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Bank Robbery: The Dynamite in Betsy’s Box
Originally Aired: June 1, 1945
Bank Robbery: The Dynamite in Betsy’s Box
This explosive episode of This Is Your FBI dramatizes the gripping pursuit of two criminals—Phil Bardo and Arthur Clinton—whose quiet, calculated heist nearly fooled an entire city. But it wasn’t a gun that got them in the door... it was a box named Betsy.
In a small Midwestern city, Phil and Artie plot a bank robbery with a unique twist. Rather than waving pistols, Phil walks into a bank with a box of dynamite—“Betsy”—and hands the teller a note: hand over the cash, or the box blows. The plan works. The duo disappears into a department store, ditching their getaway car. But that’s where their luck runs out.
The FBI, now armed with a detailed description and a trail of stolen vehicles, launches a massive multi-state manhunt. As leads stack up—witnesses, license plates, stolen cars—the Bureau narrows in. Phil is caught first, thanks to a tip from a bus station and a slip of overconfidence.
But it’s Artie Clinton who proves harder to catch, slipping off to Cincinnati to marry his unsuspecting fiancée and hide in a lakeside cabin in Minnesota. It takes a clever hunch—based on the bride’s passion for painting—and a watercolor left behind in a Duluth art shop to finally lead agents to their hideout. When they arrive, they find Clinton and Betsy still side by side.
A masterclass in methodical investigation and cross-agency cooperation, this case captures how even the most carefully planned crimes unravel under the weight of a single trail—and the eyes of a watchful public.
Cast: Mandel Kramer (Arthur Clinton), Frank Lovejoy (Narrator), with supporting performances by the This Is Your FBI radio company. Music by Van Cleave. Produced by Jerry Devine.
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By OTR.FMOriginally Aired: June 1, 1945
Bank Robbery: The Dynamite in Betsy’s Box
This explosive episode of This Is Your FBI dramatizes the gripping pursuit of two criminals—Phil Bardo and Arthur Clinton—whose quiet, calculated heist nearly fooled an entire city. But it wasn’t a gun that got them in the door... it was a box named Betsy.
In a small Midwestern city, Phil and Artie plot a bank robbery with a unique twist. Rather than waving pistols, Phil walks into a bank with a box of dynamite—“Betsy”—and hands the teller a note: hand over the cash, or the box blows. The plan works. The duo disappears into a department store, ditching their getaway car. But that’s where their luck runs out.
The FBI, now armed with a detailed description and a trail of stolen vehicles, launches a massive multi-state manhunt. As leads stack up—witnesses, license plates, stolen cars—the Bureau narrows in. Phil is caught first, thanks to a tip from a bus station and a slip of overconfidence.
But it’s Artie Clinton who proves harder to catch, slipping off to Cincinnati to marry his unsuspecting fiancée and hide in a lakeside cabin in Minnesota. It takes a clever hunch—based on the bride’s passion for painting—and a watercolor left behind in a Duluth art shop to finally lead agents to their hideout. When they arrive, they find Clinton and Betsy still side by side.
A masterclass in methodical investigation and cross-agency cooperation, this case captures how even the most carefully planned crimes unravel under the weight of a single trail—and the eyes of a watchful public.
Cast: Mandel Kramer (Arthur Clinton), Frank Lovejoy (Narrator), with supporting performances by the This Is Your FBI radio company. Music by Van Cleave. Produced by Jerry Devine.