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We're prohibited by lock eight team 22 00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:59.759 plus terms and conditions applaing see website for. 23 00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:08.280 You. 24 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:12.120 Are now listening to True Murder, the most shocking killers 25 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:15.120 in true crime history and the authors that have written 26 00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:22.400 about him. Gasey Bundy Dahmer, The Nightstalker BCK. Every week, 27 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:26.400 another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and infamous 28 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:30.480 killers in true crime history True Murder with your host, 29 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:33.359 journalist and author Dan Zufanski. 30 00:01:43.159 --> 00:01:48.799 Good evening. In nineteen thirty five, nine year old George Werhauser, 31 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:52.159 heir to one of the wealthiest families in America, is 32 00:01:52.200 --> 00:01:56.079 snatched off the streets two blocks from his home. The 33 00:01:56.120 --> 00:01:59.719 boy is kept, manacled, manacled in a pit, chained to 34 00:01:59.719 --> 00:02:03.200 a t, and locked in a closet. The purps, a 35 00:02:03.719 --> 00:02:06.799 career bank robber, a petty thief, and his nineteen year old, 36 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:11.199 never been in trouble Mormon wife quickly become the targets 37 00:02:11.560 --> 00:02:15.479 of the biggest man hunt in Northwest history. The caper 38 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:18.599 plays out like a Hollywood thriller, with countless twists and 39 00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:23.280 improbable developments. Perhaps the most astonishing thing of all, though, 40 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.680 is how it all ends. Book we're featuring this evening 41 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:31.319 is Deep in the Woods, the nineteen thirty five kidnapping 42 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:35.159 of nine year old George Waerhauser, heir to America's mightiest 43 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:39.960 Timber dynasty. With my special guest, journalist and author Brian Johnston. 44 00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:42.319 Welcome to the program, and thank you so much for 45 00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:45.919 this interview. Brian Johnston, how do you do? 46 00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:48.400 Good to talk with you, Dan, thank. 47 00:02:48.199 --> 00:02:51.560 You so much for joining me with this incredible story. 48 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:55.479 It is just to start before we have this May 49 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:58.800 twenty fourth, nineteen thirty five. You talk about in the 50 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:02.199 beginning of your book just a little bit about some 51 00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:05.199 of the stuff that you needed to be able to research, 52 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:08.599 be able to do this story the way you did. 53 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:12.759 And so you talk about twenty five hundred pages of 54 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:18.680 FBI documents, two hundred plus newspaper articles, cran court transcripts, 55 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:24.240 parton me, and interviews with George Warehouser himself. So just 56 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:26.599 just yeah, that's exactly our audience, a little bit of 57 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:31.280 an introduction. Let's get to May twenty fourth, nineteen thirty five, 58 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:35.319 and tell us what happens. Take us back to where 59 00:03:35.319 --> 00:03:39.039 this is, Tacoma, Washington. Take us back to that day 60 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:47.080 and why George was walking home without say this chauffeur 61 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:49.199 that might have been able to pick him up. Tell 62 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:52.000 us a little bit about his background, family's background, and 63 00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:52.960 what happened that day. 64 00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:57.599 Sure, so the Warehouser family, people in the Northwest are 65 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:01.039 very familiar with the Warehouser name the rest of the country, 66 00:04:01.080 --> 00:04:05.199 I'm not sure, and that was pretty much fine with them. 67 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:10.599 George's great grandfather, Frederick Warehouser, to this day is still 68 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:15.479 considered about the twelfth richest man in American history. Okay, 69 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:20.600 the eleven being Bill Gates. Okay, super wealthy family. They 70 00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:22.879 were in the timber industry. As a matter of fact, 71 00:04:22.920 --> 00:04:28.160 the Warehouser's own about four percent of the entire state 72 00:04:28.199 --> 00:04:33.160 of Washington. Here's a really goofy statistic for you. They 73 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:37.519 own about one six hundred and fortieth percent of all 74 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:38.160 of America. 75 00:04:40.120 --> 00:04:40.439 Wow. 76 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:44.920 Yeah, yes, they own a lot. So very wealthy family. 77 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:48.879 But the Warehousers always wanted to be a very unassuming family, 78 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:51.279 and they didn't like being in the spotlight. You know, 79 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:55.480 back when Frederick was, you know, super rich man. This 80 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:58.120 is also the time of the Rockefellers and the Carnegies 81 00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:01.600 and the Astors and vanderb else and he just wanted 82 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:03.720 everybody else to have the spotlight. And he just wanted 83 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:06.240 to quietly go about his business here in the Pacific Northwest. 84 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:07.800 And he did. 85 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:10.000 And that's been kind of the hart that's kind of 86 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:15.319 the hallmark of the Warehouser family quiet unassuming, and they 87 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:18.199 wanted to raise their kids the same way. So George, 88 00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:22.040 nine year old George, he and his brother would frequently 89 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:25.839 walk to school and walk home. Sometimes they'd catch a 90 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:29.720 ride with the quote unquote chauffeur who was nothing more 91 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:32.639 than the house gardener, who would give him a ride 92 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:37.199 now and then. And on this occasion, May twenty fourth, 93 00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:40.879 George was at school, which is about a half mile 94 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:45.120 from home, and he walked down to another school where 95 00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:48.079 his sister is going to school, and he was supposed 96 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:50.279 to meet her there and then their chauffeur would give 97 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:51.720 him a ride the rest of the way. Well, he 98 00:05:51.800 --> 00:05:54.519 got there about fifteen minutes early, after waiting around for 99 00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:56.240 a few minutes, when was this dumb Why do I 100 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:58.639 want to wait here? I'll just walk home. It's you know, 101 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:02.759 it's like six blocks. So he starts walking and he's 102 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:06.040 about three blocks from home when a car just pulls 103 00:06:06.120 --> 00:06:08.439 up in this little parking lot that he happened to 104 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:11.639 just be in at that moment, nobody else around. Guy 105 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:15.120 jumps out of the car asks him a question, Hey kid, 106 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:18.240 can you tell me where Stadium Way is? George doesn't 107 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:20.639 give it a thought, He says, yeah, sure, and then 108 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:22.959 a guy grabs him, throws him in the back seat 109 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:25.240 of the car, says keep your mouth shut, nothing's going 110 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:30.199 to happen, and drives away. Kidnappers now have George Warehouser kidnapped. 111 00:06:33.800 --> 00:06:38.639 Now it takes a little bit of time before anyone notices, uh, 112 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:42.600 you know, George's parents are out of the town and 113 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:43.839 so well they just. 114 00:06:43.959 --> 00:06:46.759 Yeah, exactly when. 115 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:50.439 When do they notice this missing? 116 00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:56.199 Well, the chauffeur, after he couldn't find George, he gets 117 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:59.519 back home after dropping off his sister and thinks, let's 118 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:02.120 kind of pick because George isn't here either, So he 119 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:04.360 goes back out driving around for a little while and 120 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:08.319 he can't find George either. So it wasn't until you 121 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:10.519 know about I would say, an hour or two later 122 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:15.480 where they started getting seriously concerned. Then that evening the 123 00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:19.120 ransom note shows up, and that's when they knew everything 124 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:22.839 had gone sideways. By that time, George's dad was back 125 00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:26.480 in town and George's mom was getting home that evening. 126 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:31.199 So yeah, it was like I said about, I think 127 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:33.600 about five o'clock at night when they got the ransom 128 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:36.399 note in the mail and actually got delivered hand delivered 129 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:37.439 to their to their house. 130 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:42.879 What did that ransom note contain? It had it had 131 00:07:42.920 --> 00:07:46.319 the conditions for this ransom, but also a fair amount 132 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:49.920 of information for the family to follow exactly. 133 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:54.160 Had twenty one demands, the first demand being that the 134 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:59.560 kidnappers wanted two hundred thousand dollars in small, unmarked bills. Now, 135 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:01.639 just to give sense of how much money that is, 136 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:06.040 nineteen thirty five, during the depression, the average income for 137 00:08:06.199 --> 00:08:11.079 people was fifteen hundred dollars a year, so that ransom 138 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:14.399 was the equivalent of one hundred and thirty three years 139 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:19.199 worth of the average person salary. All right, the Limberg 140 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:23.360 baby kidnapping, which happened only two years earlier, those kidnappers 141 00:08:23.399 --> 00:08:26.319 originally only asked for fifty thousand dollars. This was four 142 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:30.000 times that amount of money. Well, the warehousers were wealthy, 143 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:32.639 but they didn't have two hundred grand and small and 144 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:36.159 marked bills laying around. And that was the number one demand. 145 00:08:36.759 --> 00:08:40.120 We want that money in five days or else. Some 146 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:44.519 of the other demands were that it will communicate with 147 00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:49.759 us using personal ads in the Seattle Post Intelligencer newspaper 148 00:08:50.200 --> 00:08:54.360 using a code name. The code name Percy many. So 149 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:57.720 this way, when the Warehouser family was ready to pay 150 00:08:57.720 --> 00:09:00.519 the ransom, they would place a person lad in the 151 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:04.480 paper saying we're ready or something to that effect, and 152 00:09:04.519 --> 00:09:08.320 sign it persing in. The kidnappers every day would flip 153 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:11.200 through the newspaper and the person lads looking for that 154 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:14.559 code word, and then they would know, you know, the 155 00:09:14.679 --> 00:09:17.759 Warehousers are ready to pay up. Some of the other demands, 156 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:21.360 which were ridiculous, were don't tell the police haha, good 157 00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:25.360 luck with that, and also do not tell the media, 158 00:09:25.799 --> 00:09:30.320 which also ridiculous. In fact, the ransom note said do 159 00:09:30.440 --> 00:09:33.320 not alert the newspapers. So what did the newspaper do? 160 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:35.879 They posted the ransom note on the front page of 161 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:36.720 the newspaper. 162 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:40.120 Yeah, yeah, incredible. 163 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:44.080 So yeah, And the ransom note was signed, you know, 164 00:09:44.120 --> 00:09:47.039 basically said, you know, we consider ourselves very smart, We've 165 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:50.519 been planning this for years, don't get cute, treat this 166 00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:55.399 as a business transaction, and signed it egoist. Egoist. 167 00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:02.080 So a lot for the police contemplate and try to 168 00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:06.480 derive some clues from this, especially with this Percy mini 169 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:12.200 and with this egoist. So at that time, when they're 170 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:16.320 still at the beginning of their investigation. You also talk 171 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:20.840 about Jay Edgar Hoover and the beginning rebranding, So they 172 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:24.320 become the FBI in nineteen thirty five. But you also 173 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:27.559 take us meanwhile, You take us to six weeks earlier 174 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:32.759 to a person named Margaret Whaley and her husband, Harmon. 175 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:37.679 And Bill Mayhon. So those are the kidnappers. I guess 176 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:40.600 we should probably qualify them as two and a half kidnappers. 177 00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:45.679 William may And alias William Daynard was the mastermind of this. Now. 178 00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:48.320 He was kind of a career bank robber. He'd spent 179 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.120 a fair amount of time in prison, and he also 180 00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:53.399 had a way of sweet talking his way out of 181 00:10:53.480 --> 00:10:57.960 prison too frequently. Harmon Whaley, who he met in prison, 182 00:10:58.279 --> 00:11:00.600 who was he was kind of a small time criminal, 183 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:03.960 and he and William Mayhan had served some time together. 184 00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:10.159 And then Margaret was Harmon's wife. So Bill Mayhan and 185 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:13.440 Harmon just randomly ran across each other out on the 186 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:17.399 streets in Salt Lake City about six weeks earlier. So 187 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:19.320 Harmon says, hey, Bill, you got to come back to 188 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:22.000 my house and have dinner with me and my wife. 189 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:26.519 Harmon had met Margaret only six months earlier. Dated for 190 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:32.320 a week and then got married. Margaret was nineteen years old, 191 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:35.320 never been in trouble in her life, but she was 192 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:37.960 raised in the Mormon faith, and she was taught to 193 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:41.799 always do exactly as your husband tells you too, And 194 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:44.440 that was her undoing through the whole thing. Poor Margaret, 195 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:48.919 she was, she was a pawn in this whole thing, 196 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:53.600 but she got caught up in it unbeknownst to her. 197 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:59.360 So Margaret and Harmon, they're totally captivated by Bill mayhann 198 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:04.200 esus talker, good salesperson, and he says, Hey, I'm head 199 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:07.320 enough to Spokane, Washington. I've got a job up there. 200 00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:10.440 He didn't, why don't you guys come with me? Maybe 201 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:12.639 I can get harm in a job too. A why 202 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:16.320 because at the time, Harmon and Margaret had six bucks 203 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:19.240 to their name, and they're like, sure, let's do that. 204 00:12:19.960 --> 00:12:23.279 So they jump and build Mahon's car and they drive 205 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:26.600 up north. He stops along the way at this garage 206 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:29.120 and says, hold on for a second, opens a garage. 207 00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:32.279 There's a second car. Yeah, this is my other car. 208 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:34.799 Why don't you guys drive it? And they're like, holy crap, 209 00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:38.360 this guy's got two cars. During the depression. They think 210 00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:41.720 their ships come in. So they drive up to Spokane, 211 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:46.039 they runt a house together, and you know, they just 212 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:49.559 go about their business. So they then they drive back. 213 00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:53.480 They drive across the state over to western Washington, Seattle, 214 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:57.120 Tacoma and a little town called hoke Whim where Harmon 215 00:12:57.159 --> 00:13:01.440 grew up. And Margaret's under the impression that they're, you know, 216 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:06.000 that William's trying to help Harmon get a job and 217 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:09.200 help him with his sales as it were. Little does 218 00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:12.840 she know that they're actually casing banks, looking, you know, 219 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:17.679 to rob banks. They drive back across the state, and 220 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:22.759 then Margaret totally changes the calculus of everything completely unwittingly. 221 00:13:23.559 --> 00:13:27.960 She reads an article in the newspaper. It says, uh, 222 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:34.080 you know, local millionaire Warehouser dies. Well this was George's grandfather, Okay, 223 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:38.279 And she just went, huh, that's really interesting, That's all 224 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:42.320 she really said. Bill Mayhan hears that and he sees 225 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:46.759 the angle. He's like, huh, local millionaire dies, So maybe 226 00:13:46.759 --> 00:13:49.440 he leaves a lot of money to his son. Maybe 227 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:55.000 his son has kids. Hmm, I see leverage opportunity. So 228 00:13:55.159 --> 00:13:59.200 Bill Mayhan and Harmon head back west again. They tell 229 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:01.000 Margaret again. Now we're going to head back west. We 230 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:05.320 got opportunities for sales again a lie. They go back 231 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:09.200 and they start looking for They look through the newspaper. 232 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:11.399 We see the newspaper. They look through the phone book 233 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:15.080 and they find the warehouser's phone number and address. They 234 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:18.759 drive down and they start casing the joint and they 235 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:22.799 see little George and his brother walk into school and 236 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:25.759 the light goes on for Bill Mayhon, and he's like, ah, 237 00:14:25.879 --> 00:14:29.799 here we go, here's my opportunity. So for about two 238 00:14:29.879 --> 00:14:36.720 days they're casing, they're tracking the kid, and so that's 239 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:39.399 how the whole kidnapping came about. It really was just 240 00:14:39.720 --> 00:14:43.000 a crime of opportunity. She reads an article in the paper, 241 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:45.759 she makes a comment, Bill Mayhon. The light goes on, 242 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:49.600 and they follow the kid and they snatch the kid. 243 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:51.840 It all came together in like two days. 244 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:56.080 You talk about just before this about the state of 245 00:14:56.440 --> 00:14:59.480 kidnapping at that time nineteen thirty to nineteen thirty two, 246 00:14:59.559 --> 00:15:02.759 how it was, and you also of course mentioned the 247 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:05.120 Limberg case. So there's a new law as a result 248 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:08.960 of that kidnapping. Tell us about that law and also 249 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:15.559 just how kidnappings were in those years, especially. 250 00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:19.039 So the Limberg. Yeah, the Limberg kidnapping pretty much changed 251 00:15:19.080 --> 00:15:24.240 everything because up to that point, criminals back in the twenties, 252 00:15:24.279 --> 00:15:27.679 when criminals were really popular for a lack of better term, 253 00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:31.000 you know, al capone guys like that, they would escape 254 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:34.440 prosecution for all intents and purposes by simply going across 255 00:15:34.440 --> 00:15:37.759 state lines. Okay. They would go from you know, from 256 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:39.679 one state to the next, and then all of a sudden, 257 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:42.960 the cops in that state couldn't chase after him. So 258 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:48.240 after the Limberg kidnapping, the FBI Jaegerhover said, this is ridiculous. 259 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:52.120 We need this to stop, and so he enacts what 260 00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:54.879 everybody else called the Limberg Law, so that if you 261 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:59.039 took somebody across state lines, it becomes a federal offense 262 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:03.279 and that the FBI can get involved, okay, And so 263 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:07.639 that's how things changed. Kidnapping at that time was really 264 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:11.080 really popular. It kind of you know, jumped in with 265 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:17.879 bootlegging and you know, all the all these other big 266 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:20.759 crimes at the time, and criminals started to come to 267 00:16:20.759 --> 00:16:24.320 the realization, this is a much safer way of making 268 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:28.559 a buck. Grabbed somebody, hold on to him, offer ransom 269 00:16:28.600 --> 00:16:30.879 demands and just wait for the money to show up, 270 00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:35.600 and it usually worked, but after the Limberg Law came 271 00:16:35.639 --> 00:16:39.120 into effect, it didn't work so much anymore. In fact, 272 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:43.440 the FBI, I mean, once the Limberg Law kicked in 273 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:47.559 and the FBI really got involved in capturing capturing kidnappers, 274 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:54.759 kidnappers failed almost every single time. But evidently Bill Mahon 275 00:16:54.840 --> 00:16:58.799 and Harmon Wiley didn't didn't know the statistics. 276 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:03.080 To get back to George being grabbed by this man 277 00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:05.720 and thrown in a car, what happens next to him? 278 00:17:05.799 --> 00:17:11.359 And what does George have the the wherewithal to do 279 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:13.000 as soon as he is great? 280 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:17.240 Yeah, right, So they threw him in the backseat, throw 281 00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:19.680 a blanket over him, and mentioned, you know, keep your 282 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:23.079 mouth shut, don't say anything, You'll be okay, And they 283 00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:26.240 drove about an hour north to an area outside of 284 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:30.880 the Seattle area called Izaquah, now to a forest. Ironically, 285 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:33.160 I don't know for a fact that there's a good 286 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:37.400 chance that forest was actually owned by the Warehouser family. 287 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:42.279 So they they Bill Mahan was hoping to kidnap some 288 00:17:42.440 --> 00:17:46.000 other guy, you know, weeks or months earlier, and he 289 00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:49.079 dug a hole out in the forest just for the 290 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:52.359 purpose of keeping somebody stashed there. But then he realized 291 00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:54.319 the person he wanted to kidnap didn't have the money, 292 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:56.880 and so he forgot about it. Well, now all of 293 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:59.640 a sudden, he's got George Warehouser. That's where he's going 294 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:04.079 to keep kids stashed. So this hole in the ground, 295 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:07.759 which is basically the size of a grave. It's about 296 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:11.240 six feet long and four feet deep, three feet wide, 297 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:14.119 with some boards across the bottom. And they put George 298 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:17.000 in the hole and they chained him up, and they 299 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:20.440 threw some boards over the top and camouflaged it. And 300 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:23.480 so George is sitting there for a couple of days, 301 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:29.319 you know, and the pitch dark nine years old. And 302 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:33.880 after the first day they realized, okay, because like hikers 303 00:18:34.200 --> 00:18:36.920 happened to be nearby, they discovered we got to move him. 304 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:39.480 So they moved him to another hole in the ground 305 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:45.200 in another forest. Then after about another day they went, okay, 306 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:47.880 this is the things are getting too hot, because now 307 00:18:47.880 --> 00:18:51.079 it's on the front page everywhere, and it's on the 308 00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:54.119 radio everywhere. You know, It's literally on the front page 309 00:18:54.119 --> 00:18:57.559 of every newspaper in America, and the cops are fanning 310 00:18:57.559 --> 00:19:01.440 out all over the state looking for the rappers. I'm 311 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:05.160 looking for George, and so they decided they want to 312 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:08.680 take George back to Spokane. Now, during all this, Margaret 313 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:10.880 is still oblivious. She has no idea that George has 314 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:13.359 been kidnapped. She has no idea that her husband has 315 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:15.640 part of because what's going on with this as well? 316 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:22.359 So this is a funny thing. Build my hand, goes 317 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:24.839 it back and gets Margaret drives her back out into 318 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:27.119 the forest and she's like, why are we out here? 319 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:28.720 And he goes, wait, I got to get your husband. 320 00:19:28.759 --> 00:19:31.839 And she's like, what's my husband doing out in the forest. 321 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:36.119 So he says, shut up to sit here. He goes 322 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:38.640 off in the forest. A few minutes later, her husband 323 00:19:38.680 --> 00:19:41.400 comes back with a flashlight. He gets in the car 324 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:44.079 and says, Margaret, I need you to get on your 325 00:19:44.119 --> 00:19:47.680 hands and knees on the front seat and cover your 326 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:50.720 head and then I'm going to fold the seat over you. 327 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:55.559 She's like, what, he says, just shut up and do it. Okay, 328 00:19:55.960 --> 00:19:58.359 She gets on her hands and knees. He puts the 329 00:19:58.440 --> 00:20:00.759 seat over her head, and all of a sudden, she 330 00:20:00.839 --> 00:20:04.559 hears the trunk open and slam. She has no idea 331 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:07.119 that George Warehouser had just been put in the trunk 332 00:20:07.160 --> 00:20:10.799 of the car, so they start driving back across the state. 333 00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:14.480 Halfway across the state, they stopped to get gas and 334 00:20:14.599 --> 00:20:17.880 Margaret hears a voice out of the trunk saying, hey, mister, 335 00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:21.720 can you let me out now? She freaks out, going, 336 00:20:21.799 --> 00:20:24.799 oh my god. All the puzzle pieces fall into place, 337 00:20:24.839 --> 00:20:28.680 and she realizes they'd got the kid who's on the 338 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:32.519 front page of every paper in America. And then Bill 339 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:34.400 Mahon pulls out a gun and says, you're going to 340 00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:38.200 keep your mouth shut or I kill you. I killed George, 341 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:42.160 I kill your husband. So she keeps his mouth shut. 342 00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:45.440 They drive back to Spokane, where they've got that house. 343 00:20:45.480 --> 00:20:48.759 They rent a house again, Okay, the same house that 344 00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:50.519 they were in before. But here's what this is an 345 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:53.319 interesting thing that nobody seems to understand why they did this. 346 00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:58.200 Driving back across the state, they went past Spokane. Spokane 347 00:20:58.240 --> 00:21:01.119 is really close to the Washington Idaho borders, literally just 348 00:21:01.160 --> 00:21:05.200 a few miles away. They drove across border into Idaho 349 00:21:06.039 --> 00:21:10.960 for like a few hours, and then drove back into 350 00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:15.000 Spokane again. No reason why, but because they did that, 351 00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:19.519 it officially became a federal offense. They didn't know that 352 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:21.759 at the time, or if they did, they weren't saying why. 353 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:26.559 So they rent this house from a pastor on a 354 00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:30.000 local pastor in Spokane, and the pastor had come over 355 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:31.759 to the house saying, okay, I want you to take 356 00:21:31.799 --> 00:21:32.799 good care of my house and. 357 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:33.440 Water my lawn. 358 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:36.000 And they're like, yes, ma'am, of course, ma'am. Little ass. 359 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:39.200 You know the twenty five feet away George Warehouser is 360 00:21:39.240 --> 00:21:42.960 locked in the closet, and that's where they kept George 361 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:45.480 stashed away for the next five days. 362 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:50.680 Now, meanwhile, you say that the family's getting this money together, 363 00:21:50.759 --> 00:21:54.000 they go to the uncles. They don't have any liquid assets. 364 00:21:55.240 --> 00:21:58.400 But also the press is clamoring for a story, and 365 00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:02.839 Hoover and the g men I've been told not to 366 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:06.279 say anything, so they start speculating, they say, making up 367 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:10.839 stuff and printing anything that they can possibly print. They're desperate, 368 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:15.240 and there are somebody in the FBI, I guess is 369 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:19.720 speaking about the Carpus Gang. Tell us about how the 370 00:22:19.799 --> 00:22:23.480 Carpus Gang gets to be number one suspects in this. 371 00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:28.559 Alvin Carpas, Alvin Creepy Carpas, was pretty much the last 372 00:22:28.920 --> 00:22:31.759 of the big time criminals that hadn't been killed or 373 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:36.240 put in prison. Just a year before George had been kidnapped, 374 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:41.400 Bonnie and Clyde had been gunned down, and John Dillinger 375 00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:44.880 had been gunned down and machine gun Kelly I can't 376 00:22:44.920 --> 00:22:47.319 remember he was shot or if he was put in prison, 377 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:50.319 and Babyface Nelson, all these really famous criminals, they'd either 378 00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:53.480 been shot or they've been put in prison. So Carpus 379 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:58.759 he and you've heard of Ma Barker, Okay, the Barker 380 00:22:58.839 --> 00:23:03.519 Carpus Gang. We're kind of last the big time criminals. 381 00:23:03.559 --> 00:23:07.400 And Carpus was really famous for doing a couple of 382 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:11.759 really big kidnappings just you know, about a year earlier. 383 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:16.720 So he was number one suspect. And back in those days, 384 00:23:16.759 --> 00:23:22.240 the newspapers never used the term allegedly. They just speculated 385 00:23:22.359 --> 00:23:25.000 and that was that. So they were putting articles out 386 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:28.839 there that pretty much just plain simple set. It's clearly 387 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:32.160 the Karpus gang. They're the ones that did it. They're guilty, 388 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:35.960 they were the judge and jury, and it happened frequently, 389 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:38.480 so that's why everybody just thought, oh, it must be 390 00:23:38.519 --> 00:23:39.200 the Carpus gang. 391 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:48.000 Yeah. Now, meanwhile, there is contact by the family with 392 00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:52.200 this post intelligence or newspaper. So they're doing things abiding 393 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:56.160 by these rules, and so they contact them and tell them, listen, 394 00:23:56.440 --> 00:23:58.000 we're going to be doing this. We're going to try 395 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:00.720 to cooperate as much as we can. What happens in 396 00:24:00.759 --> 00:24:01.799 that regard. 397 00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:09.880 The kid right, So the family tells the FBI, back off, 398 00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:13.039 do not do anything until we make the money drop, 399 00:24:13.480 --> 00:24:16.400 and Hoover and the FBI agree. They said, okay, we'll 400 00:24:16.440 --> 00:24:19.920 sit back and minor p's and q's until the money 401 00:24:19.960 --> 00:24:22.599