Mark Putnam: Love and Murder in Appalachia

Eastern Kentucky is about as far from the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas and Hollywood as you can get. But that’s where this week’s case takes us. From last week’s mob murder in Beverly Hills, we travel to Pikeville, Kentucky. There, in 1989, FBI Agent Mark Putnam killed an informant with whom he was having an affair.

Mark Putnam

Mark Putnam was born on Independence Day in 1959 and studied criminology at the University of Tampa. After college, he attended the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He married Kathy Ponticelli, the daughter of a wealthy real estate developer, shortly after graduating.

Mark Putnam and his wife, Kathy and daughter Danielle in 1987
Mark Putnam and his wife, Kathy and daughter Danielle in 1987

The FBI assigned newly-minted agent Putnam to Pikeville, Kentucky for his first case, bank robber Carl “Cat Eyes” Lockhart. Putnam was to gather evidence to convict Lockhart.

Susan Daniels Smith

Susan Daniels was born in Matewan, West Virginia in 1961. Matewan is at the heart of the area embroiled in the infamous nineteenth century Hatfield-McCoy feud. The old feud was part of Susan, as she was a descendant of both clans. Her father came from the Hatfield while her mother was a descendant of the McCoys.

Susan Daniels Smith
Susan Daniels Smith

Susan met Kenneth Smith in 1977 when she was just 15 and he was 22. Smith was a local dealer in methamphetamine, PCP, and cocaine, hardly a model citizen. Nevertheless, the two married sometime in the late 1970s. Although the marriage produced two children, it’s hardly surprising that there were problems. The couple divorced in the mid-1980s.

Mark Putnam Finds an Informant

Recall that in 1987, Agent Mark Putnam was just beginning his investigation of “Cat Eyes” Lockhart. Sheriff’s deputy Bert Hatfield suggested to his friend, Susan, that she could earn extra money by becoming an informant. Putnam and Susan met in the spring of 1987. They met frequently to exchange information about Lockhart’s activities and plans.

Susan Smith in 7th grade, the last year she attended school
Susan Smith in 7th grade, the last year she attended school

Susan’s collaboration with Putnam was successful. The FBI arrested “Cat Eyes” Lockhart in December 1987. The following year saw him sentenced to 57 years in federal prison for robbery. For her assistance in the case, Susan received $5,000 (nearly $12,000 in 2021 dollars).

Mark Putnam Crosses a Line

The case may have been over, but Susan and Mark continued to meet. Sometime in mid-1988, they began a sexual relationship. According to what Susan told friends, they met in motels for sex. In his later confession, Putnam claimed they only had quickies in his car. Regardless of where they met, the two continued their affair.

Mark Putnam was smart enough to realize that continuing to see Susan could be detrimental to his career and his marriage. In early 1989, he requested and received a transfer to Miami, Florida (Kathy had hated Pikeville anyway). However, mid-1989 saw him back in Kentucky to wrap up a car theft investigation.

An Affair Turns to Murder

Putnam and Susan met during this visit to Kentucky. While they were driving on an isolated country road on June 8, she told him she was pregnant. She said the child was his and threatened to expose him. In his confession, Mark said that he pulled off on the side of the road to continue the discussion. He said that he and his wife would adopt the baby. Susan objected and began slapping him. In what he called “an act of extreme rage,” he began choking her. Soon Susan Smith was dead. If, as he claimed, Putnam tried to reviver her, his efforts were unsuccessful.

Mark Putnam under arrest
Mark Putnam under arrest

Now Putnam had a dead body on his hands. He placed Susan in the trunk of his rental car. The next evening, he dumped her off an old coal mine road about nine miles north of Pikeville. Then he went home to his family in Florida.

Susan’s sister, Shelby Ward, reported her missing three days later. It took a year, but suspicion slowly focused on Mark Putnam. After failing a polygraph examination, Putnam confessed and led authorities to where he’d dumped Susan’s body.

Shelby Ward, was the one who reported Susan missing
Shelby Ward, was the one who reported Susan missing

Epilogue

Mark Steven Putnam pled guilty to one count of first-degree manslaughter (Susan’s autopsy determined she had not been pregnant). Sentenced to 16 years in prison, he served 10. He was a “model prisoner” inside. He lives in Georgia, is remarried, and works as a personal trainer. To date, he is the only FBI agent convicted of homicide.

Mark Putnam is now a personal trainer
Mark Putnam is now a personal trainer

Putnam’s first wife, Kathy stood by him while he was in prison. She died of a heart attack at age 38 in 1998. Years of struggles with alcohol had compromised her health.

In the early 1990s, writer Joe Sharkey penned Above Suspicion, a book about the case, which he recently revised and updated.

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Bugsy Siegel: Daring Murder of a Gambling Kingpin

As the old Monty Python skit goes, now for something completely different. This week’s blog features mobster Bugsy Siegel. Siegel, a stone cold killer who was largely responsible for modern Las Vegas, met a mobster’s end himself.

Bugsy Siegel, Mobster

Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel was a product of the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. As was typical, his immigrant parents worked long. hard hours for low wages. Young Ben had an early predilection for lawbreaking. Boyhood friends included Al Capone and Meyer Lansky. His early criminal activities consisted mostly of thefts. That is, until he teamed with Moe Sedway. Siegel and Sedway set up a protection racket. They threatened to burn pushcart vendors’ merchandise unless the vendor paid them a dollar for “protection.” It didn’t take Ben long to rack up a lengthy police record.

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel in an April 1928 mugshot.
Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel in an April 1928 mugshot.

Siegel founded and helped run Murder, Inc. (with Meyer Lansky) and was one of its hitmen. He also took a turn as a bootlegger but turned to gambling after prohibition ended. As a hitman, he was known for his cool nerve and skill with a gun. He also acquired the nickname “Bugsy,” which he hated. It referred to the term “bugs,” which meant “crazy” and supposedly described his often-erratic behavior.

In the late 1930s, Siegel showed up in California, partly to escape legal troubles back east. Another reason, though, was to merge the syndicate’s gambling rackets with those of local L.A. boss Jack Dragna. From prison, syndicate boss Charles “Lucky” Luciano sent word that it would be “in [Dragna’s] best interest to cooperate.” Dragna got the message.

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siege (L) with actor George Raft (R)
Benjamin “Bugsy” Siege (L) with actor George Raft (R)

While in California, Bugsy managed to make influential friends in Hollywood. He hung out with some big box-office names and became something of a celebrity himself.

Siegel’s Las Vegas Dream

In the 1940s, Las Vegas was a dusty town in the middle of a desert that happened to benefit from Nevada’s legalized gambling. In 1945, William “Billy” Wilkerson, founder of The Hollywood Reporter, had a project underway: a hotel/casino in Las Vegas. Unfortunately for Wilkerson, he ran out of money. Bugsy Siegel was there to help. Sort of.

In May 1940, Siegel decided that his “partnership” with Wilkerson needed an adjustment. The adjustment coerced Wilkerson into selling his interest to Siegel and led to Wilkerson fleeing to Paris in fear for his life. Siegel was now in the driver’s seat. He named the project after his girlfriend, Virginia Hill (nicknamed “The Flamingo” for her flaming red hair and long legs).

Bugsy envisioned a luxurious hotel/casino that would attract high rollers. But in 1946, construction materials were still difficult to obtain after World War II and costs skyrocketed. Siegel’s checks began to bounce. By 1947, the Flamingo’s costs were over $6 million (almost $73 million in 2021). And it was the mob’s money.

The Flamingo Flops

The Flamingo was finally ready to open—mostly—on December 28, 1948. Singer/comedian Jimmy Durante headlined the entertainment and Cuban bandleader Xavier Cugat provided the music. Some of Bugsy’s Hollywood friends showed up, including actors George Raft June Haver, and Sonny Tufts. But the grand opening was not a success. Bad weather kept most of the invited celebrity guests away. The casino, lounge, theater, and restaurant were ready, but the hotel was still under construction. While there was gambling in the casino, the luxury rooms that would entice people to stay and gamble were not there. And on top of that, the air conditioning broke down regularly.

The Flamingo didn't look so glamorous when it opened on December 28, 1948.
The Flamingo didn’t look so glamorous when it opened on December 28, 1948.

In its first weekend, the Flamingo lost $300,000 ($3.25 million in 2021). After two weeks, the casino’s tables were still down $275,000. The entire venture closed by the end of January 1947.

The Flamingo in the 1950s
The Flamingo in the 1950s

Called on the carpet, Siegel asked for—and got—a second chance. The Flamingo reopened on March 1, 1947, and soon began turning a profit. But the profits were too small for Siegel’s mob bosses. His time had run out.

The End of Bugsy Siegel

On the evening of June 20, 1947, Siegel sat in girlfriend Virginia Hill’s Beverly Hills home reading the Los Angeles Times. Hill had flounced off to Paris after a fight several days earlier. An associate, Allen Smiley, was with Bugsy when an unknown assailant fired a .30 caliber M1 carbine nine times through a window. Hit several times, including twice in the head, Siegel died instantly.

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel in the L.A. morgue
Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel in the L.A. morgue

Who killed Bugsy Siegel? The murder is still officially unsolved. One theory has it that the syndicate “Board of Directors,” including Luciano and Lansky, authorized a contract on Siegel’s life due to his reckless spending and possible theft of mob money. Another is that Moe Sedway orchestrated a preemptive hit because Siegel had been threatening him.

The day after the murder, David Berman walked into the Flamingo with mob associates Sedway and Gus Greenbaum. There the three proceeded to take over operation of the hotel and the casino.

The Morris “Moe” Greene character in The Godfather is based on Bugsy Siegel.

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Susan Polk: Colorful Trial of a Killer Soccer Mom

Leaving the Old West and last week’s case behind, this week we travel to modern-day California, where we meet Susan Polk. This California soccer mom killed her much older husband in a case the newspapers called the “May-December Murder.”

Susan Polk

Susan Mae Bolling met her future husband, Frank Felix Polk in 1972. She was a high school student in the suburbs of Oakland. Her school recommended therapy to help Susan deal with her panic attacks and she ended up seeing Dr. Felix Polk. She was 15, he was 40. According to her later testimony, Dr. Polk first hypnotized her then lured her into a sexual relationship. At the time, Dr. Polk had a wife and two children, and Susan was underage.

Dr. Felix and Susan Polk in happier times
Dr. Felix and Susan Polk in happier times

Despite that dicey beginning, Polk divorced his wife and married Susan in 1982. Over they years, they had three sons. From the outside, the Polks seemed to be a happy family. Felix’s career flourished and they moved into a large house in Orinda, an exclusive neighborhood in the Oakland hills.

Trouble in Paradise

Appearances aside, all was not well with the Polk marriage. Over the years, Dr. Polk characterized Susan as unhinged while she accused him of controlling behavior and domestic violence. After an unsuccessful suicide attempt in January 2001, Susan filed for divorce.

Felix Polk as a young man
Felix Polk as a young man

The impending divorce made a bad situation worse. In 2002, while Susan was in Montana, Dr. Polk managed to get a court hearing without notifying Susan. The court granted him full custody of their youngest son, Gabriel, who was 14 at the time. It also drastically reduced Susan’s alimony.

By October 2002, Susan was back in Orinda to have some dental work done and retrieve some of her belongings. On Monday, October 14, Gabriel found his father, 70, dead in the pool house.

Susan Polk on Trial

If the crime was sensational (and when isn’t murder among the well-to-do sensational?), the trial was off the charts. The state charged Susan Polk with first-degree murder, claiming she killed her husband for money. Susan rejected her attorneys’ advice to plead not guilty by reason of insanity and fired them.

Susan Polk at her murder trial
Susan Polk at her murder trial

Her first trial began in 2004. Attorney Daniel Horowitz took her case. But Horowitz’s wife was murdered in an unrelated incident, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial in Susan’s case. Susan then fired Horowitz, accusing him of involvement in his wife’s death (he wasn’t), and decided to represent herself.

As her own attorney, Susan Polk had moments of brilliance woven with the truly bizarre. She claimed Polk died of a heart attack instead of the stab wounds the state said caused his death. She accused her husband of drugging and raping her when she was a teenager. For good measure, she also accused him of Satanism and of brainwashed the couple’s children. And if that weren’t enough, she often clashed with Judge Laurel Brady. (Life tip: if you’re on trial for murder, don’t antagonize the judge!) And she also accused Polk, a Holocaust survivor, of being an Israeli spy who knew about the September 11, 2001 attacks in advance.

Two of the Polks' sons, Adam (C) and Gabriel (R)  at a press conference held after the jury announced its verdict
Two of the Polks’ sons, Adam (C) and Gabriel (R) at a press conference held after the jury announced its verdict

More drama occurred when Susan’s oldest and youngest sons, Adam and Gabriel testified for the prosecution. Adam called her “cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs” on the witness stand. Middle son Eli testified on his mother’s behalf.

The jury found Susan Polk guilty of second degree (non-premeditated) murder. Judge Brady sentenced her to prison for 16 years to life.

Epilogue

Susan Polk appealed her conviction, but the court denied her appeal. She had her first parole hearing in May 2019 where she again represented herself. As she had with Judge Brady, she repeatedly ran afoul of the Parole Board. The Board ultimately ejected her from the hearing and denied her parole. She won’t have another shot at parole until May 2029.

Susan Polk in the prisoner holding area in the courtroom of Judge David Flinn speaking
to Contra Costa Sheriff Deputy Mike Dowdle (Chronicle / Eric Luse)
Susan Polk in the prisoner holding area in the courtroom of Judge David Flinn speaking
to Contra Costa Sheriff Deputy Mike Dowdle (Chronicle / Eric Luse)

Three books probe the “May-December Murder” in depth. In Final Analysis: The Untold Story of the Susan Polk Murder Case, Catherine Crier looks at background and motivations of the Polks. she also digs deep into the police investigation. Journalist Carol Pogash also tells the Polks’ story in Seduced by Madness: The True Story of the Susan Polk Murder Case. This book includes a firsthand account of the circus-like trial. Rounding out the list is Carlton Smith’s Mind Games: The True Story of a Psychologist, His Wife, and a Brutal Murder.

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Black Bart: Daring Bandit Exposed by a Handkerchief

Last week’s blog featured Pearl Hart, the only woman known to have robbed a stagecoach in Arizona. This week, we look at another stagecoach robber, Charles E. Boles, better known to history as Black Bart.

Charles E. Boles

The man who the world would come to know as Black Bart entered the world in Norfolk, England in 1829. He was the third of ten children, eventually having six brothers and three sisters. His parents, John and Maria spelled their last name Bowles (and perhaps also Bolles). Charley, as everyone called him was only two years old when his parents immigrated to upstate New York. There they bought a farm and Charley enjoyed a normal upbringing for the time.

Charles E. Boles, a.k.a. Black Bart
Charles E. Boles, a.k.a. Black Bart

In 1849, word of the gold discovery in California spread east. Charley and a cousin named David decided to go “see the elephant,” as the saying at the time went. They arrived in California in 1850 and set up along the American River near Sacramento. Finding no riches, Charley and David returned home in 1852 but were soon back in California.

Back east again, Charley married Mary Elizabeth Johnson in 1854 and settled on a farm in Illinois. A few years later, though, the Civil War broke out. Charley, now spelling his name “Boles,” joined the 116th Illinois Volunteers. He made sergeant within a year and suffered serious wounds at Vicksburg. He also participated in Gen. William T. Sherman’s infamous march to the sea in Georgia. The army mustered him out as a First Sergeant on June 5, 1865, and he returned home to his family.

Black Bart Emerges

In 1867, with his wife’s agreement, Charley went prospecting again, this time in Idaho and Montana. He and a man named Henry Roberts established a claim in Montana. Two men offered to buy out the claim. When Charley refused to sell, the men cut of his water supply, crucial to the “long toms” he and Roberts used to sift gold from sand and mud. Without water, Charley and his partner had to abandon the mine. The men had some connection with Wells Fargo, which apparently stirred a long-lasting enmity against that company.

A Wells Fargo stagecoach
A Wells Fargo stagecoach

At first, Charley wrote to his wife, Mary, frequently, sometimes as often as four times a week. But the letters dwindled over time. The last known letter was from Silver Bow, Montana Territory dated August 25, 1875. When no more letters came, Mary assumed that Charley had died.

Charley was not dead, however. He had morphed into Charles E. Bolton, a dapper middle-aged gentleman who liked the fine things life could offer. Bolton dressed nattily, stayed in classy hotels, and dined at the finest restaurants. People who knew the courtly Charles Bolton had no idea that his alter ego was Black Bart, a notorious highwayman.

Black Bart, Stagecoach Robber

Charley robbed his first stagecoach on July 26, 1875, in Calaveras County, California. Holding a 12-gauge shotgun on the driver, John Shine, he politely but firmly ordered Shine to “throw down the box.” Shine did. Charley a.k.a. Black Bart netted $160, worth almost $3,900 in 2021 dollars.

Black Bart, P o 8
Black Bart, P o 8

Over the next eight years, Black Bart held up at least 28 Wells Fargo stagecoaches in various northern California locations. Robbery victims invariably described him as polite. He didn’t use bad language and he never robbed passengers, only taking the strongbox. Although he always wielded a shotgun, he never fired it. After his capture, he claimed he never even loaded it.

One reason for Black Bart’s enduring appeal is his reputation for leaving poems behind at the scene of his robberies. In fact, he only did so twice. After his fourth robbery on August 3, 1877, he left the following doggerel:

I’ve labored long and hard for bread,
For honor and for riches
But on my corns too long you’ve tread,
You fine-haired sons-of-bitches.
Black Bart, the P o 8

After his fifth robbery on July 25, 1878, he left this:

Here I lay me down to sleep
To wait the coming morrow,
Perhaps success, perhaps defeat
And everlasting sorrow.

Yet come what will, I’ll try it once,
My conditions can’t be worse,
But if there’s money in that box,
It’s munny in my purse.
Black Bart, the P o 8

The End of “Black Bart”

Black Bart pulled his last stagecoach heist on November 3, 1883. When ordered to “throw down the box,” driver Reason McConnell was unable to do so because the strongbox was bolted to the floor. Bart broke open the box with an axe, retrieving a sack of gold and some mail. Unknown to Bart, the lone passenger, Jimmy Rolleri, had hopped out of the coach to do some hunting. When Rolleri suddenly appeared out of the bushes, Bart beat a hasty retreat. McConnell fired two shots, which missed. Rolleri also fired, and that one hit Bart in the hand, forcing him to drop the mail. But he made good his escape.

A wanted poster for Black Bart
A wanted poster for Black Bart

Bart may have escaped with the gold, but he dropped something besides the mail: his eyeglasses and a handkerchief. Unfortunately for the gentleman bandit, the hankie had a laundry mark: F.X.O.7. Wells Fargo detective James Hume wore out a lot of shoe leather visiting almost 90 laundries in San Francisco. But he eventually found the establishment that had issued the mark, Ferguson & Bigg’s California Laundry on Bush Street. The laundry mark belonged to a man who lived in a modest boardinghouse.

The owner of the handkerchief gave his name as T.Z. Spalding. But police soon found a bible with his true name, Charles Boles, in it. Even so, Charley insisted his name was Charles Bolton.

Epilogue

Wells Fargo only pressed charges for the last robbery. The trial resulted in a conviction and a six-year sentence to San Quentin. He was released early in January 1888 for good behavior. Charley’s health had suffered from four years in prison. He had visibly aged, his eyesight was failing, and he was deaf in one ear. When reporters asked if he was going to rob any more stages, he replied, “No, gentlemen. I’m through with crime.”

A studio portrait of Charles E. Bolton in his later years
A studio portrait of Charles E. Bolton in his later years

Charley never went home to his wife, although he did write her. His last letter complained about Wells Fargo agents shadowing him. The last time anyone saw him was February 28, 1888.

A persistent legend says that Charley returned to his career as a stagecoach robber, and that Wells Fargo offered to pay him $200 a month to leave their coaches alone. There is no historical evidence to support this, and Wells Fargo vehemently denies it. But it’s still a good story.

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