Cold Open

It’s just after 3 AM, on July 10th, 1973 in Rome, Italy.

As the city’s nightlife starts to wind down, John Paul Getty III picks his way through streets cloaked in shadow, making his way home. The 16-year-old American, who goes by Paul, is living in Rome with his mother.

But Paul isn’t just any teenager. He’s part of one of the wealthiest families in the world. His grandfather, John Paul Getty Senior, is an oil tycoon reputed to be the wealthiest man alive. His father, John Paul Getty Junior, runs the Italian division of the family business here in Rome.

But the pressure of being a Getty is part of what fuels Paul to cut loose on nights like tonight. Even at his young age, it’s legal for Paul to buy alcohol in Rome, and he’s taken full advantage of that tonight.

Despite the relatively cool night air, Paul is sweating. His head spins from too much booze as he stumbles his way along the street, occasionally reaching out a hand to steady himself against a building.

As he glances up, he passes late-night cafes closing, ushering the last few customers out onto the sidewalk.

Paul stops at a shop to buy a newspaper and some cigarettes, before continuing his journey, entering the Piazza Navona, a large open space with a trio of impressive marble fountains.

Paul pauses for a second, his eyes drawn to one of the fountains in particular. A young boy is carved into white marble, staring right back at Paul. It might just be how much he's had to drink, but Paul swears the boy is smiling at him.

Paul is so engrossed in the fountain that he barely hears a car pull up beside him, let alone register the doors opening and footsteps approaching.

Before he knows what’s happening, Paul feels hands grab him, propelling him into the car, which then speeds off into the night, beginning one of the most infamous kidnappings in modern times.

It will be five months before a ransom is paid, and Paul is finally released. Securing his freedom will be far from straightforward. It will leave a stain on one of America’s premiere families, painting John Paul Getty senior as a miser for initially refusing to contribute to his grandson’s release. And as for Paul, life after his kidnapping will never be the same, even decades after his release from captivity on December 15th, 1973.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is December 15th, 1973: The Kidnapping of John Paul Getty III.

Act One

It’s July 12th, 1973, at an unknown location in the southern Italian region of Calabria, two days after John Paul Getty III was snatched from the streets of Rome.

Paul sits inside a stopped car, a strip of cloth covering his eyes. He strains his other senses, searching for any indication of what’s going on around him. Since being kidnapped, a blindfolded Paul has been driven around for hours, with no clue as to where his captors are taking him.

All of a sudden, he hears a door open. Footsteps approach, and then he’s hauled to his feet. As Paul is pushed outside the car, he feels the cool drumbeat of raindrops on his face. His heart pounds and his breath is ragged with worry as he’s led by one of his kidnappers.

Then as suddenly as the rain started, it stops. Someone starts to dry him off, and the next thing he knows, his damp clothes are stripped, replaced with a dry set.

Fingers then fiddle with his blindfold, and without warning, it’s whipped away. Paul opens his eyes to find himself in a hut of some kind. But he still can’t see who’s with him. His captors have been careful to keep him looking at a wall, not their faces.

A piece of paper and a pen is dropped in front of him and Paul is told to write a letter to his mother. But he can’t use his own words. One of the kidnappers tells him exactly what to write, and Paul does as he is told.

The letter begs his mother not to involve the police, telling her if she does, the kidnappers will kill Paul. If there’s even so much as a delay in meeting their demands, Paul tells his mother that they’ll cut off one of his fingers and mail it to her.

The amount they demand is 17 million US dollars – the equivalent of around 116 million today. It’s a huge sum, but Paul knows his family is capable of paying it. So, once he's finished writing the letter, he hands the sheet of paper back to the kidnapper, confident that it’ll only be a matter of time before the ransom is paid, and he is released.

But when the letter arrives in Rome, its reception is far from what Paul or his kidnappers had hoped. Authorities question the credibility of Paul, who they think may be feigning his kidnapping to get money from his grandfather.

For some time, stories have been circulating about just how tight John Paul Getty senior clutches the purse strings. One of the more famous anecdotes tells of him installing a payphone at one of his London properties so that any visitors can’t bill their calls to his account. And in the past, Paul, himself, has joked with friends about faking his own kidnapping to extort his grandfather.

Paul's mother also confirms to police that Paul hasn't been spending much time living at the family home, preferring instead to crash with friends. Given Paul's bohemian party-loving lifestyle and rumors of mounting debt, authorities speculate that Paul may be lying low somewhere, having faked this letter in hope of a payday.

And because of this, the police response lacks the urgency expected of such a serious crime. But things start to change a few days later, after a second letter arrives, threatening to kill Paul if payment isn’t made. With the stakes rising, Paul’s mother, Gail Harris contacts the kidnappers. She pleads with them, saying she doesn’t have that kind of money, having divorced Paul’s father years earlier. But she’s told in no uncertain terms to “get it from London” - a veiled reference to John Paul Getty Senior, who has a residence there.

But despite the pleading of Paul's father, John Paul Getty Senior refuses. He points out that he has fourteen other grandchildren. If he pays up this time, they will all immediately become targets for like-minded criminals.

Several days later, Gail receives a second call from Paul’s kidnappers. Like her former father-in-law, a part of her still wonders if this kidnapping could be a hoax. But the man on the phone makes everything clear. He tells her they will happily mail one of her son’s fingers if she continues to doubt them.

Something about his tone and the seriousness of the threat convinces her it’s genuine. So, Gail tells the kidnapper that she is trying to come up with the money and maybe they can negotiate on the amount. But the stranger ends the call without any haggling, leaving her wondering if she will ever see her son again.

Fortunately, Gail will be reunited with Paul before the year is out, but her son’s ordeal is far from over. Paul will have to pay a price for his grandfather’s hesitancy. And before he can get a taste of freedom, the kidnappers will go through with their threats to hurt Paul in a brutal fashion.

Act Two

It’s 4 AM, on October 21st, 1973, in Calabria, Italy.

John Paul Getty III sits silently staring at the locked door, unable to sleep. Paul has been held hostage now for 104 days. In that time, his captors have made him write several more letters to his parents, urging them to pay the ransom, and warning of the consequences if they don’t. They’ve also told Paul exactly what they intend to do if his parents don’t come through with the money. They’re going to cut off one of his ears.

From somewhere outside, Paul hears footsteps. The door opens and one of his captors comes in carrying a plate piled with chunks of steak. Paul’s mouth waters, but he loses his appetite when he learns what the steak is for. His captor tells him that the meat is to help build up his strength before they take a blade to him. Then, Paul is left alone with the food, thoughts of what might come next playing terribly in his mind.

Three hours later, the door opens again. The faces of the men who enter are solemn. One of the captors announces that it’s time. Paul is handed a strip of cloth and told to blindfold himself. He looks around the room, at the sea of hardened faces - seven in total. He is in no position to refuse orders and his hands shake as they fasten the blindfold in place. His heart beats faster when he hears a clink of metal. He asks if it’s going to hurt and the grim reply comes without hesitation. Of course, it is.

Paul asks if he can have a handkerchief. One is thrust into his hand, and he rolls it up, stuffing it in his mouth to bite down on.

Then, before he can think too much about it, a cold metal blade touches his ear, and then slices back and forth. Twice is all it takes. The sound reminds a Paul of paper being ripped. And moments later, he feels the warmth of his own blood running down his neck. But there’s no pain. At least, not right away. That comes when they pour alcohol on the wound.

Paul sits in shock as several of the men tend to his injury. They bandage him up and give him a couple of shots in the arm. The first is penicillin to ward off any infection, followed by a tetanus shot.

Despite the dressings though, Paul’s wound won’t stop bleeding for a full day and a half. It takes as long again before he manages to stomach any food. And in that time, he is in constant pain and discomfort. His captors give him many more penicillin shots, not knowing that he is allergic to it - a fact that not even Paul himself is yet aware of. Meanwhile, they package up the ear, along with clippings of his hair, and send the grisly parcel to an Italian newspaper office, along with another note.

In it, they say that if the ransom isn’t paid within ten days, the other ear will follow. But there is one good piece of news for the Getty family: the kidnappers have reduced their demand from seventeen million dollars to a little under three.

Paul’s parents go back to his grandfather again, begging for help. John Paul Getty senior, perhaps spurred on by the recent gruesome delivery in the mail, reluctantly agrees. In keeping with his miserly reputation though, Getty Senior dictates his own terms. He will pay 2.2 million - the maximum sum he’s been advised he can claim as a tax write-off. The remaining balance, he will loan to his son at a rate of four percent interest.

Getty Senior sends a man to Italy, with three bags stuffed with cash. Fifty-two thousand bills in all, each of them having been recorded by police in an effort to trace the criminals. The courier follows the kidnappers’ instructions to leave the bags at a pre-agreed roadside location. Then, the Getty family sit back and wait.

In the days that follow, the kidnappers will keep their word and release Paul, putting an end to five months of worry for him and his family. But the story will still not end there. Police will continue to pursue those responsible, rounding up a group of suspects in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Paul will try to adjust to life as a free man again, only to be swallowed up in the shadow the experience has cast over him.

Act Three

It’s early morning on December 15th, 1973.

A trucker fills up at a gas station near the town of Lauria in Southern Italy. It’s cold enough that he can see his own breath fog the air in front of him.

The trucker finishes filling up, goes inside to pay, then hustles back to his vehicle, desperate to get back inside the warmth of his truck. But an odd scene off to the side makes him pause.

He sees a young man, practically a boy, shivering as he clutches a blanket around his shoulders. He is walking on unsteady feet toward the gas station. The trucker calls out, asking if the boy is alright. Perhaps he’s lost, or worse still in this weather - maybe he’s homeless.

The young man turns to him, and the trucker notices grubby-looking bandages covering one ear. Then when the young man speaks, his voice is quiet, as if he’s worried who might be listening. He identifies himself as Paul Getty – a name that the trucker knows instantly, thanks to all the press coverage over the past few months.

The trucker immediately calls the police and listens to Paul recount how his kidnappers simply let him go with nothing other than clothes on his back, a blanket, and a pack of cigarettes.

And with that, five months of torment is over. Authorities arrive soon after to collect Paul and he’s whisked away to get checked out by doctors and to be reunited with his mother.

It doesn’t take the police long to track down a number of suspects. Eight men are arrested in late January 1974. All are members of a mafia-style gang known as the Ndrangheta, although only two will ever be convicted of having a part in Paul’s kidnapping. Most of the ransom money will never be recovered.

At his mother’s request, Paul will call his grandfather to thank him for paying the lion's share of the ransom. And if rumors are true, Getty senior will refuse to even come to the phone.

Then in 1977, Paul will have reconstructive surgery on his ear. But that won’t be the end of his problems. The kidnapping ordeal will send him spiraling into alcohol and drug abuse. And in 1981, Paul will drink a cocktail laced with valium and methadone, which causes him to have a stroke. He’ll lose his sight, his speech, and be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. His mother will care for him until his death in 2011, at the age of just fifty-four, almost four decades after he was released by his kidnappers on December 15th, 1973.

Outro

Next on History Daily. December 18th, 1972. After peace talks break down, US President Richard Nixon announces the start of the “Christmas Bombing” of North Vietnam.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Katrina Zemrak.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Rob Scragg.

Executive Producers are Alexandra Currie-Buckner for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.