PIGEONS AND BLACKMAIL

Greymouth Evening Star, 5 September 1934, Page 12

PIGEONS AND BLACKMAIL

OUTWITTING A SCOUNDREL. A criminal in Milan, Italy, has devised a new way of extorting blackmail. To keep his identity from his victims he has been sending his blackmailing demands by homing pigeons. His last would-be victim, however, outwitted him by the intelligent use of a compass. One day a Milan shopkeeper received a parcel which, to his surprise, contained a box with a carrier pigeon in it, together with a note saying that if five banknotes of 5,000 lire each were not fastened to the pigeon’s legs and the bird released the shop would be bombarded with gas bombs. When the given time limit had expired an unknown malefactor threw a tear-gas bomb into the shop when it was crowded, causing consternation almost amounting to panic. A watch was set, however, and a man was ultimately arrested when about to throw other bombs. Meanwhile, under police supervision, the pigeon was released —without the banknotes —some distance away from the shop and its line of flight noted by compass. A second warning, and demand for more money then came in a box complete with pigeon. This was released at another point away from the shop. The two lines of flight were plotted on a map of Milan, and a search made at the point where the lines intersected. There the police discovered the blackmailer and, his secret pigeon loft. He has now joined his bomb-throwing confederate in gaol.