Jerry Tarbot | |
---|---|
![]() "Jerry Tarbot" | |
Born | May 31, 1882[ citation needed ] |
Died | January 4, 1972 89)[ citation needed ] | (aged
Nationality | North American |
Other names | Howard Francis Noble; Howard Noble; Blake; Jerry Tarbot; The Sliding Ghost; Jerry J Martin |
Occupation(s) | factory worker; bigamist; car thief; confidence man; swindler,author; |
Known for | Imposter |
Jerry Tarbot was an American conman who claimed he was an amnesia victim of World War I. [1] On April 10, 1926, The Healdsburg Tribune published on article/photograph on Tarbot calling him the "sliding ghost" of World War I. [2]
In 1927 he was exposed as a fraud before the U.S. House of Representatives veterans legislative committee by Department of Justice investigators. Investigation began after a bill was introduced in Congress by California Representative Carter to compensate "Tarbot" as a veteran. The investigators stated that "Tarbot" was in fact Alexander Dubois Jr., described as a draft dodger, car thief and wife deserter with more than twenty aliases in Pennsylvania and Michigan, who was stealing cars in California at the time he claimed he was in France. [3] [4]
In March 1927 Congressman Royal Johnson of South Dakota Chairman of the Veterans Committee claimed what was the real story of "Tarbot":