More than 80 years after the kidnapping of prominent leader in Albany, a Bethlehem native has brought the incident more clearly into focus.
For several weeks in 1933, the kidnapping of John O’Connell Jr. captured local and national newspaper headlines. John was the nephew of Dan O’Connell, a highly influential member of the Albany County Democratic Party. The complete story did not surface until decades after the incident, when James Dunn began researching his family history.
Dunn, of Bethlehem Central High School’s Class of ‘70, had heard about his family’s connection as a young boy.
“It was a big deal,” said Dunn. “Our family never really had a claim to fame so I went to the newspaper accountants and read a little about it.”
His father had described how James’ grandfather, Theodore W. Dunn, took him to the local jail to look around. James’ father could then brag to his friends about spending time in the jail. Theodore Dunn was able offer such a tour because of his role in the trail of the kidnapping case.
Dan O’Connell “hand selected” Theodore to serve as jury foreman for the trail of Manny Strewl, who severed 28 years in prison for masterminding the kidnapping of John O’Connell.
“I thought to myself, if the story has not really been told then I should do it myself,” said Dunn. “I started looking into it little by little and it sort of sucks you in as you go.”
In the mid-80s, Dunn started researching his genealogy. His grandfather’s role in the trial led him to explore the back-story behind the kidnapping. There was scant information regarding the kidnapping on the Internet, leading Dunn to seek out documentation.
There were around 1,200 pages of court transcripts Dunn reviewed, providing details emerging during the trial. Dunn wrote to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but much of the information he received was heavily redacted. A key source for documentation ended up being The National Archives at College Park, Md.
Over more than a decade, Dunn sifted through about 10 boxes of documentation. Each time he visited the Maryland facility he would chip away at some of the documents. Since nothing could leave the site, he took many trips to sort through all the information.
“I almost started laughing at the comedy of errors these criminals made,” he said.
Writing a fictional account of incidents allowed Dunn to capture what might have been said at meetings he knew occurred. Trial transcripts allowed him to learn main points from meetings and what resulted. Dunn’s book brings the meetings to life, along with helping pass information to readers.
There were some roadblocks Dunn had to overcome while writing the book.
“I had made several trips to the National Archives and read portions of the O’Connell FBI file. After 9/11 the Transportation Security Administration classified the file for six months so I could not access the files,” Dunn said. “The TSA was afraid the terrorist could get tips on how to kidnap people from the 70-year-old file.”
Another obstacle was piecing all the information together, because the files were not organized in any particular manner. Sometimes evidence would not make any sense to him at first, but through further research he eventually started to see how certain events and incidents were connected.
There were three drafts before the final book, “Kidnapping the Prince of Albany,” with the first being around six inches thick including all of his typed notes. Revisions of his book condensed information down around 450 pages, with several historical photos included at the end of the book.
He self-published and had only printed several copies to use as promotional items; to his surprise, many people wanted a hard copy of the book over an e-book. A paperback copy the book can be purchased at The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza. An e-book version can be purchased through Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
The final result presented a truer picture of the criminals than most had seen, according to Dunn. “It de-glamorized the criminals, these were some bad dudes,” he said.
