- Collection:
- WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection
- Title:
- Series of WSB newsfilm clips showing the box and location where kidnapping victim Barbara Jane Mackle was held, along with statements from the lawyers involved in the kidnapping trial of Gary Steven Krist, an interview with friends of Barbara Jane Mackle, and a report from John Pruitt at the location of the kidnapping, Decatur, Georgia, and Gwinnett County, Georgia, December 1968
- Creator:
- WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)
- Contributor to Resource:
- Pruitt, John (Television news anchor)
Lane, Gloria (Journalist)
Venable, James - Date of Original:
- 1968-12
- Subject:
- Trials (Kidnapping)--Georgia
- People:
- Krist, Gary Steven, 1945-
Mackle, Barbara Jane--Kidnapping
Mackle, Robert F.
Pruitt, John (Television news anchor)
Venable, James
Mackle, Jane
Lane, Gloria (Journalist) - Location:
- United States, Georgia, DeKalb County, Decatur, 33.77483, -84.29631
United States, Georgia, Gwinnett County, 33.96173, -84.02363 - Medium:
- moving images
news
unedited footage - Type:
- Moving Image
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- In this series of WSB newsfilm clips from Decatur, Georgia, and Gwinnett County, Georgia, probably during December 1968, the box and location where kidnapping victim Barbara Jane Mackle was held are shown, along with statements from the lawyers involved in the kidnapping trial of Gary Steven Krist, an interview with friends of Barbara Jane Mackle, and a report from John Pruitt at the location of the kidnapping.
The clips begin with a shot of an unidentified white woman in a wooded area. As the woman walks through the woods, an unidentified white man walks through the frame. Voices are heard from off camera, but are mostly unintelligible. A woman says, "Well, it was eleven thirty when she was finally excited enough to call me."
The clips cut to a group of unidentified white men and women, who stand together in a wooded area. Next, the camera is pointed down at the ground, where a rectangular hole is visible, as well as the legs and feet of people who are standing around the hole. The camera pans up for a shot of the group around the hole, which is composed of unidentified white men, women, and children, all peering down at the ground. Next there is another close up shot of the hole. Unintelligible voices are heard from off camera. The clips cut to another shot of unidentified white men and women in a wooded area, looking down at the rectangular hole in the ground. Then there is another close up shot of the hole.
The clips cut to a white car. The car is parked, and an unidentified white male attempts to open the back passenger side door. Another unidentified white male enters the frame and opens the front passenger side door. A white male and white female who are most likely Robert F. and Barbara Jane Mackle exit the car. From off camera, an unidentified male voice asks, "How's your daughter? How's your daughter, Mr. Mackle?" The Mackles rush past a crowd of unidentified reporters and camera men and climb the stairs into an airplane. They are followed into the airplane by two unidentified white males. A third unidentified white male reaches out of the plane and closes the door. The clips cut to the exterior of the plane as it pulls down the runway, past the camera.
Next, the clips cut to an unidentified white male who is probably the brother of Robert F. Mackle. He stands in front of a white building, and two unidentified white males stand on either side of him. He says, "I want to say also to so many people that have sent in to my brother and his family that they were saying prayers for them and I think this may have done a great deal of good, with all due respect to the F.B.I., the prayers that they offered, and I don't want to get maudlin, but I believe this..."
The clips then cut to a gray box that is resting on a table in a room. The box has two holes on the top at one end. Filing cabinets are visible in the background, against the walls of the room. The camera moves in for a close up of the two holes in the box. The clips cut to a view of the same box from a different angle. An unidentified white woman's hand and forearm are visible in the frame as she lifts up a section of the top of the box. The camera moves to show the interior of the box, where two holes are visible in a panel in the interior of the box. The next portion of the clip also appears to be of the interior of the box, and shows a switch in a wooden panel. Below the switch, a label reads "Light switch" and tags reading "Evidence. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Washington, DC" are visible beside the switch. The camera pans upward past a tag reading "FBI Laboratory" and stops on another switch and label. The text on this label is unintelligible.
Next, the clips show some wires and a section of pipe that appear to be part of the interior of the box. The clips cut to a circular hole in the wall of the box. The hole is covered with wire mesh. The camera moves to the left to show another hole, identical to the first.
The clips cut to an unidentified white male who stands in front of a building. He says, "...no definition of kidnapping for ransom in Georgia. That the code defines kidnapping, which carries a penalty of four to seven years, but kidnapping for ransom, the first time it appears is in the penalty section, and it broadens the scope of punishment for kidnapping and is not inclusive in the definition of kidnapping." From off camera, an unidentified female reporter asks, "Is this the only ground?" The man replies, "We have several more that we are looking at: the place that the kidnapping was paid, that being in Florida, whether or not the jurisdiction, if there is a kidnapping for ransom, should have been in Florida. We are going to look at several others." From off camera, the female reporter says, "Mr. Venable, let me direct this question to you," as the camera turns to the right, where James Venable, the court appointed attorney for Gary Steven Krist, is standing. She continues, "Could you tell us how Mr. Krist is getting along in prison?" Mr. Venable responds, "Well, I understand he's in solitary confinement down there because the stigma went with him from DeKalb County Jail that he was a person that might commit suicide, that he was an insane person, which we deny." The female reporter asks, "Are you taking any action along these lines?" Venable replies, "We expect to in the next few days, Mr. Childs and I, to try to get him the same privileges that other prisoners have at the state penitentiary."
The clips then show the exterior of a building with an arched window over a set of double doors. The clips cut to a close up of the doors as an unidentified white male opens one of the doors and enters the building, followed by another unidentified white male. An unidentified white female exits the building. The clips cut to a close up shot of two blue books that are being carried by someone. The cover of the front book reads, "Property" with smaller, unintelligible text below. The clips cut to a wider shot, and now the unidentified black male who is carrying the books is visible. He walks down a sidewalk with a row of parked cars visible in the distance behind him. The clips cut again, this time to an unidentified white male who walks down a sidewalk toward the camera.
Next, the clips cut to two unidentified white females who stand next to each other in front of a building. Reporter Gloria Lane stands in front of them, holding a microphone. Lane asks, ".. dating anybody special?" The unidentified white female on the left responds, "No one in particular. She didn't really date that much at Emory, and she wasn't engaged or anything, as far as I know." The clips cut to a shot of Gloria Lane. She says, "Do you think she was unhappy because she wasn't dating?" as the clips cut back to the two unidentified women. The woman on the left replies, "I don't think so, I really don't think it bothered her that kind of - that really much, because she just cared about everybody else and was outgoing enough that it really wouldn't matter if she didn't go out." The unidentified woman on the right says, "I think - I think if she wanted to, she could've, because, you know, she was good-looking." The clips cut again, and the woman on the left appears to be speaking, but no audio is heard, then Gloria Lane asks from off camera,"...usual at Emory?" The unidentified woman on the left says, "I think so, I mean not too many of us do." The woman on the right says, "That's - a lot of that's due to the limited parking facilities, really." Lane asks, "How do you think Barbara will react in a situation like this, is she the type to remain calm?" The unidentified woman on the left says, "I don't think so, I mean, I know myself, and I'd certainly react, and I think she would, too. She's not exactly, I don't know, a hundred percent calm all the time, but who would be under that circumstance?"
The clips cut to the exterior trunk of a blue car. An unidentified white male unlocks the trunk with a key and opens it, as an unidentified white female looks on, holding a paper bag. The clips cut to a different unidentified white female, who stands in what appears to be a parking lot, with parked cars visible behind her. She speaks and laughs, but no audio is heard. The clips cut to an unidentified white male and the unidentified white female, who get into the passenger side doors of a blue car. The clips cut again, and the the blue car is seen pulling away and driving down a residential street.
Next, the clips cut to reporter John Pruitt, who stands in the parking lot of the Rodeway Inn, with the motel and parked cars visible behind him. He says, "It's been a long and intense day here at the Rodeway Inn near Decatur. Everyone has been waiting all day. Newsmen have been waiting to find out some details about the kidnapping of Barbara Jane Mackle - details which have been few and far between. Federal agents, DeKalb detectives, and friends and family of Barbara Jane Mackle have also been waiting for some word, any word, from the kidnapper. The nightmare began about four o'clock this morning at room one thirty seven. Mrs. Jane Mackle, Barbara Jane's fifty one year old mother, told police she was awakened at four o'clock this morning by a knock on her motel room door. She asked who was there, a man answered. He said he was a detective and he had some information about a young man involved in a wreck who was driving a white Ford. Mrs. Mackle opened the door because she knew her daughter's fiance drove a white Ford. A man in a black jacket and another man entered the room and trained a shotgun on her. She was then tied and gagged. Barbara Jane was then taken from the room, clad only in a red and white checked flannel nightgown. Mrs. Mackle managed to work her way free in about five minutes, and then she called police. Mrs. Mackle and Federal agents have remained in the room for most of the day, apparently waiting for some word from the kidnapper, possibly a ransom call. Agents have said virtually nothing to newsmen, and on several occasions have asked newsmen to leave the premises altogether. But the newsmen, the family, and the lawmen continue to wait, there is little else that they can do. John Pruitt, WSB News reporting."
Reporter: Pruitt, John (Television news anchor)
Reporter: Lane, Gloria (Journalist)
Title supplied by cataloger.
Supporting information was taken from the following source: The Atlanta Constitution, 28 Dec. 1968:1. Web. 23 April 2020. - Local Identifier:
- Clip number: wsbn38155
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/news/id:wsbn38155
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/news/id:wsbn38155
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/ugabma_wsbn_wsbn38155/presentation/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: wsbn38155, Series of WSB newsfilm clips showing the box and location where kidnapping victim Barbara Jane Mackle was held, along with statements from the lawyers involved in the kidnapping trial of Gary Steven Krist, an interview with friends of Barbara Jane Mackle, and a report from John Pruitt at the location of the kidnapping, Decatur, Georgia, and Gwinnett County, Georgia, December 1968, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 0034, 13:04/20:16, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia
- Extent:
- 1 clip (about 7 mins., 12 secs.): color, sound ; 16 mm.
- Original Collection:
- Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.
- Holding Institution:
- Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection
- Rights:
-
