WEBVTT - FBI Blows Up Casino... Oops! 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:02.160 Ridiculous Crime is a production of. 0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:06.000 iHeartRadio Elizabeth Dutton Zaren Burnett. 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:08.360 I have a question for you, my old friend. 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:09.000 Yeah, go ahead. 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:11.560 Did okay? Do you know what's ridiculous? Yes? 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:12.239 I do. 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:13.280 I had a feeling you did. 0:00:13.600 --> 0:00:18.080 Oh Lordie Boye, howdy dude. 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:19.079 You came kind of sighted. 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:21.040 Oh Man vodka. 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:22.560 Uh huh, I'm listening. 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:27.160 Vine ripened tomato slices, still got my ear mouth watering. 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:28.639 Gourmet burger juice. 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:31.960 This is a masha or beef bone frost. I thought 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:35.960 you're doing recipes gourmet burger juice. Hello, I checked out 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:37.120 at Gourmet burger juice. 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:38.560 One ounce of pickle brine. 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:40.479 It's more, there's more. 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:45.440 And then Red Robin's signature seasoning blend. Ladies and gentlemen, 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:53.000 Red roy I give you the burger teeny oh Man, 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:55.600 you take first, you take the vodka. 0:00:56.360 --> 0:00:57.720 Yeah, So all those things that I. 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:00.880 Listened to, picturing meat juice in a cold a vodka 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:01.520 glass like. 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:05.279 You're picture correctly. And then here are your garnish choice. 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:10.319 You can garnish it with a bacon like it's twenty fourteen. 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:15.440 You can garnish it with a brioche bun chunk just 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:19.280 a chunk of bread floating in a burgertiny, a crisp 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:23.360 pickle chip or a cherry tomato. So you rim half 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:28.480 a martini glass with Red Robin seasoning blend, and they 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:30.800 don't tell you that, like you have to put probably 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:33.040 like a citrus on there. And then you know they're 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:36.039 assuming that you know these things. In a shaker, you 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:40.640 lightly muddle the vine ripened tomatoes, okay, and then you 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:43.400 add vodka, pickle brine and burger juice and it says 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:46.000 or bone, broth and ice, and. 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:53.440 Then you're just like ringing out a burge. 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:53.080 And then you shake it. Well, I keep it in 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:56.120 my pocket. Then you shake it vigorously for ten seconds 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:58.360 and strain into a martini glass and garnish. 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:00.920 The last time someone told me to shake vigorously my 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:02.560 burger juice, I slapped them. 0:02:02.640 --> 0:02:05.520 I'm just saying, last time someone told me that I 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:06.560 made five books. 0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:07.920 Okay. 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:11.880 So anyway, you can go to redrobin dot com and 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:15.360 you can enter to win a burger tiny kit. Doesn't 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:18.200 You can sign up for a chance to win one 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:21.880 of fifty specially made Burger teini kits, and that kit 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:25.760 includes a Red Robin branded stainless steel, cocktail shaker, and 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:29.519 cocktail pick Okay, then when you're like I've hit rock bottom, 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:35.480 a seamless red robin, just stemless Martini glass. 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:36.400 Make that makes sense? 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:40.799 Beef bone broth pickle, which I know you love bone broth. 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:43.359 I didn't know Martini glasses had stems, So this is 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:46.760 you have to have a stem Martine. You're right, yes, 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:47.440 with the triangle. 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:50.000 So what does it mean so that your hand warms it? 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.760 You have the stems, so it doesn't So why anyway? 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:57.200 Pickle Brian, a cocktail napkin and a twenty five dollars 0:02:57.240 --> 0:02:58.200 red Robin gift. 0:02:58.040 --> 0:02:58.880 Card for your trouble. 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:00.600 Oh wow, pology. 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:03.519 When you enter to win, you have to also follow 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:04.680 them on Instagram. 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:07.600 Oh they still are putting the word win in this somewhere. 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:12.560 So you follow them on Instagram. You give your first name, name, 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:16.320 your last name, your Instagram handle, email address, and your 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:19.600 mailing address. And I refuse to do that, so I 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:22.080 will not be winning, although maybe I am. 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:25.600 Winning, yeah exactly. Can you imagine you can get your 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:27.720 hands on that list. 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:30.040 The picture of the burger teeny. 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:30.959 Those people would buy anything. 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:35.280 It would never end, It would never end, and like 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:38.400 the Class C companies that would be harassing you when 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:39.320 they sell their listening. 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:41.480 We got a new golden crusted bacon. 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:45.120 The picture is like mustard colored the drink. 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:48.640 I'm over it. I stopped picturing it. I'm no longer 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:51.280 allowing any imagery to occur in my head. Every time 0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:55.640 you say anything about the drink, I'm like, nope, Oh god, 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:58.520 that's like people got paid to come up with that. 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:01.720 Well, you know, it's getting straight up. 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:03.560 Predict Yeah, so how many are you getting? 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:07.320 How many burgertinies? Well, I already entered you because I gave. 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:09.760 Your Instagram handle, So just get on there and follow. 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:11.560 Them, and then I can win. 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:13.760 And then could you imagine getting that in the mail 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:17.839 and then your post office representatives stop respecting me, stops 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:19.080 delivering mail to your house. 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:24.720 Yeah, it's also ridiculous, Elizabeth. Yes, fathers and sons, Yeah, 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:28.200 I guess no, they're not ridiculous. I wasn't done, like, okay, 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:29.480 as a fair about. 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:30.320 The Turgenev novel. 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:35.000 No, but as a son, not a father. I can 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:37.720 only speak to part of this relationship. But I can 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:39.400 say that, you know, I've known a lot of fathers 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:44.200 and sons and man do we sometimes have fraught relationships. Sometimes, 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:46.360 though fathers and sons they can get together and they 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:50.080 can work on their troubled relationship and via hard work, Elizabeth, 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:53.440 I'm talking chop wood, carry water, they can put the 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:56.480 troubled pass behind them. Yeah, I know, right. I thought. 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:58.520 It's a touching story. Fathers and sons. I want to 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:02.359 tell you about today, Elizabeth. They work tirelessly, diligently together 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:05.000 to put their troubled past behind them, and together they 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:08.640 managed to make a troubled future for themselves. Okay, you 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:10.760 see the father and son that I'm talking about. They 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:13.400 constructed one thousand pound bomb and they plan to deliver 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:15.839 it to a casino so that way the father could 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:17.960 demand a king's ransom. It it will all make sense 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:19.719 in a second. But you know how they say the 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:22.760 house always wins, Well, not this time, said the father 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:26.560 to his son's Elizabeth. Get ready, this story is a black. 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:47.760 I'm so ready. 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:53.039 This is ridiculous Crime, A podcast about absurd and outrageous capers, 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:56.480 heists and cons. It's always ninety nine percent murder free 0:05:56.600 --> 0:06:05.160 and one ridiculous burger. Tini, you stop, Elizabeth, Yeah, what's up? 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:05.880 I think? 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:09.440 Hold on a burger tini also makes it sounds like 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:11.680 if you used hamburger buns as. 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:12.360 A bikini top. 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:17.160 Can you imagine a burger dackery a fruit look of 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:19.720 fruit juice and ice and blended together. 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:21.919 And then you put the burg in a bread bowl. 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:23.960 I'm going to stop right now. Okay, the year was 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:28.120 nineteen eighty. This crime took place in your peak California, 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:31.479 the waning days of it. But Elizabeth, just for edification, 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:33.839 how would you describe or define or just you know, 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:36.920 associate free associate on the idea of peak California. 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:42.640 Peak California is the embodiment of California from like say, 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:48.000 the mid sixties until the early eighties. And it's it's 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:50.960 a best version of that. It's sun dappled, it's not 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:58.320 as crowded. It's uh forward thinking in uh the art 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:01.719 and the music. And yet there's a sinister overtone to it. 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:04.640 So would Harold and Maud fit Well in yeah this, Yeah, 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:07.239 you know it takes place in San Francisco or the Bay. 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:12.640 Area Sunset magazine of the age. It is perfect iteration 0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:12.960 of that. 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:15.120 All right, I'm starting to I think I feel this, But. 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:19.200 It's like the rolling kind of dry hills and like 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:23.080 I said, sundappled kid's delinquents on surfboards. 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:26.280 Oh I like this, like that. Okay, so this story 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:29.720 takes place deep in your peak, California. Nice, I'd like 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:32.320 to take you back to Lake Tahoe in nineteen eighty 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:34.960 Oh yes, right now. It's the end of summer, the 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:38.880 last days of August. Specifically, we are at South Lake Tahoe. 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:43.160 We are at a place called the Balahoe Motel. If 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:46.160 you were there that night, or rather the early morning 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:50.400 hours of August twenty sixth, nineteen eighty, you, Elizabeth Dutton, 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:53.960 would have spotted three men leaving their motel room. These 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:56.080 three men were dressed in blue coveralls. You probably wouldn't 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:58.400 have looked twice at them because they look like workers 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:00.400 headed out to get an early start off the day, 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:02.600 and there's a lot of that in South Shore. Now. 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:04.360 The men they open the doors of their white van, 0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:06.560 just an industrial van. Once again, you probably not could 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:08.600 pay attention, but you're nosy, so you do, and they 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:10.400 climb in. They head off to the purple light of 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:13.960 just before dawn. They drive into a town called state Line, Nevada. 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:15.040 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:17.560 The California Nevada border in the mountains is home to 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:22.200 a clutch of casinos. Not great casinos, but casinos. Now 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:25.200 there's Frank Sinatra's place, the cal Neva, right, We've talked 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:28.920 about that, but Frank Sinatra Junior. There's Harrah's Lake Tahoe, 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.120 which used to always be on the ads when and 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:33.320 the billboards when I was a boy. Oh yeah, the 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:38.040 Johnasquagga's Golden Nuggetqua Nugget Man. Then there's a spot that 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:40.240 I'm gonna be talking about today, Harvey's Casino. 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:41.920 Oh okay, yeah, yeah, that's where the. 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:44.000 White van pulls up. The three men they climb out 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:45.920 the wheel, out a box. It's about the size of 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:48.680 a copy machine, and you go. If you were able 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:50.720 to still see this, but you know you can't because 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:54.400 it's just these events are playing out, Elizabeth. They pushed 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:56.840 the s box through a side entrance into the casino. 0:08:57.080 --> 0:08:58.920 The men in their coveralls, they look like delivery men, 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:01.679 as I've told you, workers whatever. You know, their presence 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:04.960 once again unquestioned, even in the casino. They're at roughly 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:08.480 four am. In fact, the security guard working that morning, 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:10.680 he held open the door for them He's like, oh yeah, 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:12.360 come on in, guys. He knew that, you know, you 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:14.560 gotta do the casino's business. And that's when it's done, 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:16.280 is early in the morning, when there's no real you know, 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:18.600 roobs around to get in the way. So the printer 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:21.040 sized box that they wheel into the casino has a 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:23.000 slip cover on it. This is to hide its true 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:27.400 purpose on the slip cover with three letters ibm oh. 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:31.320 New fangled technology must be something for car I don't know. Yeah, 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.959 nineteen eighty that meant you know, I don't know, computer 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:37.320 counting device. It didn't mean what we think, but back 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:39.680 then it meant big business. Now exactly the sort of 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:42.400 thing that workmen would deliver to a casino at four am. 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:46.520 So three workmen, they're guiding their machine to a service elevator. 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:49.080 They take it up, the doors closed, the men hits 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:52.360 number two, the elevator rises, the doors slide back open, 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:54.160 and boom. Now on the second floor. The three men 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:56.680 they wheel their machine through the empty second floor of 0:09:56.679 --> 0:10:00.480 executive office. Elizabeth, you are in Harvey's at five the morning, 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:03.760 basically at four thirty whatever, and so there's nobody, no 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:06.920 executives there, But they find an office with an open door, 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:09.760 and they wheel the machine inside. The mastermind of this 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:14.360 group of three he glues toothpicks into the doorway. Why toothpicks? 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:15.240 Wow, my toothpick. 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:18.560 This was to prevent some you know, Schlamiel walking heavy 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:21.160 footed into the office. Right, They didn't want anybody, So 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:23.720 the toothpicks he touches. Oh, even through like normal shoes 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.599 and like hard leather soles, you'd still notice the toothpicks. 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:29.520 I guess whatever, you know, it's his plan anyway. The 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:34.280 mastermind he primes his machine. He arms the eight different 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:37.559 triggering devices inside the machine, as I said, was a 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:41.280 one thousand pounds of dynamite. The bomb is now set. 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:44.120 The three delivery men walk out of the casino office. 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:46.560 They ride the elevator back down to the casino floor 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:49.079 and they call me walk back to their van. They 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:51.280 pile into the white van and disappear into the purple 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:53.800 of morning. A perfect crime, right, Elizabeth. 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:59.080 Thousand pounds? Yes, So they're rolling around half ton of explosives. 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:02.520 Wow, and it was all like hair. We're moving very 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:06.480 carefully because the balances. Yeah, it'll come into play later on, 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:09.480 it matters. Right, we're twenty minutes after these men leave. 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.120 A slot manager. He's just working the floor. He's got 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:13.839 to take up, you know, whatever they've been able to 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:17.000 vacuum out of the suckers in the midnight hours. Right, 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:19.760 he's working the graveyard shift. This is not primo, but 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:22.280 he's like, we made some chains, let me take it upstairs. 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:24.760 Goes up to the second floor. He notices these toothpicks 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:26.040 that I told you about, and he's like, oh, what's 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:28.600 up with that. Then he notices that somebody has tampered 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:30.880 with the door locks. He's like that suspicious as all hell. 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:33.560 Then he sees the machine sitting there in the middle 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:35.800 of this office and he's like that shouldn't be there. 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:39.000 It's all alone and silent and eerie looking. So he 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:41.640 contacts casino management because he's basically a pit boss. So 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:43.480 he's like, I gotta tell somebody else. I'm not dealing 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:46.360 with this. Then they come in, they see what he saw, 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:49.560 and they're like, contact the police. So they immediately contact 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:52.320 the police. The police, right, they're followed shortly by agents 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:57.559 from where Elizabeth the FBI's Carson City field office now 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:01.000 left for the authorities. Was an envelope inside of it 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:04.920 was a note from said mastermind. The note was three 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:08.800 pages long. It was it was more to the point. 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:10.640 It wasn't like one of these rambling like I'm gonna 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:13.280 talk about Jane Fonda what she's been doing to the boys. No, 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:16.320 nothing like. He sticks to the point, right. He warned 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:20.720 police to use serious caution. Now I'll read a couple 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:22.840 of lines from they, just to give you a flavor 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:25.200 of his note. He said, do not move or tilt 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:28.120 this bomb because the mechanism controlling the detonators in it 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:30.120 will set it off at a movement of less than 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:33.480 point zero one of the open end Richter scale. We're 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:36.439 talking real engineer here, Yeah, right now, don't. He also 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:39.599 said don't try to flood or gas the bomb. So 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:41.120 apparently he knows what they able to try to do, 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:43.040 and he's like, no, I prepared for it. Because there 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:46.480 is a float switch and an atmospheric pressure switch set 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:50.160 at twenty six to thirty three. Both are attached to detonators. 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:51.800 I think he's full of it, but go on. 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:54.760 Yeah, now he tells for people like you, don't try 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:57.880 to take it apart. The flathead screws are also attached 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:00.320 to triggers and as much as one quarter to three 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:04.640 quarters of a turn will cause an explosion. In other words, 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:07.320 this bomb is so sensitive that the slightest movement, either 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:10.040 inside or outside, will cause it to explode. This bomb 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:13.440 can never be dismantled or disarmed without causing an explosion, 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:16.679 not even by the creator, which was him. Only by 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:18.839 proper instruction, can be moved to a safe place where 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:22.160 it can be deliberately exploded, or where the third automatic 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:25.000 timer can be allowed to detonate it. He's got eight 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:29.440 triggers now, and he continues, there are three automatic timers, 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:33.360 each set for three different explosion times. Things is a 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:35.679 wild card. The bomb has three different timers set to 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:38.480 three different random times he selected. Okay, and he doesn't 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:39.280 mention what they are. 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:41.319 Yeah, but I mean like if one goes off, then 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:42.800 like bo so long the other two? 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:44.679 Oh yeah, yeah, So he just has them. 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:46.040 So why the three? 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:49.240 Well we'll get into that. Only if you comply with 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:51.599 the instructions in this letter will you be given instructions 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:54.960 on how to disconnect the first two automatic timers and 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:56.760 how to move the bomb to a place where it 0:13:56.760 --> 0:14:00.600 can be exploded safely with the third timers. The third 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:03.680 timer still with the two. Yeah, so this dude's made 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:05.880 one hell of a bomb, right, Yeah, what do you do? 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:09.240 But I forgot. There was another stern warning that he 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:14.199 had added, I repeat, do not try to move disarmor 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:19.120 enter this bomb. It will explode if exploded. This bomb 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:23.240 contains enough TNT to severely damage Harrah's across the street. 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:25.280 This should give you some idea of the amount of 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:28.680 TNT contained within this box. It is full of TNT. 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:31.440 It is our advice to cordon off a minimum of 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:34.000 twelve hundred feet radius and remove all the people from 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:36.520 that area. The note also had a demand, because you 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:39.359 were like, what is he doingore? Yeah, three million dollars 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:42.920 cash on the barrelhead. They must be unmarked, unbugged, and 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:45.880 chemically untreated. If we find anything wrong with the money, 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:49.120 we will stop all instructions for removing the bomb. The note 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:51.640 ended with two pithy words which hinted at the bomber 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:56.440 sense of humor, happy landing. This is actually it's not 0:14:56.440 --> 0:14:58.240 about the bomb exploding you into the air. This is 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:01.280 more about the helicopter that he has. Is also part 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:03.680 of his note. We'll get into later. Anyway. After they 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:06.240 finished reading the note, the gathered FBI field agents, the 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:09.280 local police, sheriffs, whatnot. They had a vague sense of 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:11.880 what they were dealing with. A comic book style villain. 0:15:12.200 --> 0:15:15.400 H wow, this guy's on full tilt. He had built 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:17.560 on his own one of the most ingenious bombs they'd 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:21.200 ever faced. FBI was like, who, we're gonna need to 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:23.840 get in the good bomb squad, No offense, Carson Field office. 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:28.080 So retired FBI special agent Chris Rone. He recalled, we 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:31.080 had never seen anything quite like it. So he's like 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:33.360 one of the explosive experts. He's called up the second 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:36.120 floor of Harvey's Casino. The first steps of these guys 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:38.880 take their standard right, So the bomb is photographed from 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:40.680 the outside. It's X ray so they can see on 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:43.840 the inside. It was dusted for fingerprints. After all of that, 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:46.840 the FBI experts had learned almost nothing. They knew that 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.080 there was two boxes inside of the box. That's what 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:51.040 they got out of it. Like, okay, we see there's 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:54.240 two boxes. So now Rene would later he would tell 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:58.520 Sacramento's KCRA Channel three, Elizabeth, Yes, they did a documentary 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:05.000 on this, like a local documentary. Vocals you would I 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:07.840 should have saved it for you anyway, they said in 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:11.160 Wonder Person. But Rone said in the documentary the FBI 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:14.320 Special Agent, he said, quote, this device was a pretty sophisticated, 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:17.560 quite complicated piece of machinery, unlike anything we've seen before, 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:21.800 anybody in the bomb disposal business had ever seen before. Wow. 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:23.880 So this guy knocked it out of the box first time. 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:28.840 He's like, boom, I made Look at you, so shout 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:31.600 out ca Cira anyway, FBI special field Agent. He later 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:33.840 concluded that what we know about it afterwards is that 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:37.600 it was virtually undefeatable. There was a very simple reason 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:39.440 for that. As I told you, there was the eight 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:42.920 fusing systems. So yeah, So then the FBI was like, 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:45.560 we need to bring our a game. What's reconvene and 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:48.720 if we could we take a commercial break since we can, 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:51.320 let's do that and we'll be right back after this 0:16:51.520 --> 0:17:15.160 with some boom boom, and we're back. Elizabeth, You're ready, 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:19.200 you buckled up, buttercut. Okay, So let's get into the team. 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:21.359 The FBI, as I told you, they had a bunch 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:24.160 of field agents. They were led by a very special agent. 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:27.520 That's his name, Special Agent William, Special Agent, Special Agent 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:32.199 William junkie. Now I think it's junky. It's spelled j 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:35.280 O n k e y, like donkey with a J. 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:38.880 He's junky. Maybe it's like a Junk's no, he's a junky. 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:40.240 But I like Bill Junky. 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:46.320 It's such a it's a mashup. It's like Chunky Junkie, you. 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:51.520 Know, Chunky Donkey Monkey. Basically Jones and Monkey had a baby. Anyway, 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:55.400 face with a bomb. His experts said to Will Bill 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:58.920 Junky is it seems damn near impossible. Bill, We don't 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:01.040 know what to do, and so he's, okay, let me 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:03.639 contact the owner of Harvey's and give him the bad news. 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:07.159 So he tells him the FBI special agent. He recommends 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:09.160 that the owner and the guy's name is Harvey Gross. 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:11.679 He damned the place after himself, but he decided not 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:14.560 to call it Gross's, so he called it Harvey's. Good choice. 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:17.320 So he's like, there, hey, Harvey, you probably want to 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:19.600 arrange to pay the ransom. We have no idea what 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:22.000 to do with this bomb. He's like bomb. He's like, oh, yeah, 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.240 by the way, there's a bomb in your casino and 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:26.640 then there's a ransom request. I should reverse the order 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:29.399 on that anyway. I'm way down the road to Harvey anyway. 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:31.800 So the ransom, they're like, don don't worry, it won't 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:34.159 be your money. We're gonna fake the ransom. And he's like, 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.360 I like him. Where you're headed to that? So tell 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:38.520 me more. So Harvey and the FBI they got together. 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:42.880 They decided, okay, we'll do the exchange. According to the 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:45.040 he's got a three page letter here that Harvey. Do 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:46.760 you want to read it? We've gone over it. You know. 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:50.120 In here there's a whole thing about the helicopter. Harvey's like, okay, helicopter. 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:52.159 My Helicopter's like, yeah, you're a helicopter. Has to be 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:54.880 your helicopter, my private helicopter. Yeah, he knows you got 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:57.639 a helicopter. Okay, fine, my helicopter it is. But I 0:18:57.640 --> 0:18:59.159 don't want to know. Don't worry about I'm not going 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:00.880 to send you out there to meet this guy so quick. 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:02.760 Thank god, what are we going to do. We're sending 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:05.359 FBI guys in your chopper. And he's like really, He's like, 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:07.520 we do this all the time. We love this move. 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:10.560 As we can cover, we can attest they love this move. 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:12.639 But again, I know, I feel like I've said this 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:13.920 on here. Maybe it was just. 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:16.560 Talking to myself while pretending not to watch TV in 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:19.920 my living room, But has it ever worked out like 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:22.960 where someone takes a hostage or does something. In this case, 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:26.199 he is holding the entire operation hostage, but then to 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:28.399 say I want a helicopter and I want them to 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:31.080 take in modern time, yeah, he used. 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:33.399 To work out when they used to negotiate with terrorists 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:36.520 and who had hostages. So in the seventies and up, 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:38.600 and we're in the period that this is still weather 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:43.480 viable negotiation tactic. They now we have kind of flipped 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:45.960 a needle to we don't negotiate with terrorists and we're 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:47.600 just going to like turn the guns on you or whatever, 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:49.280 and like, you know, pray for the people you're holding. 0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:51.159 Do they really think they get into a helicopter and 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:51.680 get away. 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:56.600 They did not. They didn't. They they did, they didn't. 0:19:56.600 --> 0:19:58.720 It's kind of hard to explain. Uh, Harold, I'll just 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:02.680 get into it. Sorry, no, no, no, no, no no. Basically, the FBI guys 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:04.760 were like, look, we're gonna fake the exchange. We'll use 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:06.680 some real flash money. We'll put that on top in 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:09.199 the briefcase. Most of it will just be this fake money. 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:11.399 Harvey Grosser is like, you guys got fake money. He's like, 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:12.880 can I see? It's like, oh yeah, it's great, you'll 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:15.199 love it. It's green, it passes a cursory, you know, 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:17.720 visual inspection. He's like, oh, that's amazing. So yeah, the 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:19.760 whole plan is we'll fly over there, we'll do the exchange, 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:21.879 and I we'll just grab him. He's like, okay, it 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:24.919 seems like it could work. So they thought, well, you know, 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:27.159 if he doesn't work, it'll still buy us time to 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:29.800 try to beat this unbeatable bomb. He's like, okay, I 0:20:29.840 --> 0:20:31.399 got it. So you need to work both sides of 0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:34.800 this one. So Harvey gross he tells the FBI, I'm down. 0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:38.640 Let's go play catch him and maybe buy some time. Anyway, 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:42.080 he contacts the bomber and he arranges the payoff in exchange, 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:45.119 you know, for the money, he'll get instructions or how 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:47.199 to turn the bomb off or how to diffuse it 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:51.240 rather using technical term. Meanwhile, FBI agents they spring at action. 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:54.159 They set up a sting operation. Right, so this is 0:20:54.160 --> 0:20:58.160 where things start to get ridiculous. Now, the mastermind, remember 0:20:58.240 --> 0:21:00.600 I told you, he construct an absolute banger of a bomb. 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:03.919 But that's where his team really excelled. The rest of 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:07.960 it they were pathetic. They were really subpar criminals other 0:21:08.000 --> 0:21:10.840 than the bomb making. So on paper their planned bang 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:13.600 up look great, right. But in his note the Mastermind, 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:15.879 he has told you he left explicit instructions for the 0:21:15.960 --> 0:21:19.280 rants of exchange. He basically said, and I quote, the 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:21.960 money is to be delivered by helicopter. The helicopter pilot 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:23.800 is to park at twenty three hundred hours as close 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:26.479 as possible to the LTA building by the light at 0:21:26.480 --> 0:21:29.919 the Lake Tahoe Airports LTA, Lake Tahoe Airport. It is 0:21:30.000 --> 0:21:32.760 to face the east. The pilot has to be alone 0:21:32.840 --> 0:21:35.200 and unarmed. The pilot is to get out and stand 0:21:35.200 --> 0:21:37.400 by the chain link fence gate. He is to wait 0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:40.040 for further instructions, which will be delivered by a taxi 0:21:40.119 --> 0:21:42.240 that will be hired. Don't worry about the driver will 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:45.840 pay them anyway. They noticed that will be hired. The 0:21:45.960 --> 0:21:47.919 driver will know nothing. So that's the point is like, 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:49.960 it's not one of us. So they may also be 0:21:50.000 --> 0:21:53.399 delivered by a private individual or through the nearby public 0:21:53.440 --> 0:21:57.560 phone at exactly ten minutes after midnight, So one of 0:21:57.600 --> 0:21:58.960 these three things will occur. We go. 0:21:59.200 --> 0:22:01.440 You can tell you what question one of three. 0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:04.200 Exactly big on three. You may have a thing about that. Anyway, 0:22:04.520 --> 0:22:08.080 at ten past midnight, the pilot will receive instructions about 0:22:08.119 --> 0:22:10.560 where to do and what to do. I think they 0:22:10.560 --> 0:22:12.600 mean where to go. So there's a typo in any way, 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:16.000 whatever I'm reading it as is, before the pilot enters 0:22:16.000 --> 0:22:18.480 the helicopter, he has to take a strong flashlight and 0:22:18.520 --> 0:22:20.679 shine it around inside of the helicopter so that it 0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:23.240 will light up the entire inside. We must be able 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:25.840 to see it from a distance with binoculars. We want 0:22:25.880 --> 0:22:28.000 to be able to see that everything that is inside 0:22:28.040 --> 0:22:29.720 the helicopter so that we can be sure there is 0:22:29.720 --> 0:22:33.760 no one hiding inside and there is no contraband inside. Wow, 0:22:33.800 --> 0:22:37.600 it's like eleven year olds came up with a strong flashlight. 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:39.240 It's like that. 0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:42.000 Well, they want that giant flashlight that I have that's 0:22:42.080 --> 0:22:43.320 like ten thousand lumens. 0:22:43.359 --> 0:22:46.200 Yeah, the thing you can use to like battle the luxar. 0:22:45.960 --> 0:22:48.040 And yeah, you can light the whole street. 0:22:48.160 --> 0:22:51.800 Let me see what you got, luxar. How about this? Anyway, 0:22:51.840 --> 0:22:54.280 FBI they do it's destructive. The bureau they arrange his 0:22:54.359 --> 0:22:57.119 hand off the Mastermind and his henchmen. They agreed to 0:22:57.160 --> 0:23:00.240 do the exchange. They had some other warnington stipulations should 0:23:00.240 --> 0:23:02.680 probably get into. For instance, he said, remember that even 0:23:02.720 --> 0:23:06.159 a very small earthquake will detonate the bomb, So do 0:23:06.280 --> 0:23:08.679 not try to delay to the delivery of the money. 0:23:08.840 --> 0:23:09.880 Do not have an earthquake. 0:23:09.960 --> 0:23:12.040 Ye, they're now using earthquakes as part of their threat. 0:23:12.080 --> 0:23:15.000 You gotta love that. I mean, that's that's Hutspa. So 0:23:15.119 --> 0:23:17.320 any hopes of capturing him at the exchange, he once 0:23:17.320 --> 0:23:19.840 again he said, quote the designer of this bomb will 0:23:19.880 --> 0:23:22.840 not participate in the exchange, so will be completely useless 0:23:22.840 --> 0:23:26.200 to apprehend any person making the exchange because they will 0:23:26.200 --> 0:23:28.920 not know how it works. They perform their duty for reward. 0:23:29.400 --> 0:23:31.760 So and he had one final warning, just in case 0:23:31.880 --> 0:23:34.199 you did not believe him on all the above, and 0:23:34.240 --> 0:23:36.320 a final word of warning, do not try to be 0:23:36.359 --> 0:23:39.280 a hero. Arlington is full of them, and they can't 0:23:39.320 --> 0:23:44.200 even smell the flowers. Oh my god, ice right and 0:23:44.280 --> 0:23:46.600 being like oh, like, oh, I'm a Bond villain to. 0:23:46.680 --> 0:23:50.000 Like shine the light in the helicopter. Ps, yeah, here's 0:23:50.000 --> 0:23:50.520 something dark. 0:23:50.520 --> 0:23:53.960 I'm dropping bars like Tupac I'm like, damn bar oh okay. Anyway, 0:23:54.000 --> 0:23:56.639 the Mastermind's plan was set in motion. It seemed like 0:23:56.680 --> 0:23:59.840 the FBI had responded, everything's going according to plant, and 0:24:00.119 --> 0:24:02.960 as I told you, everything get ridiculous. It went sideways. 0:24:03.000 --> 0:24:06.280 How Why well, Elizabeth, here's why. It was a family job. 0:24:07.240 --> 0:24:09.919 The brilliant Mastermind had made a fatal mistake in planning 0:24:09.920 --> 0:24:13.240 his brilliant operation. He worked with his sons. The FBI 0:24:13.280 --> 0:24:15.800 ignored his instructions, and they'd always planned on capturing about 0:24:15.840 --> 0:24:18.199 the exchange. That didn't matter because the payoff, you know, 0:24:18.200 --> 0:24:19.880 as I said, it was supposed to be delivered by 0:24:20.240 --> 0:24:23.359 Harvey Gross's personal chopper. The FBI pilot was gonna be 0:24:23.359 --> 0:24:25.800 at the stick. Whatever the suitcase. They had the money, 0:24:26.000 --> 0:24:28.400 they had real cover bills for the flash. Everything would 0:24:28.400 --> 0:24:30.760 be good. But the FBI agents had forgotten that the 0:24:30.800 --> 0:24:33.560 person they're dealing with was an idiot. So they landed 0:24:33.560 --> 0:24:36.760 at the Lake Tahoe Airport. They landed as instructed, near 0:24:36.760 --> 0:24:39.240 a telephone booth. The phone rings. That part goes off 0:24:39.240 --> 0:24:42.480 without a hitch. Mastermind tells the chopper pilot fly to Plasterville, 0:24:42.520 --> 0:24:44.159 and he's like, uh, okay, I know where that is 0:24:44.800 --> 0:24:47.560 he'd like that in the hills to the west of Change. Yeah, 0:24:47.600 --> 0:24:50.080 exactly down by west of Tahoe for those who don't know, 0:24:50.480 --> 0:24:53.440 is in these nice rolling hills. So at a specific 0:24:53.480 --> 0:24:55.719 compass point, the chopper is supposed to land at a 0:24:55.760 --> 0:24:58.960 flashing red beacon. The chopper pilot did as told, flew 0:24:59.000 --> 0:25:02.280 to Plastererville. He lined up this specific compass punk and 0:25:02.280 --> 0:25:07.200 then he looked, but there was no beacon. Why because 0:25:07.240 --> 0:25:09.680 the mastermind and his son had left the twelve old 0:25:09.720 --> 0:25:11.680 battery for the beacon back in Fresno. 0:25:12.000 --> 0:25:12.880 Stop. 0:25:13.320 --> 0:25:18.280 But don't worry, Elizabeth. They discovered big, big square battery 0:25:18.320 --> 0:25:20.800 with the coils on top. So they discovered their mistake 0:25:20.880 --> 0:25:24.400 on the way to the ransom exchange in Placerville from Fresno. 0:25:24.680 --> 0:25:28.520 So they were like, can you imagine the fight between 0:25:28.520 --> 0:25:32.280 father and son the battery. You forgot the battery. So 0:25:32.320 --> 0:25:34.240 they decided, you know, after a lot of shouting, that 0:25:34.280 --> 0:25:36.120 they still had time to go buy a new twelve 0:25:36.160 --> 0:25:38.600 old battery. So they you know, the Colmheads will win 0:25:38.600 --> 0:25:40.600 the day, Elizabeth. They don't lose the sight of the 0:25:40.600 --> 0:25:43.439 gold baby. We got three million dollars on the line, boys. 0:25:43.920 --> 0:25:47.400 So the Colmheads were not the actual case of the day, Elizabeth, 0:25:47.440 --> 0:25:49.560 because these guys with the father and son team, because 0:25:49.600 --> 0:25:51.919 it's just a father and son, not both sons for 0:25:52.000 --> 0:25:54.320 this drive. So one of his sons and the father 0:25:55.119 --> 0:25:57.000 they went to go buy the new battery. They stopped 0:25:57.000 --> 0:25:58.960 in Plaiserville. They thought, you know, there's got to be 0:25:58.960 --> 0:26:01.520 an auto parts story. They find an auto part store. 0:26:01.600 --> 0:26:04.280 There is one in Plasterville. They're stoked. They go to 0:26:04.400 --> 0:26:09.360 Oh O'Reilly and they get into a loud, shouting argument 0:26:09.400 --> 0:26:12.840 with the salesman at the autoparts store. What yes, he 0:26:12.920 --> 0:26:14.960 keeps trying to sell them a battery for the Volvo 0:26:15.040 --> 0:26:17.520 that they clearly drove up and parked, and they were like, no, no, 0:26:17.560 --> 0:26:19.520 we need this other twelve old battery, and he's like, 0:26:19.560 --> 0:26:21.520 don't you need a car battery? And they're arguing back 0:26:21.520 --> 0:26:22.920 and forth and he keeps trying to give him the 0:26:22.960 --> 0:26:25.479 battery for the Volvo. So they fought about it. They 0:26:25.520 --> 0:26:27.800 get loud, and. 0:26:27.119 --> 0:26:29.200 Eventually that will make you memorable. 0:26:29.359 --> 0:26:32.480 Eventually things calm down. The father and son they actually 0:26:32.480 --> 0:26:34.240 get to buy the battery from the salesman. 0:26:34.280 --> 0:26:37.160 Like you can kid, You're like, no, I don't need 0:26:37.160 --> 0:26:39.080 it for my car. But you need it for your car. 0:26:39.280 --> 0:26:44.560 No, exactly, two memorable guys. So now they get back 0:26:44.600 --> 0:26:47.199 to the meadow, but the FBI's chopper is coming gone, 0:26:47.320 --> 0:26:51.160 So they missed the chopper. So Mastermind and Son miss 0:26:51.160 --> 0:26:53.359 their payoff of three million dollars. But really what they 0:26:53.400 --> 0:26:56.520 missed was getting busted in a meadow. That's what they missed. 0:26:56.920 --> 0:27:00.600 So meanwhile, the FBI, the Sheriff's department, the local im squad, 0:27:00.880 --> 0:27:02.639 Harvey Gross, they all get together like, what do you 0:27:02.640 --> 0:27:04.399 mean they missed the payoff? They weren't there, and you 0:27:04.400 --> 0:27:05.879 think this is part of their plan? What's going on? 0:27:05.880 --> 0:27:07.680 They don't know what to do. I's like, don't worry, 0:27:07.680 --> 0:27:09.600 don't worry, let's move on to Plan B. Harvey Gross 0:27:09.600 --> 0:27:11.080 is like, what's the Plan B? They're like, Plan B 0:27:11.240 --> 0:27:14.520 is let's blow the bomb up ourselves. He's like, I 0:27:14.560 --> 0:27:17.440 don't know about this plan being in my casino. Guys, 0:27:17.440 --> 0:27:19.080 what are you talking about? Are you going to agree 0:27:19.080 --> 0:27:20.560 we're gonna move it? No, we can't move it. 0:27:20.600 --> 0:27:22.479 And the harrows across the street. He's like, yeah, can 0:27:22.520 --> 0:27:23.120 we have a word yet? 0:27:23.200 --> 0:27:27.399 No, who' said? I heard ourselves? So okay. So the 0:27:27.440 --> 0:27:30.280 owner of the chopper and Harvey Gross he's in a bind. 0:27:30.680 --> 0:27:32.680 He's got the FBI guys going, we also want to 0:27:32.680 --> 0:27:35.480 blow this up. So he's like, my my beloved money 0:27:35.480 --> 0:27:39.200 printing machine, my casino is at risk. So his casino 0:27:39.280 --> 0:27:41.439 has a bomb big enough in it to blow up 0:27:41.480 --> 0:27:45.040 neighboring casinos, right exactly. So he's like, okay, guys, well 0:27:45.680 --> 0:27:47.480 tell me about this. Let's blow it up plan Like, 0:27:47.520 --> 0:27:49.240 how are you going to blow up a bomb? I 0:27:49.240 --> 0:27:52.000 don't even understand that. They're like, okay, well, don't worry 0:27:52.000 --> 0:27:53.640 about it. We I told you. We did the X ray. 0:27:53.640 --> 0:27:56.120 We saw there's a box on a box. He's like, okay, 0:27:56.240 --> 0:27:58.520 was there a Plan C? But before we get into 0:27:58.520 --> 0:28:00.680 this box on a box, he's like, yeah, yeah, we 0:28:00.760 --> 0:28:02.600 don't have a plant C. Is anyone working on a 0:28:02.640 --> 0:28:04.879 plant sy? No, there is no plantcy, just Plan B 0:28:04.880 --> 0:28:08.680 blow up the bomb. Okay. So now, Harvey, you have 0:28:08.720 --> 0:28:11.840 to understand he's had this casino since nineteen forty four. 0:28:12.000 --> 0:28:13.880 We're in nineteen eighty. This is not like a new 0:28:14.160 --> 0:28:16.800 un out of Lark. He started this thing in the 0:28:16.840 --> 0:28:19.879 war years, just a simple cabin and a blackjack table 0:28:20.040 --> 0:28:22.320 and a dream and a couple of one arm bandits 0:28:23.400 --> 0:28:24.120 slot machines. 0:28:24.280 --> 0:28:25.280 No, not slot machines. 0:28:25.280 --> 0:28:27.439 It's just a couple of one arm bandits. Those are 0:28:27.480 --> 0:28:30.359 for the rubes and the board and the snowbound in 0:28:30.400 --> 0:28:35.639 the winter centries. Yeah, exactly, No, Harvey. He builds us 0:28:35.720 --> 0:28:38.560 up into Harvey's casino. It's one of the great gambling 0:28:38.600 --> 0:28:41.520 houses on beautiful Lake Tahoe. I mean, yeah, he's living 0:28:41.560 --> 0:28:43.080 the dream. The f guy's like, we want to blow 0:28:43.120 --> 0:28:46.080 it all up, and he's like, I really have hesitations, guys, 0:28:46.720 --> 0:28:49.440 so they're no, they promise him bomb Squad's great. These 0:28:49.440 --> 0:28:52.000 guys bang up job. I'm sorry, they do a great job. 0:28:52.040 --> 0:28:54.520 I'll stop saying that. Harvey's like, can we just what 0:28:54.680 --> 0:28:56.680 is this plan? Like, what are you like? Okay, Harvey, 0:28:56.680 --> 0:28:58.520 you ever heard of C four? And he's like, yeah, 0:28:58.560 --> 0:29:00.960 I've heard a C four. It's a good military uses it. 0:29:01.280 --> 0:29:03.720 Yeah exactly, we got some of that stuff too. We're 0:29:03.760 --> 0:29:05.880 gonna put that on the bomb and it's a shape 0:29:05.920 --> 0:29:08.760 charge and we're just gonna try to blow the fuse, 0:29:09.000 --> 0:29:11.600 like you know, right off. The triggering mechanism is gonna 0:29:11.600 --> 0:29:14.120 blow that right off the bomb. He's like, you're gonna 0:29:14.120 --> 0:29:17.360 blow the bomb apart? Yeah? Yeah, that's the idea. So 0:29:17.760 --> 0:29:20.320 at this point, it's August twenty seventh, nineteen eighty, on 0:29:20.320 --> 0:29:22.640 the second floor of Harvey Casino. We have the bomb 0:29:22.720 --> 0:29:25.120 with the eight triggers that are impossible to diffuse, and 0:29:25.240 --> 0:29:27.880 the FBI is ready to go to it, right, So 0:29:27.960 --> 0:29:30.600 they call this a render safe plan and actually have 0:29:30.640 --> 0:29:33.240 the gall to call it that anyway. So the Mastermind, 0:29:33.240 --> 0:29:34.920 he was in a generous mood. He wanted to give 0:29:34.960 --> 0:29:36.960 the FBI a little more time to negotiate after he 0:29:37.000 --> 0:29:40.040 missed his payoffs. He's like, hey, guys, is me the Mastermind? 0:29:40.480 --> 0:29:42.920 So I missed you. I wanted to see who get 0:29:43.000 --> 0:29:45.520 set up a little meat and greet. So he's like, 0:29:45.560 --> 0:29:48.480 after that whole helicopter debacle, let's do a little simpler plan. 0:29:48.600 --> 0:29:50.120 Let's just talk about how you guys can get to 0:29:50.120 --> 0:29:51.600 me the money, you know, Let's do a do over. 0:29:51.720 --> 0:29:54.200 You guys cool. They're like yeah, yeah, they're just at 0:29:54.240 --> 0:29:56.760 this point they're just stalling, right. So the Mastermind he 0:29:56.800 --> 0:29:59.400 instructed the FBI field agents and the bomb squad. Guys. 0:29:59.440 --> 0:30:01.920 He's like, here, if you guys, you're about to have 0:30:01.960 --> 0:30:04.080 an imminent explosion. One of the first triggers is going 0:30:04.120 --> 0:30:06.560 to go off. So here's how to diffuse trigger one. 0:30:06.640 --> 0:30:08.720 So he tells them that buys them some more time. 0:30:08.760 --> 0:30:10.760 They're like, this guy's are right, it's kind of reasonable, right. 0:30:11.160 --> 0:30:14.160 So one of the agents FI field agents they recalled 0:30:14.200 --> 0:30:16.040 and I quote, they told us to hit switch number 0:30:16.040 --> 0:30:18.200 five and that would give us additional time. They're like, yeah, 0:30:18.240 --> 0:30:20.520 that guy's decent, right. There was one problem with that. 0:30:20.560 --> 0:30:23.600 Elizabeth the agent also said, and I quote, I couldn't 0:30:23.640 --> 0:30:29.200 find any volunteers willing to flip switch number five. Meanwhile, 0:30:29.240 --> 0:30:31.680 the FBI guys are all busy going, I'll work on 0:30:31.760 --> 0:30:34.520 a crowd control. They're all outside the building, right, So 0:30:34.800 --> 0:30:38.280 Harvey's casino guests have been safely huddled into nearby White 0:30:38.360 --> 0:30:40.480 Hole High School. So they're like, they got all the 0:30:40.480 --> 0:30:42.160 guests from the casino in the high school. There's like 0:30:42.160 --> 0:30:44.040 two hundred and fifty rooms in the in the casino, 0:30:44.400 --> 0:30:46.840 so the crowd is also big because it's a Labor 0:30:46.920 --> 0:30:49.800 Day holiday, so the employees are also there from the 0:30:49.840 --> 0:30:53.440 evacuated hotel, so they're all gathered from about three different hotels. 0:30:53.680 --> 0:30:55.680 They got all the local cops to bomb squad, and 0:30:55.720 --> 0:30:58.480 then just a local you know, lookie loose, and there's 0:30:58.560 --> 0:31:00.880 a plenty of discussion about how this is all gonna work. 0:31:00.960 --> 0:31:02.920 If it would work, most of the folks they expect 0:31:02.920 --> 0:31:05.680 a good show. So let's take you there now, Elizabeth. 0:31:05.760 --> 0:31:07.200 I'd like to close your eyes. 0:31:07.000 --> 0:31:08.960 And picture it as it's. 0:31:08.880 --> 0:31:11.560 A surprisingly warm day in late August. Here at the 0:31:11.600 --> 0:31:14.960 shores of South Lake Tidle. You're just over the California border, 0:31:15.040 --> 0:31:18.240 currently in state Line, Nevada. The Mercury is hovering near 0:31:18.280 --> 0:31:21.600 eighty degrees. You are thankful for the tiny umbrella that's 0:31:21.640 --> 0:31:24.400 part of your hot dog stand. That's right, I said it, 0:31:24.480 --> 0:31:27.480 your hot dog stand, Elizabeth. You are slanging Sonoran hot 0:31:27.480 --> 0:31:30.160 dogs from a one woman hot dog push cart. Yes, 0:31:30.400 --> 0:31:33.560 the rainbow striped umbrella serves two purposes. It makes you 0:31:33.640 --> 0:31:35.800 easy to spot in the crowd, and it offers you 0:31:35.960 --> 0:31:38.320 some shade. It's about three thirty in the afternoon and 0:31:38.360 --> 0:31:41.080 it's hot as well. It doesn't matter. You've positioned your 0:31:41.080 --> 0:31:45.560 hot dog push cart here outside the doors to Johnasquagga's nugget. Right, 0:31:45.800 --> 0:31:48.320 you can see Harris and Harvey's casino, because that's where 0:31:48.320 --> 0:31:50.680 most of the crowd is focused, and thus you're gonna 0:31:50.720 --> 0:31:53.440 sell these folks. Some hot dogs. These are norm beauties. 0:31:53.520 --> 0:31:55.720 They practically sell themselves. Soon people get a whiff of 0:31:55.720 --> 0:31:59.200 that delicious bacon wrap dog you've got glistening on the grill, 0:31:59.280 --> 0:32:01.760 they reach for their cash. You're doing good business. In fact, 0:32:01.800 --> 0:32:04.200 at the moment, you've got a pair of FBI guys 0:32:04.280 --> 0:32:07.120 somewhat stressed out and clearly preoccupied. They're waiting for the 0:32:07.160 --> 0:32:10.400 dogs you're preparing. Well. The one scenarian hot dog, the 0:32:10.400 --> 0:32:12.600 one FBI guy, he already has his, and he's politely 0:32:12.640 --> 0:32:15.600 waiting for his buddy to get his. He keeps eyeing 0:32:15.600 --> 0:32:17.560 it as they wait. They discussed the next steps in 0:32:17.560 --> 0:32:20.000 their delicate operation. I'm just not sure about their shape 0:32:20.080 --> 0:32:22.719 charge plan. The hot dog holding FBI guys says to 0:32:22.760 --> 0:32:25.800 his partner, the one watching you prepare his dog. He says, oh, 0:32:25.840 --> 0:32:28.480 extra onions please now. The hot dog holding guy, the 0:32:28.520 --> 0:32:30.840 first one. He continues his worried train of thought. He's like, 0:32:30.880 --> 0:32:33.360 I know the sheriff said, everything's a go. We have 0:32:33.520 --> 0:32:36.120 local deputies clear the casinos. Yeah, I get that. And 0:32:36.160 --> 0:32:38.280 they say they packed up all their stuff, didn't miss 0:32:38.280 --> 0:32:42.160 a toothbrush. Great, thanks sheriff. But now with the luggage 0:32:42.160 --> 0:32:45.360 and the evacuated guests. Are we really gonna do this? Well, 0:32:45.400 --> 0:32:49.000 the other FBI guy says, well, a couple extra napkins. 0:32:49.000 --> 0:32:51.480 This looks like it's gonna be greasy. He's still eyeballing 0:32:51.480 --> 0:32:54.000 that scenarian dog. He turns the other one. He's like 0:32:54.040 --> 0:32:58.160 the year chips. The FBI guys school confused. Oh no, 0:32:58.400 --> 0:33:02.560 oh yeah, he catches up. We picked up the entire 0:33:02.640 --> 0:33:05.840 casino chip collection. It's all secured in a location. You 0:33:05.840 --> 0:33:07.760 think the news cameras are far enough back. I don't 0:33:07.800 --> 0:33:10.360 know about that. And then you say, and here you go, 0:33:10.480 --> 0:33:12.960 and you hand over that beautiful sonorian hot dog. The 0:33:13.000 --> 0:33:15.520 FBI guy, he's only paying attention to that. You look 0:33:15.560 --> 0:33:18.360 past him though, At the news cameras pushed right up 0:33:18.400 --> 0:33:20.760 to the police line. The crowd is large and it 0:33:20.840 --> 0:33:22.840 surrounds the news cameras. At the edges. There are some 0:33:22.920 --> 0:33:25.200 other people selling cold drinks, cold beer, much like you 0:33:25.520 --> 0:33:27.680 the cops. They're busy, they don't care about any of this. 0:33:27.840 --> 0:33:30.120 Some casino employees who have arrived to work, they're still 0:33:30.160 --> 0:33:32.560 in uniform. They're dotting the crowd. They come over for 0:33:32.680 --> 0:33:35.360 some hot dogs. Everybody is waiting for something to happen 0:33:35.560 --> 0:33:38.440 or a hot dog. Now, one FBI guy, the first one, 0:33:38.440 --> 0:33:40.840 he says, bomb squad, last report. It sounds like something 0:33:40.880 --> 0:33:43.680 got stuck inside the box. They didn't know what it was. 0:33:43.840 --> 0:33:47.160 Didn't sound good. First. The second FBI guy goes, well, 0:33:47.320 --> 0:33:49.400 this should be good. He takes a bite of that 0:33:49.480 --> 0:33:52.520 Sonarian hot dog. You watch them waiting for the reaction. 0:33:52.960 --> 0:33:55.560 They tear into the bun, into the meat. They close 0:33:55.600 --> 0:33:57.960 their eyes around that bite a dog and they begin 0:33:58.040 --> 0:34:01.160 to and chew that encased meat. The flavors are rupped 0:34:01.200 --> 0:34:06.080 in their mouth and then boom whoa. A tremendous explosion 0:34:06.200 --> 0:34:09.480 rocks the casino. An invisible concussion wave of air pressure 0:34:09.520 --> 0:34:12.280 from the blast hits the crowd tumbled from their feet, 0:34:12.480 --> 0:34:15.440 the noise deafening the red orange flame. Crowds rise with 0:34:15.560 --> 0:34:19.520 mad fury. Smoke chases flames. Both leave behind a five 0:34:19.680 --> 0:34:23.680 story hole in the casino. The gaping maw in the 0:34:23.719 --> 0:34:27.160 building stretches fifty feet wide and thirty feet deep into 0:34:27.200 --> 0:34:31.120 the building. Of the eleven story building, every single window 0:34:31.160 --> 0:34:34.719 in the casino was blown out. Neighboring Harris Casino most 0:34:34.760 --> 0:34:37.760 of their windows are blown out. Chunks of casino explode 0:34:37.800 --> 0:34:40.760 high into the sky, now rained down onto the crowd. 0:34:40.880 --> 0:34:44.280 Flash yards rain in the light, the streets, the parking 0:34:44.280 --> 0:34:47.520 lots dotted with debris. Luckily, no one gets injured. All 0:34:47.560 --> 0:34:50.839 the flying debris passes without hitting a person. You wipe explosion, 0:34:50.920 --> 0:34:53.680 tossed hair back from your face. The two FBI guys 0:34:53.719 --> 0:34:56.239 swallow their bites of Sonoran hot dog, and you call me, 0:34:56.280 --> 0:35:00.200 ask them how are the dogs boys? This one am 0:35:00.320 --> 0:35:03.320 good dog, Elizabeth? Anyway, how was that? 0:35:03.440 --> 0:35:05.439 I had no idea this ever happened up there? 0:35:05.560 --> 0:35:08.680 Yes, right now, if we'd stable our boys from the bureau, 0:35:08.760 --> 0:35:10.839 you would have soon heard over the radio the cause 0:35:10.880 --> 0:35:13.319 for the explosion. It turns out there were two power 0:35:13.360 --> 0:35:15.600 supplies for the bomb. The X rays had missed the 0:35:15.640 --> 0:35:18.680 second power supply, so when their shape charge went off, 0:35:18.719 --> 0:35:24.800 they just triggered the bomb. Oh, by the way, watching 0:35:24.840 --> 0:35:26.960 all this on the news, was a deeply dejected man, 0:35:27.040 --> 0:35:30.720 depressed that his plan had failed, his ransom payoff missed. 0:35:31.200 --> 0:35:33.920 The mastermind was a broken man right up until he 0:35:33.920 --> 0:35:37.120 heard that boom cracked tear the air, and then he 0:35:37.239 --> 0:35:42.319 jumped up elated because he'd gotten his revenge. Let's take 0:35:42.320 --> 0:35:43.839 a little break and I'll come back, and I'll tell 0:35:43.840 --> 0:35:46.520 you why he got his revenge. What happened after this 0:35:46.640 --> 0:36:11.839 whole casino turned by the FBI? All right, Elizabeth, we're back. 0:36:11.960 --> 0:36:13.360 Hey, Yes, we are good ads. 0:36:13.400 --> 0:36:15.960 By the way, I all right, welcome back to Pete, California. 0:36:15.960 --> 0:36:18.520 You ready to wipe the debris. 0:36:18.280 --> 0:36:20.600 From your hair already? It's all I was like gritty, 0:36:20.640 --> 0:36:22.640 But no, it's a good gritty. 0:36:22.560 --> 0:36:25.520 Good good gritty. So the only other better gritties in Philadelphia. Now, 0:36:25.960 --> 0:36:29.200 Harvey Gross, owner of the casino, what's he feeling right now? 0:36:30.000 --> 0:36:32.120 Oh, he's got his insurance company on the. 0:36:32.080 --> 0:36:36.640 Line on speed dial. The FBI had done more damage, 0:36:36.680 --> 0:36:40.759 both financially and personally, than even the mad bomber had intended, 0:36:41.000 --> 0:36:43.200 because when all was said and done, the estimated damage 0:36:43.200 --> 0:36:46.040 to the casino was eighteen million dollars. Oh that was 0:36:46.120 --> 0:36:49.080 six times more than what the bomber was asking for. Oh, 0:36:49.080 --> 0:36:52.600 oh God, just pay the ransom anyway. The mastermind, he'd 0:36:52.640 --> 0:36:54.319 always meant to get paid. He never meant for the 0:36:54.360 --> 0:36:55.840 bomb to go off. That's why he had all the 0:36:55.840 --> 0:36:58.479 triggers and the timing and all the whole instructions. Yeah, 0:36:58.520 --> 0:37:01.120 but he'd made such a real and credible machine. He'd 0:37:01.280 --> 0:37:03.160 you know, he's like he wanted the for similitude. So 0:37:03.239 --> 0:37:05.840 he made the bomb and it was impeccably well designed 0:37:05.840 --> 0:37:11.000 machine and it went off beautifully. It tore apart that casino. Well, 0:37:11.080 --> 0:37:14.840 time to meet this mastermind and his failed sons. Yeah, ready, Yes, 0:37:14.880 --> 0:37:17.080 his name was John Burgess Senior. He was born in 0:37:17.160 --> 0:37:19.359 Hungary in nineteen twenty two. He came of age under 0:37:19.440 --> 0:37:23.200 Fascist occupation. Soon there after he learned what life was 0:37:23.239 --> 0:37:25.880 like under the Soviet block so he went from Nazis 0:37:25.920 --> 0:37:28.400 to Soviets, sah. He was part of the Hungarian resistance 0:37:28.400 --> 0:37:31.600 to the Soviet takeover. He told his sons he'd flown 0:37:31.600 --> 0:37:34.560 in World War Two, but then he really mastered his 0:37:34.600 --> 0:37:37.440 skills as a pilot against the Soviet Air Force defending 0:37:37.440 --> 0:37:39.839 his native Hungary. So this guy was a brave young man. 0:37:40.160 --> 0:37:44.080 Gets shot down, captured in April forty eight. He's tried, convicted, 0:37:44.080 --> 0:37:47.520 sentenced to twenty five years hard labor in a Siberian 0:37:47.640 --> 0:37:50.320 work camp. He got it. Yeah, for eight and a 0:37:50.320 --> 0:37:52.760 half years he was out there wielding a prisoner's hammer. 0:37:53.000 --> 0:37:55.319 He took large rocks, he turned him into smaller rock. 0:37:55.400 --> 0:37:56.960 No, he was originally a Nazi. 0:37:57.040 --> 0:38:01.839 Right he flew. Yeah, he basically for the Lufwaffa. So 0:38:02.120 --> 0:38:04.360 the Hungary was on the side of the Nazis, and 0:38:04.360 --> 0:38:07.360 then he fought against the Soviets in a continuing occupation 0:38:07.480 --> 0:38:10.080 and resistance, and so they were like, no, we resist. 0:38:10.080 --> 0:38:12.160 I don't care if the Nazis are gone. We're still fighting. 0:38:12.400 --> 0:38:15.120 So yeah, he was on the he was flying a 0:38:15.120 --> 0:38:19.799 loofwafter plane. He was a Hungarian Nazi. Feels him no, no, so, yeah, 0:38:19.840 --> 0:38:23.520 he's in his brutal, backbreaking work. He gets released by 0:38:23.520 --> 0:38:26.640 the Soviets, sent home to Hungary. Nineteen fifty six, he's 0:38:26.680 --> 0:38:29.839 caught again, captured by the Soviet forces because apparently he's 0:38:29.840 --> 0:38:32.560 not good at staying free. He'd been defending his hometown. 0:38:32.640 --> 0:38:35.439 So now this twice caught enemy, he's facing death on 0:38:35.560 --> 0:38:38.319 the spot. He gets sentenced to death. Right there, You're like, oh, man, 0:38:38.640 --> 0:38:41.480 suddenly good luck steps in. All right. So, due to 0:38:41.520 --> 0:38:43.719 his youth and in he's you know, reinforced by his 0:38:43.719 --> 0:38:46.440 time into Siberian work camp. John Burgess. He knew how 0:38:46.440 --> 0:38:49.640 to speak an effortless and rather eloquent Russian apparently, so 0:38:49.680 --> 0:38:52.800 he convinced the Soviets not to kill him. He charmed 0:38:52.800 --> 0:38:55.200 his captors. He persuaded them, please don't kill me, right, 0:38:55.440 --> 0:38:57.840 they stall his execution, like we'll kill you tomorrow, and 0:38:57.880 --> 0:39:00.360 then so he manages to charm his way out of 0:39:00.400 --> 0:39:02.480 a mass grave. That works, and then so the next 0:39:02.560 --> 0:39:04.480 day comes. He lives through that and they're like, oh, 0:39:04.560 --> 0:39:06.280 we'll kill you the next day. And he's like, oh, okay, 0:39:06.320 --> 0:39:10.359 just one more day, guys, how about another sunset guy? Seriously? Right, 0:39:10.400 --> 0:39:11.880 So he's not telling his good of a story, so 0:39:11.920 --> 0:39:13.920 only makes it three days, right, So he makes it 0:39:13.960 --> 0:39:16.799 three days in the Hungarian resistance strikes and they free him. 0:39:16.880 --> 0:39:19.799 So he gets freed from Soviet captivity. Now he knows 0:39:19.800 --> 0:39:21.920 he won't be three times lucky, so he's like, I 0:39:21.960 --> 0:39:23.120 need to get the heck out of here. So he 0:39:23.120 --> 0:39:25.920 starts tracking high distances and long as far as he can, 0:39:26.040 --> 0:39:29.800 Chris crosses the continent. He works his way, disguising himself 0:39:29.800 --> 0:39:32.960 as a Red Cross interpreter. He hides among the aid workers. 0:39:33.280 --> 0:39:35.400 So by May fifty seven, he's made it all the 0:39:35.400 --> 0:39:38.319 way to the US. He and his wife they arrive 0:39:38.440 --> 0:39:41.359 in New Jersey. He's like, Oh, what's that smell. I'm 0:39:41.440 --> 0:39:44.080 kidding New Jersey, My family's from there anyway, far enough 0:39:44.080 --> 0:39:46.560 from communism for his liking. He's happy in New Jersey. 0:39:46.719 --> 0:39:47.839 But he's like, you know what, I think, I want 0:39:47.880 --> 0:39:49.719 to keep going west. West was working me. Flet's he 0:39:49.800 --> 0:39:51.560 keep going west, keeps going west until he gets to 0:39:52.200 --> 0:39:56.680 calif exactly how so John Burgess he finds work as 0:39:56.719 --> 0:39:59.360 a landscaper. He worked in the steel factories, and eventually 0:39:59.360 --> 0:40:01.839 he became a rest a tour in Fresno, California, opened 0:40:01.880 --> 0:40:04.879 a little spot called Villa Basque. I don't know how 0:40:05.040 --> 0:40:07.719 Hungarian opened a basque restaurant, but hey, it's Fresno in 0:40:07.800 --> 0:40:09.120 nineteen eighty. What are you gonna do? 0:40:10.000 --> 0:40:13.400 Maybe he traversed through Basque country on his way out. 0:40:13.520 --> 0:40:14.400 Sure he did. 0:40:14.960 --> 0:40:17.239 Maybe he really It stuck to him, like just with 0:40:17.280 --> 0:40:17.840 the cuisine. 0:40:17.880 --> 0:40:21.080 Here's just a fly paper for recipes. Anyway, Burgess, he 0:40:21.120 --> 0:40:22.919 and his wife, they liked the life that they found 0:40:22.920 --> 0:40:25.880 there in the San Joaquin Valley, that beautiful valley that 0:40:25.960 --> 0:40:28.360 runs down the center of the state Elizabeth. He and 0:40:28.360 --> 0:40:30.640 his wife they started a family, two boys, John Junior 0:40:30.640 --> 0:40:33.080 and James, very biblical names. They made a new home 0:40:33.080 --> 0:40:35.440 in California. John Senior, he had left the past in 0:40:35.440 --> 0:40:37.560 his prison time and the horrors of the war behind 0:40:37.560 --> 0:40:40.600 his Nazi pass the whole bed. Now he's an American, right, 0:40:41.120 --> 0:40:44.080 but those horrors were still inside him. They weren't resolved, 0:40:44.080 --> 0:40:47.680 so they often came out angry, drunken bouts and bursts. 0:40:47.719 --> 0:40:50.560 His wifs and sons. They feared us his violence. By 0:40:50.600 --> 0:40:53.040 nineteen seventy three, his wife had enough. She divorces him. 0:40:53.080 --> 0:40:55.600 Right well, they remained living together, but on the same 0:40:55.600 --> 0:40:58.239 piece of property. So now he's she's living in a 0:40:58.280 --> 0:41:01.279 trailer on her husband's property. Two years past, she goes 0:41:01.280 --> 0:41:04.800 through a hard two years and she eventually passes away. 0:41:05.600 --> 0:41:08.840 John Senior goes into a rapid descent into darkness. Following 0:41:08.880 --> 0:41:13.040 his wife's early demise. He starts twisting in him his 0:41:13.120 --> 0:41:15.319 ideas of right and wrong, and he decides, you know, 0:41:15.600 --> 0:41:18.800 I'm gonna, you know, turn my back on my business. 0:41:18.840 --> 0:41:21.839 I'm just gonna start traveling. He mostly travels east into 0:41:21.880 --> 0:41:25.000 the Sierra. Those beautiful granite mountains Elizabeth do Vista's. He 0:41:25.040 --> 0:41:27.160 ignores them because he's on his way to the South 0:41:27.160 --> 0:41:30.200 Shore Lake Tahoe in State Line, Nevada. Hey, yep, he 0:41:30.239 --> 0:41:33.440 wants them. Blackjack table, So he would play for hours, 0:41:33.480 --> 0:41:37.840 apparently just chasing grief. Another tragedy of Befelm, his restaurant, 0:41:37.920 --> 0:41:40.080 Villa Basque, burns down. I don't know if he's an 0:41:40.120 --> 0:41:42.760 insurance fire, but anyway, he gets a hefty three hundred 0:41:42.760 --> 0:41:45.520 and fifty thousand dollars payout. Unluckily, he now has a 0:41:45.560 --> 0:41:48.959 serious gambling addiction. So he just shovels that three hundred 0:41:48.960 --> 0:41:51.520 and fifty thousand dollars into the casinos coffers as fast 0:41:51.520 --> 0:41:54.400 as he can offer it up. Blackjack tables are hoovering 0:41:54.480 --> 0:41:57.319 up his cash. By October seventy nine, John Senior has 0:41:57.360 --> 0:41:59.560 now moved closer to the source. He wants to get 0:41:59.600 --> 0:42:02.799 just tap that casino. So he's tired of traveling back 0:42:02.840 --> 0:42:05.279 and forth between South Shore and in the Clovis where 0:42:05.280 --> 0:42:07.720 he's living, so he moves into a state line devad 0:42:07.719 --> 0:42:10.759 into little apartment, gets himself a cute little studio apartment 0:42:11.200 --> 0:42:13.600 number seventy six at the Aspen Grove Apartments. I looked 0:42:13.600 --> 0:42:16.480 it up, yes, and he's just now one mile north 0:42:16.520 --> 0:42:19.760 of Harvey's Casino. He can just walk down there, jog 0:42:19.880 --> 0:42:21.800 roll if he's really drunk. He gets known as a 0:42:21.880 --> 0:42:24.760 high roller. Oh yeah, being that close to the tables, 0:42:24.760 --> 0:42:26.440 it's like kind of giving I don't know, a diabetic 0:42:26.440 --> 0:42:27.479 their own pastry chef. 0:42:27.680 --> 0:42:31.680 He's just like he's got that three fifty that he's running. 0:42:31.800 --> 0:42:33.719 Yeah, not for long, sod take long, and all of 0:42:33.719 --> 0:42:36.359 a sudden his retirement is gone. He starts, you know, 0:42:36.400 --> 0:42:38.759 getting mad, getting bitter. He starts getting that some of 0:42:38.800 --> 0:42:42.520 that war anger bubbling up. He vows revenge. He contacts 0:42:42.520 --> 0:42:45.560 his sons, tells him his plan. He needs their help. 0:42:45.960 --> 0:42:48.360 He's already borrowing money from one of his boys, the 0:42:48.400 --> 0:42:50.560 younger one, to pay his rent. Right so it things 0:42:50.600 --> 0:42:52.759 are bad. By the way, the sons are eighteen and 0:42:52.880 --> 0:42:56.960 nineteen years old. They borrowing to his eighteen year old son. Yeah, 0:42:57.000 --> 0:42:59.480 both of his son's loyal, dutiful. They asked us their dad, 0:42:59.520 --> 0:43:01.719 what's the new pop? And he tells the boys, I 0:43:01.760 --> 0:43:04.040 got a plan to fix my life. They're like, what 0:43:04.160 --> 0:43:06.919 is it? O're all yours? Dad boy. I'm gonna build 0:43:06.960 --> 0:43:10.680 an impossible to diffuse bomb, Like what, I'm gonna charge 0:43:10.680 --> 0:43:13.640 a casino three million dollars to diffuse it? When do 0:43:13.719 --> 0:43:17.560 we start pop? So apparently they thought he was kidding, right, 0:43:17.640 --> 0:43:20.120 but he was serious, and they eventually came around oil 0:43:20.160 --> 0:43:22.560 as they were, so they they help him. They do 0:43:22.600 --> 0:43:25.040 a break in because he doesn't have the dynamite. He 0:43:25.120 --> 0:43:26.920 needs a thousand pounds of dynamite. You can't just go 0:43:26.960 --> 0:43:28.640 down to a dynamite store and go, I'll take a 0:43:28.680 --> 0:43:31.719 half ton of dynamite, please, Bob. So they have to 0:43:31.760 --> 0:43:33.399 go and find something. He's like, oh, guys, I'm gonna 0:43:33.400 --> 0:43:35.560 need your help getting me some of them boom boom sticks. 0:43:35.600 --> 0:43:38.680 So they go to the Helm's power plant near Fresno. 0:43:38.760 --> 0:43:41.759 It's like a Shaver lake near the Wishwn Reserve for 0:43:41.960 --> 0:43:45.080 the Wishing Reservoir rather and if you know the area, 0:43:45.160 --> 0:43:46.800 it's helpful. So he's said, they go down to this 0:43:46.880 --> 0:43:49.440 power station and they break in and they steal a 0:43:49.440 --> 0:43:54.920 bunch of Hercules Unigel dynamite sticks that professional grade dynamite 0:43:55.040 --> 0:43:57.919 and uh they go back to the station. Yeah, because 0:43:57.960 --> 0:44:01.680 they were using it to basically explode rock. You know, 0:44:02.000 --> 0:44:04.040 you like miners would blow out granite. So if you're 0:44:04.080 --> 0:44:06.840 doing anything with California's mountains, you need dynamite for the granite. 0:44:06.920 --> 0:44:09.360 So the power station had it because they would, you know, 0:44:09.640 --> 0:44:12.839 for whatever reasons, need to blow out granite whatever. I'm 0:44:12.840 --> 0:44:17.040 not a power plant manager. Anyway, father's girlfriend's place in 0:44:17.080 --> 0:44:21.239 Clovis becomes where they hide the dynamite. Got a girlfriend I. 0:44:21.239 --> 0:44:23.279 Don't know show and she's in Clovis and he's up 0:44:23.280 --> 0:44:23.839 in south Lake. 0:44:23.920 --> 0:44:25.560 Yeah, well he was staying within Clovith and he got 0:44:25.560 --> 0:44:27.239 his other apartment in south Lake. So he goes like, 0:44:27.239 --> 0:44:29.359 I'm gonna take him down there. Meanwhile, he also had 0:44:29.360 --> 0:44:31.680 a walk in freezer that he'd built in her garage. 0:44:31.840 --> 0:44:33.520 So he takes the dynamite, he puts it in the 0:44:33.600 --> 0:44:35.200 in the walk in freezer because he wants to keep 0:44:35.200 --> 0:44:38.920 it cold and dry. So they have their dynamite. Now halftime, 0:44:39.040 --> 0:44:40.840 So now it's time to work on the impossible to 0:44:40.840 --> 0:44:43.840 diffuse bomb. So, working in his girlfriend's garage, he starts 0:44:43.920 --> 0:44:46.520 working on this bomb. Oh right, takes him two months 0:44:46.520 --> 0:44:49.120 to construct his very first bomb. Now we all know 0:44:49.160 --> 0:44:53.839 what happened next, and so well, the FBI they had 0:44:53.840 --> 0:44:56.160 to deal with the boom boom tour that he created. 0:44:56.280 --> 0:44:58.839 And uh, yeah, as I can tell you this much 0:44:59.480 --> 0:45:02.640 as recently two thousand and nine, the FBI, they continued 0:45:02.680 --> 0:45:05.520 to have this bomb. They made a mock up of 0:45:05.600 --> 0:45:09.160 the bomb that they used later on for like FBI 0:45:09.239 --> 0:45:13.600 bomb trainings. It's presently in the laboratory division. The old 0:45:13.600 --> 0:45:16.279 Bill Jonki. He said, it's a very wonderful case. It 0:45:16.360 --> 0:45:20.080 was very unique. He was just so impressive. Yeah, looking back, Yeah, 0:45:20.120 --> 0:45:23.880 his son had Jim Burgess, the son. He has a 0:45:23.960 --> 0:45:26.200 humor about this whole time. He said, it's such a 0:45:26.200 --> 0:45:28.120 far fetch story to be able to have corolla two 0:45:28.160 --> 0:45:30.640 thousand pound bomb into the front door of a casino. 0:45:30.719 --> 0:45:33.520 It's the keystone Cops of errors. It's almost a comedy. 0:45:33.680 --> 0:45:36.759 So now it's two thousand Yeah, exactly, he didn't, you know, 0:45:37.040 --> 0:45:38.719 they just keep exactly flates it right. 0:45:38.760 --> 0:45:41.040 But we'll get back to why he's a problem for 0:45:41.120 --> 0:45:43.560 the father anyway. So how did the mastermind get caught? Well, 0:45:43.600 --> 0:45:45.520 it took the FBI wild to actually catch him because 0:45:45.520 --> 0:45:48.719 the bomb was so good. They interviewed five hundred witnesses, suspects, 0:45:48.840 --> 0:45:52.600 chase down leads, nothing, bub kiss ain't got a like 0:45:52.840 --> 0:45:56.400 nothing right, nothing to chase hotel manager, sorry, rather a 0:45:56.440 --> 0:45:59.920 motel manager. They saw the authority's plea friend from a 0:46:00.360 --> 0:46:02.160 They were like, we need help. If you guys know 0:46:02.239 --> 0:46:06.600 anything about these suspected Harvey's casino bomber. Right, So Nancy Domenico, 0:46:06.960 --> 0:46:09.879 she remembered how she'd had some difficult customers that night 0:46:09.920 --> 0:46:12.680 and they had acted weird and mean and kind of suspicious. 0:46:12.840 --> 0:46:15.200 They drove a white van, she recalled. She phoned that 0:46:15.239 --> 0:46:17.560 into the cops. She told them three men had stayed 0:46:17.600 --> 0:46:19.600 at the hotel the night before the bombing, and she'd 0:46:19.600 --> 0:46:22.200 written down their license plates because the one man was 0:46:22.200 --> 0:46:25.360 such a dick to her. So basically he'd made some 0:46:25.440 --> 0:46:27.480 sleazy come on and when she told him off, he 0:46:27.480 --> 0:46:29.080 told her where to stick it. So she wrote down 0:46:29.080 --> 0:46:31.359 his license plate. Good for her, I know, right, came 0:46:31.400 --> 0:46:33.680 back to bite him. So the cops ran the van's plates. 0:46:33.719 --> 0:46:37.080 Registration leads to him to John Junior. So the cops 0:46:37.080 --> 0:46:38.960 they show up to find this crash pad that John 0:46:39.000 --> 0:46:42.399 Junior's living in, five men sleeping on the floor, couches, beer, 0:46:42.440 --> 0:46:45.239 cat empties everywhere, big trash bag of pot in the 0:46:45.280 --> 0:46:47.399 middle of the room. The police were like, you've got 0:46:47.400 --> 0:46:48.239 to be kidding me. 0:46:48.239 --> 0:46:49.880 Wow, how are these guys single? 0:46:50.200 --> 0:46:53.440 Exactly, but they roused the five guys take it down 0:46:53.440 --> 0:46:55.840 to the station house. These five deadbeats don't know anything. 0:46:55.960 --> 0:46:58.359 John Junior, he clams up. They're like, none of these 0:46:58.360 --> 0:47:02.360 guys is a mastermind for a possible to defuse bomb plot. There, idiots. 0:47:02.600 --> 0:47:04.799 So they let him go. So John Junior goes and 0:47:04.800 --> 0:47:06.520 he's like, oh, tells his dad I got away with 0:47:06.560 --> 0:47:10.680 the pop right now. This time again, bad trouble comes 0:47:10.680 --> 0:47:14.840 around because they were a dick. So John Junior had 0:47:14.880 --> 0:47:17.239 a girlfriend. He told her all about his dad's plan 0:47:17.320 --> 0:47:19.640 to build an impossible to diffuse bomb and to make 0:47:19.680 --> 0:47:22.040 a casino pay for it, right, and then he broke 0:47:22.120 --> 0:47:22.560 up with her. 0:47:23.200 --> 0:47:24.080 Oh you're kidding. 0:47:25.880 --> 0:47:28.520 So she finds this new guy and but don't worry 0:47:28.560 --> 0:47:30.520 about her, Lisabeth. The new guy, he's a class act 0:47:30.560 --> 0:47:33.080 because after they split up this ex girlfriend, John Junior 0:47:33.120 --> 0:47:35.000 goes out on a date with new guy. They go 0:47:35.120 --> 0:47:38.480 to the Fresno drive in movie. And remember it's nineteen eighty. 0:47:38.520 --> 0:47:40.480 This is like a peak date in nineteen eighty. I mean, 0:47:40.600 --> 0:47:42.560 drive in movies are the this is they're in their 0:47:42.600 --> 0:47:44.680 heyday at this point. Do you remember driving movie? Yeah? 0:47:44.719 --> 0:47:46.440 I told I remember as a kid going. 0:47:46.239 --> 0:47:48.799 Like, yeah, you'd see, like we drive Sacramento. If it 0:47:48.840 --> 0:47:50.640 was like a Saturday night or Friday night, we're coming home, 0:47:50.640 --> 0:47:52.239 I'd be looking for the drive in because you get 0:47:52.280 --> 0:47:54.359 to see little bits of movies. And there was one 0:47:54.440 --> 0:47:56.600 drive in theater on the way coming back into Davis. 0:47:56.640 --> 0:47:59.680 It was like a on Highway eighty. You could see 0:47:59.719 --> 0:48:02.439 they had on weekend week nights they would play porn theater, 0:48:02.560 --> 0:48:04.960 like porn movie and it was supposed to be angled 0:48:05.000 --> 0:48:06.759 or you couldn't see it from the three freeway, but 0:48:06.880 --> 0:48:09.040 you know you could for like two and a half 0:48:09.040 --> 0:48:10.560 seconds or a halfn't said one and a half second. 0:48:10.600 --> 0:48:13.200 You could see like just a giant boob thirty feet. 0:48:14.320 --> 0:48:17.080 It was insane as a kid. Yeah, they got they 0:48:17.120 --> 0:48:18.879 got real mad, and is at the end when they're 0:48:18.920 --> 0:48:20.600 trying to keep the drive ins open, they're like, what 0:48:20.640 --> 0:48:23.160 about porn guys when you show up? So they have 0:48:23.239 --> 0:48:24.960 like the late night Can you imagine sitting at a 0:48:25.000 --> 0:48:27.960 drive in theater a bunch of guys in cars grow 0:48:28.040 --> 0:48:28.359 Can you. 0:48:28.320 --> 0:48:33.400 Imagine if you live like in like visual distance and 0:48:33.480 --> 0:48:34.840 Nikki can't. 0:48:34.840 --> 0:48:36.560 They aimed at at the fields. That's why you can 0:48:36.600 --> 0:48:37.680 only really see it from the freeway. 0:48:37.719 --> 0:48:40.000 If you're in town, imagine, let me imagine there's a 0:48:40.080 --> 0:48:42.080 house there and you're trying to like entertain and have 0:48:42.120 --> 0:48:44.040 a dinner party and you have to keep the drapes 0:48:44.080 --> 0:48:45.279 closed because. 0:48:46.480 --> 0:48:47.440 Outside craziness. 0:48:47.760 --> 0:48:50.960 Yes, I totally remember that. That's my recollection of driving. Anyway, 0:48:51.040 --> 0:48:52.960 that's where they were at the Fresno drive in. 0:48:53.120 --> 0:48:54.600 I remember when I was little. 0:48:54.640 --> 0:48:56.120 I was very very little, and this is like a 0:48:56.120 --> 0:48:59.040 hazy memory because of that, and I feel like I 0:48:59.120 --> 0:49:02.040 was there and they were setting off fireworks. 0:49:01.280 --> 0:49:05.640 At the screen on fire just in Sacramento. 0:49:06.000 --> 0:49:08.719 I think this is on the Peninsula curling game or 0:49:08.719 --> 0:49:09.840 something south of Sanwanconis. 0:49:09.840 --> 0:49:11.480 I could totally see that. I mean, that's pretty much 0:49:11.480 --> 0:49:16.160 like they were just one big fire threat. So anyway, 0:49:16.200 --> 0:49:18.759 there they are at this drive in movie theater in 0:49:18.800 --> 0:49:22.840 Fresno on a date and they're listening to the radio 0:49:22.880 --> 0:49:24.799 before the movie, and all of a sudden news comes 0:49:24.840 --> 0:49:27.279 on about the Harvey's bobbing. Because everybody's talking about it's 0:49:27.320 --> 0:49:30.040 huge news, right, And they put out a quarter million 0:49:30.080 --> 0:49:33.000 dollar reward for any information leading to the arrest and 0:49:33.040 --> 0:49:36.080 conviction of the bomber in nineteen eighty that's huge money, right. 0:49:36.160 --> 0:49:38.920 So John Junior's ex girlfriend she mentions to her new man, 0:49:39.000 --> 0:49:41.239 that sounds like my Ax and his dad. They had 0:49:41.239 --> 0:49:44.120 a plan to actually do exactly that well, And this 0:49:44.200 --> 0:49:47.000 is the sheriff's report said quote. The girl looked over 0:49:47.080 --> 0:49:49.319 to her new boyfriend and said, I know who did it. 0:49:49.360 --> 0:49:51.640 I used to date the Burgess kid. His father did it. 0:49:51.680 --> 0:49:54.279 He told me about it. The dollar signs then rolled 0:49:54.280 --> 0:49:58.560 in her new boyfriend's head. Her new man had ideas 0:49:58.680 --> 0:50:01.000 mostly that two hundred and fifty thousand reward, but he 0:50:01.040 --> 0:50:03.360 didn't plan to split it, so, according to the sheriff, 0:50:03.480 --> 0:50:05.320 the next morning he called the FBI. 0:50:06.040 --> 0:50:07.120 Yeah, jump for first. 0:50:07.239 --> 0:50:09.560 I don't know, but he was all alone when he 0:50:09.600 --> 0:50:11.960 phoned the FBI, and move paid off well for him 0:50:12.000 --> 0:50:13.919 because he got the lion's share of the two hundred 0:50:13.920 --> 0:50:16.440 and fifty thousand dollars reward because the FBI and the 0:50:16.440 --> 0:50:19.319 cops started surveiling John Junior with the now second piece 0:50:19.320 --> 0:50:21.719 of information. One day, eventually they get bored of like 0:50:21.800 --> 0:50:24.040 watching him and the buddies just drinking smoke pot out 0:50:24.040 --> 0:50:25.839 of a trash bag, and they show up a John 0:50:25.920 --> 0:50:28.160 Junior's house ready to arrest him. Elizabeth, you know what 0:50:28.200 --> 0:50:30.120 I always say about do not lie to the FBI. 0:50:30.440 --> 0:50:31.680 Yes, you say that. 0:50:31.560 --> 0:50:33.960 John Junior did not listen. He straight up lied right 0:50:34.000 --> 0:50:36.359 in the FBI's face, and they called him out on it, like, bro, 0:50:36.640 --> 0:50:39.040 here are the receipts where you lied here, here, and here. 0:50:39.480 --> 0:50:41.560 He's like, hmm is that true. They're like, yes, you 0:50:41.640 --> 0:50:44.640 lied about August twenty sixth and twenty seventh. You're whereabouts. 0:50:44.719 --> 0:50:46.520 He's like, hmm, you mean the day is just before 0:50:46.520 --> 0:50:49.279 the bombing. They are a okay, my man, you're coming 0:50:49.320 --> 0:50:51.120 with us. He's like, yeah, okay, I can see that. 0:50:51.200 --> 0:50:54.520 So the FBI threatened John Junior with time from behind 0:50:54.560 --> 0:50:56.960 bars for lying right on in their faces. And they 0:50:57.000 --> 0:50:59.520 tell this eldest of the Burgess boys, look, if you 0:50:59.600 --> 0:51:02.799 roll on over on your pops, maybe let him do 0:51:02.880 --> 0:51:05.440 the time instead. You do the time. He's like, because 0:51:05.480 --> 0:51:07.600 did you do the crime? He's like, that's a good point, 0:51:07.680 --> 0:51:10.560 FBI guys, I did not do the crime. So John 0:51:10.600 --> 0:51:12.399 Junior taught about his future, and then he thought about 0:51:12.400 --> 0:51:14.120 his dad's future, and he's like, I've got more of 0:51:14.120 --> 0:51:16.680 it than he does. And so he decided, what do 0:51:16.719 --> 0:51:19.719 y'all want to know? And he told him everything. So 0:51:19.920 --> 0:51:22.960 he the FBI agent starts surveiling the dad, the mastermind, 0:51:23.000 --> 0:51:26.120 John Burgess Senior. He's he's hiding out by the way 0:51:26.120 --> 0:51:28.840 at the girlfriend's place in Clovis and William Jonky, he 0:51:28.840 --> 0:51:31.440 would visit him. The FBI, the head of the investigation. 0:51:31.480 --> 0:51:33.080 He would just go up to the apartment, knock on 0:51:33.080 --> 0:51:34.440 the door and talk to him. He's like him with 0:51:34.520 --> 0:51:37.600 the FBI. I'm investigating the Harvey's Casino bombing. And he's 0:51:37.640 --> 0:51:39.959 like and he said and a quote. Sometimes he would 0:51:40.000 --> 0:51:41.759 yell at us. Other times he opened the door and 0:51:41.760 --> 0:51:43.520 he'd let us in. He gave us a tour of 0:51:43.560 --> 0:51:45.759 his place. He described how he would have done it 0:51:45.800 --> 0:51:49.080 if he had built the bomb. Ultimately, he admitted everything 0:51:49.280 --> 0:51:53.239 he did the OJ if I did it to the FBI. 0:51:54.040 --> 0:51:55.880 He didn't even publish the book. He did write a 0:51:55.920 --> 0:51:59.239 bill Joki's face. So August fifteen, Lane Dandy won the 0:51:59.280 --> 0:52:01.920 FBI the arrest John Burgess Senior, the sheriff in charge 0:52:01.960 --> 0:52:03.799 the investigation. He was certainly glad it was all over. 0:52:03.880 --> 0:52:06.319 He was convinced that the planned money exchange would have 0:52:06.360 --> 0:52:09.280 likely turned bloody and MESSI hadn't actually gone down Because 0:52:09.320 --> 0:52:11.680 his dude's name was Sheriff Maple like the tree. He 0:52:11.760 --> 0:52:14.839 speculated the John Senior planned to shoot the pilot then 0:52:15.200 --> 0:52:17.560 fly the chopper himself because he was a pilot down 0:52:17.600 --> 0:52:19.640 to Plastererville where either his girlfriend or one of his 0:52:19.680 --> 0:52:22.120 boys would be waiting at the local airport. Boom, maybe 0:52:22.120 --> 0:52:23.640 they're in a meadow, whatever, and then all of a 0:52:23.640 --> 0:52:26.640 sudden they would have disappeared from I can see that. Now. 0:52:26.680 --> 0:52:28.439 I don't know Sheriff. I think that that's a little 0:52:28.440 --> 0:52:31.200 bit with the shriff. I doubt that one. Anyway. The 0:52:31.200 --> 0:52:34.360 two delivery men who had helped him wheel in the bombs, 0:52:34.520 --> 0:52:36.759 they were not his sons. He knew his boys could 0:52:36.800 --> 0:52:39.600 not handle that task. So John Senior he chosen these 0:52:39.640 --> 0:52:42.680 two random people and he's like, this is too dangerous 0:52:42.680 --> 0:52:44.279 work for my boys, and so instaid he got these 0:52:44.280 --> 0:52:47.520 two narrative wills, Willis Bill Brown and Terry Lee Hall. 0:52:47.800 --> 0:52:49.680 They were a father in law and son in law, 0:52:49.760 --> 0:52:53.120 partners in crime. Duo, oh dear that poor woman, her 0:52:53.120 --> 0:52:56.040 father and her husband. The two men, they claimed they'd 0:52:56.080 --> 0:52:59.360 been paid either one hundred dollars or two thousand dollars, 0:52:59.400 --> 0:53:02.400 depending on who asked them to do. They ended up 0:53:02.440 --> 0:53:04.600 doing federal time in prison for that. Anyway. The funnier 0:53:04.600 --> 0:53:06.719 thing to me is Agent Junky's assessment of the bomb 0:53:06.800 --> 0:53:08.640 that John Senior built, Right, so there's supposed to be 0:53:08.640 --> 0:53:11.960 this great bomb. Bill Junkie ain't hearing it. He's like, no, 0:53:12.120 --> 0:53:14.280 I don't know about that. The thing is the most 0:53:14.280 --> 0:53:17.040 complex bomb the FBI has ever come across up till 0:53:17.080 --> 0:53:20.200 that point. Right, the Harvey's bomb Casino had twenty seven 0:53:20.239 --> 0:53:26.240 different triggering switches, had eight independent firing mechanisms orfuses Agent Junkie. 0:53:26.320 --> 0:53:30.439 He said, anyone could have constructed the bomb excuse that's 0:53:30.440 --> 0:53:32.959 how simple it was, which was essentially true because John 0:53:32.960 --> 0:53:35.320 Senior he figured out how to build his homemade bomb 0:53:35.440 --> 0:53:40.759 from his time designing lawn sprinkler systems. Remember I said 0:53:40.800 --> 0:53:43.200 John Burgess Senior was he worked as a landscaper. Well, 0:53:43.239 --> 0:53:46.920 he based his bomb on nineteen eighties era sprinkler technology 0:53:47.120 --> 0:53:49.680 rain verdex. Yes, he had installed a ton of sprinklers 0:53:49.680 --> 0:53:52.560 and they now required circuitry to design and operate the system. 0:53:52.600 --> 0:53:55.160 So he's like, well, you know, I just replace water 0:53:55.360 --> 0:53:59.600 and electronics and boom, bomb it worked. His bomb worked. 0:54:00.200 --> 0:54:02.399 It's the hootspa of the amateur who doesn't know any 0:54:02.440 --> 0:54:04.360 better that he doesn't know what he doesn't know in 0:54:04.520 --> 0:54:07.160 the Champions of the Day yet again, anyway, October nineteen eighty two, 0:54:07.239 --> 0:54:11.120 John Senior tried, convicted, found guilty, sentenced on bombing charges extortion, 0:54:11.239 --> 0:54:14.600 sentenced to life in prison without parole. He would pass 0:54:14.640 --> 0:54:17.960 away behind bar Southern avad a correctional facility, aged seventy four. 0:54:18.719 --> 0:54:22.000 He died exactly sixteen years and one day after his 0:54:22.120 --> 0:54:23.880 failed Casino's bombing. 0:54:23.920 --> 0:54:24.320 Wow. 0:54:24.400 --> 0:54:26.239 Now his sons, though never locked up, never saw a 0:54:26.239 --> 0:54:28.919 time they got suspended sentence. Both of them both had 0:54:28.960 --> 0:54:32.279 happily or rather at least willingly cooperated against their father, 0:54:32.400 --> 0:54:34.560 like lock them up boys. So in the end, our 0:54:34.600 --> 0:54:36.600 man on the scene, agent William Johnky, head of the 0:54:36.640 --> 0:54:39.400 FBI investigation, he offered up a two word explanation for 0:54:39.480 --> 0:54:42.520 this whole crazy affair and why it's been largely forgotten. 0:54:42.680 --> 0:54:45.600 So the Harvey Casino's bombing, it was memory hold for 0:54:45.680 --> 0:54:50.399 one simple reason. Nobody died. That's a good point, right, 0:54:50.520 --> 0:54:52.359 That's yeah, there's the biggest bombing up to that time. 0:54:52.600 --> 0:54:53.719 So what's the ridiculous take away? 0:54:53.719 --> 0:54:57.680 Elizabeth dude, Jonkie man if I were like working under 0:54:57.760 --> 0:55:00.320 him and the bomb rolled in, Like from this start, 0:55:00.400 --> 0:55:02.840 I was thinking this is there's it's not really a bomb. 0:55:02.840 --> 0:55:05.960 It's Scully switches, and so John, He's like, Okay, be careful. 0:55:05.960 --> 0:55:07.920 I'd be like, never mind, the switch a look and 0:55:07.960 --> 0:55:11.399 I'd flip it and then capowie, somebody would have died. 0:55:11.640 --> 0:55:14.480 So it's a good thing I'm not an FBI agent. Also, 0:55:15.239 --> 0:55:18.719 I'm a little bit disappointed that Harvey Gross went with 0:55:18.760 --> 0:55:21.799 his first name for the casino, because how amazing would 0:55:21.840 --> 0:55:25.040 a casino be that just said gross on it? 0:55:25.239 --> 0:55:26.000 Just gross. 0:55:26.560 --> 0:55:28.359 I think it was the problem of the double like 0:55:28.400 --> 0:55:29.080 they possessed it. 0:55:29.160 --> 0:55:31.720 No possessive on it, just gross. 0:55:31.360 --> 0:55:32.960 Just gross, gross casino. 0:55:34.040 --> 0:55:35.319 When casino is just win. 0:55:35.480 --> 0:55:37.359 But don't you hear it? It's right there. 0:55:37.400 --> 0:55:38.719 I hear it. That's why it has to be. 0:55:38.920 --> 0:55:42.000 When casino it sounds like the word but it's just misspelled. 0:55:42.040 --> 0:55:43.920 You're like, oh, it's like a Vegas trick. I hear when, 0:55:44.000 --> 0:55:44.840 but it's actually not that. 0:55:44.960 --> 0:55:46.560 And then I hear gross, and that's what I. 0:55:46.520 --> 0:55:52.719 See, terribles that is true. Yep, So there you go. 0:55:52.800 --> 0:55:56.000 That's my ridicuous Hey, Saren, what's your ridiculous takeaway? 0:55:56.320 --> 0:55:57.719 I got to do everything over there. I just told 0:55:57.760 --> 0:55:58.320 you the story. 0:55:58.360 --> 0:55:59.360 Well thank you for asking. 0:55:59.440 --> 0:56:03.000 Yeah, Well they there you go. Uh I don't have one. 0:56:03.239 --> 0:56:04.439 Good, Yes, you don't need one. 0:56:04.360 --> 0:56:07.480 But I want to ask anyway, keep asking exactly Well, 0:56:07.520 --> 0:56:09.640 thank you for listening. You can always find us online 0:56:09.680 --> 0:56:12.439 Ridiculous Crime, Twitter, Instagram. We have the website Ridiculous Crime 0:56:12.480 --> 0:56:15.920 dot com. That's also where you can find some merch 0:56:16.360 --> 0:56:18.239 and if you'd like, you can leave us talkbacks on 0:56:18.280 --> 0:56:20.560 the iHeart app and you can email us at Ridiculous 0:56:20.560 --> 0:56:24.040 Crime at gmail dot com. As always started, Dear Elizabeth, 0:56:24.760 --> 0:56:27.520 and there you go. We'll catch you in next crime. 0:56:32.719 --> 0:56:35.560 Ridicous Crime is hosted by Elizabeth Dutton and Zaron Burnette, 0:56:35.640 --> 0:56:38.760 produced and edited by Captain of de Baum Squad Dave Houstin. 0:56:39.000 --> 0:56:42.359 Research is by Marissa I Said D Batteries Brown and 0:56:42.360 --> 0:56:46.239 Andrea No, you said C Batteries song Sharpen Tear. Our 0:56:46.280 --> 0:56:48.640 theme song is by Thomas fifty on the Chargers to 0:56:48.719 --> 0:56:53.280 Win Lee and Travis When does the mel Tormee Show start? Dutton. 0:56:53.600 --> 0:56:57.320 The host wardrobe provided by Botany five hundred. 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