Crime: Missing the Cue

As criminals go, George Skalla was even edgier than most. He and a friend, Cal Bailey, 44, had come up with what seemed a surefire scheme. For between $2,000,000 and $8,000,000 in ransom, they planned to kidnap Leonard Firestone, 58, one of five sons of the late rubber magnate Harvey Firestone, from his $250,000 home in Beverly Hills. The plot was dangerous enough, but Skalla's real worry was Bailey, an ex-con who had turned respectable and had acquired a $75,000 house and four children. Bailey took over the show, threatened to kill Skalla if he pulled out. He even...

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