Evening star., 1933-07-31
O'CONNELL K|DNAP
GANG ARREST SEEN
Three Men Are Held by Al
bany Authorities for Ques-
tioning in Case.
CONTINUED From First Page.)


except to hold the edges of the band
age in place.
Several times I was required to sign
messages sent to my family by tie kid
napers. The latter were very ,Areful
that I should not see them on suah oc-
casions. The bandage was lifted flight
", just enough for me to see the edge
Of the paper where l placed my name.
The bandage was not tight enough to
hurt my eyes and they suffered no
serious effects from looking for three
weeks at cloth"
Young O'Connell said that from
time to time his captors gave him
white pills of some kind and that
they made him perspire and feel
droWsy. A physician who examined
him said that there was no indication
that ne had been 'doped' and that
the pills may have been sedatives.
Did Not Eat Much.
''I received food regularly" O'Con-
nell said, but did not eat much Inc
chief reason was that it consisted
mostly OF sandwiches They can be-
come very tiresome as a steady diet.
Describing his abduction, he said he
was struck over the head Just as he
was about to alight from his auto
mobile on the morning OF july Z.
There was no warning he said.
Several men surrounded me. l nad
an impression that there were four or
five OF them. aEi that one OF them
pressed a gun into my back. Ihey
wore masks, believe. Before l coulo
turn about or defend myself-in fact,
before I could make up my mina l,si
whether it was an attempted holo-up
I felt a heavy blow on the back OF
my head.
Il do not know how long We rode
after the attack. In TACT. nothing was
very clear until l found myself in
bed room. either Of a fat or an apart
ment. The quarters seemed to pe
fairly good. At least it was not
basement. 49,.
He said he was not i'll treated. but
that he had no chance for escape.
Spent Weeks on Bed.
ct spent the entire three weeks IN
that bed room. on 4 bed" he said.
Il occasionally heard voices IN an
other room. but l do not beleVe
could identify any of them.
INV impression that l was in New
York City was gathered largely from
the sound of the traffic. Later. wnen
was released, I knew. Of course. tnat l
had been in New York or somewhere
very near that city.
AT no time did the kidnapers acI
in an abusive manner. They shaVeo
me twice while was being held.
ON Saturday night. after dark,
was taken from the room and put INTO
an automobile We rode for perhaps
an hour. 1 could not say whether TINS
was to waste time or because we hao 10
travel a considerable distance.
Finally I was let out of the car ana
got into one which brought me to Al
bany. 1t is good to be home
The ransom money which Dan
O'Connell turned over to StreWl FTioay
evening had been cunningly marked.
The kidnapers. however, suspicious Ina'
such ruse would be attempted. de-
manded new money 1t is believed that
through a bank exchange the same
money was returned to the gang. ON,
cials are hopeful that the bills in small
denominations can be traced.
Demanded s25O,ooo Ransom.
Originally the gang demanded
ransom of s25O,0OO. They reduced that
to SITS 900 and 100000. Two notes
last week warned the family that unless
the demand was met the young man
would be starved Most of the notes
carried O'Connell's signature. Dan
O'Connell maintained the family could
raise only $4,000.
AS Federal and State governments
sharpened their knives to attack the
snatch racket" the O'Connells had the
impression that the gang was worried
Then came the death sentence for the
kidnaper of Mary McElroy at Kansas
City Shortly after the negotiations
were completed and the $4,000 was
accepted.
The day after the kidnapping a voice
over the telephone to the law ONCE
of Edward j. O'Connell said to tell
Eddie" that his nephew had been kid
naped and warned the family not to
notify police If this was violated, the
informant said, the youth would be
killed
Officials attached significance to the
reference to Ed OConnell as Eddie"
and saw in it local angle. Only a
small group of acquaintanceS refer to
the county chairman as Eddie"
Another indication of local hook
up was the sending of the ransom let
ters to Dan O'Connell's private mail
box the number of which was not gen.
orally known.
"a Intermediates Proposed.
Strewl, a young radio shop operator,
who effected the captive's release. was
one of a list of "a intermediates the
O'Connells suggested upon the orders
! SPECIAL CEcf
fuli1 Rflisssi eeai. LUNCHEON 0JS}