3 Men Arrested On Kidnap Charges -- Police Say Tip Helped To Identify Suspects

Three arrests have been made in two kidnappings, one in North Seattle in late 1987 and another in South King County in 1988 in which a man was abducted and held for $250,000 ransom.

Yesterday, Donald Miniken Jr., 34, a Des Moines businessman, was charged with involvement in both crimes, and two alleged accomplices, Dean Dotson, 26, and James Glaefke, 30, were charged in connection with the 1988 case.

In one case the victim escaped, and in the other the victim was released unharmed.

One of the cases involved elaborate planning, sending the relatives of the victim from telephone booth to telephone booth in South King County to get additional ransom instructions. The culprits even had planned to escape with the ransom money by scuttling a small boat and swimming away in scuba gear with the loot, according to information filed with the charges.

The cases had gone unsolved until last May, when publicity about the crimes led to an anonymous call to police that helped identify the suspects, according to King County police Detective Randy Mullinax, who has worked on the case for more than two years.

Information filed with the charges said all three suspects waived their rights and gave statements to police.

Mullinax said yesterday that he is ``happy for the victims'' that the crimes have been solved because they now can go back to leading a more normal life.

``It's nice to successfully conclude a case that has gone on for this long. That's what this kind of work is all about,'' Mullinax said.

One of the victims, Vincent Mullally, a North Seattle contractor, refused to talk to the news media about the case, and the second victim, John Farrell, a retired South King County contractor, could not be reached for comment.

The case involving Mullally occurred Oct. 9, 1987, when he was abducted by a man at gunpoint at his business, Mullally Homes, in North Seattle, then blindfolded, tied up and put in the trunk of his car.

But the kidnapping went awry when Mullally escaped by jumping out of the trunk of his car as it sped along a highway near Woodinville. He suffered scrapes but was not seriously hurt, and although police later found the car, the case never was solved.

Miniken, the only suspect is charged in that abduction.

The second case was June 16, 1988, when Farrell, an antique-car collector, was lured to the Riverside Inn in Tukwila by a man who said he had several antique cars for sale.

Farrell was abducted at gunpoint, then blindfolded and held for more than 30 hours at two separate locations. During that time, Farrell's family members were ordered by telephone mes

sages to be ready to pay $250,000 ``if they wanted to get Farrell back alive,' according to the charges.

After a series of trips to various telephone booths, one of Farrell's sons finally was ordered to drop off the ransom money along the beach near Redondo, where a lantern had been left. The son did as directed, throwing the money down toward the water, the charging affidavit states.

Police were watching the location, but no one ever came to pick up the satchel.

While Miniken and Dotson were trying to find the drop point,

the third accomplice, Glaefke, thought because of the delay that he had been double-crossed and released Farrell, according to court records. Farrell walked to a telephone booth and called his family.

None of the suspects could be traced, however, until after police released to the news media information contained in the conversations that had taken place between Farrell and Dotson during Farrell's 30-hour captivity.

Unwittingly, Dotson, who was guarding Farrell part of the time, had let out some information about his life.

Upon reading in a newspaper that Dotson had referred to himself as ``Jeff'' in talking with Farrell, a woman called King County police May 30 and named Dotson.

Mullinax traced Dotson's background, determined that it was the same as ``Jeff's'' and that Miniken had been his guardian when he was a youth. Mullinax also found out Miniken was in financial trouble.

That led to the arrest of all three suspects Tuesday. Authorities seek $2 million bail for Miniken, $500,000 each for Dotson and Glaefke.