EXTORTION CASE
ASTONISHING CIRCUMSTANCES. CINEMA ACTRESS INVOLVED. (United Press Assn. —Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 9.45 p.m.) New York, Nov. 7. One of tire most unusual extortion cases, and notable because it involved a cinema comedienne, Thelma Todd, was revealed to-day with the arrest by Federal Department of Justice agents of Edward Schiffert, aged 26, for attempting to obtain 10,000 dollars from the screen star. The circumstances of the case are almost unbelievable. Schiffert, who gave himself up, had great difficulty in convincing the authorities that he was the culprit since another man, Harry Schimanski, janitor in the flat where Schiffert lived, was arrested last August and charged with the crime. It was shown that both men had handwriting between which experts were unable to distinguish and which was exactly alike in the notes sent to Miss Todd. The voices of both men were also strangely alike.
Because notes continued to be received by the actress even after Schimanski’s arrest, Justice agents are now convinced that Schiffert, not the janitor, sent them.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST19351109.2.38
Bibliographic details
Southland Times, Issue 22734, 9 November 1935, Page 5
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170EXTORTION CASE Southland Times, Issue 22734, 9 November 1935, Page 5
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