Gaston Means
Encyclopedia
Gaston Bullock Means (July 11, 1879 – December 12, 1938) was an American private detective, salesman, bootleg
ger, forger, swindler, murder
suspect, blackmailer, and con artist.
While not involved in the Teapot Dome scandal
, Means was associated with other members of the so-called Ohio Gang
that gathered around the administration of President Warren G. Harding
. Means also tried to pull a con associated with the Lindbergh kidnapping
, and died in prison following his criminal conviction.
, however, was that of a confidence trickster. J. Edgar Hoover once called him "the most amazing figure in contemporary criminal history" because of his ability to weave a believable albeit fraudulent story. In 1911, he talked himself into a job with a New York detective firm where he created reports that contained so many clues that they must either be investigated further (at a substantial cost) or denounced utterly. His reputation spread. On the eve of World War I, he was asked to further Germany's interests in the then-neutral United States. He "uncovered" plots and counterplots rife with secret documents and skulking spies, all of which required investigation at his usual rate of $100 per day. After America declared war with Germany, Means returned to being a private detective. There, he was given a case involving the widow of a wealthy lumberman, Maude King, who had fallen into the clutches of a swindler in Europe. King had been left $100,000 by her late husband, with the remainder of his $3 million estate intended for charity. She sued for more, and settled for $600,000 plus the interest on $400,000. Means ingratiated himself into King's life, and assisted her with her business affairs. Under the guise of investing her money, Means deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars to his own credit in New York and Chicago, invested heavily in cotton and the stock market, and lost heavily. Claiming to find a new will which required "investigation", Means plundered the remainder of the woman's finances until they were nearly all gone. Then, the widow went with Means to a firing range. Means returned with her body, claiming she had killed herself, perhaps accidentally while handling his gun.
Means' account was disputed by the coroner. No powder marks were found near the wound in her head discounting that it might be self-inflicted. Maude was fearful of pistols, and she was planning to remarry. Means was indicted for murder. After deliberating only 15 minutes, a jury in his home town acquitted him after defense counsel cleverly whipped up local jury resentment against New York
lawyers who were assisting the prosecution.
But there was still the matter of the will. It was declared a forgery, and Means was prosecuted. Testimony showed that the witnesses to the purported will were out of town on the day it was signed, the typewriter used to type the document had not yet been manufactured when the will was purportedly written, and King’s signature and those of other witnesses were not genuine.
The trial was therefore going badly for Means when he declared that he knew the location of a trunk filled with secret documents obtained from German spies. In exchange for a letter to the judge attesting to his good character from the United States Army, he said, he would hand over that trunk. An Army Intelligence officer was assigned to accompany Means to locate the trunk, which he did, handing it over on the condition that it be sent to Washington intact. Then, baggage claim in hand, he hurried to Washington, declared he had kept his end of the bargain, and demanded the promised letter attesting to his good service. Alas, the trunk arrived, and it was found to contain no documents. Declaring he knew who had done this "despicable thing", Means promised to find the scoundrels and recover the lost papers. The Army investigated, and discovered the weight of the trunk when sent was identical to its weight when opened. But through his subterfuge, Means had escaped the jurisdiction of the court, and never entered it again.
In later years, Means would boast to friends that he had been accused of every felony in the criminal law books, up to and including murder.
Although he had a shady reputation as a detective, in October 1921 Means was hired by the Bureau of Investigation, and he moved to Washington, D.C.
The FBI was then led by William J. Burns
, famous ex-Secret Service man, private detective and friend of Harry M. Daugherty
, Attorney General
in the Harding administration. Burns had employed Means as a detective, and thought Means had great skill as both an investigator and an extortionist. Despite the protection of his patron, Means was later suspended from the FBI at the insistence of Daugherty, who had become increasingly aware that Means was a loose cannon.
, illegal alcohol was common. In the late fall of 1922, Means began selling his services to local Washington bootleggers
, with the offer that he could use his connections to "fix" their legal problems with the government. Some of these "fixes" were made, and the matter became an embarrassing scandal.
In 1924, following Harding’s death, Congress held hearings on the Justice Department
's role in failing to oversee their Prohibition duties under the Volstead Act
. Means testified against former Attorney General Daugherty. Means "confessed" to handling bribes for senior officials in the former Harding Administration. He declared the country was being bespoiled, and that he had the documents to prove it. When asked to produce them, Means readily agreed, but returned with a story that "two sergeants-at-arms" had appeared at his home, produced an order signed by the head of the committee, and had taken the documents away with them. The committee head examined the "order" and declared his signature a forgery. Means leaped from his chair. "Forgery!", he said. "I've been tricked by my enemies. I'll run them down if it's the last thing I do!"
The congressional investigation also revealed evidence of Means' own role in the illegal issuance of Prohibition-era liquor permits. Means was indicted for perjury
and tried before a jury. In intentionally sensational testimony, Means implicated both Harding and Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon as being part of the cover-up. Unable to support his own counter-charges, and unable to convince the jury of his innocence, Means was found guilty of perjury and sentenced to two years in federal prison.
derived in considerable measure from its insinuation that the President had been murdered by his wife, First Lady
Florence Harding
, with assistance from the couple's personal physician, Charles E. Sawyer
. Mrs. Harding's alleged motivation was that she had become aware of her husband's corruption and marital infidelity, and wanted to protect his reputation
.
Means' accusations seemed to some to be true. The "writer" had learned many facts about the President's sex life from the rumor mill in Washington. However, a 1933 counter-exposé, published in Liberty Magazine
, blew the cover off of the dubious book. Part-time journalistic stringer Mae Dixon Thacker confessed that not only had she ghostwritten the book for Means, but also that Means had bilked her out of her share of the book's profits.
Having collected his royalties, Means cheerfully repudiated his own book. He had moved on to a new set of victims, a group of New York men who were interested in subversive Soviet activities. Means, of course, had the goods on two Soviets intent on wreaking havoc in the United States with $2 million earmarked for that purpose. Would the gentlemen like him to investigate? Which, of course, they did at Means' usual price of $100 per day. His "investigation" dragged out for three years as Means promised to bring the two fiends to justice and to capture 24 trunks and 11 suitcases full of secret orders, plans, and diaries. Time after time, he almost got those trunks and suitcases, and once did so, he said, but alas, upon his return to New York, those dreaded secret agents stole them back again. Finally, he delivered the news that one of the Russians had murdered the other, and all the documents had been burned. He told his story so convincingly that an arrest warrant was sworn out against the "killer" for a "murder" that existed only in the imagination of Gaston B. Means.
Following the Lindbergh kidnapping
of 1932, Means attempted the most audacious con job of his career. Means was contacted by the Washington socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean
(owner of the Hope Diamond
), who asked him to use his connections in the East Coast underworld to assist in the recovery of the Lindbergh child. Means declared that he knew the whereabouts of the kidnapping victim. He offered his services as a go-between, and asked for $100,000 to pass on to the kidnappers. The credulous McLean sent Means the money, and Means promptly disappeared for a time, while a confederate kept McLean apprised of Means' difficulties and the fabulous chase. Means later came to McLean at her home again and said he would need an additional $4000 to pay the expenses of the kidnappers. So she had a $6000 check cashed at one of the banks in Washington and turned $4000 over to him to pay the kidnappers. Finally, Means met McLean in a southern resort, promising to deliver the baby. Instead, he showed up with a man he introduced as the "King of the Kidnappers", who told her how and when the baby would be delivered. Everyone was given a code. Means was No. 27, the "King" was No. 19, Norman Tweed Whitaker
was "The Fox", Mclean was No. 11, and the baby was "The Book". The missing baby (who was later found murdered) did not show up, and the next thing that McLean heard from Means was a demand for another $35,000. Failing to raise it, the heiress demanded all the money back. Means agreed, hurried to get it - and didn't come back. Confronted about his duplicity, Means expressed astonishment. "Didn't Mrs. McLean get it?", he asked. "She must have it. Her messenger met me at the bridge outside Alexandria as I was returning to Washington. He said 'I am Number 11.' So what was I to do? I gave him the money." This time, the heiress called the police. Means was captured, found guilty of grand larceny
, and sentenced to serve 15 years in a federal penitentiary. The money was never recovered. Means thereupon took up residence in Leavenworth
, where he died in custody in 1938.
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
ger, forger, swindler, murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
suspect, blackmailer, and con artist.
While not involved in the Teapot Dome scandal
Teapot Dome scandal
The Teapot Dome Scandal was a bribery incident that took place in the United States in 1922–23, during the administration of President Warren G. Harding. Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome and two other locations to private oil companies at low...
, Means was associated with other members of the so-called Ohio Gang
Ohio Gang
The Ohio Gang was a group of politicians and industry leaders who came to be associated with Warren G. Harding, the twenty-ninth President of the United States of America.-Background:...
that gathered around the administration of President Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
. Means also tried to pull a con associated with the Lindbergh kidnapping
Lindbergh kidnapping
The kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., was the abduction of the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The toddler, 18 months old at the time, was abducted from his family home in East Amwell, New Jersey, near the town of Hopewell, New Jersey, on the evening of...
, and died in prison following his criminal conviction.
Biography
Gaston Bullock Means was born in Concord, North Carolina was the son of William Means, a reputable lawyer. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1903, became a schoolteacher, then a travelling salesman. His life avocationAvocation
An avocation is an activity that one engages in as a hobby outside one's main occupation. There are many examples of people whose professions were the ways that they made their livings, but for whom their activities outside of their workplaces were their true passions in life...
, however, was that of a confidence trickster. J. Edgar Hoover once called him "the most amazing figure in contemporary criminal history" because of his ability to weave a believable albeit fraudulent story. In 1911, he talked himself into a job with a New York detective firm where he created reports that contained so many clues that they must either be investigated further (at a substantial cost) or denounced utterly. His reputation spread. On the eve of World War I, he was asked to further Germany's interests in the then-neutral United States. He "uncovered" plots and counterplots rife with secret documents and skulking spies, all of which required investigation at his usual rate of $100 per day. After America declared war with Germany, Means returned to being a private detective. There, he was given a case involving the widow of a wealthy lumberman, Maude King, who had fallen into the clutches of a swindler in Europe. King had been left $100,000 by her late husband, with the remainder of his $3 million estate intended for charity. She sued for more, and settled for $600,000 plus the interest on $400,000. Means ingratiated himself into King's life, and assisted her with her business affairs. Under the guise of investing her money, Means deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars to his own credit in New York and Chicago, invested heavily in cotton and the stock market, and lost heavily. Claiming to find a new will which required "investigation", Means plundered the remainder of the woman's finances until they were nearly all gone. Then, the widow went with Means to a firing range. Means returned with her body, claiming she had killed herself, perhaps accidentally while handling his gun.
Means' account was disputed by the coroner. No powder marks were found near the wound in her head discounting that it might be self-inflicted. Maude was fearful of pistols, and she was planning to remarry. Means was indicted for murder. After deliberating only 15 minutes, a jury in his home town acquitted him after defense counsel cleverly whipped up local jury resentment against New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
lawyers who were assisting the prosecution.
But there was still the matter of the will. It was declared a forgery, and Means was prosecuted. Testimony showed that the witnesses to the purported will were out of town on the day it was signed, the typewriter used to type the document had not yet been manufactured when the will was purportedly written, and King’s signature and those of other witnesses were not genuine.
The trial was therefore going badly for Means when he declared that he knew the location of a trunk filled with secret documents obtained from German spies. In exchange for a letter to the judge attesting to his good character from the United States Army, he said, he would hand over that trunk. An Army Intelligence officer was assigned to accompany Means to locate the trunk, which he did, handing it over on the condition that it be sent to Washington intact. Then, baggage claim in hand, he hurried to Washington, declared he had kept his end of the bargain, and demanded the promised letter attesting to his good service. Alas, the trunk arrived, and it was found to contain no documents. Declaring he knew who had done this "despicable thing", Means promised to find the scoundrels and recover the lost papers. The Army investigated, and discovered the weight of the trunk when sent was identical to its weight when opened. But through his subterfuge, Means had escaped the jurisdiction of the court, and never entered it again.
In later years, Means would boast to friends that he had been accused of every felony in the criminal law books, up to and including murder.
Although he had a shady reputation as a detective, in October 1921 Means was hired by the Bureau of Investigation, and he moved to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
The FBI was then led by William J. Burns
William J. Burns
William J. Burns , known as "America's Sherlock Holmes," is famous for having conducted a private investigation clearing Leo Frank of the murder of Mary Phagan, and for serving as the director of the Bureau of Investigation from August 22, 1921 to June 14, 1924...
, famous ex-Secret Service man, private detective and friend of Harry M. Daugherty
Harry M. Daugherty
Harry Micajah Daugherty was an American politician. He is best known as a Republican Party boss, and member of the Ohio Gang, the name given to the group of advisors surrounding president Warren G...
, Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
in the Harding administration. Burns had employed Means as a detective, and thought Means had great skill as both an investigator and an extortionist. Despite the protection of his patron, Means was later suspended from the FBI at the insistence of Daugherty, who had become increasingly aware that Means was a loose cannon.
Bootleggers' helper
Although the United States was officially "dry" during the Harding years as a result of ProhibitionProhibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, illegal alcohol was common. In the late fall of 1922, Means began selling his services to local Washington bootleggers
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
, with the offer that he could use his connections to "fix" their legal problems with the government. Some of these "fixes" were made, and the matter became an embarrassing scandal.
In 1924, following Harding’s death, Congress held hearings on the Justice Department
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
's role in failing to oversee their Prohibition duties under the Volstead Act
Volstead Act
The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was the enabling legislation for the Eighteenth Amendment which established prohibition in the United States...
. Means testified against former Attorney General Daugherty. Means "confessed" to handling bribes for senior officials in the former Harding Administration. He declared the country was being bespoiled, and that he had the documents to prove it. When asked to produce them, Means readily agreed, but returned with a story that "two sergeants-at-arms" had appeared at his home, produced an order signed by the head of the committee, and had taken the documents away with them. The committee head examined the "order" and declared his signature a forgery. Means leaped from his chair. "Forgery!", he said. "I've been tricked by my enemies. I'll run them down if it's the last thing I do!"
The congressional investigation also revealed evidence of Means' own role in the illegal issuance of Prohibition-era liquor permits. Means was indicted for perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
and tried before a jury. In intentionally sensational testimony, Means implicated both Harding and Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon as being part of the cover-up. Unable to support his own counter-charges, and unable to convince the jury of his innocence, Means was found guilty of perjury and sentenced to two years in federal prison.
Professional con man
During and after his term in the federal penitentiary, Means retained his reputation as the ultimate man who knew all of the secrets. The disgraced detective put this reputation to work in "his" book, The Strange Death of President Harding (1930). The exposé alleged that Harding (who was dead and could not defend himself) had been consciously complicit in all of the major scandals of his administration. The book's status as a bestsellerBestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
derived in considerable measure from its insinuation that the President had been murdered by his wife, First Lady
First Lady
First Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...
Florence Harding
Florence Harding
Florence Mabel Kling "Flossie" Harding , wife of President Warren G...
, with assistance from the couple's personal physician, Charles E. Sawyer
Charles E. Sawyer
Charles Elmer Sawyer, also known as Dr. C. E. Sawyer , was a homeopathic physician who is blamed for giving a false diagnosis of U.S. President Warren G. Harding that led to Harding's premature death....
. Mrs. Harding's alleged motivation was that she had become aware of her husband's corruption and marital infidelity, and wanted to protect his reputation
Reputation
Reputation of a social entity is an opinion about that entity, typically a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria...
.
Means' accusations seemed to some to be true. The "writer" had learned many facts about the President's sex life from the rumor mill in Washington. However, a 1933 counter-exposé, published in Liberty Magazine
Liberty Magazine
Liberty is a magazine published by the Seventh-day Adventist Church that covers issues involving separation of church and state, and current events in politics...
, blew the cover off of the dubious book. Part-time journalistic stringer Mae Dixon Thacker confessed that not only had she ghostwritten the book for Means, but also that Means had bilked her out of her share of the book's profits.
Having collected his royalties, Means cheerfully repudiated his own book. He had moved on to a new set of victims, a group of New York men who were interested in subversive Soviet activities. Means, of course, had the goods on two Soviets intent on wreaking havoc in the United States with $2 million earmarked for that purpose. Would the gentlemen like him to investigate? Which, of course, they did at Means' usual price of $100 per day. His "investigation" dragged out for three years as Means promised to bring the two fiends to justice and to capture 24 trunks and 11 suitcases full of secret orders, plans, and diaries. Time after time, he almost got those trunks and suitcases, and once did so, he said, but alas, upon his return to New York, those dreaded secret agents stole them back again. Finally, he delivered the news that one of the Russians had murdered the other, and all the documents had been burned. He told his story so convincingly that an arrest warrant was sworn out against the "killer" for a "murder" that existed only in the imagination of Gaston B. Means.
Following the Lindbergh kidnapping
Lindbergh kidnapping
The kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., was the abduction of the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The toddler, 18 months old at the time, was abducted from his family home in East Amwell, New Jersey, near the town of Hopewell, New Jersey, on the evening of...
of 1932, Means attempted the most audacious con job of his career. Means was contacted by the Washington socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean
Evalyn Walsh McLean
Evalyn Walsh McLean was an American mining heiress and socialite who was famous for being the last private owner of the Hope Diamond as well as another famous diamond, the Star of the East...
(owner of the Hope Diamond
Hope Diamond
The Hope Diamond, also known as "Le bleu de France" or "Le Bijou du Roi", is a large, , deep-blue diamond, now housed in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. It is blue to the naked eye because of trace amounts of boron within its crystal structure, but exhibits red...
), who asked him to use his connections in the East Coast underworld to assist in the recovery of the Lindbergh child. Means declared that he knew the whereabouts of the kidnapping victim. He offered his services as a go-between, and asked for $100,000 to pass on to the kidnappers. The credulous McLean sent Means the money, and Means promptly disappeared for a time, while a confederate kept McLean apprised of Means' difficulties and the fabulous chase. Means later came to McLean at her home again and said he would need an additional $4000 to pay the expenses of the kidnappers. So she had a $6000 check cashed at one of the banks in Washington and turned $4000 over to him to pay the kidnappers. Finally, Means met McLean in a southern resort, promising to deliver the baby. Instead, he showed up with a man he introduced as the "King of the Kidnappers", who told her how and when the baby would be delivered. Everyone was given a code. Means was No. 27, the "King" was No. 19, Norman Tweed Whitaker
Norman Tweed Whitaker
Norman Tweed Whitaker was an International Master of chess. After more than ten years of campaigning, he was awarded the title by FIDE in 1965 , based on his earlier play . He was involved in a confidence trick involving the Lindbergh kidnapping and went to prison several times...
was "The Fox", Mclean was No. 11, and the baby was "The Book". The missing baby (who was later found murdered) did not show up, and the next thing that McLean heard from Means was a demand for another $35,000. Failing to raise it, the heiress demanded all the money back. Means agreed, hurried to get it - and didn't come back. Confronted about his duplicity, Means expressed astonishment. "Didn't Mrs. McLean get it?", he asked. "She must have it. Her messenger met me at the bridge outside Alexandria as I was returning to Washington. He said 'I am Number 11.' So what was I to do? I gave him the money." This time, the heiress called the police. Means was captured, found guilty of grand larceny
Grand Larceny
Grand Larceny is a 1987 thriller film directed by Jeannot Szwarc and starring Marilu Henner, Ian McShane, Omar Sharif and Louis Jourdan.-Plot summary:...
, and sentenced to serve 15 years in a federal penitentiary. The money was never recovered. Means thereupon took up residence in Leavenworth
United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth
The United States Penitentiary , Leavenworth was the largest maximum security federal prison in the United States from 1903 until 2005. It became a medium security prison in 2005.It is located in Leavenworth, Kansas...
, where he died in custody in 1938.
Sources
- Dean, John; Schlesinger, Arthur M. Warren Harding (The American President Series), Times Books, 2004.
- Ferrell, Robert H. The Strange Deaths of President Harding. University of Missouri Press, 1996.
- Mee, Charles L., Jr. The Ohio Gang: A Historical Entertainment. M. Evans, 1991.
- "The Amazing Mr. Means" by J. Edgar Hoover, The American Magazine December 1936 reprinted in Reader's Digest March 1937 pg. 30.
- United States of America vs. Gaston B. Means and Norman T. Whitaker, Criminal No. 53134, May 8, 1933.