Original subtitles

I need to tell you a story, a parable of sorts, about love and loss, doubt and

faith.

In my head, I know it happened many years ago.

But in my heart, it's as if it happened only yesterday.

I'm here to pick up Bobby Greenleaf.

Something terrible has happened.

I was a few months away from taking my final vows in the order of Notre Dame de

Sion.

Up until then, every part of my life had been predictable.

And orderly.

But this was the day that it all changed.

We're just going to go see Mommy and Daddy.

I often ask myself, could I have done something more?

Could I have made the difference?

Could I have prevented this terrible, terrible thing from happening?

Hello? Mrs. Greenleaf.

But to dwell on oneself is a sin of pride.

And what I felt then, or now, is nothing compared to what Mrs. Greenleaf must

have felt when Sister called her from our school.

I'm sorry, I don't understand.

And told her that someone had just stolen her son.

Sister Moran, there's some men here to see you.

Please answer all their questions.

Police immediately went to Notre Dame de Sion.

Sister Moran, I'm Detective Bennett. This is Detective Nesbitt. We'd like to

you a few questions.

Sister Moran wasn't much older than I, and at this point, she had no idea

anything was amiss.

And then that all changed.

We'd like to talk to you, Sister, about a woman that you might have spoken to

this morning.

I'm here to pick up Bobby Greenleaf.

Something terrible has happened.

His mother's in the hospital. I need to take him to her right away.

I'm sorry. How are you related to Mr. Hingley? I'm Mrs. Greenleaf's sister.

Bobby's aunt.

Please, she's had a heart attack. It's very urgent.

Of course.

The mother superior was out of the school on business that day, and the

principal was teaching a class.

Those of highest authority weren't available, so Sister Moran, the young

newly arrived from France, worked this out on her own.

And on leaving, the little boy said, can I take my Jerusalem medal, which was

given to him for scoring well in the test.

Bobby, you go with your aunt.

Quick, quick, quick, can I go see mommy and daddy?

And the boy took the hand of the lady that he didn't know and exited the

If you're Catholic, you understand that when a nun tells you to do something,

you did it and never questioned it.

And then they drove off in a taxi cab.

Can you tell me what she looked like?

I think she has maybe 40 years.

She described the lady as being about 5 '3", kind of pudgy, wearing a brown

dress and a brown hat.

But she looked perfectly respectable, certainly to the eyes of Sister Moran.

Back in 1953, Kansas City had a flamboyant criminal history, most

Pretty Boy Floyd.

But you just never thought you would be touched by any of the crime.

The chief of police, Bernard Brannan, went to the home of the Greenleaf

Mr. and Mrs. Greenleaf.

Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to do this to Bobby?

No. No one.

Anyone who might want to do this to you, sir? Maybe a business competitor?

I don't think so.

Robert Greenlees was in his early 70s and was one of the wealthiest people in

the Midwest.

He owned most of the Cadillac dealerships between Texas and South

His estimated net worth at the time was $24 million.

In today's dollars, that would be worth $350 million.

His earlier marriage had ended in divorce.

Virginia Greenlease was half her husband's age.

Everybody who knew of the Greenleases knew that Bobby was just like a

Bobby's father in the 70s had never had a biological son before.

It was like something from heaven.

And everybody knew how they adored him.

Excuse me, Missy.

Do you have any unusual phone calls in the last few days?

Well... Ten days earlier, she had received a phone call.

said she was from the public school system and was asking questions about

number of children, where they went to school, what kind of pets they had.

And the maid said, yes, Bobby had a pet parrot.

But I thought nothing of it.

Hey, you pick up a fat lady and a kid this morning?

Who wants to know?

The police were quick to locate the cab driver.

who had taken Bobby and the woman away.

Bobby, you have that wonderful pet parrot still?

The cab driver thought that she knew Bobby because she asked him about his

parrot.

He thought that the woman had gotten into a blue Ford.

But the description of a... How you doing, kid?

No license plate, no nothing.

My name is Special Agent Roy Moore with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

One of the very first steps investigators took was to ask the postal

be on the alert.

Within hours of the kidnapping, an envelope was put into a mailbox. And to

post office's great credit, they immediately recognized that this had to

the Greenleaf kidnapping, even though the envelope was misaddressed.

Your boy has been kidnapped.

Get $600 ,000 in the 20s, 10s of Federal Reserve notes.

No police involvement.

And if you follow our instructions, you'll get them back safely. And it's

with the letter M.

Back in 1953, $600 ,000 was huge. It was $10 million in today's dollars.

And to this day, no kidnapping ransom has ever exceeded that amount.

The size of the ransom demand immediately led police to suspect that

only be a mob operation.

Mr. Greenleaf said, we're going to pay the money. No dickering around. Money

didn't mean anything to him.

He wanted to get his boy back.

They began working really on a 24 -hour shift to assemble the money from all 12

Federal Reserves.

And to record the serial numbers.

In addition to the police, Robert Greenlees assembles a couple of close

associates. The first was Mr. O 'Neill. William Letterman being another.

And another advisor is Paul Greenlees, who is an adopted son,

some years older than Bobby, from an earlier marriage.

Bobby just adored his big brother.

What Bobby didn't know, and why should he have, was that well before Bobby was

born, Paul had caused his father some concern.

Paul was a troublesome boy.

He was sent to Kemper Military Academy.

A lot of troubled teenagers were put in there to kind of get them straightened

out, quote -unquote.

Paul stayed very close to his father.

And he was kind of in the background during all the negotiations and so

It would take four days to assemble the money the way they were instructed to.

But that was too long for the kidnappers.

Because Mr. and Mrs. Greenleaf got another message from the mysterious M.

They get another letter with his Jerusalem medal.

And this letter said, if you don't act fast, you will never see your boy again.

Men, thank you for all your help. But from here on out, we're going to do this

alone.

We just can't take any chances with going against the kidnappers'

They make a strategic decision that they're going to do this on their own.

They did not want the police to make any effort that might put Bobby's life in

danger. Sir, with all due respect, my compliments to the director and you and

all you boys, some of whom I've known for years. Please, we're done here.

you. Please leave the house.

The police and FBI decide that they'll let the family handle this.

1953, there was no set procedure how to handle things.

Mr. Greenlees was used to making decisions, used to being in charge.

And he must have thought, who better to take care of Bobby than his own parents?

The next day, the Greenlees family put an ad in the Kansas papers letting the

kidnappers know that the money is ready.

And the day after that, they got what they had hoped for.

Hello? M gives instructions.

They set off to deliver the money.

The police do not follow them.

As a girl, I once sat in the hospital waiting room.

And prayed to God that my baby brother would survive surgery.

It was a simple transaction, I thought.

My devotion in exchange for his life.

I imagine it was similar for Mr. and Mrs. Greenlees over those hours.

A bag of money for their son.

A simple transaction.

And Bobby would come running up the front walk.

I believe they would have traded everything they had for Bobby.

Given their very lives to have their boy come back.

All they could do was sit and wait and pray.

Where's Poppy?

Bobby Greenlees had been at the hands of kidnappers for four days.

His parents were willing to pay anything to get him back.

And had even arranged for the enormous ransom to be delivered to the appointed

spot.

But it wasn't meant to be.

The note said to drop the bag at the church.

But there were so many people around, we were afraid to leave it and somebody

would take it.

They failed to deliver the money to the kidnappers.

And the family felt...

that they had signed Bobby's death warrant.

The panic exponentially increases.

Nothing is going right.

Okay, please calm down. We will get to everybody's question today. Sir, can you

tell us why the police presence has diminished here over the last few days?

I really can't answer that at this time, ma 'am.

The kidnapping has become a nationwide sensation.

There are, outside the Greenleaf home, scores and scores of newspaper

There's a front page story in New York Times, Time magazine.

A nation stands aghast at the kidnapping of six -year -old Bobby Greenleaf from

Kansas City.

Edward R. Murrow gave you nightly briefings and updates on the case. That

unprecedented at that time.

The people that we knew, that's all they could talk about.

Okay, folks, that's all for today. Thank you very much.

Hello?

Yeah.

Sir, you need to speak more clearly for me.

Five days after the kidnapping, in the early hours of the morning, the

kidnapper, M, calls again.

We have the money, but we need to know that the boy is alive and well.

Absolutely, he's okay.

He's a hellcat.

We're going to earn this ransom money.

Even though he made a series of phone calls, they never tried to trace the

Tracing the call would have been police involvement.

He sent a way for further instructions.

Meanwhile, at the school, the students and faculty are thunderstruck.

We all went to Mass every day to pray for Bobby.

We said Hail Marys and Our Fathers.

We wore our rosary beads to dust.

We prayed to St. Nicholas, who watches over children, and St.

Anne, who watches over mothers.

But we felt helpless.

They were going through hell.

You can just imagine the horrific terror going on in her mind and in

her imagination.

very difficult you listen to me i am bobby's mother tell us what we need to

and we will do it we know how to get there

we will bring you the money and you bring me my son you bring me back my son

bring me back my son

finally

The kidnapper gives them real instructions.

We're told to drop it off a little bridge near the old Highway 40.

The two representatives for the family come to this dark, secluded area where

there's a wooden bridge.

They toss the duffel bag over, and they head off.

And as they depart, they pass by another car.

They wonder, is that the kidnapper?

All they could do was wonder, because despite all the plans and promises,

that moment, the kidnapper, the ransom, and Bobby Greenleaf.

all disappeared into the night.

Bobby Greenlees had been abducted a week ago.

His parents had delivered an enormous ransom to the kidnappers.

But Bobby was nowhere to be found.

And the whole country was on the lookout, you might say, for kidnappers.

And though none of us back in Kansas City could know it, a long way away, a

meeting between a taxi driver and his fare would be the key to everything.

The Lord moved in mysterious ways.

260 miles away from Kansas City in St. Louis, a

cab driver named John Hager picks up a fare.

Hey, the trunk open?

Yep. About 12 hours after the ransom dropped.

So, where to?

You know where a man can find a girl tonight.

As long as you're not Johnny Law.

If you only knew the half of it, you'd get a real kick out of it.

Fellow identifies himself as Steve Strand.

He says he's a pharmaceutical salesman. The guy's flashing money.

He's looking for a fixer.

And Johnny Hager was the right person.

He was the guy that could get anything for you, legal or otherwise.

He decides to take his fare to a motel on Route 66 called the Coral Court.

So Mr. Strand has in his possession two very large metal cases.

One's a footlocker, and one's a metal suitcase.

Both very hefty.

Hey, just put those anywhere, okay?

Strand tells Hager that these are pharmaceutical family.

Let me ask you a question. You know where I can get a nice new suit?

I'm going to need a nice new suit this week. Can't go around wearing this.

Yeah, I know a guy in downtown.

Probably get something for you. Costs a pretty penny, but, you know. That'd be

great. Money's no object.

I'm about a 40 regular. Why don't you pick me out a nice suit?

Steve Strand offers Mr. Hager $2 ,500 as a retainer.

Okay. I'll go get that for you then, huh?

Over the next couple of days, he asks, I need you to do a few things for me.

Get me a new set of clothes, rent a car, give me something to drink, some drugs.

All these things he accomplished.

You know where I can get an ID?

ID? An identification.

Sure, yeah, I know a guy.

Very good. Come here, let's have a drink.

What do you got?

What do you think of that?

Pharmaceutical sales that dangerous these days?

Well, you never know.

Someone might be trying to rob you.

He's saying to himself, who is this guy?

Cheers.

Me and you, we need to have like a special knock so that you know it's me.

a special knock.

Right? Right, right, right. Right, so I'll go just like that.

Then only open the door if you hear that from me.

That's a great idea.

So they decided that they needed a secret knock.

And Strand was left alone in the Coral Court motel room.

That evening, he hears the password knock.

What's all this about?

He opens the door and in rushes two St. Louis cops, a detective lieutenant named

Lou Shoulders and his driver, a younger cop in his 20s named Elmer Dolan. We get

a report of a suspicious character with a gun.

He knew at that point the cab driver gave him up.

They find keys for the luggage.

The jig is up.

Let's go.

Now I know what you're thinking.

Oh, thank goodness they found the kidnapper and now they can find Bobby.

But be patient and beware.

Because the story gets a lot more complicated and a lot more terrifying.

For seven days, we'd all been praying for the safe return of Bobby Greenleaf.

We didn't know it then, but hundreds of miles away, a man had just been taken

into custody.

And he would have all the answers.

Steve Strand.

Is that right?

Louis Shoulders was a 25 - to 30 -year -old veteran of the St. Louis Police

Department, very street smart, had a number of informants. He was a feared

on the street.

That was an awful big trunk we found in your room there, Steve.

Lots and lots and lots of money.

What is it you say you do?

Steve Strand.

is going through severe alcoholic withdrawal.

He hadn't had a drink for a number of hours.

I found this in your room, too.

Carl Austin Hall, insurance agent.

Is that you?

His symptoms of withdrawal became so severe that they brought in a nurse and

injected him with an amphetamine.

This was back in the days of the third -degree interrogations. There was no

thing as Miranda warnings.

Looking a little better there. You ready to tell me about what happened, Bobby?

I don't know what you're talking about. Come on, Carl.

Bobby Greenways.

You know all about it.

Huh? I didn't do anything.

We know you did it, Carl.

He knew it was all over.

He admits that he's Carl Austin Hall and that he is the kidnapper.

Carl Austin Hall was born into a wealthy family.

in Pleasanton, Kansas, about 50 miles south of Kansas City.

He was a rich kid.

He was sent away to military school.

He was a standout student for his first two years.

By his third year, though, he had discovered alcohol, and his life really

on that.

He was a bit of a troublemaker.

Evaluations said that he was dishonest, and in fact, eventually was kicked out

of the school.

His mother was so disappointed with him that she disinherited him.

However, he inherited $200 ,000, the equivalent of about $3 million, from his

grandmother.

So he had enough money basically to set him up for life.

He went to Kansas City and enjoyed all the vices of the big city.

Drugs, booze, women.

Gambling.

And in five short years, the money was gone.

He was reduced to robbing taxi cabs.

Goes to the penitentiary, a first -class 14 -garret loser.

This kid's parents want their son back.

So we're going to get you, and we're going to get your partner.

What's your name? I don't know what you're talking about. Come on, Carl.

Everybody knew that a woman had picked up Bobby. Where is that woman?

Just give me your name.

Come on, Carl.

Bonnie.

Bonnie who?

Eddie.

Bonnie Heddy was living in an apartment furnished room type in South St. Louis.

So the police go to the apartment. They find her bonkers drunk in bed.

She's got a black eye and she's got $2 ,500 and not another dime.

Well, I hope you don't mind that I sat down, but I see a beautiful woman

across the room by herself, and I don't know what else I'm supposed to do.

Well, you better believe it.

Bonnie's seven years older than Carl Hall, and she has gone through a

She was abused in her marriage.

She began drinking, and she became a hooker.

Hall was broke and saw an opportunity.

She owned her own house in St. Joseph.

I see a beautiful woman, and not only is she as beautiful as she is on the

outside, she's just as beautiful on the inside.

And she can drink me under the table and screw me with a whip.

So now I'm feeling all these things. What is that?

Tell me what that is.

It's love.

That's what I call love.

Well, you're very charming.

So I'm in love with you, Bonnie Heddy.

They left the bar that day together. They went to her house.

And Carl Hall basically never left.

Where's

Bobby?

It's not your fault.

You left me.

What'd you do with the boy?

What do you do with the boy?

Where?

They have a lot of money in that family.

A lot of money.

Couldn't spend that much money.

Three lifetimes.

He figured that the easiest way to make a bunch of money was to kidnap a rich

kid.

He came from a silver spoon background himself, so he knew something about

people with money.

Should I pour you a single or a double? Don't joke with me.

I have this great idea that I've been meaning to talk to you about. It's like

the once -in -a -lifetime idea that someone gets.

It could be our ticket to the good life.

Remember when I told you about the Greenleaf family, the family that's got

money than God himself?

Well, I think we could pick up one of the Greenleaf kids, hold them for

send a note, pick up the money, and we're gone.

Sounds great. I'm in.

No, I'm serious about this.

I'm serious about this. This is the plan, and I've been thinking about it

and over and over in my mind. I've seen every detail.

All our dreams will come true.

Honey, I don't know. That sounds really... A lot could go wrong with

There's nothing that's going to go wrong. I've thought it all through.

A month after they met and three months before the kidnapping, Carl Hall told

Bonnie about his plan.

Bonnie's reaction, naturally enough, was, that's crazy.

If we need money, I'll sell my house.

Do you love me?

Yes.

I wanted to spend my life with you.

Then you'll go with me on this one.

She was a woman who had lost everything.

Do you trust me?

Mm -hmm.

I think she wanted to belong and be cared for by someone so badly that she

willing to do anything that he asked.

I love you, Carl.

I love you, Bonnie.

So what'd you do?

So, uh... So we

set up a plan.

The day of the kidnapping, early in the morning, they drove outside the

Greenlees' house and waited until they saw Robert Greenlees.

And Bobby drive off to Notre Dame de Sion.

And step two was to kidnap Bobby.

Once Bobby and Hedy returned to the parking lot, they got into the car.

Are you reported? I'm fine.

They drove outside Missouri into Kansas and out into the country for about five

miles.

He pulled in a spot that he had picked up because it was hidden by some hedges

and a tree line.

She took the dog out for a walk.

She knew what was going to happen. She didn't want to see it.

After dark that night, he put the body in the hole that he dug in the backyard,

covered it with dirt and lime, and they planted chrysanthemums.

To think that anyone could ever do that to any child, what that

monster did.

They kidnapped the boy, and before they asked for a ransom, they kill him.

People were horrified.

It's an unspeakable act.

It's so improbable for a couple of barflies

who drank the way they did on a daily basis to have pulled this off.

These were real amateurs.

In fact, Hall had a personal connection to the Greenleaf family, going back to

his days at Kemper Military Academy, where one of his classmates was Hall

Greenleaf.

And this is apparently what planted the idea for the kidnapping.

After they got the money in the car, Carl Hall was worried that they'd seen

his license plate, and this is what prompted them to hightail it across the

state to St. Louis.

They rented a cheap apartment.

Bonnie Heddy resented that it was a cheap apartment, so they argued about

And Carl Hall punched her in the eye.

She passed out.

Carl Hall left $2 ,500 in cash, and he took the rest.

I don't think either of them really were capable of real moral sorrow.

They are sentenced to death, both of them, in the Missouri gas chamber.

Okay, Hall, on your feet.

Carl Hall was afraid of death.

Possible for Bonnie, death is a way out from her depressed existence.

She seemed resigned to her fate.

Bonnie Hedy and Carl Hall paid for their sins with their lives.

Their bodies were in the ground just 30 days after the verdict.

But there is an epilogue to this story that to this day I find disturbing.

Half the ransom money disappeared.

$312 ,000 missing.

And to this day has never been found.

Johnny Hager was on the payroll of Joe Costello, the mobster.

Also on the payroll of Joe Costello, the mobster, was Lieutenant Shoulders.

In fact, Joe Costello was outside the motel room as Carl Hall was being let

There are virtually no good guys, and the bad guys are exceptionally bad.

What the Greenlees had lost was infinite.

It was the pain that endured, unrelenting, long after Bobby's killers

to death.

No amount of justice would ever fill the hole in their lives.

You think of the 50s as being the happy time.

But this is the darkest cloud that ever floated over the 50s sky.

And these many years later, when I think of Bobby, and I often do, I say a

prayer for what we lost.

A little boy and a little of our innocence.

Valley so low, hang your head

over, hear the wind blow.

Hear the wind blow, dear, hear the wind blow.