Byte Sized Biographies…

On November 14, 1959, two petty criminals, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, crossed Kansas, murdered the Clutter family in the tiny hamlet of Holcomb, Kansas and unwittingly enabled a New York City writer named Truman Capote to achieve immortality for all three of them. This arrest was most likely the result of the efforts of KBI investigator Harold Nye, who, in the interim after the Wells revelation, had traveled to Las Vegas to question individuals … Continue reading Truman Capote, Dick Hickock, Perry Smith and In Cold Blood (Volume 5, Episode 6) Part Two →

In 1942, the Czech government in exile decided to parachute two commandos into the former Czechoslovakia to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, considered the most brutal and sinister Nazi in Occupied Europe.  Code named Operation Anthropoid, this suicide mission remains one of the most heroic and remarkable stories of World War II. Nazi lore has it that Heinrich Himmler, appointed in 1929 as the head of the newly formed SS, was intent on developing a unit consigned … Continue reading Operation Anthropoid and the Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich (Volume 5, Episode 5) Part One →

In 1942, the Czech government in exile decided to parachute two commandos into the former Czechoslovakia to assassinate  Reinhard Heydrich, considered the most brutal and sinister Nazi in Occupied Europe.  Code named Operation Anthropoid, this suicide mission remains one of the most heroic and remarkable stories of World War II But Kubas had also approached the car, undetected and he hurled the grenade towards the open interior of the vehicle.  He missed badly, the device … Continue reading Operation Anthropoid and the Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich (Volume 5, Episode 5) Part Two →

In 1961, an unemployed cab driver, Kempton Bunton, pulled off one of the most remarkable art thefts of the 20th century.  Or did he? Bunton’s mother named him Kempton Cannon Bunton after a British jockey, Kempton Cannon, who won the Epsom Derby only days before her son’s birth, June 14, 1904, a victory she financially backed.  When asked about his unusual name, Bunton also always replied, “It’s Kempton as in Kempton Park racecourse,” as if … Continue reading Kempton Bunton and the Theft of Goya’s Portrait of the Duke of Wellington (Volume 5, Episode 4) Part One →

In 1961, an unemployed cab driver, Kempton Bunton, pulled off one of the most remarkable art thefts of the 20th century.  Or did he? Although Bunton was initially only charged with one count of larceny, the prosecution submitted an indictment that was much more severe.  He was now charged with two counts of larceny, one for the painting, one for the frame, that was never recovered, and one charge of menacing for submitting letters to … Continue reading Kempton Bunton and the Theft of Goya’s Portrait of the Duke of Wellington (Volume 5, Episode 4) Part Two →

In 1929, Al Capone was worth an inflation adjusted 1.5 billion dollars. On January 17, 1899, Alphonse Gabriel Capone became the fourth child born into this family, and the second native American.  Including the two born in Italy, the Capone family later consisted of nine children, eight surviving into adulthood.  Al’s father was a barber by trade, eventually moving the family to a better home that also contained his shop.  His father, unlike his mother, … Continue reading Al Capone (Volume 5, Episode 4) Part One →

In 1929, Al Capone was worth an inflation adjusted 1.5 Billion Dollars. Most speakeasies and night clubs serving illicit alcohol provided entertainment in some form, mostly jazz or a vocalist with a band.  One of these entertainers named Joe E. Lewis was a regular performer at the Green Mill, a club that was owned by the Outfit.  As compensation, Al Capone gave Jack McGurn a piece of the club’s profits and when McGurn found out … Continue reading Al Capone (Volume 5, Episode 4) Part Two →

On February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly was in the middle of the tour from hell and would do anything to avoid another three hundred mile, overnight bus ride that already had inflicted frostbite on another band member.  That determination changed American popular music forever. Charles Hardin Holley was born in Lubbock, Texas on September 7, 1936.  The “e” in his surname would be dropped when Decca Records misspelled Holley on one of his first recording … Continue reading Buddy Holly and The Day the Music Died (Volume 5, Episode 3) Part One →

On February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly was in the middle of the tour from hell and would do anything to avoid another three hundred mile, overnight bus ride that already had inflicted frostbite on another band member.  That determination changed American popular music forever. In mid-January, when the three band members got to NY, Allsup and Bunch checked into a hotel, but Waylon Jennings stayed with Buddy and Maria.  Time was of the essence and … Continue reading Buddy Holly and The Day the Music Died (Volume 5, Episode 3) Part Two →

Possessing a 167 IQ, admitted to Harvard University at age 16, a uniquely talented mathematician, this former Berkeley college professor became the subject of the longest and most expensive investigation in FBI history. As a youngster, Ted did develop a precocious interest in reading, math and science, his mother reading to him articles from Scientific American that he could comprehend by the time he was six.  He excelled in grade school but even at this … Continue reading Ted Kaczynski AKA The Unabomber (Volume 5, Episode 2) Part One →