November 8: On This Day in World History … briefly
John Paul Getty Jr. asked his father J Paul Getty for the money, but his father refused, arguing that his 13 other grandchildren could also become kidnap targets if he paid. As time wore on, Paul's treatment by his captors grew worse; they took away his radio, killed a bird that he had taken as a pet and began playing Russian roulette against his head.
1973: Right ear of John Paul Getty III is delivered to a newspaper with a ransom note
John Paul Getty III was the grandson of American oil tycoon J Paul Getty, who was once the richest man in the world. While living in Rome in 1973, he was kidnapped for a $17 million ransom. His grandfather was reluctant to pay, as he felt that it could have put his other grandchildren in danger. After his severed ear was received by a newspaper, a deal was done and Getty was released. He developed drug and alcohol addiction, eventually leading to a stroke that left him severely disabled for the rest of his life.
On November 8, a daily newspaper received an envelope containing a lock of hair, a human ear and a threat from the kidnappers to mutilate Paul further unless they were paid $3.2 million (equivalent to $18.1 million in 2018). The letter read ‘This is Paul’s first ear. If within ten days the family still believes that this is a joke mounted by him, then the other ear will arrive. In other words, he will arrive in little bits.’ Paul’s health began to decline rapidly as his wound became infected, combined with pneumonia caused by the cold winter temperatures which were descending. His captors were alarmed at this sudden decline and gave him large doses of penicillin to treat the infection, which caused him to develop an allergy to the antibiotic and further affected his health.
Getty’s biographer John Pearson attributed his later alcoholism to the large amounts of brandy that he was plied with in the last few months of his captivity to keep him warm and numb his pain. Nine of the kidnappers were apprehended, including Girolamo Piromalli and Saverio Mammoliti, high-ranking members of the ‘Ndrangheta, a Mafia organisation in Calabria. Two of the kidnappers were convicted and sent to prison; the others were acquitted for lack of evidence, including the ‘Ndrangheta bosses. Most of the ransom money was never recovered. In 1977, Getty had an operation to rebuild the ear that his kidnappers had cut off.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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