Gaston Means - Biography

Biography

Gaston Bullock Means was born in Concord, North Carolina, the son of William Means, a reputable lawyer. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1903, became a schoolteacher, then a travelling salesman. His life avocation, however, was that of a confidence trickster. J. Edgar Hoover once called him "the most amazing figure in contemporary criminal history" because of his ability to weave a believable albeit fraudulent story. In 1911, he talked himself into a job with a New York detective firm where he created reports that contained so many clues that they must either be investigated further (at a substantial cost) or denounced utterly. His reputation spread. On the eve of World War I, he was asked to further Germany's interests in the then-neutral United States. He "uncovered" plots and counterplots rife with secret documents and skulking spies, all of which required investigation at his usual rate of $100 per day. After America declared war with Germany, Means returned to being a private detective. There, he was given a case involving the widow of a wealthy lumberman, Maude King, who had fallen into the clutches of a swindler in Europe. King had been left $100,000 by her late husband, with the remainder of his $3 million estate intended for charity. She sued for more, and settled for $600,000 plus the interest on $400,000. Means ingratiated himself into King's life, and assisted her with her business affairs. Under the guise of investing her money, Means deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars to his own credit in New York and Chicago, invested heavily in cotton and the stock market, and lost heavily. Claiming to find a new will which required "investigation", Means plundered the remainder of the woman's finances until they were nearly all gone. Then, the widow went with Means to a firing range. Means returned with her body, claiming she had killed herself, perhaps accidentally while handling his gun.

Means' account was disputed by the coroner. No powder marks were found near the wound in her head discounting that it might be self-inflicted. Maude was fearful of pistols, and she was planning to remarry. Means was indicted for murder. After deliberating only 15 minutes, a jury in his home town acquitted him after defense counsel cleverly whipped up local jury resentment against New York lawyers who were assisting the prosecution.

But there was still the matter of the will. It was declared a forgery, and Means was prosecuted. Testimony showed that the witnesses to the purported will were out of town on the day it was signed, the typewriter used to type the document had not yet been manufactured when the will was purportedly written, and King’s signature and those of other witnesses were not genuine.

The trial was therefore going badly for Means when he declared that he knew the location of a trunk filled with secret documents obtained from German spies. In exchange for a letter to the judge attesting to his good character from the United States Army, he said, he would hand over that trunk. An Army Intelligence officer was assigned to accompany Means to locate the trunk, which he did, handing it over on the condition that it be sent to Washington intact. Then, baggage claim in hand, he hurried to Washington, declared he had kept his end of the bargain, and demanded the promised letter attesting to his good service. Alas, the trunk arrived, and it was found to contain no documents. Declaring he knew who had done this "despicable thing", Means promised to find the scoundrels and recover the lost papers. The Army investigated, and discovered the weight of the trunk when sent was identical to its weight when opened. But through his subterfuge, Means had escaped the jurisdiction of the court, and never entered it again.

In later years, Means would boast to friends that he had been accused of every felony in the criminal law books, up to and including murder.

Although he had a shady reputation as a detective, in October 1921 Means was hired by the Bureau of Investigation, and he moved to Washington, D.C. The FBI was then led by William J. Burns, famous ex-Secret Service man, private detective and friend of Harry M. Daugherty, Attorney General in the Harding administration. Burns had employed Means as a detective, and thought Means had great skill as both an investigator and an extortionist. Despite the protection of his patron, Means was later suspended from the FBI at the insistence of Daugherty, who had become increasingly aware that Means was a loose cannon.