Pat Crowe and the Cudahy Kidnapping

In 1900, fifteen-year-old Eddie Cudahy Jr., the son of one of Omaha's wealthiest businessmen, was kidnapped and held for a record-breaking ransom. The crime sparked a nationwide manhunt, a five-year search for suspect Pat Crowe, and one of the most controversial trials of the era. In this episode, we examine the kidnapping, the evidence against Crowe, and why a jury ultimately found him notguilty despite widespread belief in his involvement.

Source Materials

Garneth Oldenkamp Peterson, The Kidnapping of Ed Cudahy: How Pat Crowe Got Away with the Crime

Albert S. Ritchie, Address to the Jury by Albert S. Ritchie of Omaha, Nebraska, in the Pat Crowe Kidnapping Case (1906)

The Omaha Daily Bee (1900–1906coverage of the Cudahy kidnapping and Pat Crowe trial)

The Omaha World-Herald(1900–1906 coverage of the kidnapping, investigation, and trial)

The New York Times, “'Pat'Crowe Acquitted; Was Accused of Kidnapping Son of Edward A. Cudahy” (February 17, 1906)

The New York Times, “Says He Is Pat Crowe; Man, Apparently Demented, in Custody of Washington Police” (August 16, 1913)

The New York Times, “PatCrowe, Once Noted Outlaw, Beggar Now; Sentence Suspended, Purse Made Up in Court” (December 30, 1925)

The Herald-Democrat (December 25, 1900)

Library of Congress, “The Eye That Never Sleeps: Pinkerton's National Detective Agency Records” (2023)

Pinkerton National Detective Agency Records, Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Jeff Vasishta, “Andrew Hilleman's World Chase Me Down,” Interview Magazine