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College KidnappersThe College Kidnappers was a group of alumni from the University of Illinois who specialized in kidnapping wealthy mobsters for ransom. These mobsters were targets because they were less likely to approach the police and could pay the ransom.[1] The group was a ten-man, Chicago-based group led by Theodore "Handsome Jack" Klutas. MembersThis mob-affiliated group got their name "College Kidnappers" because their leader Theodore "Handsome Jack" Klutas was an alumnus of the University of Illinois.[1] The regular members of this group included Edward Doll aka "Eddie LaRue", Russell Hughes, Frank Souder, Gale Swoley, Ernest Rossi, Eddie Wagner, Earl McMahon, Julius "Babe" Jones, and Walter Dietrich.[2] "Handsome Jack" KlutasTheodore Klutas was the son of William and Ida E. Klutas.[3] Handsome Jack was portrayed to be large in stature and very handsome, hence the name "Handsome Jack".[3] Klutas had connections with John Dillinger and with the Chicago crime world.[3] He came from a respectable family who attempted to give him a college education. He attended University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1923 but did not finish with a degree. He lived a short life, died at the age of 34, and is now buried next to his mother Ida E. Klutas in Whiteside county, Illinois[3] A new case came out questioning if it was at all possible to change one's fingerprints or facial structure to try to trick the arms justice when they went to identify the subject; Handsome Jack was one of the first to try this tactic.[3] Kidnappings and ransomsThey did some bank jobs,[clarification needed] but their main source of income was ransom payments from gamblers, bootleggers, and quite wealthy mobsters. Most of the victims snatched by The College Kidnappers were a part of the Al Capone mob.[1] The College Kidnappers gained over half a million dollars in ransom.[1] The troubles started for this mob group when they all started going off and freelancing. Klutas and Dietrich stole a car in 1930, and after driving for 30 miles they were spotted by police.[2] Upon the mobsters noticing, a gunfight erupted, leaving both officers dead,[4] and the outlaws escaped June 25, 1930. Half a year later, Dietrich joined[clarification needed] another gang in order to rob a bank and ended up getting caught and booked to Indiana State Prison. Dietrich escaped three years later along with 10 other inmates with the help of John Dillinger.[2] The College Kidnappers kidnapped a manufacturer but had to later release him because he was proved unable to pay the $50,000 ransom.[2] They realized that their original targets were more dependable as far as coming up with the ransom they demanded. One mobster, James Hackett, was captured twice and the second time he was captured Hackett ended up becoming bankrupt. Hackett's first ransom was paid by his wife for a total of $75,000, and a year later The College Kidnappers demanded a second ransom for double of the first one.[1] After him becoming bankrupt, he was put out of business, which was a big time goal of the Capone syndicates.[2] In 1933, the Capone gangsters cornered Babe Jones, a member of The College Kidnappers, telling him to pass along the message of a payoff to stop kidnapping other Capone gangsters.[1] Klutas indicated that he liked the deal but later ordered Jones to be killed because he was viewed as a weak individual and could possibly betray Klutas' gang.[1] The two gunmen who were sent to kill Jones were careless. Jones knew the tactics of The College Kidnappers; he saw the two men who were waiting for his arrival, and fled the scene. In order to save his life, he went to the police and told them of several hideouts.[1] The police raided one of those hideouts; they arrested a few but Handsome Jack refused to surrender and was gunned to his death.[1] That was initially the end of The College Kidnappers. The police later captured the rest of these gangsters in February 1934.[2] Newspaper articles13 November 1933-Fitchburg Sentinel-Fittsburg Mass. 13 November 1933-Edwardsville Intelligencer 16 November 1933 – Edwardsville Intelligencer References
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