Frank Hackethal
A defendant convicted in 1924 in the federal case over the 1923 Staunton, Illinois mail robbery and sentenced to 25 years; his petition to the Supreme Court was denied. His Leavenworth photograph, No. 22070, is filed under the spelling Heckethal.
- Aliases
- Frank Heckethal (photograph and catalog)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal court records, Bureau of Prisons records and National Archives descriptions state; they are works of the United States government, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. Newspaper statements, from pages of 1930 or earlier, are labelled as such.
On the record
- 1923-05-26 — Indictment, September term 1924 (S.D. Ill., Case No. 25): "FRANK HACKETHAL" is charged with others with robbing George A. Roberts and Harry Kuehnan, custodians of a mail pouch, at Staunton, Macoupin County, Illinois. A charge.
- 1924-09-03 — Colbeck v. United States (7th Cir. 1925): the four-count indictment was returned on this date; trial began on 10 November 1924.
- 1924-11-15 — Alcatraz warden's notebook page for a codefendant, Frank Epplesheimer: date of sentence Nov. 15, 1924, district "S/Ill.- Quincy"; its codefendants box lists this man among those "sentenced to a term of 25 years at USP Leavenworth" (Dietmeyer separately).
- 1925-12-08 — Colbeck v. United States, 10 F.2d 401: the Seventh Circuit affirms; Hackethal is among the eight "found guilty on all counts," each "sentenced to the penitentiary for 25 years." A note records that his petition for certiorari was denied.
- undated — Bureau of Prisons identification photograph, Leavenworth No. 22070 (NAID 164584018); the back of the print reads "FRANK HECKETHAL 22070." The catalog does not date it.
The National Archives description of the case file says “The robbery was planned at “Hackethal’s Place,”” an archivist’s summary of the file; the indictment and the opinion do not say so, and the testimony has not been read. No role is recorded.
Records
itemUnited States v. William P. "Dinty" Colbeck et al., criminal case file No. 25 (S.D. Ill.)National Archives description of the Southern District of Illinois case file on the 26 May 1923 robbery of mail custodians at Staunton, Illinois. The archivist's note says the defendants "were members of a gang called Egan's Rats" led by William P. "Dinty" Colbeck.
itemIndictment and court papers, United States v. William P. Colbeck et al. (S.D. Ill., September term 1924)The digitized court papers of the Colbeck case. The indictment charges fourteen men, several under nicknames, with robbing two custodians of a mail pouch at Staunton, Macoupin County, Illinois, on 26 May 1923; the registered packages held $45,000, $5,000 and $4,134.
itemBill of exceptions and trial testimony, United States v. William P. Colbeck et al. (S.D. Ill., filed 2 February 1925)The digitized trial transcript in the Colbeck mail-robbery case, filed as a bill of exceptions on 2 February 1925. The title page lists the defendants and their counsel; the index lists the first witnesses, among them the two mail custodians named in the indictment.itemColbeck v. United States, 10 F.2d 401 (7th Cir. 1925): the Staunton mail-robbery appealSeventh Circuit opinion of 8 December 1925 affirming the convictions and 25-year sentences of William P. Colbeck and eight codefendants for robbing persons in charge of the mails. It upholds the use of a convict's testimony and the instructions on alibi and reasonable doubt.
itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Frank Epplesheimer, No. 309Bureau of Prisons notebook page for a defendant in the Staunton mail-robbery case, received at Alcatraz on 30 May 1936 and transferred back to Leavenworth on 10 July 1938. Its codefendants box names the other men convicted with him and gives the place of sentence as Quincy, Illinois. A copy is stored here.itemLeavenworth identification photograph, No. 22070: Frank HackethalFront and profile Bureau of Prisons photograph numbered 22070, with "FRANK HECKETHAL 22070" written on the back, from the Leavenworth inmate case file of Frank Hackethal, one of the men convicted in the 1924 Staunton mail-robbery case. A copy is stored here.