Cailee Spaeny is a young actress with obvious natural talent.Her name for me is quite a mouthful that survived getting the usual Hollywood rename.Cailee is an unusual but very charming and fitting name for this Cinema Princess.
Cailee recently got my attention in the Alex Garland film, Civil War.Her character was a combat photographer/intern, Jessie.She was using her father’s obsolete, three-decade old Nikon film camera developing her film in the field! Three experienced journalists reluctantly agreed to let Jessie travel with them from NYC to Washington, DC through war torn and often hostile territory.Jessie fumbled her way along under the limited protection and guidance of the others.She proved only too well, she’d risk her life to get those compelling money shots.
The character, Jessie and the others in the film give viewers a look into the lives of those journalists that bring the horrors of war to our dinner tables. We too often take for granted their contributions to history.
As for Cailee and her future, the sky is the limit. I want very much to see this talented actress play the accidental heroic, Chicago Policewoman, Ann Leybourne. This would be in my film, Come Friday.
The majority of people today have never seen a policewoman, not to be confused with today’s female police officers. This was at an historical time when policewomen wore skirts and heels. Their duties were limited to taking care of neglected, abused, or delinquent children. However, these women were trained under state law requirements to do things that they would never do in their entire careers like routine, patrol or issuing moving traffic citations. They of course, had the full power of arrest and were required to carry firearms 24/7.
My script is dramatic, thought-provoking, exciting, and at times incredibly humorous. The period’s legal system failures are exposed and that may anger some viewers. The history of the explosive race relations of that difficult time have not been sanitized. Yes, there was a deadly war going on between the police that were mostly white and the Black Panther Party.
Whoever portrays the complex character of Ann Leybourne will face challenges. My money is on, Cailee Spaeny. I’d not be surprised that Cailee picks up a trio of Best Supporting Actress nominations from the Gloden Globes, SAG, and of Course that most coveted Oscar.
Hollywood, CA—I salute every
performer or artist in the world for his or her contributions both big and
small.What a horrible world we’d be
living in without the art, music, films, plays, dance and comedy.
We all have our favorites
celebrities.Sometimes we are
disappointed or shocked upon learning their personal politics or
attitudes.Sean Penn, Jane Fonda and
Barbara Streisand immediately come to mind. After Hollywood's Blacklisting of
Leftist artists in the 1950's it's now those artists on the Right getting the
treatment.Mel Gibson and James Woods
are two of today's examples.
I’m perhaps overly tolerant
all people when in comes to those whose views are totally opposite of
mine.Sometimes those people have been
indoctrinated their entire lives and believe every lie ever broadcast or
published.My job is to lead them by
tolerance, kindness and example.
I’m a really Conservative
Libertarian.In Hollywood I’ve meet some
really Left of center people that are incredibly talented and kind.Actor Martin Sheen is a great example.Sheen told me how he wanted to be a NYPD
officer, applied and was promptly rejected when he fell ½ inch too short.
Sheen actually wanted to get
my script, Come Friday about the Chicago policewoman hero Annie Leybourne made
into a feature film. .He spent some
serious time hooking me up with his talent agency, ICM.The film has still not yet been made because
of issues not under his or my control.
Recently mainstream media has
given a massive soapbox to professional race baiters like Jessie Jackson and Al
Starpton.Every young African-American
criminal killed by a white cop is treated like a innocent victim of a KKK
lynching.This is in part because both
print and broadcast media is dying and they hope to prolong their existence
with the sensationalism they too often create.
Now comes a somewhat self
taught and gifted writer/film director into to the limelight for making
ignorant, and hurtful denouncements of the men and women of law
enforcement.Yep, Quentin Tarantino took
the floor of the debate and managed to offend thousands including me.
The immediate reaction of my
cop friends was to call for a boycott of Tarantino’s films.I was hoping the law enforcement community
would put more thought into their reaction showing more tolerance than
Tarantino.That was not the case
however.
There is a lot more than
Tarantino involved here.There are
hundreds of fine men and women in the cast and crew of his films.We’ve all see the endless credits rolling
after every film. Punishing Tarantino also victimizes them.
Do we want to kill the hope
and dreams of the young actors lucky enough to land a role in a Tarantino film?
Tarantino was emotional and
convinced that he was addressing valid concerns.I’m sure he never once thought about how
politicians keep criminalizing more and more conduct.I’m sure he never though of how the
politicians have turned cops into extortionist bagmen to collect excessive
fines from citizens for very trivial violations.
I say that it’s okay to
rebuke Tarantino but a boycott of his films that we’ve all enjoyed is not the
answer.Let’s show Tarantino that our
skin is much thicker than we’ve displayed so far.I think all of us are guilty of putting our
foot in our mouths at one time or another.Go see his new film and judge it on its own merit.I’m not going to miss the film, Hateful
Eight.
When I have my next chat with
Tarantino I will let him know that more than the cops, he hurt their wives and
children more by his rash remarks.I
will forgive Tarantino for his thoughtless rant just as I ask my Liberal
friends to overlook mine.It’s going to
be really difficult for Tarantino to save face here.Let’s help him along.
Chicago, IL—In 1973 the late Ann Leybourne Erwin Biebel was a Chicago recruit policewoman. Those who were fortunate enough to know her loved her. She retired as an 018 district Civil Service sergeant. She was a great wife and mother whose life was cut too short by cancer.
My regular Chicago visitorss know the incredible and exciting story behind her valor award and Medal of Merit that the late Mayor, Richard J. Daley gave her after she was kidnapped at gunpoint and survived under the gravest extreem.
It’s a story that reflects well on the department and the superior training provided to the officers. The department needs all the image building it can get right now after years of less the desirable administration.
The City and department morale can only go up from its decline and we must wait and see what the new mayor will accomplish in the way of bringing back the taxpayers, business and jobs that have fled.
Placing the baggage of President Obama or Richard M. Daley on Mayor Rahm Emanuel is unfair. We must give him the opportunity to improve and repair the broken relationship between rank and file cops and the fifth floor of City Hall. That relationship should not be about politics but for the safety and wellbeing of Chicago’s taxpayers. Old man Daley had a great relationship the police that his son somehow managed to destroy.
I’m asking every Chicago reader to write Mayor Emanuel and ask him to offer Chicago’s full cooperation to his brother Ari Emanuel in the making of Come Friday. Ari Emanuel is the founder and CEO of Endeavor William Morris Talent Agency in Beverly Hills. He is one of the most powerful men in Hollywood who could make Come Friday an unforgettable film.
Making this film would bring Chicago revenue, jobs and there would be loads of extra roles for Chicago cops.
Once Come Friday is made I’m up to finding and creating more films that chronicle the heroes of the Chicago Police department. I just need a little help getting the first one off the ground.
Hollywood, CA—When I heard Lindsay Lohan was set to play the late porn star, Linda Lovelace, I saw this as a career ender. That’s a role that should be played by a real porn star without a gag reflex and nothing to lose. This was a terrible role for Lohan.
The other story is the production company was unable to find insurance to cover this troubled actress. getting out of that film was a gift for Lohan. Now we can see what unknown actress will become world famous for her ability swallow monster man meat.
Lohan is both pretty and a talented actress. She was raised in a dysfunctional family and advised by both solid entertainment industry professionals and some real trolls. Lohan was a victim of her own early success and wealth.
Lohan came out the successful Disney machine. Another, alumni of Disney is my dear friend, and Golden Globe winner Ann Jillian. Ann has express deep sorrow for Lohan difficulties as have I. I think discarding this woman at her age is pre-mature. Ann wants Lohan to use that natural actress discipline to defeat her other demons too.
Lohan needs to resurrect herself from the bad friends and choices she made. Getting out of the Lovelace film is a great start. There’s no reason that Lohan cannot achieve the kind of scandal free success enjoyed by Jody Foster, Meryl Streep, or Hillary Swank.
I think it’s fair to say that Lohan is the casualty of a failed Drug War. I can’t help but think of the great talent of a lad that was almost consumed by drugs and a prison cell. That is Robert Downey, Jr. Downey got serious and took the cure and has been terrific in the many films he’s done since.
Can Lohan or Downey fall again? Sure that can happen but it’s time to encourage rather than discourage these two.
Lohan has the right looks, and she’s now the right age to play the lead of my own film project, Come Friday. The true story of a heroic Chicago policewoman back in the days all policewomen wore a uniform that consisted of heels and a skirt.
A lot of Chicago cops read my blog and would as I do have concerns that whoever plays that role never bring the late policewoman Ann Leybourne discredit. I invite and expect some comments from them on this suggestion.
I think this role would inspire Lohan’s recovery and help her to be all she can be. I’ve discussed this idea with Ann Jillian and her husband of many years, retired 023 District Chicago police Sergeant Andy Murcia. They, like me think she right for the role if I can ever get the film financed.
Whatever happens, Lindsay Lohan deserves a chance to get on with her life. Remember Lohan has never physically hurt or stolen from anyone.
Chicago, IL-- These two money making giants say they want to give away half of their money. Okay I want to get into this line! I need several million dollars to make my film, Come Friday about heroic Chicago policewoman Ann Leybourne. It was New Year’s morning when serial rapist and career criminal Robert Ellis stalked and kidnapped the 25 year old recruit policewoman.
Ellis kidnapped and raped nearly 50 attractive young women on Chicago’s gold Coast. On a legal technicality he was set free and his crimes continued. Some really great cops made Ellis their personal target but were never able to bag the cunning rapist. Ellis wore a surgical mask and was always armed with a gun or knife. He always struck on Friday Night. Chicago’s media dubbed him The Friday Night Rapist.
I want to employ a director, actors, extras, editors as I pump some needed cash into Chicago’s struggling economy. There will be lots of work for off duty Chicago cops.
This struggling film producer and screenwriter must have the cash in order to open some Hollywood doors to tell the exciting story of a real American role model. Yes, Ann Leybourne absolutely deserves the honor.
You generous billionaires could do something really fine. As for any profits from the film, perhaps could be turned into a scholarship program for the children of Chicago’s finest.
Los Angeles, CA—Where are they? Where are the films that you really want to see? The compelling stories brought to the silver screen that have any relevance to our lives aren’t being made anymore.
Animations, robots, and comedies that barely make us chuckle are wasting space at the cinema’s. Gone are compelling stories of real heroes, courtroom dramas or historical events.
Personally, I want more actor driven films without the ridicules special effects that are just silly and not believable.
When I was visiting the Bendlerblock military compound in Berlin last November, I found 5000 stories there waiting to be told. That is where Col. Clause Von Stauffenberg and others planned the bombing attempt on Adolph Hitler’s life. Today a portion of that facility houses the German Resistance Museum. The stories here of of the heroes that were arrested tried and executed for resisting Adolph Hitler and the devastation he brought down on the German people. The stories documented there are all incredibly compelling and full of adrenalin fueled intrigue.
Nearly every courthouse in the entire world has those stories of justice served or gone wrong that would inspire, thrill and entertain moviegoers. Many of the best stories are long forgotten but none the less powerful and relevant to our lives.
Great films are out there that are not vehicles of the obvious product placement spam, action figures and the rest of the crap we did not spend our money to see.
Every week I look for new movies and released DVD’s but can’t seem to find anything worthy of two hours and the price of a ticket. The Hollywood investors have never had a better opportunity to make quality films with so much expensive garbage out there. They just have look beyond the talent agencies that have lost their magic.
Film investors need to find a great story, land a decent director and avoid input from the large talent agencies their bad ideas that have not been working. Making films that’s actor driven is what movie goers really want.
Here is a great film waiting to be made that moviegoers are waiting to see. .
Hollywood, CA—I’ve been peddling a film, Come Friday that’s based on a real Chicago policewoman’s story for a few years now.
I’ve had big problems getting the film produced because it involves a Black serial rapist that stalked and attacked scores of pretty White women. The rapist was arrested after a prolific wave of sexual cruelty and beat all of the charges in court on a legal technicality.
The rapist was freed only to select the wrong beautiful young White woman for his horrible violence. She was an off-duty recruit policewoman and she was somehow able to stop this predator forever.
I had several offers to make the film if I would agree to change the race of either the rapist or his victims. They told me that the audience could not handle the explosive racial reality of this real 1973 event. I refused to make theat change and as a result I’m still in search of funding for this project.
The Big Hollywood talent agencies control everything from the casting, production and distribution of films. They are deeply committed to the far Left of politics and fight to control the standard for political correctness in film making. That is starting to change.
Today the art and science of film making is much more common and the price for the equipment to make films has dramatically decreased. Chicago or any large city in the world can replace Hollywood as the film capitol.
Yes there were a few films that were made violating the rules of Hollywood and had great success. Death Wish and Dirty Harry gave American’s a different idea on fighting crime. You can count the films with a conservative or politically incorrect point of view on your fingers.
There is a lot more to Conservatism than being tough on criminals that are in real stories played out in history that deserve to be brought to the silver screen.
More and more the movie theaters are being replaced by the home theater. Distribution is becoming democratized by the DVD and other digital forms. The movie theater owners are getting desperate to attract and keep patrons anyway they can. Like never before money talks, even Conservative money.
There is a somewhat small group of Conservatives in Hollywood and I met many of them at a dinner honoring Medal of Honor winners at the Reagan Presidential Library a few weeks ago. For me attending this event was a treat of a lifetime. Meeting he greatest living military heroes and the best of Hollywood honoring them in one place was way beyond cool.
Money for Conservative themed movies will make a difference in the political climate and our culture.
Chicago, IL—It was a cold 1973 New Year’s incident where a young woman survived a kidnapping by a prolific sadistic rapist on the fashionable Near North Side. It became an amazing and much larger story of a broken criminal justice system, a terrorized neighborhood along with the self-reliance and bravery of a beautiful recruit policewoman, Ann Leybourne.
This true story, Come Friday needs to be seen in a theater near you and it may happen as some investor sees an opportunity to place his or her money in an industry that thrived during our Great depression. Entertainment somehow managed to survive while other industries drowned in a sea of red ink.
Normally feature films are a riskier investment but the payoff can be quite handsome. Now is a better time than ever to evade the stock market or even more dangerous places for your money.
Any investor can take the project to a talent agency and get the film made. directors, actors and other needed talent will be made available and the film will get made for sure. The investor/s in fact become film producers.
The investor safety net is an experienced entertainment lawyer and accountant with malpractice insurance. Come Friday needs no special effects and is driven by actors rather than expensive gimmicks and that puts this film the low budget category.
My rough guess is somewhere between $5 and 7 million. The true cost to make this film can be determined easily enough.
I’d love to hear from anyone who is looking to escape the stock market or other investment schemes that are all tanking. I can be contacted by clicking on my profile picture on the right side.
Los Angeles, CA—As our economy s being flushed down the toilet along with our retirement and 401K plans we look in other directions for our money that's left. Whereever we put our money it is risky these days.
Movie investing in considered somewhat risky but people do that and sometimes do it very well. For it to work you need a very trustworthy bean counter that will protect the investors.
Not long ago I was chatting with actor James Woods about my own film offering on the life of the late but heroic Chicago Policewoman Ann Leybourne, Come Friday. This amazing story still needs to be told and hit the big screen.
Woods told me about former LAPD cop, Joseph Wambaugh’s 1979 film he was in, The Onion Field. Woods played LA cop killer, Gregory Powell.
At the time Wambaugh was disillusioned and pissed off at Hollywood after they took one of his better books, The Choirboys and made an unsalable and unwatchable movie mess of it.
There were hard feelings at the time and Wambaugh wanted to tell the intriguing and horrific 1963 saga of two career criminals that abducted two LAPD detectives after a traffic stop. The two killers were able to abduct the detectives and brought them to a Bakersfield, CA area onion field. One officer, Ian Campbell was executed by Powell and his sidekick, Jimmy Lee Smith. The second detective Karl Hettenger somehow managed to escape and eventually testified against the two kidnapping-killing thugs.
Wambuagh crafted this compelling story into a book and screenplay and nobody in Hollywood wanted to touch it. The onion Field sat undisturbed for years until Wambuagh was able to get retired cops to invest in the project. That had never been done before. Even more than a great feature film was born, the old coppers made a handsome profit.
Woods should have won an Academy Award for his portrayal of the despicable killer Gregory Powell. Woods was absolutely unforgettable as he played the hateful murdering bum who is still alive in a California prison today. Powell now 84 years-old credits Wambaugh's movie about the crime for his never getting a chance at parole. Fellow killer Jimmy Lee Smith was paroled in 1983 but kept violating and getting returned until his 2007 death at age 76 while in LA County custody on yet another violation.
The cop killing duo originally were sent by a judge and jury to suck some gas at San Quentin but the California Supreme court prevented that from happening.
As for the surviving cop, Hettinger lived with severe bouts of depression, always ashamed for having run from the scene. The LAPD bosses wrongfully treated him as a coward.
Later in life, Hettinger seemed somewhat better adjusted. He won an appointment as a Kern County supervisor in 1987. Hettinger died in 1994 of cirrhosis of the liver, at 59 having never really escaped from that terrible onion filed.
As for Come Friday which is about a beautiful young, recruit policewoman, Ann Leybourne and a cunning career criminal, serial rapist and a kidnapping gone very wrong. That story needs to be told. Perhaps as James Wood’s suggested the funding may come from an unusual source like retired cops.
I can be reached through My profile about Come Friday.
A side note: That wildly popular TV series The Twilight Zone sat in a lonely file cabinet for nearly 13 years before someone took a chance and produced the series.
Long ago there was a young lady I had the hots for in a big way (Yes, I know that hots is not a word). She was pretty, incredibly bright, and had some real elegance about her. She had a love for children and basic kindness that you don’t often see in someone her age. I met her parents and could understand she came from a much more stable home than mine. I was raised by a single, welfare mom and suddenly found myself way out-classed. For whatever reasons things did not workout they way I had hoped. Sadly for me, we went on our separate ways. From time to time I’d run into this lady in various places where our job had taken us. Whenever this happened my heart would skip a beat or two.
I left my hometown Chicago, and moved to Arizona where I founded my detective agency. As a private eye and soon a TV news producer too, my career took me to the highest profile criminal events in Arizona and throughout the country. There’s no question that I’m an adrenalin junkie and must always be where the action is happening.
After investigating on behalf of the criminal defense (successfully I might add) for two well-known Hollywood stars facing bogus allegations, I began yearning to work in the happening entertainment industry. These days, I’ve been spending a lot of time in L.A.
Along with attending Tom Todoroff ’s acting classes, I took a “speed” filmmaker’s course from Dov S.S. Simmons at his Hollywood Film Institute in Santa Monica. This was to get a real understanding of the business, from acquiring a script to counting your money long after the last showing in theatres. In the class, Dov covered an area where I had already had some experience. That was about buying and selling film option rights involving people inside fascinating, real events. A film company had made such a deal with me in the preceding post. Essentially, I got some money for doing absolutely nothing!
Writing or obtaining a good script is the beginning to all filmmaking. You must start with a terrific story. I’ve never been a fan of novels but I enjoy non-fiction. I wrote some other scripts that I now call training exercises.
I belatedly heard some really heartbreaking news from Chicago that I could not just shake off. It caused me to go on a quest that began as the film treatment you will now see. This has since evolved into a feature film script.
Having a film script in L.A is like having a snowflake in a blizzard. Unsold scripts are everywhere. If you don’t have a top-notch Hollywood literary agent committed to getting your script made into a film you better have investors standing by. Right now I have neither. Producers I have, like Ex-New York, “French Connection” cop, turned film producer, Sonny Grosso who loves this story.
Today is the 33rd anniversary of the most newsworthy event that’s part of this chronicle. Maybe 2006 will bring about the film production of this story, that’s my wish for the New Year. The really worthwhile part of the story is, Ann Leybourne Erwin Biebel.
(A side note here. I could not think of a proper title for this film. The wife of former Chicago police sergeant, Andy Murcia gave me this title. Andy’s wife is the beautiful stage, film, Golden Globe and Emmy Award wining star, Ann Jillian.)
The year, 1972 gave us a lot of history. President Richard Nixon was embroiled in a major scandal that began when a security guard discovered a burglary at the Watergate Hotel complex, FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover died, the new video game craze was "Pong," Arab terrorists attacked at the Munich Olympics and murdered 11 Israeli athletes, an assassination attempt left former Alabama Governor and Presidential candidate, George Wallace confined to a wheel chair, and police everywhere were still reeling from a series of very liberal criminal law decisions that came down from the US Supreme Court. African Americans were still being called Negroes or colored by politically correct Americans.
There was an uneasy truce between the mostly White Chicago police officers and the Black Panther Party after a deadly four-year period that resulted in the deaths of nearly 40 officers and scores of Black militants. The fallout of the 1968 Democratic National Convention riots was still being litigated in various courts. DNA profiles were not yet an available tool for solving crimes.
Early that year, on the Near North Side of Chicago, police were desperately searching for a single criminal responsible for a series of rapes. In 1972, this was called a crime pattern. The term "serial" had not yet been coined in connection with crime. This is a story about what we would call today, a serial rapist.
This is also an incredible story of two strangers, truly opposite, who were about to collide like speeding freight trains in the night, in an unlikely chain of events not seen before, or since in the history of the Chicago Police Department.
The rapist was Robert Ellis, a 34-year-old, African American who had an unremarkable appearance aside from his receding hairline. This ex-convict and career criminal’s rapes were always brutal and at the point of a knife or gun. Ellis would often don a surgical mask to hide his identity. Ellis's victims came from the pages of Vogue and Playboy magazines. Only the most beautiful and fashionable young women were his targets. He would take them on the streets or in their apartments. His crimes occurred nearly always on Friday nights. Perhaps because of superstitions that brought him to a Haitian psychic. In any event, the Chicago media dubbed him, The Friday Night Rapist.
One of Ellis's intended victims was Diana Craig, a gorgeous, shapely young brunette woman who caused heads to turn wherever she went. She was a professional fashion model who drove a BMW. Diana lived in an apartment above an artist's studio and garden on North LaSalle Street in Chicago. This was only an attempted crime, because Diana was able to wage a heroic fight against Ellis despite his having a gun and because she got help from her downstairs neighbor. Theodore DiVaquelin, an openly gay Frenchman, responded to Diana's screams and also fought with Ellis as he fled from Diana's apartment. Ellis narrowly escaped capture by responding police officers.
Hugh Heffner's Playboy mansion was only a couple of blocks away at 1340 North State Parkway (that was before he moved his entire Playboy Empire to L.A.). Another of Ellis's victims was one of Playboy magazine's more beautiful centerfolds that year.
Finally one Friday night, Paul Ropple, who was the youngest homicide detective in the history of the Chicago Police Department, observed Ellis sneaking around some bushes in the 1200 block of North State Parkway. Ropple noticed that Ellis resembled the composite drawing he had of the rapist and was the same height and weight reported by the victims. Ropple arrested Ellis and immediately began the process for a police identification line-up. Some of the victims were able to point Ellis out with certainty. Ellis denied the accusations, but probable cause of guilt existed and Ellis was to face the charges in court. The North Side Friday night rape pattern finally ended.
Months went by as the Court system prepared to try Ellis for his crimes. In all, Chicago police had brought forward nine victims that could identify Ellis as their attacker. A young public defender, Ron Himel, was appointed by the court to represent Ellis. As in all criminal cases the defense attorney has to accept his client's claims of innocence and file whatever pretrial motions to get the charges dismissed or at least reduced.
One day Ron Himel looked at the police line up photographs and discovered that the only person in the line up with a receding hairline was his client, Robert Ellis. A new Supreme Court ruling handed down at the time seemed clear, that police line-ups were to have people in them that resembled their suspect. The detectives putting this line up together never thought this case would hinge only on the identifications. This line up was now going to face a test in court.
In this case the police had no fingerprints or other conclusive evidence. Hair was collected in this investigation, but scientists had recently debunked hair as not being any more unique than being human and it's particular racial origin. Today a DNA profile made from a single hair would be conclusive and damning evidence. The identification of Ellis by his victims was the only evidence to tie him to the crimes.
Himel filed his motion to suppress the identification on the grounds that the police line-ups were unfair and denied his client due process. If somehow the court suppressed the identifications, Robert Ellis would be freed. Himel's motion was the talk of the courthouse and prosecutors and cops scrambled to figure out another way to keep Ellis behind bars. It all exploded one morning as Judge Louis B. Garippo granted Himel's motion. Since there was no additional evidence, Ellis was to be freed.
The Cook County State's Attorney, Edward V. Hanrahan got wind of the development and raced up to Judge Garippo's court chambers. The screaming could be heard down the long marble halls. Hanrahan's threats, demands and begging fell on deaf ears. Garippo was so incensed that he then recused from hearing any more of the case and sent it to the presiding Judge, Joe Power. The case was transferred to Judge Earl Strayhorn, who then ordered Ellis released.
An angry young prosecutor, Tony Corsentino waited for Ellis as he left the Cook County Jail. Ellis found himself repeatedly slapped in a most humiliating manner by this prosecutor on his way to freedom in the jail parking lot.
There was an attractive and delightful young woman that lived in the heart of the neighborhood of Ellis's crimes, 25 year-old, Ann Leybourne. Ann was just informed she was to be hired as a Chicago policewoman after taking a civil service examination with 7,000 other women, placing number six on the hiring list with a near-perfect score. Ann had burned out on her job as caseworker for the Cook County Department of Public Aid after a string of tragic events. Abused by the very people she was sent to help while trying to cope in an organization where no one seemed to care. Ann resigned from her position and moved forward to her new job at the police department.
In 1972, Policewomen in Chicago did not patrol the streets. They baby sat for the tender aged children that belonged to crime victims or that was under that care of someone arrested. They would search female suspects and assist the department with juvenile offenders. All policewomen were assigned to the Youth Division.
The 1972 the regulation uniform for a Chicago policewoman was a light blue blouse, a dark blue straight (and tight) skirt with a matching jacket, a beret with a small round shield. She would wear hose with high heels, and a large black leather purse that contained a regulation .38 special revolver, handcuffs and at least six extra rounds of ammunition. One her left breast area, was the Chicago police star, and on the right, a brass name tag that contained her last name. Her left shoulder sported a Chicago police cloth patch and her right shoulder contained the Chicago flag. But for the police star and patches you would think this was the uniform of an airline stewardess of that era.
As of 1972 no policewoman had ever been shot, let alone killed in the line of duty. Outside of one policewoman's isolated domestic dispute, shootings were unknown. This was a safe and well-paying job for any woman to have.
Ann began her training at the Chicago Police Academy on O'Brien Street. She excelled in every class subject but one, firearms training. Ann could not qualify with the revolver. Bullets would fly but the safest place downrange was Ann's target. Ann's heart was not in this aspect of her new job. The supervising range master, Sergeant Roy Swanson pulled recruit Leybourne aside. Unlike like the men Swanny (as his friends would call him) trained, he treated these young women with much more patience and understanding. Ann told Swanny that she hated guns and never expected to ever use one outside of the range. Swanny explained to Ann that she had to qualify or she may lose her new job. Swanny's suggestion was that Ann practice at a gun range during her off duty time in order to graduate from the academy and stay employed. Ann's did what she was told and passed her qualification by one point. Ann survived her 9th week to be sworn and receive her police star. This was not graduation but a turning point, Ann would have many weeks to complete in order to graduate and receive her first regular duty assignment as a policewoman.
When any Chicago police recruit received his or her police star they are reminded that they are required to carry that and the service revolver at all times whether on or off duty. Ann considered this a bother. The gun did not seem to work with cocktail dresses should she have a night out. The kinds of purses she owned would make this rule a challenge. Ann did not want to create a problem for herself and followed the program.
Ann and a long time friend, Patrick Burke got invited to a New Year's party. After the party, around 2:00 A.M., Ann brought Patrick to his North side apartment, and then drove herself home. As she got out of her car, at her apartment building, after locking it and turning around she found a strange Black man with a gun pointed at her. Ann would soon learn she just met Robert Ellis, who was recently freed by a broken criminal justice system.
Ellis forced Ann to kneel on the passenger floor of her own car while he drove her car to the Cabrini Green public housing project. Ellis ordered Ann to perform oral sex on him as he drove. Ann stalled, not complying with the demand as she nearly forgot she was a policewoman or that she had a gun. Ann was able to convince Ellis to take his gun away from her head, this while she fumbled with her left had for her own gun. She pointed her gun at Ellis's stomach and was unable to pull the trigger with her left hand. Her left trigger finger was just not strong enough. Ann then remembered that if she could pull the hammer back, cocking the gun, it would be very easy to pull the trigger. Afraid that Ellis would hear her gun being cocked Ann waited until the Ellis drove up a slight bump to the Cabrni Green driveway. The bump muffled the sound of the gun. Ann repositioned her gun at Ellis and pulled the trigger. The gun fired striking Ellis in the mid-section, but the fight with him was far from over. Ellis was able to knock Ann's gun from her hand to the floor and Ann struggled with him until she was able to get Ellis's gun from under his leg. Ann shot Ellis 3 more times, with his own gun. Robert Ellis died behind the steering wheel of Ann's car.
Ann was convinced her new career was finished since she shot someone even before she had graduated from the academy. Nothing could be further from the truth as she found herself showered with awards from the department, the mayor (Richard J. Daley), and various civic organizations. One award she received was a curious looking trophy that was presented by Sergeant Roy Swanson. It was a police marksmanship trophy with a gold sculpture of a policeman pointing his gun. The policeman was wrapped in a little skirt made from blue construction paper. The award was engraved, "To Annie Leybourne, our number one gal, from the Chicago police range masters." In 1972, there were no shooting trophies made for policewomen.
The North side rape crime pattern ended, this time for good with the death of Robert Ellis. The young public defender, Ronald Himel went on to become a full Circuit Court Of Cook County Judge, retiring last year. The young prosecutor, Tony Corsentino went into semi-retirement as a public, juvenile lawyer. Tony was killed in 2004 during a swimming accident at a private lake in Pekin, Illinois. Ann went on to finish her career, retiring as a sergeant, and moved to Florida with her second husband, Detective Sergeant Jim Biebel. Her daughter, Sarah Erwin went on to college. Within a year Ann contracted pancreatic cancer. Ann would put up another valiant fight for her life. This time Ann lost at age 53. A note: Annie is remembered not for her extraordinary survival of an encounter with Robert Ellis, but rather for whom she was, and the people who are much richer for knowing her, people like me, Paul Huebl.
