The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 153 - The Brooke Hart Kidnapping

Episode Date: February 15, 2016

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine the Brooke Hart Kidnapping. \SOURCESTOUR DATES REDBUBBLE MERCH

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While I'm up on land. This is a bi-weekly podcast. Each week I read a story to my friend. Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is going to be about. I didn't say it was from American history. It is. That's fun. It's from American history. That's new right? That's a new wrinkle. Nope. It's always been American. Always been that way. That's funny. I haven't noticed. Thank you. Thanks. Do you want to look who to do? I'll do one bottle. People say this is funny. Not Gary Gareth. Dave okay. Someone or something is tickling people. Is it for fun? And this is not going to come the tickly podcast. Okay. You are queen fakie of made-up town. All

hell queen shit of Liesville. A bunch of religious virgins go to Mingle and do what? Pray. Hi, Gary. No. Is he done, my friend? No. No. 1933. Oh boy. Dave. Dave. We got to rain you. I think you got a little too fired up in the beginning. Now you're. I'm tired. I lost last night. Oh, buddy. I lost the writer's guilt award. But didn't you win in a lot of ways? No. No. Did you get a free little tote bag? I did. It was full. You want to know what was in the tote bag? Yeah. A classical CD. Right? Okay. Okay. Yeah. Right. Like it's like it's 1987 and people like, Hey, have you seen CDs? And then I got a. If you had

a CD in 87, people would be like, Future boy. Were they not out yet? No, they were 92. Okay. And then I got a really? No. Yeah. Before that. I don't know. My first my first ones were Nevermind and the black album. And I think I was buying CDs early. Okay. Well, I think we got a mid middle of the road time. It's clearly a controversy. Let's do it now. 90 people are gonna send me the answer on Twitter. By the time you send me the answer, I've already looked it up and you will be blocked. Yeah. Some guy was like, I don't know. I got blocked. I just called you a dick. Okay. So much. No, just don't be mean. So what we talking about? We were

talking about CDs, the invention of CDs. You're talking about your tote bag. I got a copy, a copy of Variety magazine. Oh, well, those are a copy of Hollywood magazine. Again, another one. And a copy of written by magazine. Oh, good. Which is like everyone. So the magazines, you get the mail that you're like, Yeah, one of that room gets that magazine, throws it away. And then they gave it to me twice. So that's the bag of merch. It's really a bag to light fires with. It was a bag. It was a bag that said, fuck you. Yeah, fuck yourself. Oh, Dave. Alex Jay Hart ran a successful department store in San Jose, California. The store did very well and it

has since it had opened in 1860. So this is 70 years of good business. That's what I'm talking about. Okay. That's all this is going to be about. This is a good business story. Sure. No, I haven't listened. It was a large two story building and the housewives came from all over the area to shop at Hart's Department Store. Hart's Department Store. Hart's H-A-R-T-S. The Hart's were a nice American success story at the time. They were Jewish immigrants who had come to the U.S. with nothing and built a great life. They were well thought of in the town of San Jose. Alex was a family man. He seemed to be living the perfect life. His son,

Brooke, was in line to take over the business someday, but now at 22, he's just learning the ropes. Okay. He had Ben groomed for the job since he was born. He was a stock boy in elementary school, then a cashier, a bookkeeper, and a sales clerk. In October 1933, he was given a promotion at the store. Whoa, that you know it's extra special. Quote, it was the high moment in my life when I took Brooke into the department store as vice president, said Alex. All those people who worked hard under him too, very gratified by that moment for the boy. He's like, everybody listen up, this is my boy. Billy Madison, meet my son Billy

Madison. He at 22 is your boss. All right. How happy are you guys, you 40-year-old guys? Yeah. You guys feeling good? And remember, I need you guys to show him how to do your jobs. Bobby, go clean the toilet. I'm 50. Clean the toilet, Bobby. Please, that's not that's not Brooke's job anymore. I know it's a big job. The store employed over 200 people. Okay. It's a shit lot of people for a fucking store. Sure. Brooke spent the summer of 1933 riding around town in his brand new Studebaker Roadster, then impressed many of the young kids in the area. His family owned a large mansion high up on a hill over the town surrounded by gardens and

lawns and a big iron gate. So they had money and they were showing it. Sure. Yeah, we're living a good life. Well, whatever, right? That's the society we live in. That's what I'm talking about. Winners get the mountaintop. John quote, Jack Holmes, so his name is John Holmes, but his nickname was Jack. Probably because he didn't want to share it with a porn star. There's no porn star in 3rd, 1933. You know what John Holmes's grandpa was doing? He's thinking that in the future there's gonna be porn. Someday I could picture man and woman fucking on camera. I'm gonna change my name. He was born on March 20th, 1904 in Los Angeles. He moved to San Jose around

11 years old. There his father opened a tailor shop. His father was like Alex, a hard worker and soon became a well-known member of the business community. Okay. In the early 1930s, San Jose was pretty much a small town where everyone knew everyone else. Unlike now. Unlike now? It's where they keep the money. Yeah. Jack went to San Jose high school and became a football star. Okay. He was over six feet tall and could handle himself in a scrap, but one day he got into an argument with a teacher and was kicked out of school. Oh. This is when you got in that. This is when you got kicked out of school for arguing with the teacher.

Yeah, now you can shoot him. Yeah. You're encouraged to shoot. You're allowed to shoot teachers. Yeah, you are. There's a big sign out front that says please shoot teachers. Welcome to You May Shoot Teachers High. So Jack got a job in the local electronics store and got on with his life. When he was 20, he got married. He was a very well-liked guy and was quick to make friends. By 1928, he and his wife had two kids and moved to a small nearby town called Half Moon Bay. It's a little tiny sort of village on the coast. It's gorgeous there. It is nice there. You've never been there? No. He got a job at a local gas station. So he's fucking rolling. I mean, clearly this

guy made it. No, things are good. He worked at a radio shack. No, he's pumping gas. Things are fine. He made the right decision. He made the right decision. Yeah. So the gas station was where a criminal element was known to hang out and soon Jack had become friends with some local tough guys. Now, I'll say as the listener and as the observer of this tale, this is where I feel like we're about to shift gears just a touch. It'll be fine. Okay. Jack became interested. He's hanging out with a bad crowd. We're talking about it. I feel like, well, okay, you don't know what this could be. This could be the hero. We've done this a lot. It feels like we've had this conversation, but you a number of times and you've always assured me

that it might be different this time and it never is. Well, this guy could be a hero. This could be a story about a couple of guys who build a boat and go to Tahiti. Jack became intrigued by the lives the criminals lived. That's not a good follow up for your point. They saw he saw their lifestyle as exciting and started dreaming about committing the perfect crime. Oh, God. Now, this was a time when kidnapping was the flavor of the week. What? They kept happening this fall. Everybody's kidnapping. They kept happening and they were often publicized. The Great Depression had changed the country dramatically with hard times

came desperation and able to provide for their families some term to the crime of kidnapping. This was an era of anger against the wealthy and an era of lawlessness. Boy, that really just makes me feel like we're eight years away from a lot of kidnap. It feels like we're three. Three. I mean, I was being, when I said eight, that was just so that I could maximize my time to get my shit together while other people think it's eight, but I know it's three. It's far from I'll be gone in two. Marion Parker kidnapped someone in two, honestly. I'll kidnap you. Fuck off. Marion Parker, the daughter of a Los Angeles baker, was

kidnapped and killed. Mary Agnes Maroney was taken from her home in Chicago, never seen again. Sorry, these are these are murders. McElroy was kidnapped in Kansas City and released after the ransom was paid. Most famously, the Lindbergh baby had recently been kidnapped and obviously that ended in horror. Jack spent hours reading newspapers and analyzing crimes, trying to figure out how the criminals had slipped up and gotten themselves arrested. Jack, what are you doing in there, honey? You've been in there a long time. I'm reading about the Lindbergh baby trying to figure out how they could have gotten away with it.

Again? I want to figure out how the Lindbergh baby kidnappers got away with it and then they not kill the baby and then they gotten all the money. No, they could kill the baby, but I'm just trying to figure out how they could have gotten the money. I'll go ahead and shut, there's food, your dinner's outside. I've gotten away with it. Look me in the eyes. Absolutely not. No, I'm shutting the door. Look me in the eyes. Dinner is right out here. Goodbye, Jack. Mommy. Sorry, did you see mommy at the, I just, I'm going to go. Sorry, honey. I'm sorry, honey. I apologize. I'm out. Jack spent hours reading newspapers and analyzing crimes, trying to figure out how they slipped up. In 1932, Jack got a job as a salesman for an oil company. Okay. So

life is clearly turning around. Oh, boy. How long until he's working at Spencer's Gifts? Thomas Harold Thurmond was born on a farm in 1906. When he was 11, his family also moved to San Jose. And like Jack, Thomas didn't finish high school. Though he wasn't kicked out, Thomas just dropped out. He worked at jobs, didn't pay much around the town. His family was well known in San Jose. He had five sisters, and they were all either married or working at a good job in the town. Thomas was the black sheep of the family, the only one not doing well. Feels like these two guys might link up. I don't know, maybe all three of these guys

will link up. Oh, that would be unbelievable. They, the family looked at Thomas with disappointment. Thomas also started to get to know and hang out with the criminal crowd of San Jose. Cool. In 1932, on one of the sales trips, Jack went to a gas station in San Jose where he met Thomas. And the two very quickly became friend. They had a common interest. They both wanted to make money fast. How do you just run into someone and realize, like how do you so quickly realize like you're both into the criminal element? The guy's like, what do you do? The guy's like, money, fast money, getting it quick and easy, that kind of thing. Kidnapping. I

don't know. You should not reveal so much, dude, but I like what I'm hearing. Okay, let's hang out. Yeah, for sure. In 1932, oh, I did that. So they hatched a plan to kidnap a union oil company, Courier. Homes. So they're gonna steal a Courier? Courier's a guy who's, you know, bringing stuff. But is that really where to hit him where it hurts? You said steal a Courier. Courier is a person, so they're gonna kidnap him. Well, yeah, regardless, regardless, regardless, what leverage do you have when you're like, hey, I took your message boy. Well, the message boy might have some money on him. I'll see where this goes. Okay. Homes had

the inside info because of his job. And knowing his person for studying crimes probably thought this would be a no-brainer. Sure. Right. On September 25th, 1930, they kidnapped and robbed one of the Union Oil Couriers. They did not hurt him and released him after getting the cash, which ended up being $716. Okay. So that's a lot of money for 1933. I don't know how to believe. That's a good amount. Because it doesn't sound like much to me. It's probably a lot of fucking money. Sounds like nothing, rent. I feel like you're stupid. One month. This was the depression. So that actually was a shitload of money being so successful

on their first attempt. They decided to have another go. Why stop it was so easy. It is. It is just like gambling, though. It's like you sit down at the table, you get a little hot. You're like, yeah, fuck it. I know I said I'd go. Come on. I can have a little fun. I can do it again. Come on. Okay. So here they go. On October 23rd, they kidnapped and robbed another courier, this time the one who worked for Shell Oil. Okay. Again, they made $700. It'd be great if that guy just carried shells. Yeah. I didn't know no better. I had all I got in the shells. Like sea shells? Yeah. That's how we pay for oil. This guy's an idiot. Hey. I don't think you'd

have a job. Can I get my shells? Did you actually work for Shell Oil? No. Do you know anyone who works there? No. We're going to go. My dreams to work there. Go ahead and kill them. I'll give them all the shells. Kill me if he has to do it. But this, this guy, they also released without hurting him. So I haven't gotten away with two kidnappings and made a decent amount of money. Jack decided it was time to up the ante. Not good. What? Yeah, what? On the evening of November 9th, 1933, Alex Hart was supposed to go to a dinner with members of the Chamber of Commerce at a local country club. Oh boy. After he closed down the department

store, the dinner was supposed to start at 6 p.m. Sure. He had arranged for Brook to pick him up in his new Speedster and drive him over. Brook left the store at 5.55 p.m. to get his car from a nearby garage and was supposed to come right back and pick up his dad. Off Brook walked toward Market Street. Poor Brook. 30 minutes later, Alex was still waiting. He started to get nervous as this was not at all in Brook's character. If the car had a problem, it was just five minutes away, so Brook could have easily walked back. Oh boy. On top of that, Brook had his own appointment at 6.30, which he was now clearly going to be late for. Alex

thought about it and concluded that Brook had something he needed to do and forgot to pick his dad up. It's a nice rationalization. That's how you talk yourself out of it. Oh, I know that I just said, hey Brook, can you leave now to go pick me up? And then he walked like four blocks away to get the car, but he must have forgotten. Yeah. In that time period. Brook's an idiot. Hey, come on down the hot stupid department store. We're selling dums. Yeah, you can take stuff if you say you paid for it to this idiot. I don't know what's happening. Hearts. So, right. So, that's what he thinks. But when you are in that situation, right, when

you like, if that happens, you do eventually go like, I'd be crazy to think that this person was kidnapped. Right. You wouldn't go to kid or stolen, as some people like to say. But you might call the police and just go, hey, keep an eye out for Brook. Yeah, maybe. Maybe. Anyway, so Alex got another ride. Someone else from the store drove him to dinner. When he got home later that evening, he learned that Brook had never come home and he called the police. Here we go. Then at 945, the phone rang. Brooke's little sister answered. A voice told her that Brook had been kidnapped and they would call back with instructions. Okay. If the

police were told, Brook would be killed. Pretty standard kidnapping. Yeah. Pretty hacky at this point. Well, yeah. But this is before, I mean, this is when it was just starting to trend. Right. Right now, these are hacky things, but they might have, they started it kind of. Right. You know, they called back about an hour later and said they wanted 40,000 for his safe return. Take that courier. They said they would call back the next day with instructions of how and where to take the money to drive it. It's so strange to think of a kidnapping in a time where you could just keep calling the house phone. Yeah. Hanging up and be

fine. Yeah. Also, no, keep them on the line for 60 seconds bullshit. Also, why didn't you just come up with a plan? Yeah, it seems like you should come up with the, here's, I just wrote this out there. Compartmentalize. If you're going to kidnap somebody. Right. Just all their listeners. If you're going to kidnap somebody, well, have a plan for how you're going to deal with the money and the drop on stuff. Don't start thinking it up after and then, and then don't do it incrementally. Like don't call up and go, Hey, we're going to call back in a few minutes with some more info and then call it back. Go, Hey, we want 40,000. You

know what? We're going to call you back to tell you where to put it. That really is, it just screams rookies because it is like, they're probably like, he's probably going to say no to some of this shit. And he keeps saying, yeah, they're like, okay, we'll call you back tomorrow with more stuff. Holy shit. This is going great. This is awesome. This guy's an idiot. Yeah. Although this is also the guy who studied the fucking crime things to figure out how the best way to do it. You're supposed to have a master plan. He's supposed to be a master plan guy. Yeah. Might have skipped that part. They didn't call. They didn't call the next day with

instructions. So Alex called the police. The police chief alerted nearby cities of the kidnapping and told them to look for Brooks Studebaker. The FBI came in and installed phone recording equipment. An agent was stationed in the home. A man near the town of Milpitas, which is about seven miles away, sure, called police to say his wife had seen an abandoned Studebaker with its lights on. Hmm. The Milpitas police went out. That car was Brooks. Okay. I'm starting to think they might have kidnapped him. Yep. The next day, Brooks wallet was found on the railing of a Wow, this says shit. But there's no way it was on the railing of a shit. It actually says shit. Yeah,

it's got to be shit. On the railing of a shit. We're putting railings on shits now. Welcome to shit mansion. Just to keep people safe. There's the shit la dear. There's the shit banister. Take the shit elevator if you want. So they found his wallet on the railing of a ship that had just arrived in San Francisco. It was getting ready to head back to Mexico. Classic Brooke prank. That's what this is, right? Wait, so they found his wallet on a ship coming to San Francisco, refueling and heading back down to Mexico. That's very curious for this kind of thing. It's a classic book. Brick loves pranks. Does he listen? It's the first time I've heard of it. Put his wallet on a shit because then

they have to pick it up and smell it. Brooke. Brooke. People thought he was being held prisoner on the ship. Okay. Police flew in a plane. So the ship's already left. So police flew in a plane to Los Angeles to meet the ship and search it. Who what police flew the police from San Jose. Jesus hopped on a plane and flew down to LA to meet the ship. Okay, because you can't. It's that time when you're going to chase the ship and your little speedboat. Come on. Work with me. Okay. I need you to work with me. I'm trying. Brooke was not on the ship. You know who was on the ship? Babe Ruth. What? Why? I don't know. He was just on the ship. Yeah. What? Yeah. Okay. He was on the ship and like everyone else, he was

made to get off and wait while they searched it from. This is bullshit. See. I'm stern to the other part. I'm sure he found a way to drink. Yeah. Two days passed and there's no word from the kidnappers. So the hearts decided to tell the local newspaper about the kidnapping. But what about what it's so foolish if you're a kidnapper and you set up that precedent that you don't want the cops called then you go quiet and then you ghost them for two days. Right. Look foolish. It is foolish. I agree. I have notes on this kidnapping. Well, you know, we're gonna have a big session afterwards or everyone's gonna sit down and talk about what the best way they think this could have gone. I'll bring

popcorn. Okay. So, uh, so he calls the local newspapers. Four days after Brooke was taken the heart's got a card in the mail at the store that was postmarked. Happy birthday in Sacramento. Uh-oh. We did not say happy birthday. Uh-oh. It read one more peep to the police will be his finish. You have made one squawk. Another will be too bad. We will have 40,000 put it in a satchel. Be ready to make a week's trip on an hour notice. Get the Studebaker Roadster to have a radio installed. Very demanding. Even for kidnappers. Fix up the car. Be ready to leave for a week at an hour's notice. It's a week. A week. That's a red flag. It's not a good thing. You're like, oh, you're gonna kill me too. Super complicated.

Yeah. You're takin' it. Guess what pops? You want an all-inclusive trip. Wait a minute. You're going to Puerto Vallada. That's right. For five days and four nights, you and the lovely wife will be going down to Mexico where your son, Brooke, might be killed. Or it might be alive. Who knows? Bring the 40,000 in a satchel. Not better than what? Now, the reason they wanted the radio installed in the car, because the kidnappers plan to have the instruction broadcast over radio station KPO. Which has to have a headquarters. I mean, come on. It's super complicated. What? Getting your car. Start driving. Drive to where the signal towers reach your car for the KPO radio station. We're gonna go inside the radio station. We're

gonna knock out the DJ. Then we're gonna tell you where to go. There's no better way to get you this information. Don't tell the cops where we're gonna be. Or yourselves. Because the thing is, we don't just want you to hear. We want everybody to hear in the areas. It's be great if when they're there, getting ready to do the announcement, they just kind of get caught up in being DJs. It's just kind of fun to play some records. Oh my God, look at this. You know, we're gonna play some Cab Callaway. We're right back with the instructions. Back to Back Cab Callaways when we come back, if you're listening today. Instructions are coming up at 3PM. Also, instructions on how to save your son, Brooke, at 3, whether at

half 3. We do weather on the 7s and the 17s each hour. We're also gonna let you know where Brooke is. And if he's alive at the bottom of the hour. Kidnapping instructions on the 15s. All righty. Till then, we're doing Back to Back Cab Callaway. Alex was to be ready to drive the car to drop off the money at any time. It being the depression on November 15th, the hearts got several people contacting them, trying to get the ransom money. Oh shit. So now everyone's like, yeah, I got your boy. Yeah. Hey, how you doing? I took your kid. Oh shit. So they they they were all pretty obviously fake. So each person they realized right away was bullshitting, but just turned into like a fucking like I am Spartacus if

I have your child. That's exactly it. I have your child. So the police also found a white pillowcase in the bay. Oh my god. No. Thank you. Oh my god. Terrifying. Brooks is a woman. Somebody been sleeping. Naturally, this brings us to child actor Jackie Kogan. I'll see you later, Dave. Take care, bud. Jackie Kogan was born in Los Angeles in 1914 and started performing as a baby in vaudeville and film. I mean, baby baby. That's just I mean, hey, do you guys see the baby in that vaudeville show last night? Imagine the laws when it comes to what you can do with a baby at this time. Now when I say imagine the laws, I mean, imagine the no laws, no laws of what you could do should drown him. We got a backup. They're like Milo

and Otis basically. And here's our baby. We're gonna shoot him out of a cannon. All right. Whoa, he really hit that wall hard, guys. Get another one. We're gonna need a second baby. Get two more. Ah, this show's fucked. Oh, we're still Mike. Can you cross baby off the sign out front? Baby. A baby. All right, baby. Now get out there. Put on your tap diaper. Charlie Chaplin discovered Jackie Coogan when he was a boy and thought he was a natural mimic. He was immediately cast in a Chaplin film and his career took off. Wait, which is he the kid? You don't actually didn't put down the name of the movies. He's got to be the kid who's in a few. He was in a few jobs. He might have been the kid. Right. He's huge star. He was a big hit with all kinds of

merch and other crapping named after him like Jackie Coogan peanut butter, Jackie Coogan stationary, Jackie Coogan whistles, Jackie Coogan records, Jackie Coogan dolls just goes on and on like that. Jackie Coogan whistles. This Jackie Coogan peanut butter tastes like a baby. It's hard to eat the Jackie Coogan peanut butter when playing the Jackie Coogan whistle. I wish they made Jackie Coogan milk. Coogan maybe somewhere between three to four million dollars, which is about 50 million in today's money. Wow. So he was Macaulay Macaulay Coogan. Yeah. Well, he was more shit. Who's the little guy from different strokes? Oh, Jesus Christ. Gary Coleman. He's a little more Gary Coleman. Okay. His parents spent it all. Oh, good. Well, mom and stepdad. They said Jackie

was just having fun and didn't know he was making money the whole time. So what was the big deal? Hey, what's the big deal? Like the attitude of these parents? Is it weird that people who would put a baby in a vaudeville show would spend all the baby's money? Let me get this straight. You're shocked at how little money we're giving the kid. What we've been doing the whole time. Holy shit. We're awful. Are you out of your fucking mind? I made a baby play the drums. Yeah, I'll tell you what, we got a little stunt double right here in the belly. Isn't that right, mom? Double baby. Um, right. So they spend it all. They blew it all. How do you spend $4 million in that time? They blew it all in the depression. Well, they were just buying fucking houses and fur coats and

all that shit. They were those people. That's so great. His mom said she never promised him any of the money because he was like two and that Jackie was quote a bad boy. Oh, okay. So that's fair. Oh, that is fair. That's fair. He's a child. Anyone one can assume that when he hit his 20s, he was a little angry. Why? He was schooled on sets until he was 10. Then he started attending actual schools and at one point he ended up for a brief time at Santa Clara University. There he met and became friends with one Brooke Hart. Really? But the now case back to the pillow case. Okay, good. Well, time. Yes, back on the pillowcase. Police knew Jackie Coogan had lost a very similar pillowcase when he was at a local football game with Brooke. Wait, what? What? What?

What do you mean? What? How the fuck? Who? Okay, many, many, many, many, many, many questions. They got their eyes on everything. Many questions. Yeah. Why does he have a pillowcase that is important to him? Let me keep going. He's doing some pranks at the game. What pranks? Put the pillowcase on your head. Hey, you want a nap? I'm just kidding. It's empty, you motherfucker. Put the pillowcase on your head and run around the field. Not a prank. That's not a prank. I used to be a childhood star. That's a game. That's not a prank. Also, how do you call the police and how do the police give enough of a fuck? I don't know if they called the police or if just everyone in town knew that Jackie lost his pillowcase. Okay, all right. Let me paint a picture for you. Imagine you walk up

to a conversation between two people and they're talking about a pillowcase. Yeah. What do you think? Hey, can I get on this, you guys? No, you don't. No. You know what? I gotta tell you something. I use pillowcases. They're a big part of my life. I find my interest peaked. A pillowcase introduced me to my wife. I used to date a pillowcase. My first wife was actually a pillowcase. So now the cops know that he had a pillowcase that went missing because they heard through the town's lamest gossip line ever. Jackie, Jackie lost a pillowcase. Did you hear about Jackie? What happened? He lost a pillowcase. Holy shit, where? Hey, I didn't think in the water. Also, the heart's child's missing, but there's pillowcase. I'm more concerned about the pillowcase. Me too.

I couldn't give a shit. Fuck the kid. Obviously. Well, you're going a little extreme, obviously. Fuck the kid. Well, that's tough to hear. Okay, so the cops believed they thought- Imagine getting assigned the pillowcase case. Okay. Hey, Jimmy, we found a pillowcase. Can you track down what's going on with that? Look, I said I was sorry I shot the guy. Please stop giving me these bullshit cases. It's not a bullshit case. This could break everything. This could break this thing. This is a pillowcase. Oh my god. I just ate. I can't look at these pictures. When's the last time a pillowcase didn't break open a crime? Look at this thing. Where are your case? Where are you? So, the cops believed that Cougan hadn't lost the pillowcase at the game and that it ended up

in Brooke's car and they didn't realize it, and then it was tossed in the water by the kidnappers. So they have a magic bullet theory on a pillowcase? Look, it's a stretch, but we're working with- There was a second pillowcase. We're working with whatever we got right now. And oh my god, it's a pillowcase in the water. Okay. First of all, they're chasing a fucking pillowcase crime. Okay. I mean- And second of all, their timeline is a little fucking crazy. The timeline's not great. The fact that Jackie thinks he lost the pillowcase at the football game and then it's in Brooke's car. And then they find a pillowcase in the water. All pillowcases look the same at this fucking time. Oh my god. So it's like they found a pillowcase and went,

guys, I think we got this. It's a match. Do the DNA test. So Cougan was brought to the police station to look at the alleged pillowcase. Wait, like a fucking lineup? We got five pillowcases in there. Which one's yours, Jackie? Number three, please. Someone please manipulate number three forward. That's the goddamn one! That's the goddamn one! Hold him down! Don't hit him in the face! I'd never forget. I'd never forget the case face like that. What are you doing? I just like sleeping. How did it do nothing? Cougan said the pillowcase wasn't his. For fuck's sake. All right, let's just move on. We really- Clearly, when you are calling in a guy to look at a pillowcase you found in the bay, you're so far from solving the crime, it's astounding. How great is it when

you have to pull down a sheet to reveal a pillowcase? You're gonna just tell me real quick if you recognize it. My god! Oh god, I thought that was gonna be- That's not even the pillowcase. I thought you were gonna show me brook, it's a pillowcase. So what? It's not even mine. Mine had a stripe on it. Poor guy. Never got a chance. But the word of the pillowcase being found hit the streets. Oh my god. I mean, how is there nothing better to talk- Did you hear? Hey, Jimmy, did you hear about the pillowcase? I did, it's all I'm talking about. People created a story around it. People- Locals concocted the story. Oh boy. That the pillowcase had been put over brook's head and he had been shot execution style. So, okay, now- Okay, first of all, what?

Second of all, is this grounded anywhere near any reality at all? I would like to tell you there's absolutely nothing to this. There is nothing to this rumor. People just rumor milled. This is the craziest rumor that's ever happened in the history of the world. I mean, this is literally the game of telephone on the streets. They found a pillowcase in the bay which is far away from San Jose. It wasn't his. It's not like San Jose is close to the fucking bay. It's not his pillowcase. It's not his pillowcase. There's no bullet hole in it. There's nothing in it. But people just think- It's just a pillowcase. That he was shot execution style through the pillowcase. Yeah. Okay. Well, good to catch up and make sure we're on the same page.

Now, instead of the instructions on where to drop the ransom being broadcast over the radio, a second ransom note came. Hey, ignore our first one. We were stupid. You know what? We was talking about the radio plan. It's a bad plan. So now- It's gonna be easy. Second letter. Also postmarked in San Francisco. This one told Alex to put the money in a black bag and drive to Los Angeles. Much better. If he agreed to this arrangement, he was supposed to write a two on a sign, large sign and put it in the window of the department store. Oh, wow. Okay. I like that move. That evening, Alex got a call from a man who said he was Brooks Kidnapper. He now wanted Alex to take a train to Los Angeles. This guy's a nightmare. The FBI traced the call. Oh, they

did? Yeah, they're tracing equipment at this time, which is amazing. So they traced that call, and they found out it was coming from a train station downtown. They rushed to this train station and arrested a bank teller who was walking down the street who had nothing to do with the crime. But he might have been the pillowcase. You like pillowcases, buddy? Are you a pillowcase kind of guy? Is that what you are? Look, you gotta excuse my partner. He gets a little rabid when he comes to situations like this. You like to flip it over so it's called on one side? Leave him alone, Frank. Now, look, I understand that you're just a banker. You're just trying to get through your day-to-day life. You meet a pillowcase. You guys go out in the town,

you have a couple drinks, you're taking a play. You're like, hey, pillowcase, you want to go out to the bay, you want to look at it. You're getting very heated, Frank. Your vein is popping. You're getting very heated, very heated. All right. Want a drink, sir? You want a drink? Not you, Frank, the guy. Frank. Why? Frank, Frank, Frank. My first wife. Hey, let's take a timeout. What's a pillowcase? Frank, Frank. Frank, maybe take a timeout. I'm going to walk at him and take a walk around the block. Yeah, take a walk around the block. Walk around the block. Blow up some steam. You know, there's a nice sheet over at heart, so I might pick up a second. That's not a great answer. So it's just a bank teller. We'll take it a walk for the night. The

next day, Alex put a sign in the window of his department store with the letter two on it. Also, wait, but what is the other option is to put it nothing or like a five? He's got the whole train. Put a five on. Fuck him. The whole train conversation didn't come across because the guy ran off and right. And he put another message on the sign. So he puts a two and he writes something else. And what he writes is, I cannot drive because Alex can't drive. So just imagine being a regular shopper is like, I can't. What is going on there? I cannot. I can't drive. It's just face open. What did they sell here again? Because Alex says it's two, I can't drive. I don't know what's going on. Oh, come on, hurry. It's the two I can't drive sale.

Alex had never learned to drive. Later that evening, he got a call from the kidnappers telling him to get in the car and drive to Los Angeles, to which Alex said, I was clear. I can't drive. And they had to work something out. Then the caller hung up. Boy, they are really, I mean, they're really making this painful. Well, they thought they had it. They're like, Oh, we got the plan. We'll get him in the fucking car. Okay. Hey, what did he say? He said he can't drive. Oh, fuck me. That must have been the other stuff next to the two. Where's the pillowcase? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. So that night, another call came. And again, Alex was told to get in the car and drive. But Alex kept asking questions about his

son. How do I get my boy? Where? What's a clutch? Again, the call went on and on. Alex said, I can't drive. I'm in no physical shape to make a trip. Mr. Hart, I want your answer. Yes, and no, will you go. Alex responded, I'm willing to deal with you to do anything in my power to get my boy back, but I am unable to leave right now. So they went back and forth like that. Why is he, he's just unable to leave just because? Alex then said he wanted proof that Brook was alive, but the kidnapper wouldn't give it to him. He told Brook, he told him that Brook was in a safe place. Dude, all the while the FBI was tracing tracing the call. This is before movies knew about phone traces, so no one knew. Which, by the way, if you think about it, wouldn't that have been a great

thing for them, for government agencies to preserve? Keep quiet? I think they can't, because at some point in trial, they have to say it happened. But you're right. I mean, shouldn't there be some minor, like- Shouldn't there be some way for the government to listen to our calls? No, no, no, but I- No, no, no, David, David, they're already doing that. But I'm saying, wouldn't it make more, like it would be an easier world? We wouldn't need to have all of our emails collected if a lot of people still didn't know about phone tapping, which is the movie board law enforcement agency I'm pitching. It's great that you're such a sort of crazy, totalitarian asshole that you want the cops to just be able to listen to your phone calls whenever without telling you. I'm just trying to

make America great again. Well, so sue me, pal. Okay, so the FBI is tracing the call. They learned it's coming from a parking garage downtown. Alex continues to talk. I want to deal with you, to be fair, I can't go. I'm ill. Can't we get somebody that will be satisfactory to you as a go-between? Okay, Alex, who should we get? I don't know. Someone you name, or I can name somebody. Mr. Hart, I've got orders from headquarters. Will you go or not? In the end, the caller became very frustrated. I understand it's hard to be on the caller's side in this situation, but he's being very frustrated. Have a pitch. Alex, he told Alex, he got frustrated, he told Alex you have to drive yourself, but it was too late. The police rushed to the garage. When they arrived,

they found a man talking on a pay phone with his back to the street. He did not notice as a group of police pulled up and jumped out of their cars. He only turned around and they were right next to him. He turned around and found himself face-to-face with police chief Emig. How great would it be if it was the pillow case? Yeah, you found me, huh? There you are. Scooby-Doo. What's your name, the chief yelled. Thomas Thurmond, he said. Interesting. Hi, how are you? Hey. Thomas was taking it. Which number do I hit for operator? Thomas was taking it in the San Jose jail and interrogated by the police and the FBI. He said he had nothing to do with the kidnapping and then he had been on the phone with a friend. When asked who the friend was, he said he couldn't remember.

I don't know his name, but he's the best. He's my buddy. He's a good friend. I don't know his name, but I call him on the phone. His name, his name is Payphone Johnson. Do you know what a payphone is? Exit sign, Williams. So I go stand next to his payphone and my buddy calls me. His name is Doorknob Johnson. He never tells me his name. He's a good friend. We talk for hours. You'd like him. He's a lot like you guys. Thomas then switched up the story again and said he was talking to his mom. No, no, no. It was my mom. My mom's my best friend. None of this sound plausible to the cops and the FBI, so they kept asking him questions. He was grilled from 8 p.m. until 2 30 a.m. when he finally spilled the beans. Oh, boy. Thomas said he was involved in the kidnapping of Brookheart

and that his accomplice was Jack Holmes. The two of them had taken Brook driving to the San Mateo Bridge where they had tied him up and thrown him into the San Francisco Bay. What? Brookheart was dead. Oh my God. He'd been killed an hour after he was kidnapped. That's a fair turn. Not a good, not a good ending. No. Thomas explained in detail the entire crime. They had taken Brook at gunpoint from right behind the store in the parking lot. Then they'd driven him to where the abandoned Studebaker was in Milpitas. At that location, they got into another car and drove to the San Mateo Bridge. They then told Brook to get out of the car and he did. Jack then walked over to Brook and hit him over the head with a brick they had brought with them, especially to

hit Brook over the head. Now, while that sounds awful, I would hope that someone would go, hey, Brook, meet Brook right before they hit him. Hey, that looks like my pillowcase in the clunk. That's definitely a good bass outline. It looks just like my pillowcase. Brook then started yelling help help and Jack hit him over the head again with the brick and knocked him out. This is like on a street, on a bridge? Yeah, on a bridge. San Mateo Bridge. How do you not? I think back then there's just not that many people around. That's true. It's middle of the night. Sounds easier. It's not the middle of the night. It's like six. So there's not that many people. I go to bed at one p.m. So to me, that is the middle. I freak out then.

Then the two men tied Brook up in bailing wire around his arms and torso. Jack grabbed the upper part and Thomas grabbed the legs and they lifted him over the railing and threw him into the bay. What kind of a plan is this? It's a good plan. But Brook wasn't done fighting. He came to when he hit the water. The tide was out so the water level was low. So he just kind of stood up. No. I mean Dave, that is a Cohen Brothers shot. Are you serious? You throw a fucking dude over a bridge like, well that, is he standing? This is going to take a, how are we going to get down? Oh god. Move, move, move, move. So. Hi, fuck you guys. Brook? Assholes. Also, why don't you just pretend like it's deep and float away? I agree with that. I always. Why are you jumping up? No, you totally

are like, so. He was able to get himself out of the water and he starts yelling for help. There's many notes. I have writing notes on all of this. But this is before movies, so people don't know what to do. Still notes. We're all trained by movies. No. We are. We're all trained by movies. What to do. That's why I'm saying keep a lot of info out of movies. Pro government. Make America great again. Thomas then pulled out a pistol and climbed down the bridge where he shot Brook several times. He kept shooting until all moving and yelling stopped. So he's dead. Now the two murders drove back to town and started making the ransom calls. Then Jack met up with his lady and he took her to a movie. They watched Disney's Three Little Pigs.

Well that, that's a regular day. Good, good kidnapping. Murderer man twice and then take a date to see a Three Little Pigs movie. Thomas told the cop where Jack lived and they went to his SRO at the California Hotel at 3.30 a.m. They brought Thomas with them. Jack was living there because he had recently separated from his wife. The police made Thomas knock on the door until Jack woke up. Who is it? Asked Jack. It's me. Thomas replied this snitch. Jack opened the door and the cops rushed in, subduing him. Now both kidnappers worry in custody. Okay. Okay. Because Brook had been a well-known kid, everyone who shot at Alex's department store knew the family. Tons of people worked at the store. Also the locals were furious when they

heard about the crime. So the sheriff and FBI brought Jack to San Francisco to question him. Jack denied everything. But with everything they knew, it didn't take long to convince Jack that he was pretty fucked. And at that point he told them everything too. They had both killers confessions. Okay. The pillowcase is still at large, right? Yeah. We're going to get back to the pillowcase. This isn't called the pillowcase kidnapping for now. Excuse me? In San Jose, the rumors flew. Everyone knew the killers and the details of what they had done leaked out. People were pissed. Other crimes that had occurred throughout the county were now being attributed to the bed. Hey, my cow's dead. God damn these guys.

They don't handle gossip well. They're terrible with gossip. It's the worst gossip town ever. Did you hear what happened? What? The pillowcase raped Brook. Jesus Christ, I knew that pillowcase was a fucking monster when I saw him. And now Jackie Coogan's a car. Yeah. Did you hear? Jackie Coogan is a stew to baker now. So the press wasn't helping. A San Jose newspaper wrote an editorial called Human Devils. Whoa. Anyone reading the article understood that the paper was saying these men needed to be killed. Right. Now, quote, if mob violence could ever be justified, it would be a case like this. And we believe the general public will agree with us. If you could have been the writer who called at the heart home to offer the paper sympathy,

it would have made you feel like going out and committing a lynching yourself. Maybe don't. Maybe he's a newspaper writer. Don't offer your sympathy. It seems like that's combustible language. It seems like it might be a thing. It's fiery. And this was national news. The Washington Times reported Heart Boys Slain. Kidnapper says another San Francisco paper wrote, let justice be swift. And another said, seek news for heart killers. All over, and particularly in the local area, newspapers continued with endless headlines to sensationalize the murder as much as possible. Kill these two. People were being riled up much more than they would have been. The FBI continued to target the two men. They were given psychology tests in case

they were going to use an insanity defense. Oh, I thought you meant to see if they could be psychologists. Which I was going to say, they should not be taking that test. You guys, you kids want to go back to school? You guys are really actually natural. You seem to have your finger on the pulse of the human condition. You guys, I think you guys should be good students. I think you got to feel about people. Shame about that murder. Yeah, if you hadn't done that, you know, anyway, okay. Thomas refused to cooperate with a psychologist. The psychologist report said, both men had no signs of mental defect. The two prisoners were then brought back to San Jose and put in the county jail right in the heart of town. The hearts talked to the press. Alex said,

quote, my boy is gone, neither words or actions can bring him back. My wife is confined to her room under care of physicians and nurses. Brooks, two sisters wouldn't go out in public. Alex said everyone in the town was being incredibly kind. Also hats are two for one that hurts. Come on down. We're having a big big week. Yeah, we got to go. We got to my son's dead sale going on. If you want to get a tablecloth, come on down for Father's Day, get a shaving kit that every dad will love. Dad sucks five for one murder free pillowcases. Come on down with God. I've been laughing there with lovely frills. You'll love it. Get yourself a please hammer. Don't hurt him. Blouse. I think we've I think we've ruined this poor man's strife. Yep.

So the Santa Clara district attorney announced that Jack and Thomas had both blamed each other for the crime, which would make their statements not admissible in court without physical evidence. Okay. So they need physical evidence and police began looking for the body the next morning around the bridge. There they found indications that Hart had still been alive when thrown into the water, and that he may have tried to climb the steel columns to get out. Can you imagine, I mean, what he's like Will Ferrell in Austin Powers, how that must be amazing. Yeah, I mean, imagine if he survived. No, he's dead. I mean, he did for sure. He's dead. He survived the drop. He should have just, but I mean, if there was even more

out of the way, whatever happened to float in the way, you haven't seen a pillowcase what it does. That's why people don't kill him. The SF Chronicle reported quote a ring of broken and clawed barnacles on one of the piles showed where the boy had clung desperately hurt in a frantic battle of youth against death weakened by loss of blood and possible wounds inflicted by his two confessed murders, his cries lessened as he slipped into the dark waters. Possible crimes. Anyway, that may have happened. Yeah, that's what we wrote up. What it sounds pretty good, Jimmy. Print it. It's a made up story about a kid. Our kid died at the end news news all made up. So divers found wires with strands of Brooks hair wrapped around them. All right, evidence.

On November 26th, a couple of hunters found his body. Hang on. The crabs and eels had been having a feast. David. His clothes were still on and intact, but his face and hair had been eaten away. The clothes were quickly determined to be a brand sold at hearts department store. Later that day, a friend of Brooks, by the way, I really cleaned up what the body was like. Why? It was just graphic. I could have just gone on for a while. Well, what happened to that body crabs are fucking hungry and any like fish or anything that feeds on stuff that is at the bottom of the I mean, they will it'll go down to bone. Yeah, they might take a month. Yeah, they won't even take a month. They get out. There was no

top part really. Okay. Would you wait? No top part? I mean, that whole upper torso was like just yeah. Yeah. Right. Okay. So thanks for nothing. Yeah. Later that day, a friend of Brooks went to the coroner's office and identified him. Newspapers then reported that Jack and Thomas would both be pleading not guilty for reasons of insanity. Sorry, how can he identify him? If he's dressed like the drummer from the Grateful Dead video touch of gray. Yeah, that's his feet. Yeah, that's his beard on a skeleton. You know what? I always used to rub his feet on my face before we played catch. So those are that's him's you know, I he used to have skin. Oh, God. No, you might have the wrong guy's him. I saw. I saw Brooke take off his skin once. Oh,

that's right when we were swimming. Yeah, he took off his skin. This is definitely swimming. Yeah, it's a whole skinless cloak of skin off. We call them skinless Brooke. Yep. Yep. So, so they're going to plead not guilty about reasons of insanity. And then Jack, Jack's father made a payment of 10,000 in cash to a prominent San Francisco attorney. Okay. At Brooks School, Santa Clara University rumors swirled that a group of his friends were going to attack the jail. The sheriff's office was made aware two hours after Brooks body was found someone threw a rock at the front door of the jail in San Jose. The idea that the killers might plead insanity seemed to have put people over the edge. Never mind the way they killed them.

People began to gather and talk lynching of these two sons of bitches was the common conclusion. When word had first reached the public of the murder, crowds had gathered at the sheriff's office. The lawmen handed out their heavy weapons and brought in barricades. But when the FBI was called, they were told there was no threat. Oh, that went sorry when the FBI called in a memo from local FBI agent Hughes to director Hoover. He said, quote, contrary to the newspaper observation, there was no crowd outside, no indication of possible violence. But on November 26, things were different. By dusk, hundreds of men had formed a mob outside the jail across the street in St. James Park. And then they slowly began spreading out.

They had been encouraged to meet there by radio stations, which were making announcements all day long, that a lynching would occur that night at St. James Park. Hey, caller number nine is going to get two tickets to the lynching tonight. We're forming a mob mentality. Also, a little later, back to back cab Callaway coming atcha. Lynching at 9 p.m. at the park. That's right. We do weather at 7 and 17 p.m. Pansley hour. We're going to be down there giving out horns. It's 5 15 of the p.m. right now. And bats and torches. Come on down and get a hot hot. Larry the tomato torch first person. I'll be on the airwaves all day today. Get your Larry the tomato torch tonight. We're gonna burn that tomato, right? First person to show us a WKTOL

bumper sticker is going to be the freak of the week. Freak of the week. Freak of the week. Who wants to be the freak of the week? You can help put that news around those bad guys. Anyway, let's murder these guys. Let's listen to another cab Callaway because we cannot think of another the only guy we have records on our hair as cab Callaway. Listen to the cab Callaway station. That's right. We have two cab Callaway songs and that's all we're going to play coming up next. Mini the moocher for the 65th time today. I can't wait till someone calls us and tells us the cab Callaway wasn't performing. Listen, that reference is as good as it gets. This is all we got. When you said that, I was like, we've got our hunk of meat. Let's eat. So where are we? LA.

There we are. We're right there. So right. So the radio stations are calling making announcements. Sorry, they're making announcements all day that a lynching is going to occur. The sheriff immediately knew we had a problem. He called the governor's office and asked the National Guard be sent over. At no point do they say to the radio station, hey, why don't you cut the shit off with the, you know, the thing about the killin' the guys? Just play your cab Callaway. Let's wrap that shit up. Yeah. What about like a sweepstakes or something? What about like a... At the mob? Okay. We got a big sweepstakes giveaway. The governor was a man named James Rolf. He was a Republican from San Francisco and had worked in the shipping business,

where he worked his way up very successfully. He served as president of two banks, ran for mayor and won and served 19 years in charge of the city. There he got his nickname Sunny Jim. Sure. He had a theme song, which was... Of course he did. There are smiles that make you happy. Well, Dave, I don't think I need to hear any more information on this guy. Sunny Jim, there's smile that makes you happy. This is the best mayor ever. Sunny Jim, smile at you, make you happy. Yeah. He was very close to the Catholic church and understood that's where the power of his base was. Using the power of the archbishop, he ran for governor and won in 1930. Now he had a situation on his hands. He knew all the facts and it was pretty clear what was about to go down.

So, being Sunny Jim, he denied the sheriff's request to send the National Guard. Good. Good. Okay. Yep. Perfect. Jack's prominent attorney called the governor and said the National Guard should be deployed because the crowd was gathering to Lynch's client and Sunny Jim responded, I will pardon all the Lynchers. I'm sure in a very sunny way. He said it in a very sunny way, I'm sure. Well, yeah. I mean, he probably had his theme song playing in the background. Around 9 p.m., the crowd was at least 5,000 at least. And the National Guard's not there? Could have been up to 15,000. Holy shit. There are men, women and children now, 3,000 cars as people had traveled from all over to see the event where haphazardly parked on nearby streets. They lit

burning torches and put trash barrels along the street. So, they knew what a mob should look like. They knew exactly what a mob should look like. Right. The voices of angry men yelling increased and increased. It was only a matter of time. They believed because of the insanity defense, these two guys were going to get off. A bottle or rock would be thrown against the building every minute or so. Sunny Jim was kept abreast of the situation with constant phone calls from the head of the California Highway Patrol, Raymond Cato. Sunny Jim had appointed him, so he trusted him. And Sunny Jim actually had a trip planned. He was supposed to leave this evening to go to the Western Governor's Conference in Boise, Idaho, but he canceled the trip. Okay. So, that's good.

Yeah, for sure. Not because he was worried about mob violence, but because he felt as if he left, then Lieutenant Governor Frank Merriam would be in charge and he was worried Merriam would send out the National Guard. Wow. So, he delayed his trip. Wow. Just to make the wrong decision, for sure. Yep. Give them to us. Someone yells from outside. The sheriff watched from a window above as the crowd yelled to handle for the prisoners. The sheriff inside realized a lot of the people in the mob, all the deputies were like, hey, Bobby, what are you doing? I got to kill that guy. Oh, come on. No, don't be like that. You know I was your kid's coach for his baseball team? Yeah. But not killing that guy. No, we're still going to kill him.

That'd be so weird. Awkward. Yeah. So, they're looking at their friends and neighbors. Jack looked at one of his deputies and said, oh, this doesn't look good. Good. At the jail, a panic deputy shot tear gas into the crowd to try to get them to leave. He just did it like on his own. It was in order to. He just got freaked out. Good. So, it sounds like back in this time, planning was not something that was important. Everybody's on their own, boys. All right. Figure it out of the fly. Go us. This just pissed off the crowd. Now it was on. They threw rocks and bricks through the jailhouse windows. They started trashing police cars. The deputies then fired tear gas and the telephone wires leading to the jail were ripped down so they could not call

for help. Oh, shit. In the jail, the sheriff saw what was coming and ordered the two lower floors of the building to be abandoned. That's where Thomas and Jack were being held in cells on the second floor. They removed all the weapons and put them on the third floor to keep them out of the hands of the mob. Please turn on the lights down, turn off the lights downstairs. They can't see through the dark. They'll never get in here. They're afraid of it. It's all six-year-olds, right? How are they going to find the hallway? Turn the lights off and be quiet. Later, the sheriff told the press, quote, we had enough weapons to kill a thousand people, but we didn't want to do it. It still isn't enough. But that would have been pretty great, right? Sure. Yeah,

that'd have been great, Dave. At 10, at 10 p.m., a message was sent into the jail from the mob outside. The letter said they would be coming in at 11 p.m. and the cops should stay out of the way. When 11 p.m., arrived. Jack's like, what does it say? He's like, yeah, it just says they're thinking of wrapping it up. Yeah, he says, you guys are good. You guys are fine. They think they're fine. They're apparently turning the lights off really through him for a loop. I guess they just want the pillowcase back. Anyway, I'm going to go pee for a day. I'm going to go pee out the window for about a day. So the sheriff told, so the crowd was basically now at 11 p.m. going insane with Rach. The sheriff told his men to do what they could without using their weapons. That is the

worst news. Well, I think he thinks if they shoot someone, then the crowd will grab a gun and shoot them. But isn't that asking to just get abused? Isn't he being like, Hey, let them beat the shit out of you better than dead? Yeah, but yes, right. But it is sort of just like the command is like, no, no, no, no, let them dominate you with their fists. Yeah, but if you shoot them, and then they take the gun away, I'm not saying cut the guys. Okay, I'm saying cut. Okay, you're a terrible sheriff. Well, listen, I don't have a song. The wooden barricades the deputies had put in front of the jail were broken up and tossed through the windows. Another mob formed in the alleyway. They tossed shit in through the upper windows, making the cops hide under desks

and in closets. There is a construction site close by and a mob raided it to get supplies for the inevitable charge. Oh, Jesus, there they found what they could use as a makeshift battering ram, a large steel pole. They used it to bang away on the front door of the jail. The group in the alley saw what was happening also ran over to the construction site and got a second battering ram. The cops kept shooting tear gas out of the windows. That would stop the battering briefly, but they would just come right back and start banging away. It took about five minutes for them to break the doors down. Hundreds of people rushed in. Young Anthony Cattaldi, who was just 17 years old, was very excited. He would be interviewed by the press later and told

them I was the first one of the gang to break into the jail. That's not that's not something you should say incriminating. Do you think that's incriminating? Yeah, it sounds like maybe not something you want to confess openly. I killed them. But the cops didn't just give up the prisoners. They went mono a mono using their fists to keep the mob back like some from some fucking awesome 70s movie. All right. In the end, too many dudes. Okay, that would be the name of the movie, by the way. The sheriff himself was beat to the floor and stomped on. He ended up with a fractured skull. I called that by the way. Yep. Having finished with the cops, the mob ran up to the second floor to the cells. The lone jailkeeper was beaten unconscious. Hey, I'm just here. Hey, I'm

Jack and Thomas were pulled from their cells. But Jack was a bigger guy having been a football star and all and he put up a decent fight putting several guys down with just one swing of with his murder fists. But even he could only hold them off for so long. They hauled Jack and Thomas out of their cells and down the hall. Thomas kept screaming he was not the killer that they had the wrong guy. The pillowcase did it. So they dragged it down the stairs. And because everyone in town knew each other, some people were like, Hey, that's not Thomas. They had grabbed the wrong prisoner. Oh my God. So they threw that guy down the stairs and went back and got Thomas. That guy was like, Thank you for saying that. Just roll me down the stairs. I'll find Thomas put up a hell

of a fight might actually leave now that we're here. Thomas put up a hell of a fight. They had to beat him unconscious to get him out. Also, you got to think of like Thomas is two minutes when they took the wrong guy. And he was like, Oh, sweet. This is fucking awesome. Best case scenario. Yeah. Seriously. He was like, boom. Oh, yeah. That was when the term boom diggity was created. Is that right? That's what it says right here. You're sure? Because you wrote. Okay. So now Thomas is unconscious and luckily he never woke up again. Their joyous screams brought people as they took this. So they're taking the people out of the jail, the jailhouse. The joyous screams bought brought people pouring out of buildings all over town. I read it described in one newspaper

as whoops. Whoop whoop whoop whoop. Sure. Sure. They were two were taken to St. James Park. St. James was actually the same the actual St. James. I looked it up was actually decapitated by King Herod. So this this is a good park for this is a good park to I wonder if they'd done that research if one of them was like, you know, gentlemen, let the moment not be lost upon us. Actually, St. James, you're right. Let's just cut his head off. You're absolutely sorry. I don't mean to get bogged down in the facts. The size of the crowd is now by most people estimated to have been 10,000. Torches were all around. The two confessed killers were dragged by their feet across the road into the park. As they went, they were kicked and punched and had bricks thrown at them.

The mob screamed at them asking them how they liked it. I gotta be honest, not not much. Yeah, I'm not honest. I'm being honest. The brick little over the top. I'd say the bricks are my least favorite part. Those are over the top. I also don't like the kicking and the punching. But Jack continued to fight, which just caused the mob to react even more violently toward him. He kept breaking free and would start swinging and dropping guys and then be subdued again. Jesus. I mean, I know this guy just killed someone, but he's right now my favorite in the story. Well, that's it. Do you want to be on record with that? They were taken to the northern corner of the park where a kid climbed a big elm tree with a rope. Hey kid, make this tree a murderer. Scramble

up that monkey boy. The noose was put around Jack's head. He managed to fight it off a couple of times, but it would just go back on after beating him down. Thomas was much easier being completely unconscious. They slipped the noose around around him. A few men grabbed hold of the rope and up went Thomas hanging about 10 feet up. Jack wasn't going easy. Not his style. He kept fighting. They beat him more, broke both of his arms, stripped him naked and put the noose on his neck for the last time. Several men, including a young man named Jackie Coogan, grabbed the rope and lifted him into the air. His legs kicked as he struggled. The crowd of thousands cheered. Hip, hip. Hooray! Hip, hip. For he's a jolly good fam. Right? But isn't that so fucking weird? Oh, it's insane.

Like, do you think, is there anything, is there any cause, any crime, anything that in this day and age, assuming you wouldn't get hurt, right? Right. That would cause you to go somewhere and be a part of something like this and see a couple guys hang in a tree and be like, yeah! Well, if someone killed my kid. Right. Okay. Let's, outside, sure. Right. Yes, for sure. Outside of that. Anything that, like, a crime that was committed in your neighborhood. Well, this guy drives up and down the street kind of fast. David. What? You're not killing the guy. Fucking Paul's ass. Hey, speedster! You're done. So the crowd's cheering, and the cheering was followed by applause. Good. Well, listen. Just like that. A standing o! Yeah, and then they gave

like a nice, hey. Yeah, give it up. So many people to thank. Give it up for them. Lord, the list goes on and on. I want to thank the hearts. Obviously, I got to thank the hearts. Alex for not being able to drive. Sheriff for being unconscious. But real quick, shout out to God, and this could not have happened without the vision of one pillowcase. Thank you. Who, from the beginning, has been a cheerleader. And that's on Cougan. So give it up for Cougie. Cougie. Their bodies were lit by car headlights, so it had a very theatrical sort of feel. Very Hitchcock feel. Some women fainted, apparently not realizing they had come to see two men die. Some men approached Jack's body and burned his feet with matches. That was also met with verbal approval from the crowd.

That's just weird. His sock went up in flames, finally, and the crowd chanted, burn, burn. It's weird to still be fired up. Yeah, you might, you know. I mean, it was a long buildup, right? Yeah. I guess, I guess, yeah. I mean, when the Packers win a Super Bowl, don't you do this? Do you feel afterwards, is the elation just for a couple minutes? No, it's for years. No, it's for a while. So that's what they're going for. It's actually what gets us through playoff losses. Right. So this is their, this is their version of the Packers' winnings. Do you want to talk about the Packers? No, I don't need to. They did what they needed to do this year. Dave, it's two against one. There's a quiet guy here in the room.

So, right. So people were passing through town to stop and gawk at the scene. Any policemen in the area who had not been beaten in the building just hung back away from the park watching. The press took pictures. Wall flowers, were they? Yeah. Shocking. The press took pictures of the mob because, you know, it had been broadcast all day that they were going to lynch somebody. Yeah, you got to put it up on your Facebook page. So they're taking pictures of the two dead men hanging in the tree. People then milled about for hours afterwards. Children played near the tree as two dead men swung above their heads. There was said to be a gentle evening breeze. The front pages of newspapers. Who said that? Oh, you know what I remember from that night is honestly just the

calm breeze. You know who said that? The fucking reporters that were there painting a picture, man. You got to paint a picture with your words. The calm breeze slowly blew through the lit sock. The pages, the front pages of newspapers all over the country were splashed with the headline of what had occurred the next day. But unlike previous reports, they were horrified at what had occurred. The mob was called crazy, bloodthirsty and savage. Editorials discussed how such a thing could have happened in a civilized country such as America in such a quiet little town like San Jose. The kid who had climbed the tree with the rope was quoted in papers. I went out to my father's ranch and got some rope for the hanging.

In the town, however, the general feeling was that good had been done. The murders had it coming. The park was gone to the trial. Yeah, I mean, you know, whatever. The park was pretty fucked up. Because, you know, it's a lot of people. The park's not made to handle that kind of crowd. It's like having an outdoor concert. Right. Some people came looking to collect a souvenir. People kept cutting off parts of the big elm tree as keepsakes. The city had to build a big wooden box around the trunk of the tree to keep people from hacking away at it. Cops now patrolled in great numbers. The jailhouse was ruined. The cops working in the jail remained in the hospital recovering from their wounds. But not everyone was upset. Praise and congratulations

were sent. Oh, God. From all over to both the city of San Jose and Sonny Jim. I knew it. One red congratulations. I am happy in the knowledge that the people of San Jose have expressed their revolt against crooked attorneys and two lenient parole boards by killing the fiendish murders of Brooke Hart. Also, none of those apply to this situation. How do you how? The God. You showed the parole board boys. How is it possible to to celebrate? Never. I'm done. I don't even have a question. The chief of the state Bureau of Investigation said, quote, it is to be regretted, but necessary that the people took the law into their own hands. But they serve notice on gangsters that there is no place for them in California. Shouldn't that be the police local FBI guy? That's the local FBI

not the job of the police. That's the state. Haven't you all haven't you ultimately just undone the police's power? Yeah, he just said, go ahead and kill them undercut the police's power very much now by saying, Hey, worst case scenario, the people get the job done. I would. Yeah. Okay. Well, as long as we're on the same page, it seemed like the most celebrating was going on in the governor's mansion. The day after the lynching, Sonny Jim said, quote, if anyone is arrested for this good job, I'll pardon them all. The aroused people of that fine city of San Jose were so enraged, it was only natural that peaceful and a lot of law abiding as they are, they should rise and meet out swift justice to these two murders and kidnappers. I do love that even though it probably

meant something different at the time aroused. Yeah, they were all fucking horny and ready to just lynch. Boners everywhere. Boners and ruined panties, the lot of them. But Sonny Jim wasn't done. He told reporters that he should have all kidnappers and murderers released from prison and delivered to the people of San Jose who know how to deal with them. So this is before press secretaries exist in politics? Yeah, I mean, you can only imagine there's not a letter. Sonny, stop going on record. The next day, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Sonny Jim had indeed called San Quentin to ask him how many kidnappers were there. Oh my god. He's serious. He was actually contemplating enough to call the prison. I got a new police force called the people.

The city council of San Jose held a special meeting to determine whether or not to leave the tree as a monument. That's what they're discussing, not about Sonny. In the end, it was decided the tree should be cut down. Sure. But quite a few testified that it should stay. Testified. Despite all that, some people did want to know who was responsible. Some blame the mob. Others blame the police for not taking care of the prisoners. Some said it was the fault of the Department of Justice. The FBI made sure everyone knew the prisoners had been in custody of the police. It's not our fault. The district attorney of Alameda County, Earl Warren, pushed for prosecution of those responsible. Seven people were arrested for the hangings.

Earl Warren would eventually become Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. But Sonny Jim said he would pardon whoever was convicted. Though it turned out Sonny Jim had grossly underestimated the disgust his actions would cause to others. Strong criticism of him came from all over. He lost the nickname Sonny Jim and it was replaced by Governor Lynch. Oh, that is a downshift. Yeah, that is a serious drop down in nicknames. No, way worse. Newspapers all over the country woke up, wrote up his quotes and vilified him. He was expelled from the National War Veterans Executive Board and many in the state and elsewhere began to call for his impeachment. This all took a toll on Governor Lynch. His health failed and he had a

heart attack in June 1934. Eight months after the killing, the man who could have done the most to stop them was dead. Jackie Coogan never confirmed he was one of the men who held the rope, but many said he had been there. He eventually sued his parents in 1938 for all the money they had taken after legal expenses. He ended up with $126,000. Jesus. When things got even worse, when things got even worse, he asked Charlie Chaplin for money who gave him a thousand. Coogan's suit and his parent against his parents resulted in a bill being passed in California called Coogan's Law. It forces 15% of a child actor's earnings be put into a trust. Isn't it amazing after all that it's only 15%? I know, right? That's what I was thinking. It's nothing. 15%. You know, we've learned

our lesson. Look, we put this baby in a game show and we get 85%. So in 1936, the movie Fury was released. It was based on the lynching in San Jose and the insanity of lynch mobs. Most importantly, in 1934, the Nazi Party of Germany in their national magazine published the photos of the St. James Park lynchings. Oh, good. The Nazis use the link lynchings to point out the decadence of American life. I feel I just feel that you see what we're missing. Look how decadent they are. They put people's on ropes and the boys stealing his socks and lighting the shoes on fire. So decadent. Look at these people. The fun's naked. It's ridiculous. Excuse me? It's ridiculous. What is it? I don't know. Okay. Alex Hart continued to run Hart's big department store.

His youngest son, also named Alex, said his father probably would have gotten into the music writing business, but felt a family commitment to the store. So younger Alex did just that, going off following his dreams and working in the movie business, writing music for Paramount Pictures. But his dad died in 1943, 10 years after Brooks death. The younger Alex returned home and ran the family business and expanded it, opening up other Hart department stores. He sold the business in 1976, but made sure his employees were taken care of. When the stores closed in the 80s, the employees would continue to hold reunions because of the camaraderie between all of the employees, something that came from the top on down. Jesus Christ. How about that shit?

It's pretty fucking insane. How cool is America? What? No, I don't know. How fucking cool is our country? It's cool, right? You're going to walk out of here thinking our country is the fucking shiznit. I live here, first of all. When you're going to, but you're going to walk out. No, I'm not. I told you. I will tell you right now. By the way, where's my vodka? I told you all I needed was vodka and Venus. I didn't get that. Well, great. You feel good? Another interesting chapter in American history. It's a fucking beautiful story of men. It's really, if you think about it, it's a story about adolescent love. It's about people coming together also and working stuff out as a group. Yeah. No, it really shows you. I think the headline is calmer minds prevail.

Yeah. Here are pictures. Here's the picture. There they are. Swinging in the tree. Oh shit. You can see his dick. Oh my God, dude. I didn't think I was going to see his dick. Full wiener. You want to see his dick? You want to see his dick? Oh my God. Yeah. Well, how come they gave the other guy the porky pig look? They just took his pants off and let him keep his top? I don't know why he got to keep his clothes on. To me, I'd rather go, and I know that we're this is a tragic story and we're mints and hairs. I'd rather go full nude than look like a cartoon pig. Yeah, for sure. Oh, fucking shit. These guys are really... Well, they called. Everyone knew what was going to happen, so the press were there taking photos. It's an amazing amount of photos.

It's really... They've really... They're pissed. Yeah, they're upset. I like how the guys still keep their sport coats and hats on too. Yeah, there's a picture of a guy. There's the guys with the battering ram. Three of them are wearing hats and they're in suits. Probably a sweaty job. Yeah. Anyway, that's this week's dollop. If you want to give it to Patreon, please go to Patreon.com and sign up as a subscriber. It's very, very helpful. At the dollop on Twitter, and then we got our dollop Facebook page. Yeah. We're signing cars. We're signing cars.