JAMES P TAYLOR

Old Trunks is so pumped this morning it is hard to know just where to start this tale. It is marvelous only because it is a small world story about people connecting and passing on information. It is a giving-receiving story and I am hopeful you find proof, again how necessary communication is.



The base connection happened because Judy Rambeck sent pictures of friends taken in the summer of 1959. Perhaps she Googled her grandfather's name and found the blog. Old Trunks and Old Shoes talked about Arthur Rambeck in a blog titled "Kilt Him a Bear".



Judy wrote to say: "Jeanne, Chuck and I grew up playing on a big black bear rug in my grandfathers living room, the head was still on it with the mouth partially open. I wonder if it was the same bear as in the story".



AND





"I was just searching for information about a bank robbery in TRF that my grandfather Art Rambeck was involved in solving. It was in an old True Detective magazine and my brother wants to read about it. I found a reference and a picture of Art in your blog. I didn't find what I was originally looking for but had a great time reading your stories. Thanks for the memories".



AND



"the Northern State Bank teller was murdered in 1955, I am still looking for Art's role in finding the killer. We remember the True Detective magazine that my Dad had, I found the year and the name of the teller so my brother can do the rest of the research. There is someone that has a collection of the old magazines and if the price is reasonable I think we will get it. Lynn just turned 60 and is into "do you remember when?" He was with me when I took my sons to Karlstad, Halma, cemeteries and a private tour of the Pioneer Village so he has a renewed interest in our history".





This lays the ground work for the rest of the story. This is about a murder that happened in 1955 in Thief River Falls. I have emailed Judy requesting an address so I can send the hard copy newspaper articles to her.



For those of us who lived in Thief River Falls in 1955 we may remember bits and pieces of this news. As a child I thought it was a kid, (child) who was taken, not a grown up. Because of Judy's email, I did some research. Judy is looking for a specific magazine, if you know anyone who has it, please let us know, it will complete the circle. My next step is to chase down the actual articles in the Thief River Falls Times on microfilm which I can have sent to Moorhead, MN. It is not exciting that Mr. Lindberg died, it is only exciting to help some one with their quests.



For now, let's examine what we have recently learned.

Saturday Evening, November 26, 1955
HEADLINE To View Body Identified As That of Missing Cashier

Clear Lake, Minnesota
Relatives and friends will view today a body identified as that if Kenneth Lindberg, 44, a bank cashier reported missing since around November 12.

Lindberg, believe kidnapped by a bank robber at Thief River Falls, Minnesota had been shot in the forehead.

The body was discovered yesterday on a farm near Clear Lake, Minnesota by three farm youths.

Sheriff Chester Groener of Sherburne County said a description of Lindberg fitted the body; a check on the clothes tallied, a receipt found in a pocket had been made out to the cashier, and a set of car keys carried Lindberg's license registration number.

Since Lindberg's disappearance, police and FBI agents have been investigating on the theory that he had been kidnapped at the robbery of the Northern State Bank at Thief River Falls.

Some $14,000 in travelers checks and the $1, 750 in silver where missing after Lindberg's disappearance.

He was the father of four children.


HEADLINE

SUSPECT LOOKS LIKE LINDBERG'S SLAYER

May Arrested At Joplin, Mo. Denies Crime




December 9, 1955
Suspect looks like Lindbergh slayer
Man arrested at Joplin, Missouri, denies crime
Officials seem in no hurry to take Minnesota people to Missouri to identify him


Arrested man claims he can explain possession of stolen travelers checks




Authorities said today there were no immediate plans to take any Minnesotans to Missouri to see if they could identify a man being held in connection with the Thief River Falls bank cashier case.




James P. Taylor, 30, an ex convict, claimed through his attorney late Thursday he was innocent of any wrongdoing in connection with possession of travelers checks stolen from the Thief River Falls bank where kidnapped and slain Kenneth Lindbergh was cashier.




Looked like the man




Sheriff Arthur Rambeck said today at Thief River Falls that no arrangements were being made to take any of the four local persons who saw a picture of Taylor looked like the man who visited the northwestern Minnesota community that day Lindberg disappeared to Missouri for possible personal identification




Rambeck said George Rockstad, who drove a stranger from Thief River Falls airport into town the day of Lindbergh’s disappearance had said Taylor looks just like him, (the passenger).




Rambeck said Chris Kierk, manager of the Thief River Falls airport, his wife and an airport attendant also said after seeing a picture of Taylor that he looked like a man who arrived the day the cashier disappeared.




In Minneapolis, a hotel employee said Taylor, held on a federal charge, looked very much like the mysterious Herbert F. Johnson sought in the case. Gertrude Heyman, Nicollet Hotel desk employee, said she would have to see Taylor and hear his voice before she could positively identify him as Johnson the man she talked to several minutes when he registered.




Police believe it is the man named Herbert F. Johnson who made a telephone call to Lindberg on November 12, saying he wanted to deposit $25,000 in the Northern State Bank of Thief River Falls for the weekend.
Lindberg was seen in company of a stranger at the bank the afternoon of November 12 then vanished. Missing from the bank were $14,000 in traveler’s checks and $1750 in silver dollars.




Lindberg’s body was found in a snow-covered field near Clear Lake , Minnesota in Sherburne County, on November 25. He had been bludgeoned to death with a sharp instrument, possibly a hatchet.




Some of the stolen travelers checks turned up in Detroit, Michigan when a man calling himself Charles R Kenwell deposited them in a bank. Lindbergh’s car was found abandoned in Minneapolis, most of the silver dollars still in the trunk.




Taylor was arrested in a private home in Joplin, Missouri, early Thursday. FBI agents who surrounded the home said Taylor possessed a depositors passbook issued by a Detroit bank. It showed deposits on November 14 of more than $5,000 under the name of Charles R Kenwell.




Taylor was charged with interstate transportation of part of the travelers checks taken from the Thief River Falls bank. He waived a removal hearing before a US commissioner in Joplin. Unable to furnish $10,000 bond, Taylor was taken to jail






Friday, December 16, 1955
Lindbergh murder suspect arrives
Kidnap -- slayer suspect now lodged in Hennepin jail
Lindbergh suspect is smooth talking and well-dressed
Maybe Minnesota man -- several will try to identify




James P. Taylor, ex convict charged in connection with the kidnap -- slaying of bank cashier Kenneth Lindbergh was lodged in Hennepin County jail today awaiting action by a grand jury.




Taylor, arrested two weeks ago in Joplin, Missouri was brought here from Kansas City late Thursday on a warrant charging he passed four forged travelers checks in Minneapolis under the name of Herbert F. Johnson.
George MacKinnen, US District Attorney said, however that he would not be arraigned on this charge. Instead, this case will be presented to the grand jury when evidence has been assembled.





The four checks Taylor is accused of passing for cash November 13, a day after Lindberg disappeared from the Northern State Bank of thief River Falls.




It is expected employee of the Nicollet Hotel will be asked if they can identify Taylor as Johnson and, that he also will be viewed by residents of Thief River Falls and Detroit Lakes who saw a Lindbergh with the stranger the day of the disappearance.




Lindbergh’s body was found near Clear Lake November 25. A John Doe first-degree murder warrant has been issued against his unknowing assailant.




Officials at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana where Taylor served a term for auto theft, said they believed Taylor may originally have come from Excelsior, Minnesota.






Friday, December 16, 1955
Suave, smooth -- talking James P. Taylor, 30, prime suspect in the kidnapping and murder of a Thief River Falls , Minnesota Banker, Kenneth Lindberg, was whisked into Hennepin County Jail about 5 p.m. Thursday.





Brought in from Kansas City, Missouri, the United States Marshall, Robert L. Allie, and Minneapolis police men John V Cahill, Taylor was lodged in jail before reporters knew where he was in town.
Getting the former Detroit, Michigan man into the courthouse was as carefully planned and smoothly executed as a wartime cloak and dagger operation.




Wearing an imported British tweed topcoat over a sports coat and charcoal brown slacks, Taylor was transported in an unmarked federal car.
The dapper fugitive was handcuffed during the trip and the chain binding his wrists was passed through one around his waist.




The trio made an overnight stop at an unnamed Iowa town.





Officers said Taylor was reluctant to talk about the Lindberg case, but possessed an excellent background in sports.
He impressed them as well mannered, intelligent, and was an executive type.




George E. MacKinnen, United States District Attorney, said that Taylor had wavered preliminary hearing to Kansas City and there would be none in Minneapolis or Saint Paul.




A federal grand jury will be called, after preliminary investigations have been made.


Courthouse sources predict that Taylor would not be available to news man until after an indictment has been brought by the grand jury.

Taylor was said to be nervous during the trip north, which Allie and Cahill described as uneventful.

Let's find the rest of the story.

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