The Kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. (1963)
On the night of December 8, 1963, 19-year-old Frank Sinatra Jr. was taken at gunpoint from his room at Harrah's Club Lodge in Lake Tahoe. Two and a half days later his father had paid a $240,000 ransom, his son was free, and the FBI was closing in on three amateur kidnappers from Los Angeles. This is the story of what happened, and of the man who planned it, Barry Keenan, who told his own version in the book Snatching Sinatra.
Who kidnapped Frank Sinatra Jr.?
The plot was the idea of Barry Keenan, a 23-year-old from West Los Angeles who had gone to University High School with Frank Jr.'s older sister, Nancy Sinatra, and with Jan Berry and Dean Torrence of the surf duo Jan and Dean. A few years earlier Keenan had been a rising young stockbroker. By 1963 a car accident had left him in pain, dependent on pills and alcohol, divorced and broke.
Keenan brought in two partners: Joe Amsler, a 23-year-old high school friend, and John Irwin, a 42-year-old house painter who had once dated Keenan's mother. Keenan's plan was to collect a ransom, invest it, and quietly pay the Sinatras back with interest. He later said he believed God had given him the plan.
The night of the kidnapping
Frank Sinatra Jr. was in the middle of a three-week run singing with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra at Harrah's, on the Nevada side of the lake at Stateline. The kidnapping had been planned for weeks earlier and was pushed back after the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22.
At about 9 p.m. on Sunday, December 8, Keenan knocked on the door of Room 417 holding a box and saying he had a delivery. Inside, Frank Jr. was finishing dinner with trumpet player John Foss. Keenan and Amsler pulled guns, taped up Foss, blindfolded Frank Jr., and walked him out a side door to their car.
Foss worked himself free and raised the alarm within minutes. Roadblocks went up around the lake, and the kidnappers were even stopped at one, but they talked their way through and drove down the mountains through a snowstorm to a house Keenan had rented in Canoga Park, in the San Fernando Valley.
The ransom: why $240,000?
Frank Sinatra flew to Reno, where the FBI set up with him. On the evening of December 9, Keenan called Irwin, the group's contact man, and Irwin began phoning Sinatra with instructions. Sinatra reportedly offered as much as $1 million for his son's return. The kidnappers turned it down and asked for $240,000, the exact figure Keenan had worked out in his business plan.
Because the kidnappers kept calling him at pay phones, Sinatra carried a roll of dimes in his pocket. It became a habit he kept for the rest of his life.
The FBI photographed every bill before the money was handed over. In the early hours of December 11, the cash was left between two parked school buses in Sepulveda, as instructed.
How Frank Sinatra Jr. got free
While Keenan and Amsler went to collect the money, Irwin, alone with the hostage and losing his nerve, let Frank Jr. go. Frank Jr. walked several miles to Bel Air, where a private security guard put him in the trunk of his patrol car to get him past the reporters camped outside his mother's house. He had been held for about 54 hours.
The arrests
Frank Jr. had barely seen his captors, but the case unraveled fast. Irwin confessed to his brother, who called the FBI in San Diego. Within hours Keenan and Amsler were in custody, and nearly all of the ransom was recovered, including some found in a safe-deposit box Keenan shared with his friend Dean Torrence.
The trial and the "publicity stunt" defense
The three men went on trial in federal court in Los Angeles in February 1964. Their lawyers argued that Frank Jr. had arranged his own kidnapping as a publicity stunt. The jury did not believe it, helped by a confession letter Keenan had written before the crime and left in a safe-deposit box. On March 7, 1964, all three were convicted.
Keenan and Amsler were sentenced to life plus 75 years. Their sentences were later cut sharply on appeal and after psychiatric evaluations, which found Keenan had been legally insane at the time of the crime. Keenan was released after about four and a half years; Amsler and Irwin served less. The false stunt claim followed Frank Jr. for years, and Keenan later said he wished it had never been made.
After the kidnapping
- Son of Sam case (1998–2002): When a film based on the kidnapping was in development, Frank Sinatra Jr. sued under California's "Son of Sam" law to stop Keenan profiting from the story. In Keenan v. Superior Court (2002), the California Supreme Court struck the law down as a violation of free speech.
- This American Life (2002): Keenan told the story to Ira Glass in the episode "Plan B."
- Stealing Sinatra (2003): A Showtime film starring David Arquette as Keenan and William H. Macy as John Irwin.
- The Grand Scheme: Snatching Sinatra (2021): A podcast hosted by John Stamos, built on long interviews with Keenan.
- Snatching Sinatra (2022): Keenan's own book, written in his words and published in November 2022, the same month he died.
Frank Sinatra Jr. went on to a long career as a singer and bandleader, including years as his father's musical director. He died in 2016 at age 72.
Timeline
- November 22, 1963: President Kennedy is assassinated; the kidnappers postpone their plan.
- December 8, 1963, about 9 p.m.: Frank Sinatra Jr. is taken from Room 417 at Harrah's Club Lodge, Lake Tahoe.
- December 8–9: The kidnappers slip through roadblocks and reach a rented house in Canoga Park, Los Angeles.
- December 9–10: John Irwin calls Frank Sinatra; the ransom is set at $240,000.
- December 11, early morning: The ransom is left between two school buses in Sepulveda. Irwin releases Frank Jr., who walks to Bel Air.
- Days later: Irwin confesses to his brother; Keenan and Amsler are arrested and most of the money is recovered.
- March 7, 1964: All three are convicted in federal court in Los Angeles.
- 2002: Keenan v. Superior Court strikes down California's Son of Sam law.
- November 2022: Barry Keenan's book Snatching Sinatra is published; Keenan dies the same month, at 82.
Frequently asked questions
When was Frank Sinatra Jr. kidnapped?
On Sunday, December 8, 1963, at about 9 p.m., at Harrah's Club Lodge in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
How much was the ransom?
$240,000. Frank Sinatra reportedly offered $1 million, but the kidnappers insisted on the smaller figure. Nearly all of it was recovered.
How long was Frank Sinatra Jr. held?
About two and a half days, roughly 54 hours, until he was released early on December 11, 1963.
Who were the kidnappers?
Barry Keenan, who planned it; his high school friend Joe Amsler; and John Irwin, who handled the ransom calls.
Was the kidnapping a publicity stunt?
No. The defense made that claim at trial, but the jury rejected it and the FBI's evidence, including Keenan's own confession letter, showed otherwise.
Is there a book by the kidnapper?
Yes. Snatching Sinatra is Barry Keenan's own account of the crime, from how he came to plan it to what happened after. It is available in paperback and as an eBook on Apple Books, Nook and Kindle.
Sources include the FBI's case history of the Frank Sinatra Jr. kidnapping and contemporary news coverage. For the full story in Barry Keenan's own words, order the book.