Archive of Correspondence and Paperwork Related to Operation Homex, 1966–1967
- Approximately 108 items: Eighteen packets of carbon-copied documents totaling 114 pages; thirty-nine pages of handwritten notes;
- United States , 1967
United States, 1967. Approximately 108 items: Eighteen packets of carbon-copied documents totaling 114 pages; thirty-nine pages of handwritten notes; twenty-six letters from William Burke to Elwood Hammock; thirteen notes and letters from Elwood Hammock to Arthur Lea; fourteen packets of carbon copies of Burke's letters, totaling fifty pages; two newspaper articles about the case; and three copies and one negative of a mugshot. Excellent.. The story of Operation Homex, an investigation by the FBI into a blackmail ring targeting gay men during the mid-to-late 1960's, begins with the arrest of John Aitken by Detective James McDonnell in July of 1965. Police were called to the Grand Central Western Union where Aitken, who had been impersonating a police officer while traveling with a 14-year-old boy, was attempting to convince the boy's father to wire him $150 to fly him home. Aitken had a prior arrest for child molestation —to avoid doing hard time, Aitken told McDonnell that he could tell the NYPD about something much more interesting than the crime he was currently committing.[1]
The extortion ring Aitken told the NYPD about had been shaking down dozens of men across the country for almost a decade, taking in over $2 million. Corrupt police—and men impersonating police, known as "bulls"—used young men and boys known as "chickens" to lure in and blackmail prominent closeted gay men. Their victims included high-ranking military officers, doctors, professors, entertainers, and even a sitting Congressman. Over the next two years, the investigation, headed by the Manhattan District Attorney and the FBI, would reveal an operation of unprecedented scope, with activities in over a dozen cities.
The present archive of correspondence is from the collection of Special Agent Arthur B. Lea, who was based in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The majority of the letters are written by William Joseph Burke, an ex-con and ring member who was arrested as part of the first public wave of indictments in February of 1966, to "Bone" or "Bud," a.k.a Elwood "Buddie" Lee Hammock, one of the three ringleaders primarily responsible for the whole of the extortion operation. According to a carbon copy of an FBI report included here, Hammock was arrested in September of 1966. It would appear that he subsequently began cooperating with the investigation, including forwarding Burke's letters to Special Agent Lea.
Burke discusses the legal case with Hammock candidly and in great detail, though using pseudonyms for most of the players. He tells Hammock:
"Yes, the Thumb mentioned your name, + I assume one of the two contracts he was inflating his ego with may have belonged to you but he was all confused, like I told you. He appeared to be sure about one thing and that was that his victims would never show up and take the stand at the trial, but when I told him that Murphy + the Apple were going to plead guilty, his chin dropped + he asked me if the Apple was talking [...]" (January 9, 1966)
It was incredibly difficult to convince victims to testify, a fact which Burke alludes to several times in his letters. One victim, Admiral William Church, committed suicide rather than even speak to investigators in New York. As Burke himself notes, "the laws in the U.S. [...] tend to encourage Vice Squads etc. to shake down such people", and left them little recourse (September 22, 1966).
Hammock's main concern, which is shared by Burke, is that he would face serious prison time despite his cooperation with the authorities. He tells Lea:
"Somebody has got to do something for me Art. I've worked hard as hell breaking up this ring + now they're going to toss me to the vultures that ain't right Art + I aint got no money to hire me a lawyer or nothing – Thats why the Hebe flew away". (No Date)
"The Hebe" is Sherman Kaminsky, who skipped bail after Church's suicide and disappeared for 11 years (his flight is the subject of much ire from both Burke and Hammock). According to Hammock, investigators let Kaminsky out of the courtroom at lunchtime and left him alone while he sat on a bench reading the paper and feeding the pigeons. When they came to retrieve him, "Boom No Hebe no where in sight" (No Date).
Among the other items included here are two mugshots, a photo negative, and the complete FBI file of Jimmy Michael Haithcock, one of the chickens whose name is included on the aforementioned FBI report. There are many pages of Lea's hastily written notes, numerous photocopies of letters from Burke, and a substantial stack of call records from Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company. An unusual collection, to be sure, with much to glean about a fascinating and largely forgotten episode of American history.
[1] William McGowan, "The Chickens and the Bulls," Slate, July 11, 2012.
The extortion ring Aitken told the NYPD about had been shaking down dozens of men across the country for almost a decade, taking in over $2 million. Corrupt police—and men impersonating police, known as "bulls"—used young men and boys known as "chickens" to lure in and blackmail prominent closeted gay men. Their victims included high-ranking military officers, doctors, professors, entertainers, and even a sitting Congressman. Over the next two years, the investigation, headed by the Manhattan District Attorney and the FBI, would reveal an operation of unprecedented scope, with activities in over a dozen cities.
The present archive of correspondence is from the collection of Special Agent Arthur B. Lea, who was based in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The majority of the letters are written by William Joseph Burke, an ex-con and ring member who was arrested as part of the first public wave of indictments in February of 1966, to "Bone" or "Bud," a.k.a Elwood "Buddie" Lee Hammock, one of the three ringleaders primarily responsible for the whole of the extortion operation. According to a carbon copy of an FBI report included here, Hammock was arrested in September of 1966. It would appear that he subsequently began cooperating with the investigation, including forwarding Burke's letters to Special Agent Lea.
Burke discusses the legal case with Hammock candidly and in great detail, though using pseudonyms for most of the players. He tells Hammock:
"Yes, the Thumb mentioned your name, + I assume one of the two contracts he was inflating his ego with may have belonged to you but he was all confused, like I told you. He appeared to be sure about one thing and that was that his victims would never show up and take the stand at the trial, but when I told him that Murphy + the Apple were going to plead guilty, his chin dropped + he asked me if the Apple was talking [...]" (January 9, 1966)
It was incredibly difficult to convince victims to testify, a fact which Burke alludes to several times in his letters. One victim, Admiral William Church, committed suicide rather than even speak to investigators in New York. As Burke himself notes, "the laws in the U.S. [...] tend to encourage Vice Squads etc. to shake down such people", and left them little recourse (September 22, 1966).
Hammock's main concern, which is shared by Burke, is that he would face serious prison time despite his cooperation with the authorities. He tells Lea:
"Somebody has got to do something for me Art. I've worked hard as hell breaking up this ring + now they're going to toss me to the vultures that ain't right Art + I aint got no money to hire me a lawyer or nothing – Thats why the Hebe flew away". (No Date)
"The Hebe" is Sherman Kaminsky, who skipped bail after Church's suicide and disappeared for 11 years (his flight is the subject of much ire from both Burke and Hammock). According to Hammock, investigators let Kaminsky out of the courtroom at lunchtime and left him alone while he sat on a bench reading the paper and feeding the pigeons. When they came to retrieve him, "Boom No Hebe no where in sight" (No Date).
Among the other items included here are two mugshots, a photo negative, and the complete FBI file of Jimmy Michael Haithcock, one of the chickens whose name is included on the aforementioned FBI report. There are many pages of Lea's hastily written notes, numerous photocopies of letters from Burke, and a substantial stack of call records from Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company. An unusual collection, to be sure, with much to glean about a fascinating and largely forgotten episode of American history.
[1] William McGowan, "The Chickens and the Bulls," Slate, July 11, 2012.