The Weyerhaeuser Kidnapping
On
May 24, 1935, George Weyerhaeuser, the nine-year
old son of prominent lumberman J.P. Weyerhaeuser
of Tacoma, Washington, disappeared on his way home
from school. Although the students at Lowell School,
which he attended, were released for lunch earlier
than usual, George followed his regular practice
of immediately walking to the nearby Annie Wright
Seminary to meet his sister Ann. The family's chauffeur
generally met George and Ann at the Seminary to drive
them home for lunch at noon. Arriving at the Seminary
10 or 15 minutes early that day, George apparently
decided to walk home rather than wait for his sister.
But George never reached home that day; somewhere
between the Seminary and his house, George Weyerhaeuser
was kidnapped.
When
the Weyerhaeuser family realized that George was
missing, they searched for him and notified the police
department of his disappearance. That evening, a
special delivery letter, addressed "To Whom
It May Concern," arrived at the Weyerhaeuser
home. It listed a series of demands, including the
payment of $200,000 ransom in unmarked twenty-, ten-,
and five-dollar bills in exchange for the boy. George's
signature appeared on the back of the envelope in
which the letter arrived.
The
Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Portland,
Oregon, Field Office was advised of the facts in
this case, and Special Agents were sent to Tacoma,
Washington, to investigate. Adhering to the kidnappers'
instructions, an advertisement, signed "Percy
Minnie," was placed in the personal column of
the "Seattle Post-Intelligencer" to indicate
that the Weyerhaeusers would comply with the kidnappers
demands. Similar messages were placed in the same
newspaper on May 27 and May 29, 1935.
Mr.
Weyerhaeuser received a letter from the kidnappers
on May 29, 1935. He was instructed to register at
the Ambassador Hotel in Seattle, Washington, as James
Paul Jones and to await further contact. Also enclosed
with the kidnappers' letter was a short note from
George, stating that he was safe. Mr. Weyerhaeuser
followed instructions, and at ten that night, a taxicab
driver delivered another letter to him at the hotel.
Complying
with directions given in the note, Weyerhaeuser drove
to a designated point, where he found two sticks
driven into the ground with a piece of white cloth
attached. There he found a message directing him
to another signal cloth further down the road. However,
when he reached the second signal cloth, he found
no message. He waited there for two hours before
returning to the hotel.
On
the morning of May 30, 1935, an anonymous party telephoned
Mr. Weyerhaeuser, saying that he had not followed
orders the previous night. George's father assured
the caller that he wanted to cooperate but that he
could not find the last note.
At
9:45 that night, a man with a European accent telephoned
Mr. Weyerhaeuser and advised him to proceed to an
address where he would find a note in a tin can.
Thereafter, he proceeded from one point to another,
following directions he found at each place.
On
a dirt road off the main highway between Seattle
and Tacoma, he found a flag and another note advising
him to wait for five minutes with the dome light
of his car burning and then to go to another white
sign on the same road. The note he found there told
him to leave his car and walk back toward Seattle.
If the money was in order, George would be released
within 30 hours.
Mr.
Weyerhaeuser had walked about 100 yards when he heard
a loud noise from the bushes. A man ran out, got
in the car and drove away with the $200,000 ransom
money.
Young
George Weyerhaeuser was released at a shack near
Issaquah, Washington, on the morning of June 1, 1935.
George
revealed that when he left Annie Wright Seminary
on May 24, 1935, he took a shortcut through some
tennis courts. As he left the tennis courts, he met
a man of about 40 with brown hair and a moustache
who asked for directions. When George responded,
the man picked him up and carried him to a sedan
which was parked across the street.
The
child noticed that a second man was sitting in the
front seat of the car. George was put in the back
seat and a blanket was thrown over him. He was driven
around for over an hour, during which time he heard
the men conversing in whispers.
The
men stopped the car by the side of a road and removed
the blanket covering George. He was given an envelope
and told to write his name in pencil on the back
of it. He was then blindfolded and carried ten or
twelve steps, where he said the man must have waded
across a stream because he heard rushing water. On
the other side of the stream, he was placed on the
ground and led by the hand over the countryside for
about one-half or three-quarters of a mile. The boy
noticed that the area was covered with bushes or
trees, which he frequently brushed against, and that
the ground was very uneven.
They
arrived at a point by a large log, and the man who
was leading George put him into a hole which had
been dug in the ground. George, whose blindfold had
been removed, estimated the hole to be about four
square feet. After chaining the boy's right wrist
and leg, his two captors placed a board over the
hole, completely covering it. The men took turns
guarding him until about ten that night, when one
of them said that the police might find the hole.
The
boy was carried back to the car and placed in the
trunk, where he rode for about an hour. He was taken
from the car and led through the woods again. Reaching
their destination, his kidnappers dug another hole
while George waited by a tree. George was placed
into this hole, along with a seat from the car and
two blankets, and the hole was covered with tar paper.
Subsequent examinations of this hole revealed the
presence of lizards and spiders which could have
endangered the child's health.
Investigation
determined that on May 26, 1935, the two men, accompanied
by a woman, put George in the trunk of a Ford and
drove through Washington into Idaho. Having passed
through Blanchard, Idaho, they followed the highway
until they turned at a point on the mountain. During
the early morning, the boy was taken from the car
and handcuffed to a tree, where he was guarded until
nightfall.
His
abductors then took him to a house and put him in
a large closet with a mattress, two chairs and a
small white table. On the evening of Friday, May
31, 1935, George was told that they were leaving
this house. He noticed a watch on the table indicating
it was 5:55. The two men, who addressed each other
as "Bill" and "Harry," went upstairs.
George did not try to run away because the men had
told him that he would be going home soon.
Again,
George was placed in the car's trunk and taken to
a little shack near Issaquah, Washington. At about
3:30 the following morning, his captors left, telling
him that his father would come to take him home.
George wandered into a farmhouse and announced his
identity. The family took him in, washed him, gave
him clean clothes, and drove him to Tacoma, Washington,
in their car.
When
the FBI started investigating this case, every precaution
was taken to ensure the safe return of the victim.
During the period of negotiation, Special Agents
conducted the investigation quietly. Serial numbers
of the ransom bills were sent to FBI Headquarters
in Washington, D.C., where ransom lists were prepared.
Immediately after the kidnappers received the money,
these lists were sent to all of the Bureau's field
offices for distribution to commercial enterprises,
including banks, hotels and railway companies.
On
June 2, 1935, a $20 ransom bill was tendered in payment
of a railway ticket from Huntington, Oregon, to Salt
Lake City, Utah. Investigation by FBI Agents determined
the purchaser to be Harmon Metz Waley.
Shortly
thereafter, many ransom bills appeared in discount
stores in Salt Lake City, Utah. Due to the limited
number of Special Agents available there, police
officers were placed in each downtown discount store,
and each store was furnished a copy of the ransom
list. As a result, on June 8, 1935, a police detective
stationed at a Woolworth store was notified by a
cashier that a woman had presented one of the ransom
bills. The detective took the woman, who proved to
be Margaret E. Waley, wife of Harmon Waley, to the
FBI's Salt Lake City Field Office.
Upon
her arrival at the field office, another ransom bill
was discovered in her pocketbook. Although she told
a number of conflicting stories, her correct home
address was obtained.
Later
that day, Harmon Metz Waley was arrested at home.
After making several false statements, he confessed
that he and William Dainard, whom he had met in the
Idaho State Penitentiary, had kidnapped the boy.
He added that his wife had no knowledge of the kidnapping
until their arrival in Spokane, Washington. She had
been at the hideout house and helped them negotiate
the ransom.
Approximately
$3,700 of the ransom money was found to have been
burned in the Waleys' stove. The ashes were sent
to the FBI Laboratory in Washington, D.C., where
it was determined that a sufficient number of the
bills remained to positively identify them.
Waley
claimed that he and Dainard planned to split the
money evenly, but that Dainard cheated him out of
$5,000. After further questioning at the field office,
Waley said that he bought a Ford Roadster, which
he registered as Herman Von Metz, when he arrived
in Salt Lake City. Under a clump of trees or bushes,
he had buried $90,790, which Special Agents recovered
on June 11, 1935.
Learning
that Waley arranged to meet Dainard at the home of
Margaret Waley's parents, Agents proceeded to that
house. Her grandfather advised that a man answering
Dainard's description had come to the house asking
for the Waleys. The grandfather told him that the
Waleys had been there earlier to pick up their suitcase
but they returned to Salt Lake City and had been
arrested. The man exclaimed, "My God, did they
get everything they had?" before returning to
his car and driving off.
Physical
evidence found in the hideout, the holes and the
kidnappers' homes was examined by personnel of the
FBI Laboratory. Fingerprint identification positively
linked the Waleys and Dainard to the shack where
the ransom had been divided. Also, Harmon Waley's
fingerprints appeared on the cans in which notes
for Mr. Weyerhaeuser were placed, and a fingerprint
identified as Margaret Waley's was found at the hideout.
On
June 19, 1935, the Federal Grand Jury, Tacoma, Washington,
returned an indictment charging William Dainard,
Harmon Metz Waley and Margaret E. Waley with kidnapping
and conspiracy to kidnap.
Harmon
Waley entered a plea of guilty on June 21, 1935,
and was sentenced to serve concurrent prison terms
of 45 years on charge of kidnapping and 2 years on
charge of conspiring to kidnap. He was sent to the
United States Penitentiary, McNeil Island, Washington.
Waley later was transferred to the United States
Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, California.
On
June 22, 1935, Margaret Waley pleaded not guilty
to both charges. She was brought to trial in United
States District Court, Tacoma, Washington, on July
5, 1935. Four days later, she was sentenced to serve
two concurrent 20-year terms in the United States
Detention Farm, Milan, Michigan.
After
William Dainard had spoken with Mrs. Waley's grandfather,
he proceeded to Butte, Montana. On June 9, 1935,
he was recognized by a police officer who attempted
to apprehend him. Dainard eluded the officer, and
later his car was found to have been abandoned, along
with $15,155 in ransom money.
An
Identification Order, which included Dainard's photograph,
fingerprints, handwriting specimen, and background
information, was prepared, and copies were distributed
throughout the United States. In response to information
received that Dainard may have gone to either Mexico
or Australia, copies of the Identification Order
also were furnished to police agencies in both countries.
In
early 1936, bills with altered serial numbers began
to surface in the western part of the country. The
FBI Laboratory's examination of these bills revealed
the true serial numbers to be identical with those
of ransom bills. Banks were advised to be alert to
any person presenting altered currency for exchange.
On
May 6, 1936, employees of two different Los Angeles,
California, banks reported that a man had exchanged
altered bills at each bank. His license number, obtained
by personnel of both banks, was issued to a Bert
E. Cole. A surveillance was maintained at the address
listed for that license number. On the morning of
May 7, 1936, Special Agents assigned to the FBI's
San Francisco Field Office were instructed to search
that neighborhood. Two Agents found a Ford bearing
the reported license number in a parking lot enclosed
by a wire fence.
Later,
a man entered the car and attempted to start it.
When it failed to start, he got out of the car and
lifted the hood. Agents approached the man, who was
readily identified as being Dainard. He submitted
to arrest without resistance, and a .45 caliber Colt
automatic pistol was removed from his person.
When
questioned, Dainard admitted his participation in
the kidnapping. At the time of his arrest, Agents
recovered $37,374.47 in ransom money and bills that
Dainard admitted he had received in exchange for
ransom money. Special Agents also recovered $14,000
in $100 bills that Dainard had buried in Utah. In
addition, various dyes and other paraphernalia used
to change serial numbers on paper currency were found
in the garage of his Los Angeles, California, home.
Dainard
was removed to Tacoma, Washington, where he entered
a guilty plea in the United States District Court
on May 9, 1936. He was sentenced to serve two concurrent
60-year prison terms for kidnapping and conspiring
to kidnap. That same day, he was sent to the United
States Penitentiary, McNeil Island, Washington. Upon
his subsequent transfer to the United States Penitentiary,
Leavenworth, Kansas, prison authorities determined
Dainard to be insane and recommended that he be confined
to a hospital.
Further
investigation by the FBI revealed that Edward Fliss,
an associate of Dainard's, had assisted him in exchanging
the ransom money. Fliss was locate at the Delmar
Hotel, San Francisco, California, where he was arrested
by FBI Agents. He offered no resistance and admitted
to helping Dainard dispose of the ransom money.
Fliss
was removed to Seattle, Washington, where an indictment
was returned on November 10, 1936, charging him with
assisting in the disposition of ransom money. He
entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced to serve
ten years in prison and to pay a fine of $5,000.
The
participants in this kidnapping were sentenced to
actual prison terms aggregating 135 years. During
the course of the investigation, Special Agents of
the FBI recovered a total of $157,319.47 in ransom
money and cash received in exchange for ransom money.
Harmon
Metz Waley was the last of the kidnappers to be released
from custody. He was paroled from the United States
Penitentiary, McNeil Island, Washington, on June
3, 1963, at the age of 52.
The
victim of this kidnapping, George Weyerhaeuser, ultimately
became the Chairman of the Board for the Weyerhaeuser
Company.
TOP
OF PAGE