19 year-old singer Frank Sinatra, Jr was snatched from his casino dressing room on 10th December, 1962. His famous father was willing to pay the kidnappers a $1 million ransom - but they insisted they only required $240,000. 

When the case went to trial, the defence suggested that the Sinatras may have been in on the crime - a slur that damaged Frank Jr’s reputation for the rest of his life.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly take a peek back through kidnapper Barry Keenan’s infamous 27-page ring binder; explain how the assassination of Kennedy scuppered his earlier attempt at snatching Frank, Jr; and ask how the roadblocks set up specifically to block the bungling criminals failed so spectacularly…

Further Reading:

• ‘FBI Cracks Sinatra Kidnapping Case’ (British Pathé, 1963): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJm3lXkPZyM

• ‘The story of the bumbling kidnappers who snatched Frank Sinatra’s only son from hotel’ (Mirror Online, 2021): https://www.mirror.co.uk/features/story-bumbling-kidnappers-who-snatched-25280617

• ‘The Bizzare And Terribly Executed Kidnapping Of Frank Sinatra Jr.’ (All Thats Interesting, 2021): https://allthatsinteresting.com/frank-sinatra-jr-kidnapping

this episode first aired in 2021

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.

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