The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-05-15
Three Confessed PlOtterS
CroSS-EXamined at
Los Angeles.
GETTLE BOUND IN BED
Millionaire RuSheS Home to
III Wife; Gang Is
Rounded Up.

LOS ANGELES, May 15.-Police
cross examined the three confessed
kidnapers of William F. Gettle, mil
lionaire, today convinced that they
had captured a gang of professional
kidnapers responsible for a number
of successful abductiOns.
Mr.. Gettle, released before S6OOOO
in ransom could be paid, was safe at
his home, recovering from a cruel
experience.
Mr.. Gettle. Beverly Hills million
aire. was back because Los Angeles
peace officers trailed a bank rob-
berry suspect and found Mr.. Gettle
and his alleged kidnapers instead.
Three men and two women we're
held in custody. Authorities claimed
the three men confessed to partlcl-
patton in the abduction and the
subsequent demand that Mr.. Gettle's
family pay 100000 for his release.
Authorities we're inclined to be-
lieve the prisoners were members
of an organized kidnap ring. They
referred to statement made 10
Mr.. Gettle in which they said.
You're the best guy We ever had
To Illustrate identification, they con-
Cealed themselves in sheets each
time they talked with him, Mr..
Gettle said.
Tears Trickle Down Face
Mr.. Gettle was exhausted and
shaken when he was found, bound
hand and foot and with bandage
over his eyes, in La Crescenta
house.
Tears trickled down a five-day
growth of beard as he tottered up
the walk to his Beverly Hills home.
I'm home-I'm home" he cried
as the heavy iron gate opened to ad-
NIT him to his family.
Thank Cod, sobbed his wife, en-
bracing him. Mrs. Gettle was bed
ridden, recovering from pneumonia
and a nervous breakdown, when her
husband was abducted.
I'm okay They didn't hurt me,
Mr.. Gettle said.
The prisoners identified them
selves as James Kirk. one-time boot
logger and asserted contact man
for the gang; Roy Williams. farm
hand and hired muscle man for
the gang; Larry Kerrigan, a hood
lum with records Of arrest for mis-
demeanors; Joan Burke and Loretta
Woody, alias Loretta Kerrigan.
drilled by Officers
Kirk was grilled at the district
attorneys Office. Both Williams
and Kerrigan had accused him of
being the brains" of the kidnap
plot.
DO you still deny that you in
stigated this?" he was asked.
No" Kirk was said to have
shouted.
Well. what have YOU got to say
about it. them"
L got this to say" snarled Kirk.
IF 1 had these handouts off, I'd
take those two chickens heads"
Asked who figured this out" Kirk
said: We all did"
Detectives Work Barred
Painstaking and thorough detec-
tive work over a flve-week period,
rather than brilliant deduction,
brought about the release of Mr..
Gettle without ransom being paid.
Two police detectives. LieutenantS
Chester Burris and H. P. Gearhardt,
solved the abduction.
For five weeks they had sought
a man in connection with bank
robbery. They suspected Kirk and
Kerrigan. Kirk. they learned, had
two houses. In one, they installed
2 photograph.
To their surprise. they heard a
conversation Saturday in which a
man told a woman:
What are you afraid of? Can't
YOU see the bulls are laying off?"
The suspect then read a clipping
from q newspaper which related
that authorities had withdrawn
police searchers until Mr.. Gettle's
return.
Hears Door Kicked In
Burris and Gearhardt still sat at
the photograph and listened. They
decided not to act until they were
more certain of Mr.. Gette's where
aboutS.
Yesterday Burris returned to the
listening post
Meantime an effort was made to
pay the 100000 ransom demanded
by the kidnap ring. 1t failed be-
cause of a gun battle in Downey.
over his invisible phone, the de-
tective heard Kirk and two women
plan a trip to San Francisco. In
the midst of this conversation. Bur-
ris and Gearhardt kicked in the
door of the apartment and arrested
Kirk. the Burke and Woody women.