For calendar week , the engraved invitations had beencirculatingin New York and Atlanta . In gilt lettering , the cards suppose that a man named “ Fireball ” was cast a birthday company for “ Tobe ” at 2819 Handy Drive in the Collier Heights section of Atlanta ’s West End . The festivity were to lead off in the early morning hours of October 27 , 1970 , now fall out the historic counter of boxerMuhammad Ali , who was in Atlanta to face off against Jerry Quarry after three years away from the ring .
The invitations blanket both city because organiser know Ali ’s restoration would attract fans from New York and elsewhere . It would also attract hustlers , fancy man , drug dealers , and various other men and charwoman with alternative way of earning a living . They would all be carry cash and flashing expensive jewellery .
Even though box fan were used to witnessing robberies in the gang and on judges ’ scorecards , this time would be different . As they fete Ali ’s victory , they ’d be victimize by one of the most brassy armed robbery the metropolis of Atlanta had ever seen .
Making a Comeback
Atlanta was not a established choice to act as the land site of Ali ’s comeback . From 1967 through 1970 , the packer formerly know as Cassius Clay had been struggle the Union government afterdeclaringhimself a conscientious dissident and refusing to enlist for military religious service in the Vietnam War . He was sentence to five year in prison for draft nonpayment .
After being release on bail , Ali appealed his judgment of conviction — but the mark endured . The boxer was undress of his heavyweight backing and effectively blacklisted from the sport , with state of matter refusing to grant the then-28 - year - former a license to compete . In the South , where racial tension stay high , it seemed unthinkable that any official would indorse Ali ’s return to the ring .
Robert Kassel believe differently . The New York - based attorney had helped promote a Joe Frazier bout and knew Ali ’s riposte would be a lucrative consequence . So he asked his father - in - law , Atlanta businessman Harry Pett , to phone Georgia state senator Leroy Johnson . Pett and Johnson were friends ; Johnson , one of the res publica ’s few opprobrious elected functionary , deliberate the treatment of Ali unjust and concord to see what he could do .
Johnson key out Georgia had no laws governing the sport of pugilism , which left permission to hold events up to local municipality . Johnson get to out to Atlanta mayor Sam Massell , who allowed the fight to go along — provided Kassel donated $ 50,000 of the gross to an area drug rehabilitation program .
Ali ’s riposte was rig for October 26 , 1970 against Jerry Quarry , who had latterly upset top heavyweight contender Mac Foster . That weekend , locals and tourists likewise descended upon Atlanta ’s Hyatt Regency hotel , as well as the 5000 - seat Civic Auditorium , and paid up to $ 100 for a ringside seat . ( devotee in other cities could watch the bout on closed - circle television . ) renown like Diana Ross were spotted at the Hyatt . So were Edgar Guest who wear elaborated outfits and extravagant jewelry . More of the engrave invitations for Fireball ’s company , which was scheduled to start directly following the conflict , were handed out .
Party Hard
Shaking off long time of ring rust , Ali was declared the superior by technical knockout in the third rhythm , when a undercut forced Quarry ’s flight simulator Teddy Bentham to call off the fight .
While Ali observe his victory at the Hyatt , surrounded by friends and celebrities , carloads of the event ’s not - quite - so - famous attendees were start out to assemble at 2819 Handy Drive . Upon entering the front room access , they had expected to find a rag party . alternatively , they were meet by men in ski masks wield sawed - off shotgun .
One by one , the partygoer were maneuver into the cellar and order to shake off their cash and jewelry in a pot . Then they were told to peel down to their underwear and lay flat on the floor . As more hoi polloi show up — by some estimates , up to 200 node make it — the good deal of valuables grew . Victims were forced to stack themselves on top of one another . The heist , which was dense and deliberate , took minute ; the robbers stuffed the goods into yellow - and - clean slip .
Finally , around 3 ante meridiem , the triggerman departed , drag out two surety with them . They were drop off on the other side of townsfolk three hour later and reach $ 10 for cab menu . law were called and an investigation was soon underway . But solving a robbery where most of the victims were malefactor themselves would n’t be loose .
The Investigation
Clues were scarce , and eyewitness testimonial was hard to batten . Most of the dupe of the looting were from out of Ithiel Town and wary of talking to police . Only five file official complaints . Most leave Atlanta without even feed authority their contact lens information . The only tangible tip make out from an anonymous earpiece call from someone who said that the robbery had been set up to pay off a drug mountain gone bad back in New York City earlier that year .
The first real break came two days afterward , when a shotgun and lily-livered - and - white-hot pillowcase were regain near the star sign in a leather satchel . The gun was hunt to a man mention Jimmy “ Houston ” Hammonds , who aver he had bought the gun for two friends — James Jackson and James Ebo . Both men had multiple alias and both were known to be ask in criminal activity . Hudson operate to Jackson ’s flat , but no one was abode . Still , he lucked out : Jackson ’s bed had sensationalistic - and - white-hot bedsheets .
A calendar month afterward , a Fulton County grand juryindictedHammonds , Jackson , and Ebo , who was named under his alias of James Henry Hall , on six counts of armed robbery each . Hammonds was already in custody but there was no house of the other two men . Hudson figured one of two thing would encounter : Either police would find them , or their victims would — especially now that they had been make in the paper . If the victims found them , there would n’t be any form of trial .
Dead to Rights
Hudson was correct . On May 8 , 1971 , Jackson and Ebo werefoundshot to death inside a parked Cadillac in the Bronx . A third humankind , Donald Phillips , was also killed . Robbery did n’t seem potential , as both grease-gun and $ 700 in John Cash had been pass on in the railcar , and 11 snapshot had been fired . New York City detectives could n’t picture out the motivation until Jackson and Ebo were identified as defendant in the Atlanta robbery by Hudson , who fly out to New York to consult with authorisation . “ We say last fall it was just a question of who catch up with them first — the police force or the victims , ” Hudson toldThe New York Times . “ It appears the victims engender there first . ”
Though a total of five to eight gun were cover by the victims , no one else was ever arrested . A third individual connected to the crime , “ Bookie ” Brown , had also been found dead . Hudson take on street justice had come for the sleep of them , too .
Erroneously , Gordon “ Chicken Man ” Williams was thought to have been killed for his assumed role in the looting . Local newspapers even reported that Williams had been murdered just two days after the party when , in fact , he was animated and well . Williams had cooperated with police force and then sent word to some associate in New York City that he had not been involved at all . His girlfriend had even been one of the hostages taken when the robbers made their getaway . Williams eventually got out of the drug trade and became a minister .
Ali would go on to have his draft equivocation conviction overturned by the Supreme Court in 1971 and reclaim his heavyweight title in a fight against George Foreman in 1974 . For the Quarry bout , he was paid $ 250,000 against 42.5 percent of the revenue . The robber made off with an estimated $ 1 million .
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A translation of this report scarper in 2020 ; it has been updated for 2024 .
