Erin Rhoads: Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Murder Not Murdering with Erin. I'm so glad you're here. If you're a longtime listener, you might notice that it's just me today. Autumn is not with us this week because, you know, life happens. But don't worry, she will be back next week, I promise. So today is going to be just a little more intimate, a little more story time, just you and me. I've been thinking a lot about all kinds of crimes that stop the nation in its tracks. The ones where people remember exactly where they were when they heard the news. not necessarily murders though those of linger, but kidnappings. As we've been talking a lot about the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping. I know it's been away from the headlines for a minute, but I thought I'd bring it back to that. and celebrity kidnappings have been on my mind. kinds hijack headlines and burrow into your imagination. When talking about infamous American kidnappings, the name that almost always comes up right away, especially for the older cases, is the Charles Lindbergh baby. In 1932, the infant son of the world famous aviator was taken from his crib in New Jersey. It wasn't just a crime, it was a national trauma. The press swarmed, conspiracy theories flourished. Congress eventually passed what became known as the Federal Kidnapping Act. because of that very case. That case changed America and how we understood celebrity, privacy, and the reach of federal law enforcement. And then there are cases that a little closer to home for us here in Washington. ⁓ 1935, young George Warehouser, heir to the timber fortune, was kidnapped in Tacoma. ⁓ name was with industry in the Pacific Northwest. ⁓ honestly still is. The warehouse or case was meticulous and chilling. There was a ransom note, careful instructions, a cross country manhunt, and the boy was eventually found alive, which is fucking incredible. It felt like the entire region exhaled at once. It was one of those crimes that reminds you how vulnerability doesn't care about your wealth or status. There's something about the kidnappings that almost feel cinematic, larger than life. They make movies and write a lot of books about them. They expose the strange intersection between fame, money, and power, and the very ordinary human fear of losing someone that you love. And that brings us to my case this week. Because in 1963, the the height of American entertainment royalty, when the Rat Pack defined cool and Las Vegas glittered under neon lights, a 19 year old singer ⁓ named Frank Sinatra Jr. was at gunpoint from a hotel room in Lake Tahoe. The kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. wasn't just tabloid fodder. It was bizarre, and it was clumsy. It's a case that almost sounds absurd at times until you remember that for a few terrifying days, this was very real. A young man was held captive. A father was negotiating with strangers, and a nation was glued to that story. So we're gonna slow it down a little today. I'm gonna walk you through what happened chronologically. And then we're gonna talk about those kidnappers, who they were, how they thought this plan was going to work, and why it still feels like a strange cultural moment suspended between old Hollywood glamor and the very modern criminal spectacle. I'm Erin. This is Murder Not Murdering. And we're gonna get into it. Three knocks at the door, December 8th, 1963, Hotel, Lake Tahoe, Nevada. America is still in mourning. Just 17 days earlier, President John F. Kennedy was buried. Grief hangs in the air like cigarette smoke. And in room 417, a 19-year-old singer is running scales. He's not yet a star. He's not yet a headline. He's simply a son and a musician. There's a knock again. He opens the door. Two men standing there. They say they have a package. Within minutes, the son of Frank Sinatra would be shoved into the trunk of a car, and the most famous entertainer in America will be waiting by the telephone. Like I said before, this is not a murder story, but it is a story about fear, ego, celebrity, and three young men who believed they could outsmart the FBI. Frank Sinatra Jr. was born January 10th, 1944. He grew up in a home divided between stardom and separation. His parents divorced when he was young. His father's name was Global. sister, Nancy Sinatra, would go on to become a star in her own right. But in 1963, Frank Jr. was grinding, touring modest venues, earn his own applause. He was performing at the Sahara Tahoe for a week-long engagement. To some, he was a young crooner. To others, he was an easy target. Now, we're moving on to the kidnappers, the mastermind, Barry Keenan. He was age 23, a former high school athlete, recently divorced, deeply in debt, and addicted to painkillers. This is not a great combo, and he needed money. He had two accomplices, Joseph Amsler and John Irwin. They are not career criminals. They are not mob enforcers. They are amateurs with a fantasy. Keenan later testified that he had been studying famous kidnappings, especially the 1932 case of the Charles Lindbergh baby. He believed celebrity meant quick payout. He believed the FBI could be manipulated. He knew he was smarter than everyone else in the room. December 8th, around 9 p.m., Frank Jr. and his friend are resting in the dressing room. Keenan and Amsler knock. They say that they're delivering a package. When the door ⁓ opens, the is displayed. They tied up Sinatra's friend with tape, blindfolding their victim. Frank Jr. later testified, they told me not to look at them. They said if I cooperated, I wouldn't be harmed. His hands were bound, a pillowcase placed over his head. He is escorted through a casino hallway past slot machines, tourists, past security, and into the cold night. He's then placed into a trunk, driven away. The singer's friend quickly frees himself and notifies authorities. Roadblocks are set up and the kidnappers, were actually stopped by the police. But they bluffed their way through and drove on to their hideout in a suburb of Los Angeles. Headlines read, ⁓ son singer Frank Sinatra kidnapped in Lake Tahoe. Within hours, the FBI was notified. Because kidnapping across state lines is a federal offense under the Lindbergh law, this becomes a federal case immediately. ⁓ coordinates with Reno. Agents begin interviewing hotel staff, securing Frank Jr.'s room, dusting for fingerprints, mapping phone records, monitoring payphones. Director J. Edgar Hoover is notified. This is a high profile case, and Hoover understands something critical. If Frank Sinatra's son dies, public confidence in law enforcement will shatter. On December 9th, the phone rings at Frank Sinatra's Bel Air home. They make a demand, $240,000. In 1963, that would equal roughly over $2.5 million today. But Frank was desperate. and he offered $1 million. But the kidnappers declined the larger offer. He just wanted his son back safely. The kidnappers insist on payphone communication. They warn no police, but the police are already there and the FBI advises Sinatra to cooperate. Frank Sinatra senior agrees without hesitation. He reportedly says whatever they want. just bring him back. Remember, kidnapping terrorized celebrities back then. And without the technology we have today, it was much harder to find victims who are still alive. Again, like I said, the kidnappers insisted on using pay phones to make calls. Frank Sr. was so worried he was going to run out of coins during all of these phone calls that from that day forward, he would carry 10 dimes in his pocket. This habit lasted a lifetime. Now it's December 10th. The ransom money is assembled in $20 bills. are recorded The FBI agents prepare surveillance teams. The instructions are chaotic. Sinatra's attorney, Mickey Rudin, drives across Los Angeles following directions from payphones. Finally, the money is handed over at a designated drop location. No gunfire, no confrontation, just cash exchanged. Meanwhile, Frank Jr. is still blindfolded and inside a modest Southern California home. He later describes eating peanut butter sandwiches, drinking water, having supervised bathroom trips. He said he tried to remain calm by singing to himself. He estimates that he is held for about 54 hours. And during all of this, he doesn't know if he's going to survive. He was held at gunpoint. December 11th, Frank Jr. is driven to a residential area in Bel Air. The kidnappers untie him. They tell him to walk. At about 3 a.m., he finds a private security guard who notifies authorities. Within hours, The FBI confirms it. Frank Sinatra Jr. is found alive. To avoid the press, he was put into the trunk of the guard's patrol car and taken to his mother Nancy's home. And I can't imagine what that must have felt like having to have been taken originally in the trunk of a car held at gunpoint for days and then being told to get back into a car. just think that would be really stressful. again, this press was going crazy. Young Sinatra described what he knew to the FBI agents. But he had only barely seen two of the kidnappers and only heard the voice of a third conspirator who happened to be the person driving the car. Frank Sinatra's son found safe, screamed across headlines. The nation has a deep exhale. The kidnappers unravel almost immediately. Erwin bragged to his brother about the whole affair, which by this time was national news. His brother called the FBI. Keenan was arrested on December 13th in Amsler the next day with about $168,000 recovered. Now I tried to look into what this money was spent on or how whatever happened to the rest of the money, but I can't find anything. I looked everywhere. I do know that Barry Keenan eventually starts making some money after jail, but we're going to get into that later. I have a feeling he held on to some of that money and it was hidden, but that's my theory. Joseph Amsler confesses within days. Evidence accumulates rapidly. On December 14th, 1963, Keenan was arrested. Irwin follows. The FBI recovers so much of the ransom money. But again, not all of it. The so-called master plan collapses in less than a week. Speculation swirls. Barry Kenan attended school in the same Los Angeles area as Nancy Sinatra. Tabloids imply that there was some sort of obsession, no credible evidence links her to any involvement. But in a post media frenzied America, proximity can sometimes become conspiracy. and the Sinatra name alone fuels the headlines. we're to get to the trial. Federal court. Barry Kenan takes the stand. Quote, I never intended for him to be hurt. I only wanted the money. Now he says that, but Kenan's lawyers tried to frame that the whole entire crime was a hoax. A publicity stunt coordinated with the people tied to the family. That story would go on to surround the case for years to come. Long after, it was proven false. Even today, many people believe that Junior had a hand in his own kidnapping. Frank a chaplain years later who ⁓ knew boys and took care of the boys and actually asked for some sort of forgiveness for them. And in the letter, which ⁓ I sold a few years ago, ⁓ He talks about how upset he was and to say that this was a hoax and how that would affect Frank Jr.' career for the rest of his life, claiming that he somehow made all of this up, was asinine and out of control. He was really upset about it and the letter is six pages and very strongly worded. If you're interested in that, you can definitely read it online. I would check that out if you are, again. So Frank Jr. testifies calmly. He describes the blindfold, the trunk, the fear. All three men are convicted of the kidnapping and conspiracy. They go for the most extreme conviction possible, imprisonment. They would later be paroled after serving years behind bars. The mastermind Kenan was later adjudged. to have been legally insane at the time of the crime and hence not legally responsible for his actions. And I personally think that is bullshit, but that's just me and again, my own personal opinion. But in the end, Amsler and Irwin both end up serving three and a half years while Keenan served just four and a half for the kidnapping. Now there's so many theories that Surround this was it a publicity stunt again. ⁓ evidence supported that and the FBI investigated thoroughly real money exchanged hands convictions followed There's also a question of was this a mob orchestration You know Frank senior had a lot of underworld associations and that fueled whispers ⁓ No evidence, though, links this To an organized crime plot. Also desperation. Almost ⁓ all historians agree that was drowning financially. And ⁓ he led this whole with an inflated ego. He also, again, like I said, was addicted to painkillers, and that's an expensive habit to have. Frank Senior never publicly dramatized the ordeal, but Old Blue Eyes kept the 10 dimes for the rest of his life. In fact, when he passed away, he was buried with 10 dimes in his pocket, just in case you run out of money at that payphone. Frank Junior continued performing, never forgetting the kidnapping. It became one of America's most infamous celebrity abductions. a case born in the era of pay phones and paper currency. Keenan was released from prison in 1968. Now this is why I say he had to have saved some of that money because as soon as he was released, he dove into the real estate world. And by 1983, his net worth was estimated at $17 million. in 1998, he told his story to the New Times Angeles. In the year following its ⁓ 1989, Columbia Pictures offered him and his co-conspirators $1.5 million in exchange for recounting it all again. for a film. Frank Jr. promptly filed a lawsuit to block any deals upon the basis of the California statute that forbids felons from profiting financially from the stories of their crimes. Keenan, then in his late 50s, argued that the law violated his First Amendment rights. After a year-long battle and several appeals, Frank Jr. won the case. Now that didn't stop movies being made. It is Hollywood after all. There were several movies that have been made since then, lots of documentaries, and many shows have covered it. So there is that. Now again, this is not a murder story, but it is a story about how quickly fear rewrite family, how fame can become vulnerability, how three young men mistook audacity intelligence, and how a father waited by a phone with 10 dimes in his pocket. My sources were the FBI Fault Files Frank Sinatra Jr. Kidnapping Investigation. The United States versus Kenan, Amsler, and Irwin, Federal Court Records, 1964. Contemporary coverage, The New York Times, December 1963 to 1964. The Los Angeles Times, December 1963. Frank Sinatra Jr. interviews archival television appearances. There's not a whole lot he did not like talking about it. Book. by James Kaplan Sinatra, the chairman, FBI historical archives on the federal kidnapping statutes, as well as this very case, People Magazine, the mob museum and history.com. So that was my case this week. Again, I still think that Keenan totally knew what he was doing, totally planned all of this. He talked about researching it, and somehow he got away with claiming that he was insane at the time. Seems not plausible to me, especially when afterward, he goes on to become a real estate mogul. Now, I don't know how you could properly run everything when you could have states of insanity. I don't know. I think that that missing money somehow was missing and it helped him jumpstart his career. But that again, My opinion. ⁓ And they all served such short sentences. I mean, I will be honest, he was found alive. So that's good. And he was not injured. ⁓ But I thought this was a really interesting case. And as kidnapping, a celebrity kidnapping is heavily in the news right now, I thought it was a poignant thing to bring up. I hope that you liked this case. Like I said, we're going to have Autumn back next week with me. That way there will be all the banter, all the back and forth, me asking a million questions while she's telling me her case, and getting all of the real reactions. We don't tell each other what cases we're doing. we just know, the autumn will tell me my triggers if there is any, just so that I don't freak out or start having anxiety. And we just. try to get our real reactions in the moment to these cases. I have to say, pretty frequently, neither of us know our cases. I do try to stay out of reading modern cases or reading news regarding modern cases because I know Autumn covers those, though I do dabble into her territory every once in a while. But you know me, I love the old-time crimes. I love early forensics. I find all of that so fascinating. And it's just, you know, that's my jam. Anyway, we will be back next week. New episodes always come out on Mondays. And if you do want to reach out to us, slide into our DMS on Instagram at Murder, Not Murdering. We will cut. will do our very best to cover cases that you have recommended. And we've had fans long over the years tell us, you know, hey, this came up. I'd really love it if you could cover this case. or I have something that was a crime within my family or happened to my family member. And we do our very best try to do all the research possible to give you all of the information. ⁓ So make sure to slide into our DMs. Let us know if you have something upcoming that you would like us to cover. ⁓ Local, especially, we love local cases. And we are in Seattle, Washington. So if you need to know where, that's where we are. also are on TikTok at mnm.pod. ⁓ ⁓ you go to our Instagram page, you will get to see photos from our cases, and we will tell you more about what's going on. With that, we continue to update our cases, too, as we go along. Thank you so much for listening to us. This is a labor of love. don't make any money off of this podcast, but we'd like to. So tell all of your friends that ⁓ that we have this. If they're interested in true crime, then we have a podcast for you. Again, thank you so much for listening to us. We'll be back next week. New episodes are always out on Mondays. And that's it. We'll see you next week. Bye.