FAKED REPORT OF DEATH.
Revelations In Canada.
POLICE UPSET CALCULATIONS. United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright VANCOUVER, December 28. John Harold Rutledge (27), faked his own death and collected £2400 from sympathetic relatives and friends, but the police caught him as he tried to leave the country, and he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. He took modest lodgings in Vancouver, and described himself as a salesman. He then began sending sad telegraphic messages to Eastern Canada, signing himself “Eric Van Buren.” He telegraphed “Harold Rutledge died here to-night in agony, calling for you and his mother to the end. Send me money to bring his body east for burial.” Unfortunately for the scheme, relatives got together after sending the money, and realised that they had sent sufficient cash to bury Harold a dozen times over. The police quickly established that Rutledge was alive and well at least two days after the supposed body was sent away for burial, and he was easily traced after that.
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Bibliographic details
Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 18763, 30 December 1930, Page 9
Word Count
165FAKED REPORT OF DEATH. Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 18763, 30 December 1930, Page 9
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