Uncle John’s True Crime (11 page)

THE PLOT THICKENS

When Mr. Cone returned home, having heard of his wife’s death, he was crying and inconsolable. He behaved just as you’d expect a man to behave after losing the woman he’d loved for 52 years. “He was really depressed,” the housekeeper told reporters. “They cared about each other. They had been married for so many years.” Nothing Mr. Cone said or did aroused even a hint of suspicion...at first.

The FBI kept a 2,000-page file on Albert Einstein
.

Then, just 13 days later, friends of the family happened to read a baffling wedding announcement in the local newspaper. Less than two weeks after his wife’s death, Douglas Cone had remarried—and he hadn’t bothered to tell his three grown children. Now
that
could be considered suspicious behavior.

Had Mrs. Cone been murdered? Was Douglas Cone her killer? What was going on? Their son Doug Jr. asked the police to take another look into his mother’s death.

MYSTERY MAN

The first thing they did was investigate the woman Cone had just married. Here’s what they found:

Her name was Hillary Carlson and she was already married.

Few of her acquaintances had ever met her husband, Donald Carlson, who worked for the U.S. State Department and was always traveling.

They had been married for more than 20 years, had two grown children, and lived on a 67-acre gated estate 20 miles north of Tampa.

Then the investigators discovered some bizarre coincidences: The Carlsons and the Cones traveled in the same exclusive social circles. The two families had both sent their children to the same prestigious Berkeley Preparatory School, and Hillary Carlson and Jean Ann Cone had served together on the school’s board of trustees. Both families had given lots of money to the school—the library named in honor of Mrs. Cone was just yards away from the baseball field that was named for Mrs. Carlson.

Douglas Cone and Donald Carlson seemed to have less in common than their wives did. Cone didn’t travel in diplomatic circles like Carlson—he was in road construction. But had Jean Ann Cone and Hillary Carlson compared notes about their husbands, they might have noticed something unusual: Jean Ann’s husband was away on business during the week and home on weekends, while Hillary’s husband was away on weekends but home during the week.

And just like Superman and Clark Kent, Douglas Cone and Donald Carlson were never in the same place at the same time.

THE JIG IS UP

With the cops (and the newspapers) hot on his trail, Douglas Cone had no choice but to reveal his incredible secret: for more than 20 years, he
had been living a double life. On weekends he lived with his wife Jean Ann in town, but during the week he posed as Donald Carlson, living with his mistress, Hillary Carlson, and their two children on their large estate.

Dirty Harry’s badge number was 2211. Sergeant Joe Friday’s was 714
.

He and Hillary had made up the story about the State Department job so they would never have to appear together in public. Douglas Cone’s “business trips” were simply a ruse so he could spend the week with Hillary. She knew everything, but Jean Ann Cone apparently died without realizing that her husband had been two-timing her for over two decades.

REST IN PEACE

The police still believe, and the Cone children now accept, that Jean Ann Cone’s death was an accident. “The family was only suspicious because Douglas Cone remarried too quickly,” says Tampa Police Sergeant Jim Simonson. “Turns out that can be easily explained; it’s not like he met the woman two weeks before.”

*
*
*

Batalarm, Batanalyzer, Bat-a-rang, Bat-armor, Bat Awake, Batbeam, Batbeam Firing Button, Bat Blowtorch, Batboat, Batcamera’s Polarized Batfilter, Batcave, Batcentrifuge, Batcharge Launcher, Batclaws, Batcommunicator, Batcopter, Batcostume, Batcuffs, Batcycle, Batcycle Go-cart, Batantidote, Batparachute, Emergency Tank of Batoxygen, Bat Earplugs, Bat Gas, Batguage, Bathook, Batkey, Batknife, Batladder, Batlaser Gun, Batmagnet, Batmissile, Batmobile, Batmobile Antitheft Device, Batmobile Mobile Crime Computer, Batmobile’s Superpower Afterburner, Bat-o-meter, Bat-o-stat Antifire Activator, Batphone, Batpole, Batram, Bat Ray Projector, Batresearch Shelf, Batrope, Batscanner Receiver, Batscope, Batshield, Batsleep, Batsignal, Bat Terror Control, Batzooka, Compressed Steam Batlift, Homing Battransmitter, Memory Bat Bank, Superblinding Batpellets

30,000 people attended bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd’s 1934 Oklahoma funeral
.

We like to think that most people are decent. But not everybody is—some people make a living by scamming any victim they can find, and someday, it could be you. So here are a few of the oldest tricks in the con artist’s book...just in case someone tries one on you
.

T
HE CON:
The Antique Toy

HOW IT WORKS:
The first con man, or “grifter,” buys a worthless old toy from a secondhand store. He goes into a bar, sets it down, and buys a drink. He then pretends to take an important call on his cell phone and steps outside, leaving the toy on the bar. After a few moments, the grifter’s accomplice enters. He excitedly notices the antique toy, and asks where it came from, because “it’s a rare antique worth a fortune.” The accomplice tells the bartender that he’s going to get some money—because he’ll pay the owner of the toy $500 for it. The first con man then returns to the bar. If all goes according to plan, the bartender gets greedy and offers to buy the toy off the first con man for a modest fee, thinking he can turn around and sell it to the accomplice for $500. The grifter accepts; the accomplice never returns.

THE CON:
The Human ATM

HOW IT WORKS:
The grifter places an “out of order” sign on the screen of an ATM. Then, wearing a security-guard uniform, he stands next to it, straight as a rod and looking ahead. Whenever anyone comes by to make a cash deposit, he tells them that he works for the bank and is taking deposits by hand. He writes out a receipt and takes their cash, but also asks for their account number and PIN to secure the transaction. It’s amazing that anyone would fall for this, but there are frequent reports of it happening.

THE CON:
The Melon Drop

HOW IT WORKS:
While carrying a sealed package full of broken glass,
the con artist bumps into an innocent person and drops the package. When it hits the ground, it sounds like a precious glass object inside just broke into a thousand pieces (even though it was already broken). The con man angrily blames the clumsy bystander and demands money to replace the expensive item he’s just broken. This ploy gets its name from a scam perpetrated on Japanese tourists. In Japan, watermelons are expensive, but in the United States they’re cheap. So the scammer buys a watermelon at a grocery store, then deliberately bumps into a Japanese tourist, drops the watermelon, and demands a large amount of cash to replace it.

FBI statistic: 74% of threats against federal workers are directed at IRS employees
.

The Con:
The Barred Winner

How It Works:
A con man approaches the “mark” outside a casino, holding what he says is a bag of gambling chips worth several thousand dollars. The problem, he says, is that he was accused of cheating and thrown out of the casino without getting a chance to cash in his chips. He asks the victim to redeem them in the casino, promising a portion of the proceeds. When the mark agrees, the con man acts suspicious, afraid the mark will just walk away with all his money. (Oh, the irony!) The con man asks for collateral—his wallet or a piece of jewelry. The victim goes inside to cash in the chips, only to discover the the chips are fake and that the con artist has absconded with the collateral.

The Con:
The Fake Mugger

How It Works:
Two con artists spot an easy victim for a purse-snatching. The first one steals the purse and takes off running. The second one shouts, “Stop, thief!” and chases the mugger down the street as the mark looks on. The second con man wrestles the purse away, but in the melee, the “thief” escapes. The purse is returned to the mark, who gratefully gives the brave con man a cash reward. The two con men then split the haul.

The Con:
The Beijing Tea Scam

How It Works:
This tourist scam originated in China. Two young women approach, chat up, and befriend a traveler. After hitting it off with their new friend, the women will suggest that their new friend accompany them to a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. The tourist thinks this is a great idea (an authentic cultural experience) and agrees.
The three people then go to a small teahouse. They are never shown a menu—if asked, the two con women say that that is just how it’s done. Then the tea is brewed, poured, and slowly consumed. At the conclusion, the tourist is given a bill for $100. The women hand over their money, and the tourist reluctantly does the same. The girls part ways with the tourist...then return to the teahouse, where they get their cut of the $100.

Interpol’s database of stolen travel documents contains more than 12 million records
.

The Con:
The Landlord Scam

How It Works:
The con man takes a short-term sublet of an apartment, and then takes out a classified ad offering the apartment for rent at an amazing below-market rate. Potential tenants come to view the apartment, and since it’s a great place for a great price, they are ready to sign a lease on the spot. The con man takes their deposit and first month’s rent. And then he does this with another tenant, and another, and another. The con man tells each victim that they can move in on the first day of the following month. When all of the scammed tenants arrive at the same time with their furniture, ready to move in, the con man is long gone with their money.

The Con:
The Street Mechanic

How It Works:
At a stoplight or stop sign, the con artist flags down an expensive car. There’s something wrong with the car, he tells the driver. There isn’t, of course, but the con man says the problem is one that’s difficult to see, like a “slightly crooked bumper,” for example. He tells the victim that this kind of repair is usually very expensive, but he can fix it in just minutes—he’s a mechanic—and the only payment he asks for is a ride to work. The con man “fixes” the bumper, and the victim drives him to work. While riding along, the con man “calls his boss” and a staged emotional conversation follows in which the con man is “fired” for being late again. The victim, feeling grateful (and guilty) that the man stopped to help him, offers up a hefty reward of thanks.

*
*
*

“There’s only two people in your life you should lie to—the police and your girlfriend.”

—
Jack Nicholson

Bounty hunting is legal only in the US and the Philippines; elsewhere it’s considered kidnapping
.

Lotas of people try to bring home contraband. Some get away with it (probably more than we’d like to think) and others get caught. And sometimes the stories can be pretty entertaining
.