In the latter part of 1933, there was an epidemic of truck hijackings in the states of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania; this was the work of 6 gangsters: the Tri-State Gang. Tonight, in Richmond, Virginia, they're hijacking a truckload of radios. As usual "Big" Bill Phillips, a 6'4" ox of a man, takes over the hijacked truck, transferring the load onto their truck; Artie McLeod, a cheap tinhorn gambler, puts a burlap sack over the driver's head, blinding him, and chains the driver to a tree. Other gang members are Georgie Kaufman, an ex-boxer, the oldest of the gang; and James Jonathan Harris, aka Gentleman Jim, aka "Harris the Fence"; and the 2nd-in-command, Bobby Mais. Their leader is the vicious, sadistic Wally Legenza-- he shoots 4 bullets into the driver (who never got a good look at the gang members, and couldn't identify them) because Legenza is a psychopath. Ness and his men, who had been assigned by Washington, DC, to investigate the Tri-State Gang, are on the scene. May 1