Kidnappers of William F. Gettle plead guilty to his abduction, Los Angeles, 1934.

Item Overview

Title

Kidnappers of William F. Gettle plead guilty to his abduction, Los Angeles, 1934.

Date Created

May 15, 1934

Date

1934-05-15

Publisher

Los Angeles Daily News

Language

No linguistic content

Collection

Los Angeles Daily News Negatives

Notes

Description

The kidnappers of William F. Gettle plead guilty to his abduction. From left to right standing between their lawyers, they are Roy A. Williams, Larry Kerrigan (real name Loren W. Feltus) and James F. Kirk. Gettle, wealthy Beverly Hills businessman, was kidnapped from the grounds of his Arcadia ranch home during a housewarming party on the eve of May 9th. The kidnapping attracted a great deal of attention in the community, with Mrs. Gettle even addressing the kidnappers through the pages of the Los Angeles Times. The kidnappers demanded a $60,000 ransom for the return of Gettle, which Mrs. Gettle agreed to pay. However, before the ransom was paid, two detectives of the LAPD, Chester Burris and H.P. Gearhardt, broke the case after installing a dictaphone in the home of a bank robbery suspect. Information from the dictaphone led them to a La Crescenta home where Gettle was held. He was returned, unharmed, to his family on the eve of May 14th.

Caption

Text from original nitrate sleeve: Kirk, James F.; Kerrigan, Larry; Williams, Roy.

Physical Description

Extent

1 photograph

Medium

b&w nitrate negative

Keywords

Genre

news photographs
cellulose nitrate film

Names

Kerrigan, Larry
Williams, Roy A.
Kirk, James F.

Location

Los Angeles (Calif.)

Resource type

still image

Subjects

Judicial proceedings--California--Los Angeles
Crime
Legal
Kidnappings--California