Edward (Spike) O'Donnell, south side gangster, who was questioned in connection with the purported kidnaping, said that Hackett's story was a gesture to defraud the government.
O’Donnell came right out and claimed that Hackett had staged his own kidnapping so that he could cry poverty and avoid paying back taxes.
Was there a connection between the kidnapping and Hackett’s tax status? Shortly before the 1931 kidnapping federal internal revenue service agents placed a tax lien on Hackett, with acting collector Robert E Neely claiming he owed $354,639 to the government. The debt was for the years 1914 - 1929 during which time his income was allegedly more than $2,000,000. Hackett had recently compromised with the collector's office. O'Donnell's theory was that Hackett's payment of a large ransom would let him off the hook for paying his settlement. Another plausible connection between his debt and his kidnapping is that an insider at the IRS leaked news of these vast sums to criminal persons. Hackett’s agreement with tax authorities involved a large payment that would clear his liens. If he had enough to pay the government he had enough to pay a ransom.
My dad told me that his mother and grandmother often characterized deeds of his as things Jim Hackett would or would not have done. Adeline's sense of security and well being was destroyed by the 1931 kidnapping and the thought that her son George was a potential target of kidnap gangs. Such a deliberate destruction of his wife’s peace of mind falls into the category of something Jim would not have done.
