On 8 December 1963, Frank Sinatra Jr, son of well-known singer Frank Sinatra, was kidnapped by two individuals described as “amateur criminals”. It is believed that their motive was to get rich by kidnapping Sinatra Jr and demanding a high ransom from Sinatra Sr. Once the case was solved it was discovered that these two people were 23-year-old former high school classmates Barry Keenan and Joe Amsler, shown in the image to the left. At the time, Frank Sinatra was 19 and just beginning his music career. He would perform in various venues throughout California.
When performing at Harrah’s Club Lodge in Lake Tahoe, on the border of California and Nevada at around 9PM on 8 December 1963, Sinatra Jr was in a dressing room with his friend when Keenan pretended to be a delivery guy and knocked on the door. When Sinatra Jr opened the door, Keenan and Amsler blindfolded him and tied his friend up using tape. The tape used can be seen in the photo to the left. Sinatra Jr was taken through a side door of the venue to a car, but his friend had managed to free himself shortly after the car left and immediately contacted the authorities. Roadblocks were quickly set up and even stopped the pair of kidnappers until they managed to talk their way out of the situation and keep driving. The vehicle continued to a hideout in an LA suburb.
At 9:40PM, the FBI in Reno was notified and brought in to assist with the case. FBI agents met with the victim’s father in Reno and mother in Bel-Air, California. FBI agents communicated that money was likely the motive and suggested the parents wait for a ransom demand. They were advised to pay the ransom and then allow the FBI to track the money and find the kidnappers.
Keenan used John Irwin as the ransom contact, meaning Irwin handled all communication with the parents of the victim. In the evening on December 9th, Irwin called Sinatra Sr and told him to wait for the kidnappers’ instructions and to follow them once they came. On December 10th, the kidnappers demanded $240,000 through Irwin.
The next day, on December 11th, Sinatra Sr gave the money to the FBI who delivered it to the drop point which was between the two school buses show in the photo on the left in Sepulveda, California. While the two kidnappers went to collect the money Irwin was left alone with Sinatra Jr. Irwin got nervous and freed the captive, who then told a random security guard. Sinatra Jr hid in the trunk of the guard’s patrol car to avoid the press and the security guard brought him to his mother’s house in Bel-Air.
The victim was asked to recall the events of the previous days to the FBI, but he couldn’t describe his captors. The FBI used the known information and leads to tie the case to Canoga Park, where they found some evidence, but still didn’t find the kidnappers. As the case was spreading in the media, pressure and guilt built up for the three men involved in the kidnapping. Irwin eventually confessed to his brother, who then called the FBI in San Diego. The same day, Keenan and Amsler were also caught. The ransom was found and paid back to the family. During the trial, the defense even argued that Sinatra had faked the kidnapping for clout and publicity, despite there being evidence to the contrary. In the end, all three of the men were convicted.
Case Analysis
In this case, the FBI was contacted and became involved in the case in less than an hour. Under normal circumstances this likely would not have happened.
The FBI focuses more on missing person cases of children under the age of 12 when it is uncertain if interstate travel took place and will monitor other kidnapping situations where there is no evidence of interstate travel. In a missing persons case, the FBI will allow the FBI Identification Division and the FBI Laboratory to be used if asked by a state or local law enforcement agency. Information about the missing persons can be added to the missing person file of the FBI operated National Crime Information Center by local law enforcement agencies and parents of missing children if the local agency doesn’t.
Rarely does the FBI become directly involved in the investigation of a missing person within the first hour of it being reported. It can be assumed that social status and wealth had an influence on this case in this regard. Frank Sinatra Sr was an award-winning singer and film actor, considered by many to be one of the most influential and popular American artists of the 20th century. Because of his fame and success, the FBI were likely more aware of his son’s case than they would have been if someone less well-known had requested FBI assistance as this was a high-profile case. High-profile cases are cases that receive a lot of public attention.
In this case, social status and wealth also negatively influenced the case. Due to Frank Sinatra Sr’s fame, the perpetrators knew that he would be able to afford his son’s ransom. This ultimately caused them to abduct the 19-year-old as their primary motive was money. The abductors wanted to kidnap someone rich so that they could request a high ransom and get money, meaning they wouldn’t have kidnapped someone who they didn’t know was wealthy.
Works Cited
“1035. FBI Assistance in Missing Persons Cases.” Www.Justice.Gov, 19 Feb. 2015, www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-1035-fbi-assistance-missing-persons-cases. Accessed 23 Dec. 2020. “Frank Sinatra, Jr., Kidnapping.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/frank-sinatra-jr-kidnapping. Accessed 23 Dec. 2020. “If a Child Is Missing and Possibly Kidnapped, but No Interstate Transportation Is Known, Will the FBI Begin an Investigation?” Federal Bureau of Investigation, www.fbi.gov/about/faqs/if-a-child-is-missing-and-possibly-kidnapped-but-no-interstate-transportation-is-known-will-the-fbi-begin-an-investigation. Accessed 23 Dec. 2020. The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Frank Sinatra | Biography, Songs, Films, & Facts.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 18 Jan. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Frank-Sinatra. Accessed 23 Dec. 2020.