Obese Corporate Kidnapper - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Mastermind · 02-01-2009, 05:10 PM

In one of my favorite and funny UM segments

, this is the one where the Minnesota corporate executive was kidnapped by an obese guy with a floppy rainhat and trenchcoat.

Is there any update on this, i know in the segment that the had a suspect but he was ruled out. (John Henderson was his name)

Statute of limitations run out on this case?

I fully believe it had to be one of the several employees that the corporate exec fired.

Todd Mueller · 02-01-2009, 05:38 PM

The executive was John Grundhoffer of First Bank Systems (now US Bank).

No one was ever arrested for this crime and there have been no further updates. I don't think there is a statute of limitations since it was kidnapping and he transported the victim across state lines so I'm sure it is a federal offense.

If this case is solved, someone is still facing some serious prison time.

TracyLynnS · 02-09-2009, 05:46 PM

They showed this one again today. I really get the feeling that it never happened. The only witness is a guy in the parking garage who saw the executive and another guy fighting and there was a gun involved. The witness did not identify the wrong man in the lineup, like the executive did.

After the scuffle in the parking garage there are no other witnesses to anything. The exec was in the garage a total of 3 minutes. He is the one who calls to report his kidnapping. Supposedly, he was kidnapped by a group called "parents against drugs". Yep, those parents who are against drugs are a violent bunch.

So anyway, the ransom is $3 million dollars, to be paid in $100, $500, and $1,000 bills. How ridiculous is that? He drives his own car through two states, and has "dynamite" cuffed to him.

Then, the kidnapper makes the exec get all wrapped up in a sleeping bag behind a "secluded" rest stop, and leaves. The exec frees himself in 20 minutes and runs to a nearby farmhouse to call for help. The kidnapper is never heard from again. Throughout all this, there are no witnesses.

So, what was the motive? It wasn't the money and it wasn't murder. I think it was publicity.

The exec had recently gotten publicity for cutting a couple thousand jobs. Either he liked the publicity and wanted more, or he had become very unpopular for being such a cold, heartless rich guy who could fire people without a thought, so he wanted to make himself into a sympathetic victim.

Something the segment didn't cover: the exec was kidnapped in his own car. They never made it clear if the kidnapper stole that car or if it was left where the exec parked it before walking into the woods to where the sleeping bag was waiting.

The FBI investigated this. I wonder if they ever looked at from the "it never happened" angle...

TracyLynnS · 02-09-2009, 05:52 PM

And... according to the Minnesota Independent, this happened during John Grundhofer's first year at the bank:

Grundhofer arrived in the Twin Cities in 1990 to helm what was then known as First Bank System. During his first year on the job he was kidnapped from a downtown Minneapolis parking lot. The bank executive was bound, stuffed in a sleeping bag and left in a remote wooded area in Wisconsin. Grundhofer escaped two hours later and ran to a nearby farm for help. A ransom was demanded but never paid. No one was ever charged in the kidnapping. “I have no idea why this took place this morning,” he told reporters at the time. “We’re very grateful to the good Lord for me being here.”

The turbulent beginning to Grundhofer’s tenure at First Bank System was only a portent of things to come. He mercilessly cut costs at the struggling company, including a 20 percent reduction in personnel, earning plaudits from Wall Street and the sobriquet “Jack the Ripper” back home. “I’m not an evil man,” he insisted to the Star Tribune’s Neal St. Anthony in 1993. “I like people.”

In 2000, after U.S. Bancorp had lost its luster with Wall Street, Grundhofer engineered a $19 billion sale to Firstar Corp., a Milwaukee-based bank run by his brother Jerry. Jack the Ripper retired in 2002, but he didn’t walk away empty-handed: He’s guaranteed a $2.9 million annual salary for the rest of his life.

http://minnesotaindependent.com/1008...litical-donors

TracyLynnS · 02-09-2009, 05:57 PM

From some guy's website, who offers personal security guards. Sounds to me like old jack the ripper still has a huge ego. Does he really need a security staff? Is he *that* important? He's right up there with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Margaret Thatcher?

Quote:

His clients are understandably reluctant to speak on the record about their security arrangements. One who will is John Grundhofer, chairman emeritus of U.S. Bancorp. Grundhofer learned the hard way about his need for executive protection in 1990. While CEO of First Bank System (U.S. Bank’s predecessor firm), he was kidnapped at gunpoint from a Minneapolis parking garage and held for ransom in Wisconsin before escaping. After that episode, he relied on guards provided by the bank. Since retiring in 2002, he has paid Avalon from his own pocket for security during visits to Minnesota from his homes in California, South Dakota, and Montana.

“In my view, anyone with resources should know there’s some nut out there who wants those resources,” Grundhofer says. “I’m sure that even now, in my old age, I’m on somebody’s list. And every Fortune 500 CEO is on somebody’s list . . . . When I travel, I want someone like Dan or his senior people around. Pros.”

atomicfizz · 02-09-2009, 07:51 PM

I saw this today too and went looking for some information after the fact. It said that his car was spotted the same day in Sherburn, MN (by a police officer) and that it was found the day after the kidnapping in another parking garage about 3 blocks from the kidnapping site, and that it had been there since 10p the night of the kidnapping. So if he did stage this he must have had an accomplice... the man who was his witness in the parking garage? I don't know what I did think happened, but I did wonder why he didn't leave out the gate that was manned so there would be someone else who saw him. I don't know but if I was kidnapped I'd do whatever I could to get witnesses.

The thing that sutck out in my mind was how much the suspect that was cleared did look like the composite!! Sounds like it was just bad luck on his part but it was pretty amazing. Even better than the new guy in the Molly Bish case!

VikingsGal · 02-09-2009, 11:03 PM

Well I for one do not think it was staged nor do I think John Grunhofer made it up. That is a lot of work for some "good publicity" and most higher ups make hard decisions about layoffs because that is what they do.

I think it was a disgruntled employee, I don't buy the drug angle.

I do wonder when people commit crimes in the Twin Cities they always seem to drive to Wisconsin! Drive west you fools then it's not a federal crime! Or go north!

atomicfizz · 02-09-2009, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VikingsGal

I do wonder when people commit crimes in the Twin Cities they always seem to drive to Wisconsin! Drive west you fools then it's not a federal crime! Or go north!

I know, I don't get that either. Especially north would have been perfect, moreso back then, there was nothing up there! I remember when we used to drive from the TC to Duluth, I would get freaked out when I would stop at rest areas, thinking that if anyone wanted to do anything to me there would be no witnesses. I'm probably a weirdo but I would always wonder if any bodies were ever dumped up there... who knows when it would be found. There is a lot of empty space up that way.

But, perhaps this guy went to Wisconsin because he was from there. I think a lot of these guys to where they are familiar with the area. This guy must have known of an area that was secluded, though maybe he should have chosen somewhere that would not have made him get so out of breath.

fwiw I don't think he staged it either. I don't really know what the benefit would be. Maybe at the time people didn't like him but when I worked for Wells Fargo 6 years ago my boss had worked at US Bank under Grundhofer and she praised him, saying he completely turned that company around.

mikele · 02-10-2009, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TracyLynnS

So, what was the motive? It wasn't the money and it wasn't murder. I think it was publicity.

I think that obese guy was about to commit extortion, but his plan went out of hand. He seemed to have freaked out when realized had lost his note and couldn't carry out his scenario. In my opinion he was oligophreniac or had some kind of other mental problems.

atomicfizz · 02-10-2009, 01:31 PM

Well if that's the case then I wonder if he was working for someone else. Maybe they chose him because they thought he could do it, but if he got caught he might get some leniency for having a diminished mental capacity. Perhaps then it is the guy who resembled the sketch, who was questioned. Maybe he was hired by someone else. Not to be mean but he didn't seem super bright. It's just odd that Grundhofer thought he was the guy but the eyewitness didn't. I know that eyewitness accounts are notorious for being incorrect, and I think it's interesting that the guy who actually spent a lot of time with the guy did think it was him.

TracyLynnS · 02-10-2009, 01:48 PM

I thought the man who was identified as the suspect would have been easy to id in a line up, too. IMO, he had a very distinctive look, and the way his lower teeth were always visible when he spoke set him apart from just about anyone else.

If it was him, maybe that's why the exec was able to ID him, but the witness in the garage was not. The witness in the garage did not interact with him for any length of time. I don't know if the kidnapper even spoke to him.

I still can't get over the fact that the victim's car was found in a parking garage 3 blocks over from from the kidnap site, and had been there since 10pm, the day of the kidnpping. Do you remember where you got that info?

And the FBI must have dusted the whole car for fingerprints. The UM segment didn't say anything about the kidnapper wearing gloves or wiping down the car. Seems like if the kidnapper was such a bumbler, he would have left behind something from driving the car back to 2nd parking location.

Mastermind · 02-10-2009, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Well I for one do not think it was staged nor do I think John Grunhofer made it up. That is a lot of work for some "good publicity" and most higher ups make hard decisions about layoffs because that is what they do.

I don't think it was staged for this reason.

If you were going to fake your kidnapping, wouldn;t you want to have a more believable description for you kidnapper?

I think having some heavyset belligerent guy in black fatigues with a foreign accent would go over much better than getting kidnapped by an overweight, bespectacled guy with a floppy hat?

1.One theory that i think hasn't been looked into is that the guy might be some type of Michael Moore-ish crusader, who didn't like what happened to thos people that lost their jobs and he wanted to send a message.

2. I also wonder if he might not be a direct employee but a relative of a layed off employee. Perhaps the husband of an ex-employee.

atomicfizz · 02-10-2009, 02:04 PM

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...cts/F/Finances

Here you go TracyLynn, that has a bit more information about what happened. Though I see this does describe the kidnapper as "educated". I don't know. I just can't get over that sketch, it looks soooo much like that guy! Yeah, I do wonder how they didn't find prints and stuff in the car, unless the fact that he was wearing gloves was just one of those things UM left out.

VikingsGal · 02-10-2009, 02:39 PM

Was it ever mentioned what the guy's alibi was? And did anyone ever pick him out of a lineup? I don't think the guy they accused did it - don't know why, I just didn't get that vibe.

TracyLynnS · 02-10-2009, 02:42 PM

Wow! Good article! The sketch on UM definitely looks like the guy that was ID'd, but I can't say that I'd describe him as an educated businessman type guy. At the very least though, a businessman as the kidnapper explains why the whole job was goofed up from start to finish. Shoulda hired a professional.

02-01-2009, 05:10 PM	#1
Mastermind Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 16, 2008 Posts: 1,843	Obese Corporate Kidnapper In one of my favorite and funny UM segments , this is the one where the Minnesota corporate executive was kidnapped by an obese guy with a floppy rainhat and trenchcoat. Is there any update on this, i know in the segment that the had a suspect but he was ruled out. (John Henderson was his name) Statute of limitations run out on this case? I fully believe it had to be one of the several employees that the corporate exec fired.

02-01-2009, 05:38 PM	#2
Todd Mueller Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 11, 2005 Posts: 1,626	The executive was John Grundhoffer of First Bank Systems (now US Bank). No one was ever arrested for this crime and there have been no further updates. I don't think there is a statute of limitations since it was kidnapping and he transported the victim across state lines so I'm sure it is a federal offense. If this case is solved, someone is still facing some serious prison time.

02-09-2009, 05:46 PM	#3
TracyLynnS Don't Look Up Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 3,107	They showed this one again today. I really get the feeling that it never happened. The only witness is a guy in the parking garage who saw the executive and another guy fighting and there was a gun involved. The witness did not identify the wrong man in the lineup, like the executive did. After the scuffle in the parking garage there are no other witnesses to anything. The exec was in the garage a total of 3 minutes. He is the one who calls to report his kidnapping. Supposedly, he was kidnapped by a group called "parents against drugs". Yep, those parents who are against drugs are a violent bunch. So anyway, the ransom is $3 million dollars, to be paid in $100, $500, and $1,000 bills. How ridiculous is that? He drives his own car through two states, and has "dynamite" cuffed to him. Then, the kidnapper makes the exec get all wrapped up in a sleeping bag behind a "secluded" rest stop, and leaves. The exec frees himself in 20 minutes and runs to a nearby farmhouse to call for help. The kidnapper is never heard from again. Throughout all this, there are no witnesses. So, what was the motive? It wasn't the money and it wasn't murder. I think it was publicity. The exec had recently gotten publicity for cutting a couple thousand jobs. Either he liked the publicity and wanted more, or he had become very unpopular for being such a cold, heartless rich guy who could fire people without a thought, so he wanted to make himself into a sympathetic victim. Something the segment didn't cover: the exec was kidnapped in his own car. They never made it clear if the kidnapper stole that car or if it was left where the exec parked it before walking into the woods to where the sleeping bag was waiting. The FBI investigated this. I wonder if they ever looked at from the "it never happened" angle...

02-09-2009, 05:52 PM	#4
TracyLynnS Don't Look Up Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 3,107	And... according to the Minnesota Independent, this happened during John Grundhofer's first year at the bank: Grundhofer arrived in the Twin Cities in 1990 to helm what was then known as First Bank System. During his first year on the job he was kidnapped from a downtown Minneapolis parking lot. The bank executive was bound, stuffed in a sleeping bag and left in a remote wooded area in Wisconsin. Grundhofer escaped two hours later and ran to a nearby farm for help. A ransom was demanded but never paid. No one was ever charged in the kidnapping. “I have no idea why this took place this morning,” he told reporters at the time. “We’re very grateful to the good Lord for me being here.” The turbulent beginning to Grundhofer’s tenure at First Bank System was only a portent of things to come. He mercilessly cut costs at the struggling company, including a 20 percent reduction in personnel, earning plaudits from Wall Street and the sobriquet “Jack the Ripper” back home. “I’m not an evil man,” he insisted to the Star Tribune’s Neal St. Anthony in 1993. “I like people.” In 2000, after U.S. Bancorp had lost its luster with Wall Street, Grundhofer engineered a $19 billion sale to Firstar Corp., a Milwaukee-based bank run by his brother Jerry. Jack the Ripper retired in 2002, but he didn’t walk away empty-handed: He’s guaranteed a $2.9 million annual salary for the rest of his life. http://minnesotaindependent.com/1008...litical-donors

02-09-2009, 05:57 PM	#5
TracyLynnS Don't Look Up Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 3,107	From some guy's website, who offers personal security guards. Sounds to me like old jack the ripper still has a huge ego. Does he really need a security staff? Is he that important? He's right up there with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Margaret Thatcher? Quote: His clients are understandably reluctant to speak on the record about their security arrangements. One who will is John Grundhofer, chairman emeritus of U.S. Bancorp. Grundhofer learned the hard way about his need for executive protection in 1990. While CEO of First Bank System (U.S. Bank’s predecessor firm), he was kidnapped at gunpoint from a Minneapolis parking garage and held for ransom in Wisconsin before escaping. After that episode, he relied on guards provided by the bank. Since retiring in 2002, he has paid Avalon from his own pocket for security during visits to Minnesota from his homes in California, South Dakota, and Montana. “In my view, anyone with resources should know there’s some nut out there who wants those resources,” Grundhofer says. “I’m sure that even now, in my old age, I’m on somebody’s list. And every Fortune 500 CEO is on somebody’s list . . . . When I travel, I want someone like Dan or his senior people around. Pros.”

02-09-2009, 07:51 PM	#6
atomicfizz Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jun 07, 2008 Location: Minneapolis Posts: 310	I saw this today too and went looking for some information after the fact. It said that his car was spotted the same day in Sherburn, MN (by a police officer) and that it was found the day after the kidnapping in another parking garage about 3 blocks from the kidnapping site, and that it had been there since 10p the night of the kidnapping. So if he did stage this he must have had an accomplice... the man who was his witness in the parking garage? I don't know what I did think happened, but I did wonder why he didn't leave out the gate that was manned so there would be someone else who saw him. I don't know but if I was kidnapped I'd do whatever I could to get witnesses. The thing that sutck out in my mind was how much the suspect that was cleared did look like the composite!! Sounds like it was just bad luck on his part but it was pretty amazing. Even better than the new guy in the Molly Bish case!

02-09-2009, 11:03 PM	#7
VikingsGal Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jan 05, 2009 Location: Minnesota Posts: 202	Well I for one do not think it was staged nor do I think John Grunhofer made it up. That is a lot of work for some "good publicity" and most higher ups make hard decisions about layoffs because that is what they do. I think it was a disgruntled employee, I don't buy the drug angle. I do wonder when people commit crimes in the Twin Cities they always seem to drive to Wisconsin! Drive west you fools then it's not a federal crime! Or go north!

02-10-2009, 01:31 PM	#10
atomicfizz Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jun 07, 2008 Location: Minneapolis Posts: 310	Well if that's the case then I wonder if he was working for someone else. Maybe they chose him because they thought he could do it, but if he got caught he might get some leniency for having a diminished mental capacity. Perhaps then it is the guy who resembled the sketch, who was questioned. Maybe he was hired by someone else. Not to be mean but he didn't seem super bright. It's just odd that Grundhofer thought he was the guy but the eyewitness didn't. I know that eyewitness accounts are notorious for being incorrect, and I think it's interesting that the guy who actually spent a lot of time with the guy did think it was him.

02-10-2009, 01:48 PM	#11
TracyLynnS Don't Look Up Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 3,107	I thought the man who was identified as the suspect would have been easy to id in a line up, too. IMO, he had a very distinctive look, and the way his lower teeth were always visible when he spoke set him apart from just about anyone else. If it was him, maybe that's why the exec was able to ID him, but the witness in the garage was not. The witness in the garage did not interact with him for any length of time. I don't know if the kidnapper even spoke to him. I still can't get over the fact that the victim's car was found in a parking garage 3 blocks over from from the kidnap site, and had been there since 10pm, the day of the kidnpping. Do you remember where you got that info? And the FBI must have dusted the whole car for fingerprints. The UM segment didn't say anything about the kidnapper wearing gloves or wiping down the car. Seems like if the kidnapper was such a bumbler, he would have left behind something from driving the car back to 2nd parking location.

02-10-2009, 02:04 PM	#13
atomicfizz Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jun 07, 2008 Location: Minneapolis Posts: 310	http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...cts/F/Finances Here you go TracyLynn, that has a bit more information about what happened. Though I see this does describe the kidnapper as "educated". I don't know. I just can't get over that sketch, it looks soooo much like that guy! Yeah, I do wonder how they didn't find prints and stuff in the car, unless the fact that he was wearing gloves was just one of those things UM left out.

02-10-2009, 02:39 PM	#14
VikingsGal Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jan 05, 2009 Location: Minnesota Posts: 202	Was it ever mentioned what the guy's alibi was? And did anyone ever pick him out of a lineup? I don't think the guy they accused did it - don't know why, I just didn't get that vibe.

02-10-2009, 02:42 PM	#15
TracyLynnS Don't Look Up Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 3,107	Wow! Good article! The sketch on UM definitely looks like the guy that was ID'd, but I can't say that I'd describe him as an educated businessman type guy. At the very least though, a businessman as the kidnapper explains why the whole job was goofed up from start to finish. Shoulda hired a professional.