However, an envelope sent to the newspaper’s office on November 8 that year contained a lock of hair, a threatening note – and Getty’s right ear.
Gangsters threatened to return the teenager to his family in pieces.
After receiving an earful, Getty Sr. agreed to pay $2.2 million — the largest tax-deductible amount — and loaned the rest of the money to his son at four percent interest.
The younger Getty was released, but in poor health, suffering from infections and pneumonia, which his captors treated with copious amounts of alcohol and penicillin, to which his family attributed Getty’s later drug and alcohol problems.