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N0KFQ > TODAY 11.10.12 18:25l 48 Lines 1980 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 29440_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Oct 11
Path: IZ3LSV<IR1UAW<IW2OHX<IW0QNL<OK0NBR<OK2PEN<OK0NMG<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 121011/1607Z 29440@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.53
...
Oct 11, 1923:
A mail car explodes in a train robbery
Three men blow up the mail car of a Southern Pacific train
carrying passengers through southern Oregon in a botched robbery
attempt. Just as the train entered a tunnel, two armed men jumped
the engineer. A third man appeared with a bomb that the thieves
intended to use to open the mail car. However, the explosives
were too powerful and the entire mail car was blown to bits,
killing the clerk inside. In the ensuing chaos, the train robbers
shot the train's engineer, fireman, and brakeman, and then fled.
They left behind the detonator and some clothes, but bloodhounds
were unable to track them.
Southern Pacific decided to bring in Edward O. Heinrich, the "The
Edison of Crime Detection," to solve the crime. He immediately
asked to examine the clothes that the gang had discarded at the
crime scene. Within a day, Heinrich produced a profile that led
to the capture of the train robbers.
Heinrich noted that what the police had thought were grease
stains were actually created by pitch from fir trees, commonly
found on clothing worn by lumberjacks of the region. He also
found a strand of hair that helped him peg the age of one of the
robbers. Heinrich also noticed that the wear and tear on the
buttons of one shirt indicated that its owner was left-handed.
Most important, he found a scrap of paper that turned out to be
part of a mail receipt. He tracked the mail receipt, and the
identities of the three men were soon known.
In March 1927, twins Ray and Roy D'Autremont and their teenage
brother, Hugh, were finally brought to justice. One was found in
the Philippines and the other two in Ohio. They all pleaded
guilty and were sentenced to life in prison. It was only one of
the estimated 2,000 cases that Edward O. Heinrich was credited
with solving before his death in 1953.
73, K.O. and Billie
"On the Road Again... "
E-Mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
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