposed as a BS artist?
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Post by Sue on Nov 8, 2019 12:40:08 GMT -5
I don't think Russell was fearful of being exposed as a BS artist. Russell was not the one who came forward with the information about Hauptmann; prisoner George W. Belhumeur alerted authorities.
Belhumeur wrote a letter to Marshal John J. Murphy, but the Russell story only reached the public by way of newspaper just about 2 weeks after Hauptmann's arrest. George seems to have written to authorities almost immediately after Hauptmann became known to the public in 1934.)
Belhumeur must have written to Murphy within days of Hauptmann's arrest (September 19) because the Russell story was ALREADY in the newspapers by October 4.
Belhumeur wrote the letter, but did that letter go out immediately? The letter would have taken a few days to get there. Investigators had to read and digest the letter, summon Russell, interview him, give the newspaper reporters the story...
There does not seem to have been a lot of time for Russell to spin an intricate story about his involvement with Hauptmann, and then share that information with inmates, who in turn would alert authorities.
And wasn't J.J. Nosovitsky a rather intelligent suspect in the Lindbergh kidnapping? I could cite many criminals in history who were quite sophisticated and intelligent, Ted Bundy and Dr. Sam Sheppard, just to name two.
I suppose looking into James Bruce Russell's family history in Nebraska would be a good place to start to determine where he may have learned many languages -- everyone has a history somewhere.
Russell seems to have been a highly intelligent person who turned to a life in crime. Too bad.
Maybe Marshal John J. Murphy and the official from the Justice Department (who chose not to name himself) --- maybe they "dropped the ball" in investigating Russell?
That wouldn't have been the first time investigators screwed up in the Lindbergh case.
And also, I do believe that Russell knew that he didn't have to talk. Russell was being moved to another jail, and he did not know what characters he would be facing in the new place.
Like he said:
"I'm going to be sentenced on Monday, but I don't know to what jail. If I talk I would be a marked man."
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Post by hurtelable on Nov 9, 2019 17:53:12 GMT -5
Yes, there are exceptions to the rule. In fact, I was thinking of Nosovitsky as one such exception, as in individual who was well-endowed in language skills, as I was composing my last post. But with his background as an international spy, his upbringing in Europe, and his history of extensive travel to multiple countries, one would expect him to cultivate a knowledge of multiple languages, because he had an incentive to do so to be successful in his craft.
A don't know all that much about Bundy and Shepard, but they are probably exceptions to the rule as well. The brighter career criminals, in fact, seem to get more public attention in general, simply because their stories tend to titillate more. Also, "white collar" criminals form a more intelligent group on average than "street" criminals. To the best of my knowledge, James B. Russell would not fall into the "white collar" category.
The statistical correlation between criminality and lower IQ is discussed in Charles Murray' s book, "The Bell Curve."
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Post by Sue on Nov 10, 2019 16:08:39 GMT -5
Thanks for mentioning The Bell Curve by Charles Murray. I think I heard a lot of press about the book years ago, but have never read it.
Appearances can be deceiving. There are people known to have chosen to live on the streets, yet they hold PhDs. There are people who look very broken down, but once they start talking it is evident that they have been formally educated.
Of course, you can't tell from a picture, but Russell seems like he could fit in with the pictures of Hauptmann with his friends in those group photo shots in the living room.
I was recently sent a copy of an article from the Boston Globe that gives an outline of James B. Russell's criminal history. The name of the article is: "SAYS HAUPTMANN AIDED HIS ESCAPE: Prisoner at East Cambridge Jail Grilled"
There is a clear picture of Russell's face in the picture that accompanies the article.
What follows is an excerpt from the article that does not have a date on it, but it would have been in print in the Boston Globe the first week of October in 1934:
Federal Men to Question Him
On the card bearing his name and fingerprint identification are the following notations:
James B. Russell, November 23, 1929, arrested in Burbank, Calif. for petty theft, sentenced to five days in jail under the name of Nicholas E. Rosier. January 23, 1930, arrested in Yonkers, N.Y., carrying a loaded gun, gave name of James Bruce Russell, sentenced to Westchester County Jail at Eastview, N.Y., Feb 3, 1930, for one year, Escaped Aug 5, 1930.
Jan 26, 1931, arrested under the name of Albert Brooks for larceny ?ar, armed robbery charge filed, sentenced to serve 30 additional days in ??ember 1931.
Aug 26, 1932, arrested in Lewiston, Me. for larceny of automobile, re ?
November 1, 1932, sentenced to a year and a day to three years at the Concord...
Article is cut off and incomplete, but I am looking to get the entire one.
There has to be more to his criminal record.
So, Russell escaped from the Westchester jail on August 5, 1930 and the Salem House of Correction on January 26, 1931.
Another thought is that maybe Russell was talking to inmates about Hauptmann months before his arrest?
If it is a fact that Russell knew Hauptmann, and Russell wanted to spill his guts to other prisoners, maybe Russell had been confiding to the prisoners about Hauptmann long before Hauptmann's arrest on September 19, 1934?
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Post by Sue on Nov 16, 2019 16:33:16 GMT -5
The Herald-News Passaic, New Jersey October 11, 1934 Page 2
PLANNED TO R0B BANK
BOSTON, MA - Bruno Richard Hauptmann was in desperate need of money before the Lindbergh baby kidnapping and attempted to enlist help in robbing a bank, according to James Bruce Russell, 35-year-old convicted money order forger and self-admitted former pal of Hauptmann. Russell signed a statement, Federal officials said today. In...that Hauptmann asked him to help in the bank robbery, but that he refused. Officials refused to divulge what bank was to have been the victim.
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Post by Sue on Nov 17, 2019 14:17:41 GMT -5
I wonder if it is possible to ascertain whether or not Hauptmann helped Russell to escape from jail? Another prisoner, Alfred Nickerson, escaped from the Westchester County Jail in Eastview, New York, in 1930, just a few days after James Russell flew the coop. ANOTHER PRISONER FLEES Auto Thief, Missing With Car, Second to Escape Westchester Prison. EAST VIEW, N.Y., Aug 9.--Alfred Nickerson, 22 years old, of Port Chester, serving a year in the county penitentiary here on a grand larceny charge, got away early this morning in the same way that he entered the institution, by stealing an automobile, according to penitentiary authorities. When Warden Romanus Fellman broadcast an alarm for the escaped prisoner this morning, it was the second such alarm this week. James Russell, alias William Brooks, alleged Chicago gunman, escaped Thursday morning. The car in which Nickerson is alleged to have escaped was said to belong to the Westchester County Welfare Department. He and the car were reported missing soon after he was put to work in the penitentiary garage. The New York Times August 10, 1930 Page 21 www.nytimes.com/1930/08/10/archives/another-prisoner-flees-auto-thief-missing-with-car-second-to-escape.html
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Post by Sue on Nov 22, 2019 18:55:21 GMT -5
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Post by Sue on Nov 25, 2019 15:30:37 GMT -5
"...there might be something to it."
The guards at the Westchester County Penitentiary in Eastview, New York admitted that Hauptmann may have helped James Bruce Russell escape from that jail on August 5, 1930.
Here is an excerpt:
"...admitted "there might be something to it."
"James Bruce Russell disappeared from a group of trustees in August, 1930, after a freight train had passed near the penitentiary. Guards said today after hearing his story that they never had felt that Russell rode away on the train, but believed he had been aided by someone who brought him clothing."
Citizen Register from Ossining, New York October 5, 1934 Page 1
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Post by Sue on Nov 27, 2019 16:45:28 GMT -5
I believe James Bruce Russell was able to escape the Westchester County Penitentiary on August 5, 1930 because Hauptmann helped him to break away. More of the details of Russell's escape from the Westchester County Penitentiary on August 5, 1930 came to the forefront after Hauptmann was arrested on September 19, 1934. The guards even said in October 1934 that it was within the realm of possibility that Hauptmann helped Russell escape. Only when the world learned of Hauptmann after his arrest did more of the story of Russell's escape begin to fill out. Russell was told to fill a bucket of water over the tracks. When a freight train passed he was out of view, and made his escape. I believe Hauptmann was waiting for Russell with street clothes close to the freight train. (He may have even been on that freight train.) Russell's jail clothes were found by a worker on the John D. Rockefeller estate. The following includes more details of what occurred on August 5, 1930 when Russell escaped: "On August 5 [1930], while working at the penitentiary stone quarry as a trusty, he was ordered to fill a pail with water at a point across the New York Central Railroad tracks from the quarry. After he had crossed the tracks, a passing freight train screened his movements momentarily and after the train went by, the prisoner was missing. It was at first thought Russell had got aboard the moving freight but guards later found his prison garb in a wooded patch some distance from the tracks. There appeared strong indication an accomplice had been hiding in ambush with civilian clothes for the fugitive." The Herald Statesman Yonkers, NY October 5, 1934 (pages 1 and 18) Citizen-Register Ossining, NY October 5, 1934 (article also appeared in the above reference) imgur.com/a/EDfSivS www.newspapers.com/newspage/203863401/www.newspapers.com/newspage/533180538/And the New York Central Railroad could have easily been taken from New York City -- it went right up to Eastview, New York!
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