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Story
May 16, 1934
The Times News
Hendersonville, Henderson County, North Carolina
What is this article about?
Three kidnappers of Beverly Hills oil millionaire William F. Gettle—James Kirk, Roy Williams, and Larry Kerrigan—were sentenced to life imprisonment in Los Angeles on May 16 after confessing and pleading guilty under a new California anti-kidnapping law. Gettle testified to his abduction from Arcadia and rescue in La Crescenta.
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3 KIDNAPERS
OF GETTLE ARE
GIVEN TERMS
Life Sentence Imposed on
Each Under New California
Law
LOS ANGELES, May 16. - (UP). - Three confessed kidnappers of William F. Gettle, Beverly Hills oil millionaire, were sentenced to life imprisonment last night within 24 hours after they were captured in a suburban kidnap haunt, where Gettle was found.
Facing a possible sentence to the gallows if they stood trial, James Kirk, admitted gang leader; Roy Williams, "finger man," and Larry Kerrigan, who guarded the abducted financier, pleaded guilty to grand jury indictments before Judge Charles F. Fricke.
Judge Fricke immediately sentenced them under the new California anti-kidnaping statute which provides life sentences or capital punishment for varying degrees of the crime.
The indictments were drawn hastily by District Attorney Buron Fitts after the three prisoners, confessing their part in the sensational case, agreed to plead guilty.
Within a few minutes after the court session and less than a week after they had carried out their plot, all three convicts were en route to San Quentin prison.
Gettle himself was the only witness at the brief court hearing. He told how two masked gunmen abducted him from the Gettle summer estate at Arcadia late last Wednesday night. He was tethered and forced up a ladder to the top of the estate's wall and shoved over the other side.
He was taken to a nearby La Crescenta house, he said, and kept there blindfolded and tied in bed until officers found him Monday night.
J. E. Simpson, defense attorney, asked only one question.
"When you fell off the wall, did one of the kidnapers massage your ankle?"
"Yes," the millionaire replied.
Judge Fricke announced he had concluded that any injuries suffered by Gettle were not the result of considered violence and that he would pronounce life sentences with possible parole.
Prosecutors said under these circumstances, convicts ordinarily serve 25 years.
The three men heard the sentences quietly and filed back to their county jail cells to await entertainment for the prison.
Disposition of the cases of Jean Burke and Loretta Kerrigan who were arrested with the men, will be made later, officials said.
OF GETTLE ARE
GIVEN TERMS
Life Sentence Imposed on
Each Under New California
Law
LOS ANGELES, May 16. - (UP). - Three confessed kidnappers of William F. Gettle, Beverly Hills oil millionaire, were sentenced to life imprisonment last night within 24 hours after they were captured in a suburban kidnap haunt, where Gettle was found.
Facing a possible sentence to the gallows if they stood trial, James Kirk, admitted gang leader; Roy Williams, "finger man," and Larry Kerrigan, who guarded the abducted financier, pleaded guilty to grand jury indictments before Judge Charles F. Fricke.
Judge Fricke immediately sentenced them under the new California anti-kidnaping statute which provides life sentences or capital punishment for varying degrees of the crime.
The indictments were drawn hastily by District Attorney Buron Fitts after the three prisoners, confessing their part in the sensational case, agreed to plead guilty.
Within a few minutes after the court session and less than a week after they had carried out their plot, all three convicts were en route to San Quentin prison.
Gettle himself was the only witness at the brief court hearing. He told how two masked gunmen abducted him from the Gettle summer estate at Arcadia late last Wednesday night. He was tethered and forced up a ladder to the top of the estate's wall and shoved over the other side.
He was taken to a nearby La Crescenta house, he said, and kept there blindfolded and tied in bed until officers found him Monday night.
J. E. Simpson, defense attorney, asked only one question.
"When you fell off the wall, did one of the kidnapers massage your ankle?"
"Yes," the millionaire replied.
Judge Fricke announced he had concluded that any injuries suffered by Gettle were not the result of considered violence and that he would pronounce life sentences with possible parole.
Prosecutors said under these circumstances, convicts ordinarily serve 25 years.
The three men heard the sentences quietly and filed back to their county jail cells to await entertainment for the prison.
Disposition of the cases of Jean Burke and Loretta Kerrigan who were arrested with the men, will be made later, officials said.
What sub-type of article is it?
Crime Story
What themes does it cover?
Crime Punishment
What keywords are associated?
Kidnapping
Sentencing
Life Imprisonment
William Gettle
California Law
What entities or persons were involved?
William F. Gettle
James Kirk
Roy Williams
Larry Kerrigan
Judge Charles F. Fricke
Buron Fitts
J. E. Simpson
Jean Burke
Loretta Kerrigan
Where did it happen?
Los Angeles
Story Details
Key Persons
William F. Gettle
James Kirk
Roy Williams
Larry Kerrigan
Judge Charles F. Fricke
Buron Fitts
J. E. Simpson
Jean Burke
Loretta Kerrigan
Location
Los Angeles
Event Date
May 16
Story Details
Three confessed kidnappers of William F. Gettle abducted him from his Arcadia estate, held him in La Crescenta, and were captured and sentenced to life imprisonment under new California law after pleading guilty.