Case study for Greenlease Kidnapping

The Greenlease Kidnapping On September 28, 1953 young Bobby Greenlease was kidnapped from French Institute of Notre Dame de Sion in Kansas City, Missouri. The victim of this horrific crime was young 6 year old Robert Cosgrove Greenlease, Jr., also known as Bobby, was the son of Robert Cosgrove Greenlease, Sr., who was a wealthy automobile dealer (FBI 2013). I will give a brief overview of the case then I will jump right into the analysis. Bonnie Heady posed as Bobby’s aunt and told the nun who answered the door that his mother had a heart attack. Once the nun released Bobby to Bonnie they proceeded to the same cab Bonnie used to get to the institute. Once Bonnie left the cab, she eventually met up with her partner, Carl Hall. The driver of the cab, Willard Pearson Creech, told authorities that a woman fitting the description of Bonnie and Bobby had entered his cab and drove them to a drug store. The two kidnappers drove the young boy to a secluded farm; this is where Carl shot young Bobby at point-blank range with a .38 caliber revolver and buried him by the front porch. The Greenleases received their first ransom letter 6:00pm on September 28, 1953; this ransom note was first of many. The first note promised Bobby’s safe return within 24 hours as long as there were no tricks in delivering the ransom money of $600,000. The second ransom note was delivered to the family on September 29, 1953 which contained a medal that Bobby had worn and state the Bobby was ok but missed his family (FBI 2013). The Greenleases received more than a half dozen more ransom notes and 15 telephone calls. They received their last phone call on October 5, 1953, the kidnappers stated that they had received the $600,000 and that Bobby would be returned within 24 hours. After receiving the ransom money the two kidnappers went to St. Louis, Missouri where Hall left Heady with only $2,000. On October 6, 1953 Hall moved into an apartment in St. Louis this is where he would later be arrested (FBI 2013).
The investigation The St. Louis Police department received a phone call on October 6, 1953 from a cab driver by the name, John Oliver Hager. John Hager was a driver for the Ace Cab Company and his information on Carl Hall lead to his arrest. At this point in time, there was another cab driver by the name of Willard Pearson Creech told authorities that he saw a women who fit the description of Bonnie Heady and that she was with a young boy who fit Bobby’s description. He said that he personally drove heady to the school and then was told to wait. When she returned to the cab she had Bobby with her and then dropped them off at a drug store. After leaving the cab, they stopped behind a “Blue 1952 or 1953 Ford Sedan”. Why didn’t the police follow up on this lead? This was a solid lead in the case. In looking at the FBI’s police report there is no mention of Creech’s statement, yet on the FBI’s website it mentions his statement. I find that a little peculiar. Why do the police listen to John Olive Hager rather than Creech? After Carl was arrested, John led them to the whereabouts of Bonnie where she was taken into custody. Once they were both in custody they both openly confessed to the kidnapping of young Bobby. However, Bonnie stated that her only involvement was to bring the boy from the school to Hall, and that she had no idea Hall was going to murder the boy. The investigation as whole was very solid and solved in a quick manner. I plan on doing further research as to why the police would not include Creech’s statement into the police reports; I personally believe that this case would have been solved in a faster time period than it was. Creech‘s statement could have allowed the police to track the license plate to see who that vehicle was registered to. The boy’s body was found by FBI agents on October 7, 1953 buried near the front porch of the Heady residence. Blood stains and some .38 caliber shell casings were found in the basement of the Heady residence, the “smoking gun” of the case. The FBI laboratory matched the shell casings found at the Heady residence to Hall’s gun. According to the FBI over half of the $600,000 ransom money was never found. The FBI investigative team found the two suitcases which reportedly had the money, which were in Hall’s possession at the time of his arrest, were not brought to the Precinct in St. Louis. The lead investigator Lieutenant Louis Ira Shoulders and Patrolman Elmer Dolan were indicted for perjury. This case has some questionable elements to it, which I just can’t wrap my head around. Not using a statement that could help to a quicker arrest, and then the lead investigator and a patrol man indicted for perjury? On October 30, 1953, Hall and Bonnie both appeared before a judge and plead guilty to the crime. The jury recommended the death penalty and only after an hour of deliberations confirmed. As stated above this case has some elements that are questionable and a little upsetting of course but the main thing is that justice was served for young Bobby.