State v. Brown

GEORGE W. CLOYD, Special Judge.

Defendant John Weasley Brown appeals from his conviction for kidnapping for ransom, a felony, § 559.230, RSMo.1969, for which he received a sentence of twenty-five years. Many of the facts pertaining to the kidnapping, including defendant’s participation in the abduction, are uncontroverted.

On the morning of June 19, 1975, defendant and Elbert Gibson, posing as delivery men, gained entrance to the home of Mrs. Henrietta Helein, the wife of the President of the South Side National Bank in St. Louis. Present inside the house were Mrs. Helein, her mother, Betty…