35 Of The FBI's Most Famous Closed Cases - Chapters 12-15



CHAPTER 12
THE BRADY GANG

During the latter part of the year 1935, three human vultures by name 
Alfred Brady, James Dalhover, and Clarence Lee Shaffer, Jr., formed a 
coalition for the purpose of engaging in criminal activities which later 
were to make them the objects of one of the greatest manhunts in the 
history of American crime. The depredations of this gang of desperadoes 
rival those of the characters of the most bloodthirsty novels of our time 
and were brought to an end by the death of Brady and Shaffer while 
resisting arrest by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Agents, and the 
capture of Dalhover in the New England City of Bangor, Maine, in October, 
1937. To this gang has been attributed the statement that they "would make 
Dillinger look like a piker." Whether or not they accomplished their 
avowed purpose is a moot question, but the fact that they met the same 
fate as the members of the Dillinger gang cannot be disputed.

Although the members of this infamous gang committed in the neighborhood 
of 150 holdups and robberies and at least one and possibly two murders in 
the comparatively short period of time between the latter part of the year 
1935 and April, 1936, the crimes committed were violations of state laws 
and as such did not come within the investigative jurisdiction of the FBI.

On April 27, 1936, however, the Kay Jewelry Store at Lima, Ohio, was held 
up and robbed for the second time by Alfred Brady, James Dalhover, and 
Clarence Lee Shaffer. Approximately $8,000 worth of jewelry was taken. On 
the day of the robbery, a number of boxes in which the jewelry had been 
kept were found where they had been discarded near Geneva, Indiana, which 
of course, gave rise to the presumption that the stolen jewelry had been 
transported from Ohio across the state line into Indiana, thus permitting 
the FBI to enter the case. Two days later, Brady was apprehended by the 
Police Department at Chicago, Illinois and Dalhover and Shaffer within a 
few days thereafter by the Chicago and Indianapolis Police Departments, 
respectively. They were held on a charge of murdering a police sergeant of 
the Indianapolis Police Department. They remained in jail until October, 
1936. In the meantime, Special Agents had been carefully checking the 
previous activities of the members of the gang in an effort to determine 
if they were responsible for other violations of federal laws and 
obtaining all the facts relative to their activities for prosecutive 
purposes.

The background and activities of this gang of criminals, as contained in 
the files of the FBI, reflect that Alfred James Brady was born near 
Kentland, Indiana, on October 25, 1910. His early life was that of the 
average country boy, and his education was received in the elementary 
school at North Salem, Indiana. His father died when he was only a few 
years old, and Brady and his mother later moved to Indianapolis where Mrs. 
Brady married a man by the name of Biddle. Brady's mother died in December 
1926, when Brady was sixteen years of age. His stepfather died two years 
later.

Little is known of the activities of Brady as a young man, but it is known 
that he, at one time, worked in a clothing store in Indianapolis and 
later, after the death of his stepfather, was employed as an errand boy at 
a hot tamale stand run by a friend of the family. He was so employed 
during 1931 and 1932. Leaving this employment, he began to wander around, 
and the people with whom he had been staying saw little of him for several 
years, until July 10, 1934, when he was arrested under the name of James 
Reid on a charge of vagrancy. Through the intervention of one of his 
acquaintances with whom he had previously resided, this charge was 
dismissed, and he was not heard from again by his former acquaintances 
until about August, 1935, when he returned to Indianapolis and obtained 
employment in a mattress factory for a short time. He then obtained 
employment as a welder in an automobile factory, but soon growing tired of 
this, he gave up his job and informed the family with whom he was staying 
that he was going to travel as an insurance inspector.

Prior to his return to Indianapolis, he was arrested on July 21, 1934, on 
a charge of unlawful possession (possessing stolen property) and was 
sentenced to the state farm at Greencastle, Indiana, to serve 180 days. 
Upon his release from this institution, he proceeded to a farm owned by a 
friend near Hanover, Indiana, where he visited for a short time and first 
became acquainted with James Dalhover who was operating the farm adjoining 
that on which Brady was visiting. During the year 1935, Brady apparently 
resided around Indianapolis and visited occasionally the farm of his 
friend near Hanover. During this period of time, Brady informed friends 
that he had organized a gang of young boys who were stealing and stripping 
automobiles in Indianapolis and burglarizing various grocery stores and 
other business houses. Leaving Brady here, we go to Dalhover who enters 
the picture at about this time.

Rhuel James Dalhover was born in Madison, Indiana, August 24, 1906, and 
resided there, attending grammar school until he was 11 years of age. He 
was sent to a reform school at Plainfield, Indiana, with his brother 
George for robbing a country grocery store at Plowhandle Point. George 
Dalhover had recently been released from reform school, and apparently it 
was he who persuaded James to help him rob the grocery store. James 
Dalhover remained in the reform school 16 months and was released in 
December, 1918. He then rejoined his mother in Cincinnati, Ohio, and later 
moved to Kentucky. He continued to attend school and work on a farm for 
about 2 years, finishing grammar school in 1920. He obtained employment at 
the National Biscuit Company plant in Cincinnati and worked there during 
the next 2 years. He then went with another brother to Douglas, Arizona, 
and worked at various laboring jobs until 1924 when he went to Madison, 
Indiana, to live with his father. He stayed there until July, 1925, 
returned to Cincinnati, and worked for the Standard Service Company until 
the Spring of 1926, having in the meantime, in December, 1925, married a 
girl named Anna Moore of Cincinnati. Two children were born of this union.

In the Spring of 1926, Dalhover began making "moonshine" whiskey for his 
wife's grandfather, and in November, 1926, he and his brother George were 
caught with a load of whiskey at Union, Kentucky. He was immediately 
placed in jail and received a sentence of 100 days and a fine of $100. He 
had served 3 weeks of his sentence when he and his brother broke out and 
went to Cincinnati. From there, they went to Madison, Indiana, picked up 
an automobile, and started toward Arizona. The car broke down, however, 
and at Roswell, New Mexico, they stole a 1926 Ford coupe. They were 
apprehended later and sentenced to serve 1 ½ to 2 years in New Mexico 
State Penitentiary. At the expiration of 13 months, they were given a 2-
year sentence in the Kentucky State Reformatory at Frankfort for the crime 
of assault with intent to kill. Upon Dalhover's release from this 
institution on November 25, 1929, he returned to Cincinnati, worked at odd 
jobs there for a short time, and then again began making "moonshine" 
whiskey at New Richmond, Ohio.

In January, 1931, Dalhover and another brother, John, went to California. 
He obtained a job at the Needles Gas and Electric Company, worked there 
for 2 months, and then obtained a job with the Santa Fe Railroad until 
June, 1932. He returned to Madison, Indiana, and worked part of the time 
with his father, a cabinet maker, and part of the time made "moonshine" 
whiskey. In the Summer of 1933, the whiskey business became so good that 
he gave up assisting his father and devoted all of his time to making 
whiskey. With the profits from this venture, he purchased a farm near 
Hanover where the whiskey making was continued through the year 1934.

In the early part of 1935, he met Alfred Brady who was visiting the farm 
adjoining that was operated by Dalhover. Dalhover later told FBI Agents 
that, at that time, the federal and state governments were shutting down 
on his yeast supply which he used in making whiskey, and that Brady -- on 
his trips to Hanover -- would bring yeast down to him from Indianapolis. 
In March, 1935, Dalhover's farm was raided and his still destroyed. He was 
tried in July, 1935, at Madison and was sentenced to serve 60 days in jail 
and to pay a $500 fine. He served the 60 days on the Indiana State Farm at 
Greencastle and was released on September 8, 1935, returning to his farm 
at Hanover. Brady visited him there and suggested that he join him in 
perpetrating robberies and holdups. Dalhover stated that he refused at 
that time, but shortly thereafter Brady again appeared at his farm with an 
automobile he had stolen in Indianapolis, and together they robbed a 
moving picture theater at Crothersville, Indiana, on October 12 or 14, 
1935. Dalhover advised that they obtained $18 in this robbery of which he 
received $4 as his share after the expenses had been deducted. On the 
following Saturday night, both men proceeded to Sellersburg, Indiana, in 
the stolen car and held up a grocery store, obtaining $190.

During the latter part of October, 1935, the Brady gang was formed. Brady 
brought Clarence Lee Shaffer, Jr. (who was then using the name of Lee 
Jackson), to Dalhover's farm, and operating together for the first time, 
these three criminals robbed a grocery store near Indianapolis. For some 
time, the three of them engaged in the robberies of grocery stores, 
filling stations, and drug stores on every Saturday night -- and sometimes 
on Sunday nights. Dalhover estimated they had robbed approximately 150 
stores.

Clarence Lee Shaffer, Jr., the youngest member of the gang, was born at 
Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1916. His parents separated two years later, at 
which time his mother obtained a divorce, and Shaffer went to live with 
his grandparents in Indianapolis. He later attended elementary school at 
Ben Davis, Indiana. Little is known of the early activities of Clarence 
Lee Shaffer, but there is some indication that when he was 12 years of 
age, he began stealing and stripping automobiles and continued this 
practice for some time. In later years, he frequently did odd jobs, such 
as cutting grass and hauling coal. He was employed hauling coal with 
Charles Geiseking who, for a short time, was the fourth member of the 
Brady gang.

While he was hauling coal with Geiseking, he met a young girl in July or 
August, 1935, and started keeping company with her. Later that summer, 
Shaffer opened and operated a hamburger stand at Indianapolis for a period 
of three or four weeks. During this time, he regularly called upon this 
young girl and went with her until November, 1935. Subsequently, a child 
was born which the girl claimed was the son of Clarence Lee Shaffer, Jr. 
Shaffer's mother, who on numerous occasions pleaded with him to stop his 
criminal activities, also pleaded with him to marry the young woman and 
give the child a name, but this he declined to do.

The fact is not definitely known, but Dalhover advised that during the 
latter part of 1935 when he, Brady, and Shaffer were conducting their 
holdups from their operating base on the farm of Dalhover, Brady and 
Shaffer, accompanied by Charles Geiseking, were perpetrating other 
robberies during the week.

After the three men began perpetrating holdups as an organized gang, it 
was decided that Dalhover would buy an automobile and register it 
legitimately so that they would not have to drive the stolen automobiles 
used in the holdups more than was necessary. At that time they were using 
a stolen Ford coupe for the holdups, but when business became better they 
decided they needed a larger car. On January 14, 1936, Brady and Dalhover 
proceeded to Anderson, Indiana, held up a man and a woman at the point of 
guns, and took from them a Buick sedan. On this excursion, Charles 
Geiseking accompanied them and drove the stolen Ford coupe. The Buick was 
then placed in a garage at Indianapolis to be used in future holdups.

Shaffer, the youngest member of the trio, was inclined to be a braggart 
and just before Christmas, 1935, Brady and Dalhover dropped him as a 
partner and used Geiseking, as Shaffer started drinking and talking more 
than they thought was good for them, and they were afraid he might get 
them in trouble. During January, 1936, the gang continued their holdups 
throughout the state of Indiana and, on one occasion, proceeded to 
Danville, Illinois, and held up two grocery stores on the same night. On 
one occasion at Danville, Shaffer again accompanied Brady and Dalhover, 
and as they were making their getaway, they were pursued by police 
officers. Brady on this occasion fired at the pursuing officers with an 
automatic rifle.

It was also in January, 1936, when, because of the cold weather and bad 
roads it was necessary to temporarily discontinue their robberies, Brady 
organized a group of young boys in Indianapolis who would steal cars for 
him and drive them to various garages. Dalhover and Brady would strip the 
cars and sell the parts to a fence.

The stolen car business was not prospering to the degree that it satisfied 
the wants of these bandits, and they determined to go in for bigger 
things. A conference was held, and it was decided they needed more and 
better guns than they had been using. They proceeded to Newport, Kentucky, 
visited a barroom, and made arrangements for the purchase of a machine gun 
from a bartender who obtained it from a policeman then serving on the 
police department of a large city in Ohio. The bartender later introduced 
Brady and Dalhover to the policeman under fictitious names, and 
arrangements were made for a welding job to be done on the machine guns. 
At this time, other firearms and ammunition were purchased from the 
policeman who took them out to the farm of a relative. The machine gun was 
tried out and found to be in a satisfactory operating condition. (This 
police officer was later dismissed from the police department as a result 
of his having supplied the Brady gang with these firearms and ammunition.)

Some time during the early part of February, 1936, Brady, Geiseking, and 
Dalhover proceeded to Springfield, Ohio, and there robbed two grocery 
stores on the same night, obtaining approximately $600. Shortly thereafter 
they learned they were suspected of having killed a policeman by the name 
of Frank Levy at Anderson, Indiana, and decided it would be better for 
them to leave that section of the country for a few days. They, therefore, 
took the stolen Buick, drove to New Orleans, Louisiana, and stayed there 
about a week.

With reference to the murder of the policeman, Frank Levy, the facts were 
as follows: the officer was making his rounds of the streets and stopped 
to investigate a suspicious appearing automobile when he was killed by 
gunfire from the occupants of the car without having been given a chance 
to draw his gun. Some time later when one of the members of the gang was 
in jail, a fellow prisoner asked about the killing and one of the gang 
members stated that they had committed the murder, elaborating on the fact 
that they had been sleeping in the car when an officer came along and 
asked them what they were doing there. The answer was, "Killing coppers, 
that's what were doing!" The officer was then shot. It is not known, 
however, whether this actually occurred, because the killing has since 
been denied by Dalhover.

While in New Orleans, they met some girls and began taking them out. On 
one occasion, the girls saw some firearms that the men were carrying. The 
gang told them that they were federal officers and that was the reason 
they had the guns.

Returning from New Orleans after their short stay there, the gang, having 
decided to go in for bigger things, on March 4, 1936, robbed a jewelry 
store at Greenville, Ohio. They proceeded to the store in a stolen 
automobile, taking with them a number of pillowcases. Upon entering the 
store, they held up the employees and patrons, gathered up the jewelry, 
placed it in nine pillowcases, carried it out to the car, and drove away. 
This jewelry was valued at approximately $8,000.

On March 19, 1936, the Kay Jewelry Store at Lima, Ohio, was held up and 
robbed of jewelry valued at approximately $6,800 by Brady, Dalhover, and 
another bandit who had temporarily joined the gang. The employees and 
customers were held at bay by the robbers with pistols. During the course 
of this robbery, one of the owners of the store jumped on Brady's back and 
began wrestling with him. The events which followed might almost be 
considered amusing if it were not for the tragic consequences which often 
follow such exhibitions of careless disregard for human life. One of the 
bandits immediately began firing his gun at the intrepid citizen who, with 
Brady, went down behind the counter out of the bandit's range of vision. 
Brady alone arose, and the excited bandit fired at Brady as soon as his 
head came above the counter. Brady immediately ducked and as soon as he 
again raised his head above the counter, another shot was directed at him. 
It was not until he yelled to the other members of the gang to "stop that 
crazy fool" that Brady was able to get up from behind the counter. 
Needless to say, the "crazy fool" was not again taken along on a "job." In 
the excitement and as a result of the firing, a crowd gathered, but the 
bandits succeeded in making their escape.

It was just after this robbery that Brady and Dalhover decided to hold up 
another grocery store. They, therefore, drove to a small store in Ohio and 
held it up, but since they did not obtain sufficient money there, they 
went on to another town and spotted another grocery store which looked 
good to them; Brady entered the front door and Dalhover the back door. 
Dalhover estimated there were approximately 35 customers in the store at 
the time.

To show the cold-blooded manner in which this gang operated, the following 
is Dalhover's description of what happened: "As I entered the rear door, I 
estimated there were about 35 customers crowded in the store, and as I was 
dodging my way through the crowd, I heard a shot fired. The customers 
immediately began to run to the front door and pushed me out with them. As 
soon as they had cleared the place, I went back in; Brady was taking the 
money out of the cash drawer. I asked Brady what the shot was about and he 
said, 'some damn fool jumped me and I shot him and shoved him down the 
cellar stairs.' We got the money, went out the back door, and got in our 
car, but because of the fact that there was a great crowd gathered, we had 
to turn our car around in the middle of the street and then drive out of 
town. A car followed us for some distance, and I shot three times at it 
and stopped."

The young man who had been killed was Edward Lindsay, a clerk in the 
grocery store. Coming into the store from the basement, he had committed 
the indiscretion of excitedly asking what was going on, and Brady had 
killed him.

On April 9, 1936, Brady, Shaffer, Geiseking, and Dalhover, all together 
again, drove to Dayton, Ohio, in a Studebaker car, which had previously 
been stolen in Indianapolis, and there held up and robbed another jewelry 
store, obtaining approximately $27,000 worth of jewelry and again using 
pillowcases to carry away their loot. Dalhover stated that he figured the 
value of the loot from the price tags appearing thereon at $68,000. The 
jewelry obtained in the previous holdup had been disposed of in the same 
manner, without any difficulty, at prices far below the market value. In 
this instance, however, they were offered $22,000 by a group of fences, 
but when they arrived at a designated apartment to deliver the jewelry, 
they were hijacked by some Chicago crooks who laughingly took their 
jewelry from what they then thought was a gang of "punks." They soon 
learned differently from the underworld, however, and when advised that 
the "punks" were "real killers," arrangements were immediately entered 
into to return the stolen jewelry, but subsequent events developed so 
rapidly that the return was actually never made.

On April 27, 1936, as previously indicated, the Kay Jewelry Store at Lima, 
Ohio, was robbed a second time, the gang in the meantime having held up at 
Chicago an employee of the government and taken from him a DeSoto airflow 
sedan which they used in perpetrating that robbery.

This operation offers another example of the cold-blooded manner in which 
the gang operated. While Brady, Geiseking, and Dalhover went into the 
store and held up the clerks and customers with their guns, Shaffer 
remained outside at the wheel of the getaway car. During the robbery, a 
police car drew up and parked in front of the gang car, and one of the 
policemen got out and went into a 5- and 10- cent store next door. 
Dalhover, coming out of the jewelry store with four pillow cases full of 
jewelry, saw the police car but continued on his way and took his 
automatic rifle from the back of the gang car. Brady then came out of the 
jewelry store and placed the jewelry which he had brought out on the back 
seat of their car, walked over to the police car, and held up the 
policeman with a revolver. Dalhover, approaching from the other side, held 
his rifle on the policeman and took his gun from him. While this was going 
on, the other officer came out of the 5- and 10-cent store and started 
firing at Brady and Dalhover who returned the fire. At this point, 
Geiseking ran out of the jewelry store among the officers and members of 
his own gang and was shot in the leg by the officer who had been in the 
store. The officer then returned to the store to reload his gun. Geiseking 
was assisted into the gang car, while Brady returned to the jewelry store 
to get the balance of the jewelry which had been placed in a pillowcase 
and left near the door. Brady then came out and the gang drove away, 
pursued by the police car occupied by Patrolmen Jess Ford and Edward C. 
Swaney of the Lima, Ohio, Police Department. During the chase, the police 
car was wrecked and Patrolman Swaney was seriously injured.

The gang escaped and made their way to Indianapolis where it was decided 
that it would be necessary to obtain medical aid for Geiseking. They took 
him to the home of a doctor who treated his wounds, and then they took him 
to his home. Brady, Dalhover, and Shaffer decided to return to the 
doctor's house to insure his silence. They had told him that Geiseking had 
been shot by a jealous husband who had discovered that he had been playing 
around with his wife. In the meantime, however, the physician had notified 
the police department of the incident, and upon the return of the bandits 
to the home of the doctor, they were met by Indianapolis police officers. 
A gun battle ensued during the course of which Sergeant Richard Rivers of 
the Indianapolis Police Department was killed and the gang escaped. 
Shortly thereafter, the gang took the stolen Buick sedan and the DeSoto 
outside of Indianapolis and burned them in order to conceal any evidence 
of their participation in this shooting. They then proceeded to Chicago to 
dispose of the jewelry, valued at approximately $12,000, through jewelry 
fences.

The agreed selling price was about $850, but the money was never received 
as Brady was apprehended by Indianapolis police on May 11, 1936. Shaffer 
was subsequently apprehended by Indianapolis police on May 11, 1936, and 
Dalhover was arrested on May 15, 1936, by the Chicago police. Geiseking 
was located on September 12, 1936, at Henderson, Kentucky, having, in the 
interim, been operating with a criminal named Jones and holding up a 
number of filling stations. They were all returned to Indianapolis to 
await trial for the murder of Sergeant Richard Rivers.

On September 24, 1936, while Brady, Dalhover, and Shaffer were being held, 
they were transferred to the Hancock County Jail at Breensfield, Indiana. 
Geiseking was not involved in this murder and was later removed to Ohio 
and sentenced to 10 to 25 years in the Ohio State Penitentiary for the 
crime of armed robbery. The other three remained in the Hancock County 
Jail until October 11, 1936, on which date, during the breakfast hour, 
they assaulted the sheriff, took from him his .38 caliber revolver, and 
escaped in an automobile stolen from a man who attempted to assist the 
sheriff during his fight with the gang.

It was at this point that the FBI took up the trail of this gang, and on 
October 13, 1936, a complaint was filed against Brady, Shaffer, and 
Dalhover before the United States Commissioner at Cleveland, Ohio, 
charging them with the transportation of stolen jewelry, valued in excess 
of $5,000 from Lima, Ohio, to Chicago, Illinois, on April 27, 1936. The 
transportation of this property from the state of Ohio to the state of 
Illinois gave the FBI investigative jurisdiction in the case, and FBI 
Agents took up the search for these hoodlums.

Brady, Dalhover, and Shaffer proceeded from Greenfield, Indiana, into the 
state of Ohio where they burglarized a house at Gallipolis and obtained 
some clothing and blankets. Proceeding from there to Wheeling, West 
Virginia, they considered holding up a jewelry store but decided that they 
were too "hot" to pull a job at this time, so they continued east to 
Baltimore, Maryland, obtaining a room in a rooming house there. The gang 
was really "hot" at this time and knew it. Police of a number of states 
were seeking them for everything from robbery to murder, and the FBI had 
assembled a special squad to search for them as violators of the National 
Stolen Property Act, the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act, and later for 
bank robbery.

Shrewd and resourceful, Brady, Dalhover, and Shaffer held a conference and 
decided to live a quiet, peaceful life in Baltimore and to make the scene 
of their future criminal operations a sufficient distance away so that 
they could not be traced. To get ready cash quickly, they held up several 
grocery stores in Maryland some distance from Baltimore. In November, 
1936, they located a 1937 Buick sedan operated by a man, and deciding it 
was the car they wanted, followed it to a point on the outskirts of the 
city where they held up the man, made him and his woman companion get out 
of the car, and drove it away. They then placed it in a garage rented for 
the purpose where it would be available for use in their criminal 
operations. Brady at this time was using the name Edward Maxwell; 
Dalhover, the name of Herbert Schwartz; and Shaffer, the name George Riley.

About the middle of October, the three men started taking their meals at a 
restaurant in Baltimore where Minnie Raimondo, age 18, was employed as a 
waitress. Shaffer, then using the name Riley, became friendly with Minnie 
and started taking her home from work. He informed her that he was a 
cabinet maker from Bangor, Maine, in Baltimore on a vacation. He further 
advised her that Schwartz and Maxwell, in reality, Dalhover and Brady, 
owned a furniture factory in Maine from which they received a nice income 
and that they had to go to Maine every few weeks to look after their 
business. Shortly after Shaffer started going with Minnie, she invited him 
and his two companions to her mother's home for an Italian dinner. At this 
time, Dalhover met Minnie's sister, Mary, age 20. Shaffer and Dalhover 
went out regularly with the two sisters for a period of about two weeks 
during which time they decided to get married.

In the meantime, however, needing more money, the gang decided to rob the 
State Bank at North Madison, Indiana, and on November 22, 1936, left 
Baltimore in the stolen Buick and drove to North Madison. There they 
proceeded to "run the roads," and, on November 23, 1936, shortly after the 
noon hour, Brady and Dalhover entered the bank, leaving Shaffer at the 
wheel of the getaway car, and held it up at the point of guns, obtaining 
approximately $1,630. Prior to the robbery, they had stolen a set of 
Indiana license plates which they used on the stolen automobile to more 
easily effect their getaway after perpetrating the robbery. It is also 
noted that before leaving Baltimore, they had purchased two long-range 
rifles and some ammunition to use in case they were pursued by the police.

After arriving back in Baltimore, they resumed their friendship with the 
Raimondo girls and on November 28, 1936, Dalhover, who already had a wife 
and two small children, decided to marry Mary and Shaffer, Minnie. On 
November 30, 1936, these four, accompanied by Brady and a third Raimondo 
sister, proceeded to Elkton, Maryland, where they had a double ceremony 
performed. Brady and Josephine, the third Raimondo sister, were witnesses. 
Returning to Baltimore, Dalhover and Shaffer moved in with the Raimondo 
sisters at the home of their mother, Brady taking a room in another part 
of the city. The house in which they were living, however, proved too 
small for comfort, and after about a week or 10 days, the four of them 
rented a house at 3632 Roberts Place, Baltimore, and moved there. Dalhover 
and Shaffer built a workshop in the basement of the house which they 
continually kept locked. Practically every day Brady would join them, and 
the three of them would spend a considerable amount of time there. It was 
later learned that they had been making magazines, extra shot clips, and 
mechanical improvements on the various guns they were using at that time.

Wanting additional money, the gang decided to rob the State Bank of 
Carthage at Carthage, Indiana. They left Baltimore on December 15, 1936, 
drove to Marietta, Ohio, staying there overnight in a tourist camp and 
going on to Carthage the next day. They stole a set of 1937 Indiana 
license plates from an automobile parked on a side street in Richmond, 
Indiana, and on the following day, robbed the bank at Carthage, obtaining 
approximately $2,154 and some silverware. Returning to Baltimore, the 
members of the gang lived quietly, spending their time working in their 
workshop and enjoying life generally until they decided it was time for 
them to pull another bank job. On April 26, 1937, they left Baltimore in 
the stolen Buick sedan and drove to Farmland, Indiana, "ran the roads" 
there, and shortly after noon the next day, they held up and robbed the 
Farmland, Indiana, Branch of the Peoples Loan and Trust Company, 
Winchester, Indiana, obtaining approximately $1,427 and returning to 
Baltimore through the state of Ohio.

Prior to this robbery, the gang, around the first of April, made a trip to 
Chicago for the purpose of obtaining a machine gun which they had heard 
could be obtained at a sporting goods store there. They were unsuccessful, 
however, and on their return to Baltimore, they stopped in Cincinnati and 
stole a set of 1937 license plates from an automobile parked in a suburb 
of that city.

Shortly after the robbery of the bank of Farmland, they decided to get rid 
of the Chevrolet they had stolen at the time of their escape from the 
county jail at Greenfield, Indiana, and on May 11, 1937, they drove from 
Baltimore to Bellefontaine, Ohio, with this purpose in mind. On May 12, 
they observed two girls in a new Ford sedan. They drove up alongside the 
car, held the girls up with a pistol, took the Ford from them, and drove 
it away. Both the Chevrolet and the Ford were driven to Hamilton, Ohio, 
where the Chevrolet was burned. Before burning it, however, they removed 
from it a tire which they had purchased in Baltimore.

This is a good example of the caution with which this gang was operating 
at this time. They removed the tire because they felt that it might 
possibly be traced to Baltimore and their residence there discovered. They 
then went on to Moscow, Ohio, and stole a .30 caliber machine gun from an 
American Legion Monument where it had been placed as a part of the 
memorial. They repaired this gun and finding that it worked 
satisfactorily, they determined to get another one. About a week later, 
they proceeded to Felicity, Ohio, where they stole another .30 caliber 
machine gun from an American Legion Monument in that municipality.

Returning to Baltimore, the gang remained there until May, 1937. When 
their money began to run low, they decided to return to Indiana to rob 
another bank. Leaving Baltimore on May 23, 1937, the three of them 
proceeded in the stolen Ford to Sheldon, Illinois, for the purpose of 
robbing a bank there. Arriving at that point, they found that the bank was 
out of business. They then continued to Goodland, Indiana, and "ran the 
roads" there preparatory to robbing the Goodland Stateland Bank. They 
returned to the state of Illinois and stayed in a tourist camp. Leaving 
there on May 25, 1937, they went back to Goodland and held up and robbed 
the bank of approximately $2,528.

While making their getaway from this bank, and after driving to a point 
about 15 miles distant from it, they observed a state police car about 
half-mile in front of them. When they came to a point about a quarter of a 
mile from the police car, they stopped, turned around in the road, and 
started retracing their route, driving to a church at the first 
crossroads. They drove the car around behind the church, out of sight, and 
all three got out of the car, Brady taking one of the machine guns and 
Shaffer and Dalhover taking rifles. A few minutes later, the police car 
drove up to the intersection and slowed down preparatory to stopping. An 
Indiana State Police officer, Paul Minneman, opened the car door and 
leaned out in an effort to determine from the tracks at the crossroads 
which way the bandit car had gone. The bandits opened fire from their 
place of concealment, killed Minneman, and wounded Deputy Sheriff Elmer 
Craig of Cass County, Indiana. Minneman fell out of the car into the road, 
and Deputy Sheriff Craig staggered from the other side of the car, badly 
wounded and dazedly seeking cover. One of the bandits took a rifle and 
followed Deputy Sheriff Craig to where he had fallen and, upon coming up 
to him, pointed a rifle at him and shouted to the other bandits, "Shall I 
finish this guy, too?" One of the three members of the gang yelled, "No, 
come on, let's get the hell out of here." Stopping to take the revolver 
from the policeman's holster and the medicine kit from the police car, one 
of the bandits entered their car and another stopped to retrieve the 
shotgun which had fallen from the weakened hand of the Deputy Sheriff, 
then walked over to the state policeman and removed the belt and holster 
and a pair of handcuffs from his pockets. They placed their loot in the 
bandits' car and drove back to Baltimore.

After their return to Baltimore, in June 1937, Brady, Dalhover, and 
Shaffer purchased a motor boat and a Packard automobile motor. Putting the 
motor in the boat, they placed the boat in operating condition and 
frequently used it for fishing and pleasure trips during the time they 
remained in Baltimore. It was at this time that Brady purchased a tavern 
which he operated for about a month. The bandits also purchased a 
motorcycle and frequently visited roller skating rinks and taverns, Brady 
going so far as to purchase a specially built pair of roller skates which 
he carried with him at all times. On the many trips the gang made to rob 
the various banks, Dalhover and Shaffer informed their wives that they 
were going to Maine to look after their business interests there.

Around the first of August, 1937, the gang again decided to proceed to the 
Middle West and perpetrate another bank robbery. In preparation for this 
trip, on August 7, they drove to the outskirts of Baltimore in the stolen 
Ford and an old 1931 Buick which Brady had purchased legitimately. They 
stopped, intending to change some clothing and guns from the Buick which 
Brady was driving, to the Ford, but were observed by two members of the 
Baltimore Police Department who were in that vicinity in a squad car. 
Becoming suspicious, the policemen approached for the purpose of 
questioning them, at which point, the members of the gang jumped into 
their cars and started away. As the Buick was old and could not go very 
fast, the police car soon began overtaking it. The bandits opened fire on 
the officers, and a running gun battle ensued. The squad car was disabled, 
and the Brady gang again escaped after abandoning the Buick in which was 
discovered a .30 caliber rifle. Shortly thereafter, it was determined that 
the bandits who had engaged in the gun battle with the police were members 
of the Brady gang. The ensuing investigation developed the information 
relative to the marriage of Dalhover and Shaffer and their residence in 
Baltimore during the period of time subsequent to their escape from the 
county jail at Greenfield, Indiana.

A complete and comprehensive investigation was made of the activities of 
the gang members during the time they had resided in Baltimore, and with 
the additional information obtained relative to their habits, likes, 
dislikes, and activities, one of the greatest manhunts in the history of 
this country was begun.

Among other things, it was learned that while the members of the gang were 
residing in Baltimore, Brady frequented several roller skating rinks and 
had exhibited a particular liking for this sport. Accordingly, a record 
was made of every roller skating rink in the country and personal contacts 
were made by Special Agents with the operators of these establishments 
throughout the country. Prior to this time, Identification Orders had been 
widely distributed, and a copy of each was on file in every police 
department in the United States.

On June 15, 1937, The Honorable Homer Cummins, Attorney General of the 
United States, under authority vested in him by law, offered a $1,500 
reward for information furnished to the FBI which would result in the 
apprehension of these three fugitives, or $500 for information which would 
result in the apprehension of any one of the three. All banks, filling 
stations, and other places where it was thought the fugitives might 
appear, had been furnished copies of the Identification Orders and 
circulars and requested to watch out for these criminals.

After escaping from the police in Baltimore, the members of the gang 
returned to their home and obtained clothes and ammunition. Parking the 
Ford car in a garage, they transferred to the Buick, previously stolen in 
Baltimore, drove to Buffalo, New York, and stayed in a rooming house there 
for approximately a week. They then proceeded to Nashville, Tennessee, 
staying one night in a tourist camp, and from there to Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin. Their money again running low, they decided to rob another bank 
and, after cruising around awhile, settled upon The Peoples Exchange Bank 
of Thorp, Wisconsin, in Milwaukee. On August 23, 1937, they held up and 
robbed the Peoples Exchange Bank, obtaining approximately $7,000 and 
another revolver. That night they stayed in Milwaukee and, on the 
following day, drove to Buffalo, New York. They resided there quietly 
until September 3, proceeded then to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and rented 
an apartment.

On September 21, they journeyed to Bangor, Maine, for the purpose of 
purchasing additional firearms, having heard that they could buy them 
there without any questions being asked. On this occasion, they purchased 
two .45 caliber automatic pistols and some ammunition at one sporting 
goods store and three .32 caliber Colt automatics at another, returning 
then to Bridgeport, Connecticut. At the sporting goods store where they 
had purchased the .45 caliber automatics, they had requested that some 
clips be obtained for them and also inquired if various firearms and 
special extra clips could be obtained. This aroused the suspicion of the 
employees of the store, and the manager reported the incident to the 
police.

On October 5, 1937, the gang returned to Bangor and purchased a third .45 
caliber colt automatic again requesting that various clips be obtained for 
them and asking about a machine gun. After the gang had left, the manager 
of the store again communicated with the police and advised them that the 
gang had returned. He also communicated the information to Sergeant F. R. 
Hall of the Bangor substation of the Maine State Police, informing him 
that three tough-looking men had called at the store on September 21 at 
which time they had purchased two Colt automatic pistols and that they had 
returned on October 5, 1937, and purchased a third weapon of a similar 
type. He also advised Sergeant Hall that the men had stated they wanted to 
purchase a Thompson submachine gun and clips for other gun and had 
requested that these articles be obtained for them, indicating that they 
would return on October 11 or 12. Sergeant Hall communicated this 
information to the Chief of the Maine State Police, Wilbur H. Twole, at 
Augusta, Maine, who immediately transmitted the information to the Boston 
Field Division of the FBI, offering the full cooperation of his department.

An FBI Agent proceeded to Bangor with photographs of known criminal and 
fugitives sought by the FBI and interviewed the store manager to whom the 
various photographs were exhibited. He immediately identified the 
photograph of James Dalhover as being that of one of the men who had 
visited his store on September 21, 1937, and on October 5, 1937. This 
identification was confirmed by a clerk and, from the additional 
information obtained during the course of questioning by the Special 
Agent, it was determined that it had probably been the members of the 
Brady gang who had visited Bangor and had indicated their intention of 
returning. This information was immediately communicated to FBI 
Headquarters at Washington, and the special squad who had been constantly 
working on this case proceeded to Boston and quietly drifted into Bangor 
until the whole squad was assembled. The matter was discussed with Chief 
Thomas I. Crowley, of the Bangor Police Department, and with his 
cooperation, a surveillance of the hardware store was arranged and 
appropriate arrangements made whereby the members of the Brady gang would 
be apprehended at the time of their return to Bangor. One Special Agent 
was placed in the sporting goods store where, to all intents and purposes, 
he was working as a clerk; another was placed back of a partition in the 
rear of the store with an inspector of the Bangor Police Department, and 
others were placed in a building across the street from the sporting goods 
store. The scene was set for the appearance of the members of the Brady 
gang.

On October 12, 1937, at approximately 8:30 a.m., a Buick automobile with 
Ohio license plates appeared in Bangor. After riding past the sporting 
goods store twice, the occupants, apparently satisfied that everything was 
quiet and that there was no danger, parked the car a few doors from the 
store. Leaving Brady in the back seat of the car, Shaffer and Dalhover 
proceeded to the store. Dalhover entered the store while Shaffer remained 
on guard in front. Dalhover was immediately taken into custody by the 
Special Agents stationed within the store who, upon searching him, found a 
.45 caliber Colt automatic and a .32 caliber Colt automatic both fully 
loaded with two extra loaded clips for each on his person. He was 
immediately handcuffed and removed to the Bangor Police Department by 
police. While the handcuffs were being placed on him, he was asked by a 
Special Agent where his "pals" were. The answer came immediately. Shaffer 
had drawn his gun and started firing through the front door of the store, 
one of the bullets wounding a Special Agent in the shoulder. The Agents 
from within the store returned the fire, and Shaffer ran out into the 
street where he fell and died a few minutes later with a .32 caliber 
automatic pistol in his hand from which all but one shell had been fired. 
In the meantime, immediately upon observing the parked car with Brady 
sitting in it, two Special Agents approached it with drawn guns, one from 
either side, informed Brady that they were Federal Officers, and ordered 
him to get out of the car with his hands up. Brady put his hands up and 
started to slide along the back seat crying, "Don't shoot, don't shoot, 
I'll get out." As he arrived at the door, however, he lunged out, drew a 
gun, and started firing at the Agents. Fire was immediately concentrated 
upon him, and he fell dead in the middle of the street. At the time of his 
death, Brady had in his hand a .38 caliber revolver from which four shots 
had just been fired. A .32 and a .45 caliber automatic were on his person. 
Ironically, the .38 revolver in Brady's hand was the gun he had taken from 
the body of the murdered Indiana State Policeman, Paul Minneman.

It is interesting to note that one of the bullets fired by Brady came so 
close to its mark that it penetrated the clothing of one of the Special 
Agents and the gun holster next to his body. Thus, exactly one day less 
than that a year after the FBI entered the case the criminal careers of 
two of the most vicious and dangerous criminals ever to have been sought 
by law enforcement agencies in this country were terminated. Dalhover was 
removed to Indiana and convicted in federal court for the murder of 
Indiana State Policeman Paul Minneman and was sentenced to die. An appeal 
was taken to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and later to the U.S. 
Supreme Court. The appeals were unavailing and on November 18, 1938, Rhuel 
James Dalhover was electrocuted at the Indiana State Penitentiary, 
Michigan City, Indiana.

Throughout the career of these desperadoes, there is evidence of a desire 
for firearms which amounted to an absolute mania, and in order that there 
be a clearer understanding of the firearms possessed by the modern 
organized gang, there follows a list of firearms recovered from members of 
this gang:

8 - .45 caliber automatic pistols
7 - .38 caliber revolvers
3 - .30 caliber machine guns with 350 shot belts, 22 of these mounted for
    use in an automobile
5 - .32 caliber automatic pistols
5 - .30 caliber rifles
1 - .30 caliber automatic rifle
2 - 12-gauge shotguns
1 - .45 caliber revolver
1 - .32 caliber revolver
2 - .22 caliber automatic pistols

These firearms, together with large quantities of ammunition, extra shot 
clips, drums, and tear gas grenades, were not enough to satisfy the wants 
of the bloodthirsty members of the Brady gang, and they were ever on the 
search for more lethal weapons. On one occasion, they journeyed to a town 
in Ohio for the purpose of holding up a police department which, they had 
learned, had several submachine guns. Cruising around the town for a short 
time and making observations, they decided the risk was too great and 
abandoned the plan. Later they went so far as to discuss visiting the 
offices of the FBI in Washington for the purpose of raiding the exhibits 
of guns taken from other notorious criminals, not knowing, of course, that 
these guns had been rendered useless for all time before they were placed 
on display. These incidents, however, serve to show the character and 
trend of thought of the gang members. It was, in fact, this mania for guns 
which brought about the timely end of the Brady gang, the purpose of their 
fatal visit to Bangor, Maine, being to obtain more guns and ammunition 
with which to carry on their nefarious occupation.



CHAPTER 13
JOHN PAUL CHASE & LESTER M. GILLIS (BABY FACE NELSON)

"Baby Face" Nelson was born Lester M. Gillis on December 6, 1908, in 
Chicago, Illinois. He roamed the Chicago streets with a gang of juvenile 
hoodlums during his early teens. By the age of 14, he was an accomplished 
car thief and had been dubbed "Baby Face" by members of his gang due to 
his juvenile appearance. Nelson's early criminal career included stealing 
tires, running stills, bootlegging, and armed robbery.

In 1922, Nelson was convicted of auto theft and was committed to a boys' 
home. Two years later, he was released on parole, but within five months 
he was returned on a similar charge.

In 1928, Nelson met a salesgirl, Helen Wawzynak, whom he married. His wife 
retained the name Helen Gillis throughout their marriage.

Nelson was sentenced to a prison term of one year to life for his January, 
1931, bank robbery in Chicago, Illinois. After a year's confinement, 
Nelson was removed from the Illinois State Penitentiary, Joliet, Illinois, 
to stand trial on another bank robbery charge in Wheaton, Illinois. On 
February 17, 1932, Nelson escaped prison guards while being returned to 
Joliet. After a brief stay in Reno, Nevada, he fled to Sausalito, 
California. There he meet John Paul Chase, with whom he would be closely 
associated for the rest of his life.

John Paul Chase, born December 26, 1901, lived most of his life in 
California. He attended school through fifth grade, then worked at a ranch 
near San Rafael, California. Chase later worked in railway shops for four 
years, first as an office boy, then as a machinist's apprentice. In 1930, 
Chase became associated with a liquor smuggling operation comprised of 
persons with underworld connections.

When Nelson arrived in California, Chase still was involved with the 
liquor smuggling gang. Nelson worked with Chase as an armed guard for the 
truck used to illegally transport liquor. The two men became close 
friends, and Chase frequently introduced Nelson as his half-brother.

Nelson was joined by his wife and remained in California until May, 1933. 
While Chase stayed in Sausalito, Nelson departed to Long Beach, Indiana, 
where he lived for several months. While in Indiana, Nelson met several 
criminals, including Homer Van Meter, and occasionally accompanied them to 
San Antonio, Texas. Nelson may have made his original connection with the 
Dillinger gang during this period.

In December, 1933, Nelson contacted Chase and they remained together for 
almost a year. During this time, a man was shot and killed in Minneapolis. 
The perpetrators were reportedly in an automobile bearing California 
license plates which were eventually traced to a car owned by Nelson.

After a short trip to Bremerton, Washington, Nelson and Chase proceeded to 
Reno, Nevada. Chase later reported in an interview that Nelson killed a 
man during an altercation while they were in Reno. The victim was a 
material witness in a United States Mail Fraud case.

In April, 1934, Nelson, Helen Gillis and John Paul Chase went to Chicago, 
Illinois, where they joined the Dillinger gang. While Chase remained in 
Chicago, Nelson and his wife vacationed with the Dillinger gang at the 
Little Bohemia Lodge in northern Wisconsin.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) learned of the gang's location 
on April 22, 1934, and Special Agents proceeded to the Little Bohemia 
Lodge. Barking dogs alerted the gangsters to the impending FBI raid. The 
gangsters escaped in the dark, leaving a few women associates, including 
Helen Gillis, behind.

Nelson fled to a nearby home and forced his way in with two hostages. 
Shortly thereafter, Special Agents J. C. Newman and W. Carter Baum arrived 
at the scene with a local constable. When their car stopped, the 
diminutive Nelson, who stood only five feet four inches high and weighted 
133 pounds, rushed to the car and ordered the occupants to get out. Before 
they could comply, Nelson shot all three men, instantly killing Special 
Agent Baum with a series of shots from his automatic pistol.

Within a short time, Chase rejoined Nelson. Helen Gillis, who had been 
released on parole, met her husband and Chase about a month later. They 
lived near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, for several days. On June 23, 1934, 
Attorney General Homer S. Cummings offered a reward for Nelson's capture 
or information leading to his arrest.

A robbery of the Merchants National Bank, South Bend, Indiana, occurred on 
June 30, 1934, in which a police officer was shot and killed. "Baby Face" 
Nelson, John Dillinger, and Homer Van Meter participated in the actual 
robbery. Following the robbery, the gangsters fled to Chicago, Illinois. 
Later two police officers were shot on Wolf Road, outside Chicago, when 
Nelson opened fire as they approached the gang's meeting place.

Notorious gangster leader John Herbert Dillinger was shot and killed on 
July 22, 1934. Following Dillinger's death, Nelson, Helen Gillis and Chase 
left Chicago for California with two associates. That summer, Nelson and 
Chase made numerous trips between Chicago and California. On one occasion, 
they were arrested for speeding in a small town. They paid the $5 fine at 
the police station and were released. Their car, containing machine guns, 
rifles and ammunition, was not searched.

In late August, the group returned to Chicago. Within a month, Nelson went 
to Nevada and Chase traveled to New York City. Nelson and Chase again 
joined forces near Minden, Nevada, on October 10, 1934. They proceeded to 
Chicago, where they stole a car on November 26, 1934, and drove to 
Wisconsin.

Inspector Samuel P. Cowley of the FBI's Chicago Office had been assigned 
to search for Nelson. On November 27, 1934, Cowley received word that 
Nelson had been seen driving a stolen car. Two Special Agents spotted the 
vehicle near Barrington, Illinois. Nelson brought his car around behind 
the Agents, and Chase fired five rounds from an automatic rifle into the 
Agents' car. One of the Agents returned fire and one shot pierced the 
radiator of Nelson's car, partially disabling it.

Inspector Cowley and Special Agent Herman Edward Hollis approached in 
another automobile and began pursuing Nelson and Chase. Suddenly, Nelson 
veered off Northwest Highway at the entrance to the North Side Park in 
Barrington, Illinois, and stopped. Before Cowley and Hollis could get out 
of their car, Nelson and Chase began firing automatic weapons at them.

Special Agent Hollis was killed during the gun battle which lasted only 
four or five minutes. Inspector Cowley, mortally wounded, died early the 
next morning.

Nelson, also critically injured, was helped into Cowley's automobile by 
Chase. Many guns and other articles were transferred from Nelson's car to 
the Agents' car. Helen Gillis had been lying in a field during the battle. 
She jumped into the Government vehicle as Chase was driving it away.

"Baby Face" Nelson died about 8:00 that evening. In response to an 
anonymous telephone call, FBI Agents found his body the next day near a 
Niles Center, Illinois, cemetery.

Nelson's widow was arrested on November 29, 1934. Having violated the 
terms of her parole, Helen Gillis was sentenced to serve one year and one 
day in the Women's Federal Reformatory in Mila, Michigan.

After Chase disposed of Nelson's body, he returned to Chicago. On November 
30, 1934, Chase responded to a want ad for men to drive automobiles to 
Seattle, Washington. To obtain this job, he was photographed for a 
chauffeur's license at a police station. Because Chase's only known arrest 
had been for drunkenness in 1931, no wanted circulars with his photograph 
and fingerprints had ever been issued.

In early December, 1934, Special Agents of the FBI's San Francisco Office 
contacted Chase's former employers and associates. They were instructed to 
notify the FBI if Chase was seen. On December 27, 1934, Chase tried to 
borrow money from employees at the Mount Shasta, California, fish 
hatcheries, where he had worked in 1928. The FBI and local police were 
immediately notified, and Chief of Police A. L. Roberts apprehended Chase.

On December 31, 1934, Chase was removed to Chicago, Illinois, where he was 
the first person to be tried under the law that made it a Federal 
violation to murder a Special Agent of the FBI in the performance of his 
duties. Chase's trial began on March 18, 1935. One week later, the jury 
found him guilty of murdering Inspector Samuel P. Cowley. The Attorney 
General designated the United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, 
California, to receive Chase, and his imprisonment there began on March 
31, 1935.

Chase was transferred to the United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, 
Kansas, in September, 1954. Although he had been serving time for the 
murder of Inspector Cowley, 20 years later Chase had not yet been tried on 
the December 31, 1934, indictment charging him with Special Agent Hollis's 
murder. On April 27, 1955, a motion was filed in United States District 
Court, Chicago, Illinois, demanding immediate trial on this indictment or 
its dismissal.

On October 17, 1955, a United States District judge dismissed the 
indictment that charged Chase with Hollis's murder. He held that Chase's 
mere knowledge of the indictment and his failure to take action did not 
constitute a waiver of his right to a speedy trial.

When the pending indictment was dismissed, Chase became eligible for 
parole. After parole had been denied repeatedly, Chase finally was paroled 
from Leavenworth on October 31, 1966. After his release, Chase resided in 
California, where he was employed as a custodian for over six years.

John Paul Chase died of cancer in Palo Alto, California, on October 5, 
1973.



CHAPTER 14
GEORGE "MACHINE GUN" KELLY

At 11:15 p.m., on Saturday, July 22, 1933, Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. 
Urschel, one of Oklahoma's wealthiest couples, were playing bridge with 
their friends, Mr. and Mrs. Walter R. Jarrett, on a screened porch of the 
Urschel residence at Oklahoma City. Two men, one armed with a machine gun 
and the other with a pistol, opened the screen door and inquired which of 
the two men was Mr. Urschel. Receiving no reply, they remarked, "Well, we 
will take both of them." After warning the women against calling for help, 
they marched Urschel and Jarrett to where they had driven their car, put 
them into the back of the Chevrolet sedan, and drove rapidly away.

Mrs. Urschel, in accordance with the Attorney General's advice to the 
public, immediately telephoned J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Department of Justice. 
Special Agents were sent to Oklahoma City, where an extensive 
investigation commenced.

At 1:00 a.m., Sunday, July 23, 1933, Jarrett made his way back to the 
Urschel residence. The victims had been driven to the outskirts of the 
city, where they had turned right on a dirt road parallel to the 23rd 
Street Highway and had proceeded northeast to a point about twelve miles 
from the city. After crossing a small bridge and arriving at an 
intersection, they had put Jarrett out of the car after they had 
identified him and had taken fifty dollars which he had in his wallet, 
warning him not to tell the direction the kidnappers had gone. He stated 
that after he was released the car proceeded south.

After the kidnapping became known, numerous letters, telephone calls, and 
other leads were received, many of which were anonymous, indicating 
possible leads. All had to be followed, although few were of value. Leads 
of this nature were developed simultaneously in all parts of the United 
States.

Several days elapsed before word was received from the kidnappers. On July 
26, J.G. Catlett, a wealthy oil man of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and an intimate 
friend of Mr. Urschel, received a package through Western Union. It 
contained a letter written to him by Mr. Urschel, requesting Mr. Catlett 
to act as an intermediary for his release; a personal letter from Mr. 
Urschel to his wife; and a typewritten note directed to Mr. Catlett, 
demanding that he proceed to Oklahoma City immediately and not communicate 
by telephone or otherwise with the Urschel family from Tulsa. The package 
also contained a typewritten letter addressed to Mr. E. E. Kirkpatrick of 
Oklahoma City, which read in part:

"Immediately upon receipt of this letter you will proceed to obtain the 
sum of TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($200,000.00) in GENUINE USED FEDERAL 
RESERVE CURRENCY in the denomination of TWENTY DOLLARS ($20.00) Bills.

It will be useless for you to attempt taking notes of SERIAL NUMBERS 
MAKING UP DUMMY PACKAGE, OR ANYTHING ELSE IN THE LINE OF ATTEMPTED DOUBLE 
CROSS. BEAR THIS IN MIND, CHARLES F. URSCHEL WILL REMAIN IN OUR CUSTODY 
UNTIL MONEY HAS BEEN INSPECTED AND EXCHANGED AND FURTHERMORE WILL BE AT 
THE SCENE OF CONTACT FOR PAY-OFF AND IF THERE SHOULD BE ANY ATTEMPT AT ANY 
DOUBLE XX IT WILL BE HE THAT SUFFERS THE CONSEQUENCE.

RUN THIS AD FOR ONE WEEK IN DAILY OKLAHOMAN.

'FOR SALE --- 160 Acres Land, good five room house, deep well. Also Cows, 
Tools, Tractor, Corn, and Hay. $3750.00 for quick sale. . TERMS. . Box # 
_____'

You will hear from us as soon as convenient after insertion of AD."

The ad was inserted.

On July 28, an envelope addressed to the "Daily Oklahoman," Box H-807, was 
received. It was from Joplin, Missouri. A letter to Kirkpatrick read in 
part:

" . . . You will pack TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($200,000.00) in USED 
GENUINE FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES OF TWENTY DOLLAR DENOMINATION in a suitable 
LIGHT COLORED LEATHER BAG and have someone purchase transportation for 
you, including berth, aboard Train #28 (The Sooner) which departs at 10:10 
p.m. via the M. K. & T. Lines for Kansas City, Mo.

You will ride on the OBSERVATION PLATFORM where you may be observed by 
some-one at some Station along the Line between Okla. City and K. C. Mo. 
If indication are alright, somewhere along the Right-of-Way you will 
observe a Fire on the Right Side of Track (Facing direction train is 
bound) that first Fire will be your Cue to be prepared to throw BAG to 
Track immediately after passing SECOND FIRE.

REMEMBER THIS -- IF ANY TRICKERY IS ATTEMPTED YOU WILL FIND THE REMAINS OF 
URSCHEL AND INSTEAD OF JOY THERE WILL BE DOUBLE GRIEF -- FOR, SOME-ONE 
VERY NEAR AND DEAR TO THE URSCHEL FAMILY IS UNDER CONSTANT SURVEILLANCE 
AND WILL LIKE-WISE SUFFER FOR YOUR ERROR.

"If there is the slightest HITCH in these PLANS for any reason what-so-
ever, not your fault, you will proceed on into Kansas City, Mo. and 
register at the Muehlebach Hotel under the name of E. E. Kincaid of Little 
Rock, Arkansas and await further instructions there.

THE MAIN THING IS DO NOT DIVULGE THE CONTENTS OF THIS LETTER TO ANY LAW 
AUTHORITIES FOR WE HAVE NO INTENTION OF FURTHER COMMUNICATION.

YOU ARE TO MAKE THIS TRIP SATURDAY JULY 29TH 1933 . . . "

The Bureau's first concern in all kidnapping cases is the safe return of 
the kidnapped victim. Accordingly, no effort was made on the part of the 
Bureau to identify the writer of these letters or to interfere in any way 
with the negotiations until after Urschel was returned.

As a result of the above letters, $200,000 in used $20 notes of the 
Federal Reserve Bank, Tenth District, was obtained and the serial numbers 
recorded. They were placed in a new, light-colored leather Gladstone bag. 
At the same time, another identical bag was purchased and filled with old 
magazines, fearing an attempt at hijacking. As a precaution, it was 
decided that Catlett would accompany Kirkpatrick to Kansas City. By 
prearrangement, Catlett sat just inside the rear end of the observation 
car, while Kirkpatrick sat on the observation platform with the bag 
containing the magazines. Kirkpatrick remained on the observation platform 
all night, riding there all the way to Kansas City, but no signals were 
observed.

Upon arrival at Kansas City, Kirkpatrick and Catlett proceeded to the 
Muehlebach Hotel. Kirkpatrick registered under the name of E. E. Kincaid 
and waited in his room, where he received a telegram from Tulsa, Oklahoma, 
as follows:

"Owing to unavoidable incident unable to keep appointed. Will phone you 
about six. Signed, C. H. Moore."

About 5:30 p.m., on Sunday, July 30, Kirkpatrick received a telephone call 
from a party who asked if this was "Mr. Kincaid," and upon being advised 
that it was stated, "This is Moore. You got my telegram?" to which 
Kirkpatrick replied in the affirmative. Kirkpatrick was then instructed to 
leave the Muehlebach Hotel in a taxicab and proceed to the LaSalle Hotel 
and walk west a block or two. He requested permission to be accompanied by 
a friend, which request was curtly refused. Accordingly, Kirkpatrick took 
the bag containing the $200,000, arriving at the LaSalle Hotel at about 6 
p.m. He walked west. After proceeding no more than half a block, he 
observed a man approaching him who, upon reaching Kirkpatrick, said, "Mr. 
Kincaid, I will take that bag," and reached out and took it. Kirkpatrick 
then stated, "I want some instructions. I must telephone someone who is 
very interested immediately." The man who had taken the bag told 
Kirkpatrick to return to the hotel and Urschel would be returned within 
the specified time. Kirkpatrick then returned to the hotel and from there, 
proceeded to Oklahoma City. Catlett returned to Tulsa.


Urschel Returns Home

Urschel arrived home exhausted at about 11:30 p.m., July 31, stating that 
he had been able to sleep but very little during the nine days he had been 
held in captivity. As soon as he recovered from the shock and regained his 
strength, he was interviewed by FBI Special Agents. A detailed statement 
was obtained including every movement and action taken by himself, the 
kidnappers, and those with whom they came in contact during his period of 
captivity.

Urschel's statement concerning the kidnapping and transactions which 
occurred immediately thereafter was substantially the same as Jarrett's 
recollection. Urschel stated that immediately after Jarrett's release one 
of the men produced some cotton, a short bandage, and adhesive tape, and 
he was blind-folded. Approximately one hour after being blindfolded, the 
car passed through either two small oil fields or the end of two large 
fields approximately thirty minutes driving time apart. He could smell the 
gas and hear the oil pumps working. The first stop was made about 3:30 
a.m., when he was taken from the car into the brush by one of the 
abductors, while the other man was gone approximately fifteen minutes 
after gasoline. About one hour later, a stop was made to open a gate, and 
approximately three minutes later, another stop was made and another gate 
opened. Within a minute after the last gate, the car drove into what he 
took to be a garage. In this building, the men, from their movements and 
actions, transferred license plates from the Chevrolet sedan to a larger 
car, which Urschel believed to be a seven-passenger Cadillac or Buick. A 
berth had been made up in the back of this car and he was told to lie on 
this bunk. They left this place immediately and after a drive of two or 
three hours, a stop was made at a filling station, where a woman attendant 
filled the car with gas. Urschel overheard one of the men asking the woman 
about crop conditions and she replied that, "The crops around here are 
burned up, although we may make some broom corn."

Urschel stated that about 9 or 10 a.m., it rained and the road became very 
slippery, to the extent that, on one occasion one of the men was compelled 
to alight and push the car. In his opinion, at no time on this trip did 
they drive on pavement. At the next stop, the car was driven directly into 
what he considered a garage, and at this point, he asked one of the men 
the time and he replied that it was 2:30 p.m. They remained in this 
building until dark, when he was taken outside. They passed through a 
narrow gate and proceeded on a boardwalk. He was led into a house and into 
a room where he was told there were two beds. The bed he occupied was 
apparently an iron cot and one of them occupied the other. Shortly after 
entering this house, he heard the voices of a man and woman in an 
adjoining room. He stated that his ears were filled with cotton and 
adhesive tape was placed over them.

Urschel stated that he stayed in this house until the next day -- July 
24 -- when he was taken in an automobile by the two men to a house about 
15 minutes driving distance. While in the first house, he ate from a small 
table and he heard barnyard animals outside.

Upon entering the second house, he was led into a room where he was told 
to lie upon some blankets in a corner of the room. He also heard voices of 
a man and a woman in the adjoining room which did not resemble the voice 
of either of the two men who abducted him. Shortly thereafter, this man 
and woman left the place.

Urschel stated that on the first night, at the second house, a handcuff 
was placed on one of his wrists and attached to a chair. Next morning, the 
two men brought up the matter of a contact. They asked Urschel if he had a 
friend in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who could be trusted, and he suggested the name 
of John G. Catlett. The men instructed him to write a letter to Catlett 
and he did.

In addition to the two men who kidnapped him, Urschel was guarded by an 
old man and a younger man. Urschel stated that, during the time he was 
held in captivity, one of his two kidnappers discussed freely with him the 
fact that the had been stealing for twenty-five years, mentioning Bonnie 
and Clyde, referring to them as, "Just a couple of cheap filling station 
and car thieves," and stating that his group did not deal in anything 
cheap. He also freely discussed a number of bank robberies, advising that 
he and his friend had been invited to participate in a bank robbery at 
Clinton, Iowa, but after making a survey of the place, they did not take 
part in the robbery because the chances of making a "get-away" were 
unfavorable.

Urschel stated that one of the two kidnappers returned to the house on 
Friday and brought with him a chain. Thereafter, this chain was attached 
to his handcuffs, which enabled him to move about to some extent. He 
observed chickens, cows, and hogs around the place, and he was advised by 
one of the guards that the had four milk cows. Urschel stated that he was 
given water in an old tin cup. The well from which this water was obtained 
was northwest of the house, and the water was obtained from the well by a 
rope and bucket on a pulley, which made considerable noise. He stated that 
each morning and evening a plane passed regularly over the house. He 
managed to get a look at his watch and determined that the morning plane 
would always pass at approximately 9:45 and the evening plane would pass 
at approximately 5:45. On Sunday, July 30, when it rained very hard, the 
morning plane did not pass.

Urschel stated that on Monday, July 31, at about 2:00 p.m., one of his 
kidnappers returned and told him that he was going to be released, that 
they had to leave at a certain time, and that another car was going ahead 
as a pilot car. He was then driven to a point near Norman, Oklahoma, where 
he was given $10 and released.


The Investigation

While no effort was made by the Bureau to apprehend the kidnappers until 
after the release of Urschel, extensive investigation was being conducted 
throughout the United States. As early as July 24, two days after Urschel 
was kidnapped, information was obtained at Fort Worth, Texas, indicating 
the probability that George R. and Kathryn Thorne Kelly were involved in 
this crime. Consequently, an exhaustive investigation was commenced 
concerning the history and whereabouts of these individuals. It disclosed 
that Kathryn Thorne Kelly was the daughter of James Emory Brooks and Mrs. 
Ora L. Shannon; that Kathryn's mother had divorced Brooks and later 
married Lonnie Fry at Asher, Oklahoma, and had a daughter, Pauline Fry, 
now fourteen years of age; that Kathryn and Fry were divorced soon after 
their marriage and she married Charlie Thorne of Coleman, Texas; that 
Thorne was later found dead under mysterious circumstances pronounced 
"suicide" by the coroner; and that after Thorne's death a note was found 
which read, "I cannot live with her or without her." The investigation 
also disclosed that after Thorne's death Kathryn married George Kelly 
Barnes, under the name of George R. Kelly. He had served a sentence in the 
New Mexico State Prison, and was known to be enjoying many luxuries, 
including high-powered automobiles and expensive jewelry, without any 
visible means of support.

Kelly was born in Tennessee in 1897, and spent his early years in modest 
surroundings. He attended public schools before becoming a salesman and, 
later, a bootlegger. He married Kathryn Thorne in 1927. She encouraged 
Kelly to become deeply involved in a life of crime, bought him a machine 
gun, and gave him the nickname, "Machine Gun." He concentrated on running 
illegal alcohol and also robber some banks prior to the Urschel kidnapping.

After Urschel was debriefed, the Bureau's activities centered on locating 
the houses in which Urschel was held and bringing about the apprehension 
and conviction of the kidnappers. It appeared from the information 
submitted by Urschel that the best possible clue as to the location of 
these houses was his statement concerning the weather conditions and the 
fact that airplanes flew over one of the houses at approximately 9:45 a.m. 
and 5:45 p.m. daily.

Accordingly, a review was made of all airplane schedules within a radius 
of six hundred miles of Oklahoma City. A check of the Fort Worth -- 
Amarillo Line of American Airways disclosed that a plane left Fort Worth 
daily at 9:15 a.m. and Amarillo, Texas, at 3:30 p.m. From this 
information, it was determined that these two planes would be in the 
vicinity of Paradise, Texas, between 9:40 and 9:45 a.m. and between 5:40 
and 5:45 p.m. The daily reports concerning the movements of these planes 
indicated that from July 23 until July 29, they flew according to 
schedule; that there was no rain recorded over the route during that 
period; and that on Sunday, July 30, the plane left Fort Worth at 11:45 
a.m., after being detained by a storm, and subsequently, took an extreme 
northerly course to avoid the storm.

The records of the meteorologist of the United States Weather Bureau of 
Dallas, Texas, were consulted and disclosed that rain was recorded at and 
in the vicinity of Paradise, Texas, on July 30, 1933; that Paradise and 
vicinity had an exceedingly dry season; that the first real rain since May 
20 in this vicinity was that on July 30; and that the corn began to burn 
in June.

It will be recalled that the airplane schedules and the weather conditions 
of Paradise, Texas, corresponded with the weather conditions and airplane 
schedules Mr. Urschel had noted during his period of captivity. From this 
information, a check of the suspects who had been under investigation by 
the Bureau, since the kidnapping of Mr. Urschel, disclosed that Mrs. 
Shannon, Kathryn Kelly's mother, lived near Paradise.

A closer look at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. R.G. Shannon was needed. 
Accordingly, a Bureau Agent, under a pretext, visited the Shannon 
residence on August 10, and while there noted the similarity of the house 
and surroundings with that described by Urschel. It was also determined 
that R.G. Shannon's son, Armon Shannon, lived on a ranch about a mile and 
a half from that of his father. An inspection of this house was also made 
which disclosed a well, a water bucket, a tin cup, a baby's chair, and 
general surroundings substantially the same as described by Urschel. 
Further investigation disclosed that Kathryn and George Kelly had been 
seen in the vicinity during the period in question.

After obtaining the above information, it was decided to raid the Shannon 
residence in the early morning of August 12. Arrested was Harvey J. 
Bailey, a notorious criminal and gunman, who had escaped form the Kansas 
State Penitentiary at Lansing, Kansas, on May 30, 1933, where he was 
serving a sentence of 10 to 50 years on a charge of robbing a bank at Fort 
Scott, Kansas. He also was wanted in connection with the murder of three 
police officers, an FBI Special Agent, and their prisoner, Frank Nash, at 
Kansas City on June 17, 1933. Robert G. Shannon, his wife, Ora L. Shannon, 
and Armon Shannon were also taken into custody. Bailey had beside him at 
the time of his arrest a machine gun and two automatic pistols. He was 
captured before he had an opportunity to use any of these arms. On his 
person was discovered $1,100, $700 of which was promptly identified as the 
money used in the payment of ransom for Urschel's release. Subsequent 
investigation developed that this machine gun had previously been 
purchased at Fort Worth, Texas, by Kathryn Kelly.

Urschel viewed the residence of the Shannons and immediately identified 
the house of R.G. Shannon as the house in which he was first held, and 
that of Armon Shannon as the house in which he was held until his release. 
Urschel also identified R.G. Shannon and his son, Armon Shannon, as the 
individuals who stood guard over him during the absence of the two 
kidnappers. He was able to identify many things, including the men by 
their voices, the residences by the number of steps which he had taken to 
enter same, the baby's chair, the galvanized bucket, the tin cup, the 
squeaking well, the mineral taste of the water, the fowls and animals 
around the houses, and the chain to which he had been handcuffed.

The Shannons were questioned thoroughly and readily admitted that Urschel 
had been held at their residences and that they stood guard over him. They 
advised that Urschel was kidnapped by George Kelly and Albert L. Bates.

Bates, a hardened criminal with a lengthy criminal record, was taken into 
custody at Denver, Colorado, on August 12, 1933, on a local charge. At the 
time of his arrest, he had in his possession $660, later identified by 
Bureau Agents as part of the Urschel ransom money. He also had a machine 
gun.

The serial numbers of the ransom bills had been circulated to banks 
throughout the United States and a number of these bills had been 
exchanged at the Hennepin State Bank at Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
Investigation there disclosed that Sam Frederick, a truck driver of Wolk 
Transfer Company, had presented $1,000 of the ransom money to that bank. 
Frederick was immediately located and revealed that on August 5, 1933, his 
boss, Charles Wolk, requested him to accompany two unknown men to the 
bank, where he obtained a cashier's check under the name of S. H. Peters, 
in the amount of $1,800, which he immediately gave to the two unknown 
individuals.

Wolk, upon interview, stated on August 5, he received a telephone call 
from a person known to him as "Barney," who requested him to get a 
cashier's check from a bank for $1,800. Subsequent to this call, "Barney," 
with an unknown individual, came to his office and requested that he 
accompany them to the bank for the purpose of obtaining a cashier's check. 
Wolk stated that the did not go with them but sent his driver, Sam 
Frederick.

It later developed that the cashier's check had been presented for payment 
by Peter Valder, who upon interview, advised that he was well acquainted 
with Barney Berman and that on August 2, Berman gave him a check for $1,
000 drawn on a bank in Fargo, North Dakota, with the request that he cash 
the same, which he did. On August 5, the First National Bank and Trust 
Company of Minneapolis called Wolk and advised him that this check had 
been returned marked, "insufficient funds." He then advised Berman who, 
subsequently, gave him a cashier's check drawn to the order of S.H. Peters 
on the Hennepin State Bank of Minneapolis in the amount of $1,800 and 
requested him to take out the $1,000 check which had been marked 
"insufficient funds" and to get the balance of $800 in $100 bills.

It was also discovered that on August 7, 1933, $500 of the Urschel ransom 
money was deposited in the First National Bank at Minneapolis by Sam 
Kronick. He was later located and he advised that he obtained this money 
from his cousin, Sam Kozberg, on August 5. Sam Kozberg was later taken 
into custody and he advised that on August 5, Barney Berman, at his 
request, gave him the twenty-five $20 bills, totaling $500, which he had 
deposited.

Edward Barney Berman was later interviewed and he advised that on August 
3, 1933, he was approached by a man who gave his name as "Collings" and 
stated that he wanted to buy some liquor. Berman referred him to his 
associate, "Kid" Cann, who sold Collins 125 cases of whiskey for $5,500 
which was paid in bills, a number of which were of the $20 denomination 
and which had been identified as part of the Urschel ransom money. Berman 
admitted that he had accompanied Sam Frederick to the Hennepin State Bank 
and purchased the cashier's check for $1,800. He stated he was accompanied 
by Clifford Skelly.

Berman's associate, referred to as "Kid" Cann, was later identified as 
Isadore Blumenfeld, who advised that on August 3, 1933, a man came into 
their office at the West Hotel in Minneapolis and talked to Barney Berman, 
who referred this individual, known as Collins, to him. Blumenfeld 
consummated the deal for 125 cases of whiskey for $5,500 with Collins and 
turned over the money to another associate, Clifford Skelly. Skelly, upon 
interview, told the same story as that of Blumenfeld and Berman.

The above-named individuals, together with the parties arrested at 
Paradise, Texas, Albert Bates, George R. and Kathryn Thorne Kelly, were 
indicted at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on August 23, 1933, on a charge of 
conspiracy to kidnap Charles F. Urschel. All were in custody except the 
Kellys. On September 30, the jury returned a verdict of guilty against 
R.G. Shannon, Ora L. Shannon, Armon Shannon, Albert L. Bates, Harvey J. 
Bailey, Clifford Skelly, and Barney Berman, and a verdict of not guilty 
against Isador Blumenfeld, Sam Kozberg, and Sam Kronick. Peter Valder and 
Charles Albert Wolk had previously been discharged by virtue of a demurrer 
to the indictment against them being sustained. On October 7, 1933, Harvey 
J. Bailey, Albert L. Bates, R.G. Shannon, and Ora L. Shannon were each 
sentenced to life imprisonment, Armon Shannon to 10 years probation. 
Edward Barney Berman and Clifford Skelly were each sentenced to serve 5 
years.

On September 4, 1933, Harvey J. Bailey, arrested on the Shannon ranch on 
August 12, and who had previously escaped from the Kansas State 
Penitentiary, escaped from the Dallas County Jail at about 7:10 a.m. An 
examination of Bailey's cell, located on the tenth floor of the jail, 
disclosed that he had escaped by removing three bars from his cell by 
means of hacksaws which had been smuggled to him together with a revolver. 
Bailey's freedom, however, was short as he was taken into custody on the 
afternoon of the same day of escape at Ardmore, Oklahoma.

Investigation disclosed that the hacksaws and revolver were smuggled in to 
Bailey by Thomas L. Manion, a deputy sheriff and jailer at the Dallas 
County Jail, and that one Groover C. Bevill of Dallas, Texas, had 
purchased the hacksaws and assisted Manion in making it possible for 
Bailey to escape. For this offense Manion and Bevill were indicted at 
Dallas, Texas, on September 25, 1933, and tried and convicted on October 
5. Manion was sentenced, on October 7, to pay a fine of $10,000 and to 
serve 2 years in the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth. Bevill was 
sentenced to serve 14 months in the same institution.

While the Bureau was collecting evidence for the trial of Harvey J. 
Bailey, et al, at Oklahoma City, and for the trial of Manion and Bevill at 
Dallas, Texas, it was also pursuing efforts to apprehend George and 
Kathryn Kelly. During the trial at Oklahoma City, the Kellys sent a number 
of threatening letters to Urschel and Joseph B. Keeyan, Assistant Attorney 
General, who was in charge of the prosecution at Oklahoma City, 
threatening their lives and intimidating government witnesses.


The Kellys are Captured

An investigation conducted at Memphis disclosed that the Kellys were 
living at the residence of J.C. Tichenor. Special Agents from Birmingham, 
Alabama, were immediately dispatched to Memphis, where, in the early 
morning hours of September 26, 1933, a raid was conducted. George and 
Kathryn Kelly were taken into custody by FBI Agents and Memphis police. 
Caught without a weapon, George Kelly cried, "Don't shoot, G-Men! Don't 
shoot, G-Men!" as he surrendered to FBI Agents. The term, which had 
applied to all federal investigators, became synonymous with FBI Agents. 
The couple was immediately removed to Oklahoma City.

On October 12, 1933, George and Kathryn Kelly were convicted and sentenced 
to life imprisonment.

Investigation at Coleman, Texas, disclosed that the Kellys had been housed 
and protected by Cassey Earl Coleman and Will Casey, and that Coleman had 
assisted George Kelly in storing $73,250 of the Urschel ransom money on 
his ranch. This money was located by Bureau Agents in the early morning 
hours of September 27, in a cotton patch on Coleman's ranch. They were 
both indicted at Dallas, Texas, on October 4, 1933, charged with harboring 
a fugitive and conspiracy, and on October 17, 1933, Coleman, after 
entering a plea of guilty, was sentenced to serve one year and one day, 
and Casey after trial and conviction, was sentenced to serve two years in 
the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas.

J.C. Tichemor and Langford Ramsey were indicted at Jackson, Tennessee, on 
charges of conspiracy and harboring and concealing a fugitive, for their 
part in concealing the Kellys at Memphis, Tennessee. On October 21, 1933, 
they were each sentenced to serve two years and six months imprisonment.

Investigation also disclosed that while the Kellys were in Chicago, 
Illinois, they were shielded by Abe and Charles Kaplan.

During the time in which Urschel was being held a kidnap victim, Kathryn 
Kelly maintained a residence at Fort Worth, Texas. She had been living 
with Louise Magness. Shortly after the payment of the ransom money, and in 
response to a telegram, Louise Magness flew from Fort Worth, Texas, to Des 
Moines, Iowa, where she joined George and Kathryn Kelly. She then drove 
the Kellys to Brownwood, Texas, and posing as the sister of George Kelly, 
purchased for Kelly and his wife a 1928 Chevrolet sedan.

On February 22, 1934, Magness was indicted at Fort Worth, Texas, charged 
with harboring George and Kathryn Kelly. On April 30, 1934, she entered a 
plea of guilty and was sentenced to serve one year and one day in the 
Federal Industrial Institution for Women at Alderson, West Virginia.

Investigation disclosed that Albert Bates had married Mrs. Clara Feldman, 
who had a son, Edward George Feldman. Clara Feldman had a brother-in-law, 
Alvin H. Scott, who was also a close associate of the above-mentioned 
parties. After the Urschel kidnapping, Bates joined Clara and Edward 
Feldman in Denver, Colorado, and later visited relatives in Portland, 
Oregon. Bates then returned to Denver, Colorado, where he was arrested 
shortly thereafter.

Clara and Edward Feldman had no knowledge of Bates' arrest until a 
prisoner, who had recently been released from the county jail in Denver, 
left a message at the Feldman apartment to the effect that Bates was in 
custody and that Clara Feldman should "look in the suitcase." The suitcase 
was found to be filled with $20 bills. Clara and Edward Feldman then 
proceeded to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where they buried this money.

Shortly thereafter, Ben Laska, a Denver attorney, communicated with the 
Feldmans, advised them that he was defending Bates, and that he would get 
in touch with them when he needed some money. Laska then took from Edward 
Feldman all identifying papers and told Feldman to use the fictitious name 
of Axel C. Johnson. Laska advised Edward and Clara Feldman to go east and 
live in large cities where their identities would not become known. 
Thereafter, at Laska's request, Clara and Edward Feldman paid Laska $8,000 
of this ransom money to cover his expenses in the defense of Bates. Laska 
then asked for a diagram of the place where the remaining ransom money was 
buried. Edward Feldman furnished him with a fictitious diagram.

Laska subsequently demanded of Edward Feldman an additional $2,000. By 
prearrangement, Edward Feldman met Laska at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where 
$2,000 of the Urschel ransom money was delivered to Laska.

On December 4, 1934, Clara Feldman advised Special Agents of the location 
of additional ransom currency in the sum of $38,460 which had been cached 
away. On November 2, 1934, Alvin H. Scott, a brother-in-law of Clara 
Feldman was seriously injured in an automobile accident at Roseburg, 
Oregon. At the time of this accident, Scott had in his possession $1,360 
in Urschel ransom money. A search of the premises of Alvin Scott disclosed 
the location of an additional sum of $6,140 in Urschel ransom money. Clara 
Feldman and Edward Feldman were taken into custody at Dunsmuir, 
California, November 9, 1934, $1,100 in ransom money being recovered from 
their possession. Immediate questioning of them by Special Agents 
disclosed the location of $1,520 additional ransom currency which these 
parties had cached at a point near Woodland, Washington. Continued 
questioning of Alvin H. Scott disclosed the location of additional ransom 
money in the sum of $5,000.

On December 14, 1934, the following persons were indicted by a Federal 
Grand Jury at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, charging them with conspiracy to 
violate the Kidnapping Statute: Ben B. Laska, James C. Mathers, Clara 
Feldman, Edward Feldman, and Alvin Scott. Accordingly, Clara and Edward 
Feldman and Alvin Scott were removed to Oklahoma City. On December 17, 
1934, Ben Laska was taken into custody by Agents in Oklahoma City. It was 
alleged that Mathers had accepted from Laska $2,000 of the Urschel ransom 
money, with knowledge of the character of the money.

On December 17, 1934, Clara Feldman entered a plea of guilty to the 
indictment. Edward Feldman and Alvin Scott pleaded guilty on January 2, 
1935. Alvin Scott, Clara Feldman, and Edward Feldman were sentenced on 
June 15, 1935, to serve five years each in a federal penitentiary. These 
sentences were suspended for five years, and each placed on probation.

James C. Mathers and Ben Laska were tried in Federal Court at Oklahoma 
City, Oklahoma, on June 10, 1935. On June 14, 1935, Mathers was acquitted 
by a directed verdict. On June 15, 1935, Laska was sentenced to serve ten 
years in a federal penitentiary.

Laska was released on a $10,000 bond pending an appeal. The U.S. Circuit 
Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit at Denver, Colorado, on March 27, 
1936, rendered a decision affirming the District Court at Oklahoma City, 
Oklahoma. Laska surrendered to the U.S. Marshal at Oklahoma City, 
Oklahoma, on August 1, 1936, and was removed to the U.S. Penitentiary at 
Leavenworth, Kansas, on the same date.

Mrs. Mollie O. Bert, a Denver, Colorado, attorney, furnished some 
untruthful testimony during the trials of Laska. As a result of this 
testimony, a complaint filed against Mrs. Bert at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 
on June 15, 1936, charging her with perjury. She was released on a $5,000 
bond after a plea of not guilty.

On October 1, 1936, Mrs. Bert withdrew her plea of not guilty and entered 
a plea of nolle contendere and was sentenced on the same date to serve one 
year and one day imprisonment, which sentence was suspended pending good 
behavior for one year.

Twenty-one persons were convicted in this case, the sentences being: 6 
life sentences and other sentences totaling 58 years, two months, and 
three days.

George "Machine Gun" Kelly died of a heart attack at the Federal 
Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas, on July 17, 1954. Kathryn Kelly was 
released from prison in Cincinnati in 1958; she was last known to be 
residing in Oklahoma.



CHAPTER 15
ROGER "THE TERRIBLE" TOUHY'S GANG

Roger "The Terrible" Touhy's Gang - Escape from Stateville Penitentiary, 
Joliet, Illinois, October 9, 1942

In the latter part of 1933 and the early part of 1934, the Chicago gang of 
Roger "The Terrible" Touhy was smashed.

Singly and in groups, the Touhy mobsters were accounted for. James Tribble 
was murdered on September 8, 1933, in Chicago. William Sharkey committed 
suicide at St. Paul on December 1, 1933. Touhy himself and two of his 
henchmen were convicted in state court at Chicago on February 23, 1934, 
and sentenced to serve ninety-nine years imprisonment for kidnapping John 
"Jake the Barber" Factor and holding him for ransom. The Federal Bureau of 
Investigation (FBI) had investigated the Factor kidnapping, but had 
stepped out at the conclusion of the investigation and turned over all 
evidence to state authorities. The federal courts had no jurisdiction 
because the kidnappers had not taken their victim across a state line.

Charles C. Connors was murdered at Willow Springs, Illinois, on March 13, 
1934. On the same date, Basil "The Owl" Banghart, machine gunner and 
aviator for the mob, was convicted in state court in Chicago and sentenced 
to serve ninety-nine years for participating in the Factor kidnapping. Two 
months later, Banghart was also tried in federal court at Asheville, North 
Carolina, and sentenced to serve thirty-six years in prison on a charge of 
robbing United States mail.

Two remaining members of the Touhy gang, Isaac A. Costner and Ludwig 
Schmidt, were also convicted on the mail robbery charge.

Thus, by the end of May, 1934, three members of the mob were dead and 
eleven were in prison serving long terms.


Members of the Touhy Gang 

For half a decade, the northwest section of Cook County, Illinois, had 
been known as Touhy Territory and the infamous mob had made bizarre 
history throughout the Midwest and along the Atlantic seaboard under the 
leadership of Roger Touhy, one of six notorious sons of James Touhy, 
deceased, a former patrolman in the Chicago Police Department.

Touhy "The Terrible" was quickly forgotten after he was received in 
Stateville Penitentiary at Joliet in 1934. Banghart started serving his 
long term in the Illinois State Prison at Menard. After a break from 
Menard in 1935, however, he was transferred to Joliet, where he renewed 
acquaintance with Touhy.

For seven years, Touhy and Banghart remained in prison, keeping in touch 
with their old outside contacts through the fantastic medium of the 
underworld grapevine, watching for any possible chance of escape.

They took no one into their confidence. Banghart already had four previous 
escapes on his record, and when he went to Joliet, he boasted that no 
prison in the world could keep him. He observed the activities of prison 
guards and assimilated every item of information that might be important 
in a planned escape. He learned the exact location of all prison 
facilities; the height of the walls; the position of the prison towers and 
the distance between them; and the number of guards and the kind of 
weapons they carried. He even claimed to know that the guards carried 
rifles sighted in at one hundred yards, although they manned towers which 
were three hundred years apart.

Ultimately, a plan of escape matured, a plan which necessitated assistance 
both inside and out.

First of all, Touhy and Banghart needed guns; so they took Big Ed Darlak 
into their confidence. Edward Darlak was a thirty-two year old lifer, 
received at Joliet on October 14, 1935, under a 199 year sentence for 
murder. Darlak sent word to a young brother, Casimir, on the outside. 
Casimir got two .45 caliber revolvers, together with ammunition, and one 
night in August, 1942, tossed them into bushes near the prison. The guns 
were smuggled into the prison by a trusty who had the duty of lowering the 
prison flag each evening. He carried the guns in, wrapped in the flag.

With this accomplished, Banghart started negotiations for outside 
assistance. He needed a getaway car and a hide-out. Tentative arrangements 
were made but the plans were never consummated. The shabby characters 
willing to provide such services for a fee were not punctual or reliable. 
Again, it was "The Owl" who overcame the difficulties. He observed that a 
prison guard who manned tower number three drove his own car to work and 
left it parked near the tower gate, outside the prison wall. Banghart felt 
he could shift for a hide-out once he reached that car, because the entire 
Chicago area was familiar territory.

Touhy, Banghart, and Darlak passed word to four other Joliet long-termers 
willing to risk a break:

William Stewart, forty-three years old, under two twenty-year sentences as 
a habitual criminal, parole violator and highway robber;

Eugene Lanthorn, thirty-six years old, under a sentence of one year to 
life for assault to commit murder and for two previous escapes from Joliet;

St. Clair McInerney, thirty-one years old, under sentence of one year to 
life for robbery, burglary, and violation of parole; and,

Martilick Nelson, forty years old, under sentence of one year to life as a 
robber, habitual criminal and parole violator.

Shortly before 1:00 p.m., on October 9, 1942, Touhy began the break from 
Joliet. He assaulted the driver of a prison garbage truck, obtained the 
truck and drove to the mechanical shop where Lanthorn was working, 
arriving there simultaneously with Banghart, McInerney, Darlak, Stewart, 
and Nelson. Working together, the seven convicts overpowered guards on 
duty in the shop, cut telephone wires, ripped some ladders out of locked 
racks, piled into the truck and headed for the northwest corner of the 
prison yard, holding two guards as hostages. Touhy and Banghart were 
brandishing .45 revolvers. Lanthorn was armed with a "Molotov Cocktail" - 
a crude incendiary bomb which he had fashioned in the prison shop and 
which he intended to use to start a panic if necessary. He did not need to 
use his bomb, however.

When the truck pulled up at the foot of tower number three, one of the 
convicts fired at the guard in the tower, bringing him under control. 
Others threw ladders up against the wall. Touhy led five of the men up 
into the tower where they disarmed the guard and seized the keys to the 
tower gate and the keys to the guard's car. Banghart stayed below to cover 
them and the guards who had been brought from the shop as hostages. Nelson 
went down the outside wall by rope, opened the tower door with the guard's 
keys, and the gang ran out. They fled in the guard's automobile taking the 
cinder road that would bring them out on the highway to Chicago. The 
convicts were well armed. From tower number three, they had taken two high-
powered rifles and a .45 caliber handgun.

At eight o'clock that evening, the getaway car, traveling at furious 
speed, broke through a police blockade at Elmhurst. At 11:00 p.m., the car 
was abandoned at Villa Park, in the middle of town where it could not be 
missed; the gang's way of notifying the FBI that they had not taken a 
stolen car across a state line.

From Villa Park, they fled into the Cook County Forest Reserve on foot and 
hid out in a shack for four days. Banghart foraged for food at night. On 
the evening of October 13, he returned to the shack with a stolen 
automobile and moved the gang to a 13th street apartment on the West Side.

Posing as long-distance truck-drivers, they all lived in his apartment for 
almost two months. Banghart was trying to hold them together long enough 
to plan and execute some big-time hold-ups which would bring in the 
fabulous sums of money needed in their schemes. They wanted to buy a farm 
near Chicago for a hide-out; they wanted legitimately purchased 
automobiles to obviate the danger of traveling in "hot" cars; and they 
wanted plastic surgery work done to change their appearances and destroy 
their fingerprints. Touhy was said to have the contacts for the plastic 
surgery, but the cost was $100,000.

Holding such a collection of desperate men together and keeping them in 
safe hiding was no easy job. Banghart ruled them with an iron hand. He 
allowed no drinking, except for an occasional bottle brought into the 
apartment, and permitted no promiscuous associations with outsiders. Every 
day when a man went out for food and supplies, Banghart, armed with a 
sawed-off shotgun wrapped in a newspaper, followed to convoy. The convicts 
changed clothes with each other frequently, made every effort to disguise 
themselves and, when on the streets, always walked facing oncoming traffic 
so that police or FBI cars could not slip up on them from behind.

About December, 1, 1942, the gang, feeling that neighbors had begun to 
notice them, moved to a nearby apartment, but bedbugs drove them out in 
two days. Their next residence was in the Doversun Apartments on Sunnyside 
Avenue.

They had been at Doversun only a few days when the first serious rift 
occurred; Stewart and Nelson went out alone one night and returned to the 
apartment drunk. Banghart disarmed them and pistol whipped them both, 
beating them until they were unconscious. Leaving the two battered and 
apparently dying, the other five convicts immediately abandoned the 
apartment and lived for a few days in a garage where they had their stolen 
car hidden. Banghart, Darlak, Touhy, McInerney, and Lanthorn ultimately 
moved into the Norwood Apartments at 1256 Leland Avenue. Stewart and 
Nelson somehow recovered, got out of the Doversun Apartments before they 
were discovered, and separated - Nelson to go to Minneapolis and Stewart 
to seek refuge with a former girlfriend in Chicago.

Although this crowd escaped from Joliet on October 9, 1942, the FBI did 
not enter the search for them until October 16, 1942. They were state 
prisoners, and in escaping they violated no Federal law. But after a week 
had passed and they had failed to present themselves for registration 
under the Selective Service Law they became draft delinquents. The FBI 
formally filed on them for failure to register and obtained Federal 
warrants of arrest.

Realizing that this gang of desperadoes constituted a grave threat to the 
public safety, Mr. Hoover personally took charge of the Touhy 
investigation at its inception. From his Washington headquarters he 
directed a continent-wide man hunt that had no equal since the days of 
Dillinger.

Agents at FBI Headquarters dug into the old voluminous files on the Factor 
kidnapping for every fragment of information about Touhy and Banghart's 
past associates, hide-outs, habits, friends and relatives. Agents were 
sent into Joliet to review prison records for the names of all relatives, 
visitors, and correspondents of all seven escapees. They interviewed 
prison guards and convicts who were known to have associated in any way 
with any of the seven subjects. Convicts who had formerly associated with 
them but who had already been discharged from prison were located. Old 
prison records in other institutions where the subjects had served time 
were examined. Every known relative, every former friend or character 
witness, every attorney who was known to have represented the men - every 
possible contact of all seven subjects was located. Those who were 
cooperative were interviewed for their assistance, while others were 
watched night and day. Photographs, descriptions, and brief criminal 
histories of all the escapees were sent to every law enforcement agency in 
America, to all leading newspapers and to agencies in Canada and Mexico. 
Stops were placed along the borders and all patrol stations were given 
photographs of the convicts.

Every lead, no matter how shadowy, was cautiously and thoroughly run out.

In the initial stages, the investigation was primarily an exhaustive 
preparation of a nation-wide network of ambushes. Sooner or later a break 
would come -- one of the fugitives would attempt a contact that was 
covered.

Mere waiting, however, was not enough. To conserve manpower and expenses 
and to bring these desperadoes into custody at the earliest possible 
moment, it was necessary to make deductions on which to predicate 
offensive action.

Mr. Hoover and his staff deduced that Banghart would try to hold the gang 
together; that they would hide out in Chicago; and that, by means of 
pocket picking and petty stick-ups, they would obtain identification 
papers such as Selective Service cards to avoid an accidental arrest for 
vagrancy or the like.

Agents carefully reviewed the Chicago police files on unsolved petty stick-
up cases in which the victim had lost a wallet containing draft cards and 
other identification.

The first break came on December 15, 1942, when Nelson attempted to 
contact a relative in north Minneapolis. Knowing, therefore, that Nelson 
was in the area and that he was not staying with relatives, Agents assumed 
that he was stopping at some cheap hotel using an alias. A logical alias 
would be the name of some Chicago citizen who had lost his wallet in a 
recent stickup.

An FBI Agent and an officer of the Minneapolis Police Department checked 
these possibilities. The next day, December 16, 1942, they found Nelson in 
a hotel, in bed with a loaded gun under his pillow and his door barricaded 
with a chair. He was registered under the name of Harold Seeger. Harold 
Seeger, it should be noted, was a Chicago grocerman who was held up by a 
masked bandit on December 11, 1942, and robbed of his wallet, 
identification papers and pocket money.

Nelson would not talk, but the half-healed, grievous wounds on his head 
were a significant indication that the gang had had trouble.

On the same day that Nelson was arrested, Agents located Stewart.

Several days before, Stewart had made a telephone call to Milwaukee. The 
call was traced to a pay station telephone in a drug store on North 
Broadway in Chicago. Within an hour after this call was made, Agents were 
combing that area of Chicago. Contacts were developed in hotels, barrooms, 
night spots, rooming houses, and restaurants. Many reliable persons, when 
shown Stewart's photograph, believed that they had seen the man recently.

Finally on December 16, 1942, Agents observed a known acquaintance of 
Stewart's standing near a bank at the intersection of Oak Park and 
Harrison Streets. He was carrying a newspaper high under his left arm, 
rather awkwardly. To the trained observer, he had the air of a man waiting 
to be met by someone he did not know. The newspaper could very well be the 
tag by which he was to be recognized.

The Agents waited. Their assumption was correct. The man did have a 
rendezvous but Agents did not recognize the individual who came to meet 
him. They followed the unknown man and found that he lived in a hotel on 
West Harrison Street. A surveillance at the hotel soon located Stewart. He 
was known at the hotel as James Shea, this being the name of a man robbed 
of his wallet and identification papers in Chicago on November 22, 1942. 
He was also known as "The Deacon," because he dressed in black and wore 
his clothing like a minister in an effort to disguise himself. When in 
public, he always carried a Bible, which he frequently opened and read.

Agents did not arrest Stewart immediately. They hoped he would lead them 
to Touhy and his gang. For four days there were no significant 
developments.

Then, on December 20, 1942, Stewart had a rendezvous with two men unknown 
to surveilling Agents. The Agents surmised that Stewart was not in direct 
contact with the gang and that these two men were couriers between him and 
Banghart. Agents quietly took Stewart into custody and followed the two 
couriers.

The next day, December 21, 1942, Agents following one of the couriers 
recognized Banghart and Darlak whom the courier met in a crowded, downtown 
area. Agents instinctively realized what was wrapped inside the newspaper 
that Banghart was carrying. They also realized that it was not time to 
take Banghart and Darlak. They knew that Banghart, if approached on the 
street, would start shooting wildly and that the lives of bystanders would 
be imperiled. They also knew that if they took Banghart and Darlak, the 
search for the remaining fugitives would become even more difficult. The 
thing to do was to follow Banghart and Darlak until they led to the hide-
out so that all five fugitives could be taken at once without endangering 
the lives of innocent citizens.

The surveillance on Banghart for the next seven days was most difficult. 
He carried his shotgun at all times and he knew all of the tricks of 
shaking off or detecting surveilling officers. The hazardous surveillance, 
however, paid off. Banghart never realized that he was being followed.

Within five days, Agents had learned that the entire gang had been living 
in apartment number 31 at 1256 Leland Avenue, but that they were splitting 
into two groups. McInerney and Lanthorn were remaining in apartment number 
31; Darlak, Touhy, and Banghart were moving into an apartment at 5116 
Kenmore Avenue.

Only one thing remained to be done before arrangements could be made for 
the arrests. The Agents, who had never before seen McInerney and Lanthorn, 
had to be absolutely certain that these were the right men before 
attempting the arrest, because they knew there would be gunplay. On Sunday 
afternoon, December 27, 1942, the two men believed to be McInerney and 
Lanthorn both left their apartment for a few minutes. While Agents were 
following them on the streets, two other Agents slipped into their 
apartment and obtained some discarded bottles which could be processed for 
fingerprints. In the Chicago office they developed on these bottles 
fingerprints identical with those of the two fugitives.

Mr. Hoover hurried to Chicago to make final plans for the raid. In both 
apartment houses, unsuspecting neighbors who might be in the line of fire 
had to be secretly evacuated. Arrangements had to be made with the police 
department to block off the streets. Every conceivable means of an exit 
had to be covered, and the Agents deployed so that they would not be 
caught in their own cross fire.

On Monday evening, December 28, 1942, McInerney and Lanthorn again left 
their apartment and went to visit the other fugitives. Two Agents slipped 
into their room to await their return. other Agents filtered into the 
building to cover all possible means of escape. At 11:20 p.m. the two 
fugitives returned. They approached the door of their apartment with their 
guns drawn. After a tense, listening pause before the door, Lanthorn 
inserted a key and threw the door open.

One of the Agents in the room called for their surrender: "We are federal 
officers. Put your hands up."

Both convicts fired in the direction of the voice. The Agents opened fire. 
Both men lurched from the room, stumbled over the banister and fell dead 
on the second-floor landing. On the bodies of both men were found large 
sums of money. In McInerney's pockets were two strange items: (1) the 
address of an undertaker, and (2) a fragment of verse:

I wish I now were old enough
To give some sound advice
To make each person weigh his thoughts
And turn over twice.
I wish my eyes had seen enough
So I could make him see
The way impressions in this life
Can fool us easily.
I wish my heart had held enough
So it could not impart
The worthiest philosophy
To every human heart.

McInerney, thirty-one, was the youngest of this group of convicts. 
Mr. Hoover next took his men to 5116 Kenmore Avenue where they surrounded 
the building and took up their assigned posts in adjoining apartments. 
They waited until just before dawn.

At 5:00 a.m., on December 29, 1942, powerful searchlights were turned on 
to illuminate the apartment building and to play on the windows of the 
fugitives' first-floor apartment. As the lights went on, one of Mr. 
Hoover's assistants began speaking into a microphone connected with a 
loudspeaker outside the apartment door.

"Touhy, Banghart, Darlak, we are the FBI. Surrender and come out with your 
hands up. There is no hope of escape. You are surrounded. You have ten 
minutes to decide. We will then start shooting."

These words were repeated several times, then: "Banghart, you come out 
first. Come out backwards with your hands in the air. Touhy, you come out 
next and Darlak, you come last. Come out one at a time. Come out backwards 
with your hands in the air." The Agents could hear excited and muffled 
voices in the apartment:

"Let's fight."

"No! They've got us covered on all sides."

"What do you say - let's give up. I know how these guys operate!"

"Listen to that voice. It sure gives me the creeps!"

A few seconds later, Banghart backed out of the apartment, hands held high 
in the air, talking fast:

"Don't do anything. Don't do anything. Don't worry -- I won't do anything!"

He had no chance to do anything. Mr. Hoover seized him and he was 
handcuffed.

Next came Touhy, the very ghost of the once feared "Black Roger." His 
curly, black hair had been peroxided to a reddish-blond and was the 
texture of straw. Clad in flaming red satin pajamas, he was trembling and 
silent as he backed out of the apartment holding his hands over his head. 
He stared morosely at the floor while he was being handcuffed. Darlak, as 
instructed, backed out last.

Banghart was the first to regain his composure. His owl-like eyes had been 
darting about, taking in everything that happened. He was the first to 
speak after all the convicts had been taken into custody.

"You're Mr. Hoover, aren't you? I pegged you from your picture in the 
paper. It's not everybody that has the honor of having the big Chief get 
him."

Touhy was glum and one of the Agents asked him what he was thinking. 
Banghart chirped a reply: "Well, Boss, he's thinking as Molly said to 
Fibber the other night -- it ain't funny anymore." On the way to the FBI 
office, Banghart chattered endlessly:

"We picked the wrong time for this break. A fellow has to have a Selective 
Service card, a Social Security card, and is hindered by too many wartime 
restrictions."

After wistfully thinking it over, Banghart added:

"If I had broken out two years ago, I could have gotten out of the 
country, maybe gone to South America and gotten a job flying."

He even grew expansive and paid the FBI a compliment:

"Mr. Hoover," he said, "you've got a good outfit. That sound chilled us. 
It was coming through the window, through the front door, through the back 
door -- from all over. At first, I thought some of our enemies were out to 
get us."

In connection with this investigation and the searches incidental to the 
arrests, FBI Agents recovered a total of $13,605.84 which the gang had 
taken in the robbery of an armored car in north Chicago on December 18, 
1942. Also recovered were stolen automobiles, guns, expensive clothing and 
draft and Social Security cards of persons who had been robbed.


Weapons Seized by FBI Agents 

The Selective Service complaints which Agents had filed in October were 
all dismissed. Nelson, Stewart, Darlak, and Touhy were returned to state 
custody. Banghart was sent to Alcatraz.

All the way through, Banghart had been the undisputed leader of this mob. 

He was born in 1900 at Berville, Michigan. He finished high school and had 
one year at college before he turned definitely to a career of crime.

The record indicates that he stole over one hundred automobiles in and 
around Detroit before his first arrest and conviction in 1926.

On January 4, 1926, he was arrested in Cincinnati and returned to Detroit 
to stand trial for car theft. He pleaded guilty and threw himself on the 
mercy of the court. The judge placed him on probation for one year.

Two months later in April, 1926, he was again arrested, this time in 
Dayton, Ohio, and was charged with a violation of the National Motor 
Vehicle Theft Act.

He was convicted and sentenced to serve two years in the United States 
Penitentiary at Atlanta, Georgia, where he deliberately made the 
acquaintance of long-termers, making what was the equivalent of a post-
graduate study in crime.

Assigned to the window washing detail, Banghart had good opportunity to 
saw the steel bars enclosing a window. At dusk on January 25, 1927, 
together with other convicts, he made his escape through the window, 
jumped twenty feet to the ground and made a headlong dash across an open 
field. Outrunning the bloodhounds, he plunged through swamps and marshes 
to freedom.

He made his way to Montana where he cooled off for a period before going 
back east to organize a business of stealing automobiles. He established a 
ring of car thieves which operated in and around New Jersey. Some of the 
stolen cars were driven south; others were sold in the same city where 
they had been stolen after Banghart had changed the motor and serial 
number.

In October, 1928, he was arrested in Pennsylvania and turned over to a 
United States Marshal at Pittsburgh for arraignment on a National Motor 
Vehicle Theft Act charge. While in the custody of the Marshal in the 
Federal Building at Pittsburgh, Banghart asked permission to go to the 
lavatory. Walking down the corridor, he suddenly shoved the Marshal off 
balance and dashed out of the building, pointing in front of him and 
shouting, "Get the police." Stop that man!" The ruse worked and Banghart 
made good his escape. Two weeks later, however, he was arrested in 
Philadelphia. In that two weeks he had dyed his hair, shaved his 
moustache, and put on glasses.

He was returned to Atlanta and served out his sentence, which expired on 
February 14, 1930. When he left, however, he did not go free. He was taken 
into custody on a detainer and removed to Knoxville where he was confined 
in the Knox County Jail to await prosecution in federal court. He made an 
unsuccessful attempt to escape from this jail. When he was tried he 
pleaded guilty and asked for probation, saying that he had never had a 
chance to go straight. The judge, however, sentenced him to two more years 
in the penitentiary at Atlanta.

Banghart served this sentence, but in January, 1932, less than two months 
after his release, he was arrested in Detroit as a robbery suspect. He was 
released to local authorities at South Bend, Indiana, for prosecution on 
an armed robbery that had occurred in that city in 1927. On his way to 
South Bend, Banghart boasted that he had belonged to the Purple Gang in 
Detroit and that the South Bend Jail could not keep him long. He was 
right. On March 27, 1932, he blinded a turnkey with pepper, took his jail 
keys, seized a machine gun, and shot his way out of jail.

It was at this point that he fled to Chicago and became a machine gunner 
and top leader of the Touhy mob, at that time engaged in an underworld war 
with the Capone interests.

It was Banghart who planned and led the kidnapping of John Factor by the 
Touhy mob in 1933. In the final stages of this case he narrowly escaped 
capture after a running gun battle with police. Accompanied by his 
paramour and two of the Touhy gangsters, he left Chicago and hid out for a 
while in Tennessee, ultimately moving to Charlotte, North Carolina.

In November, 1933, Banghart and his two henchmen robbed a United States 
mail truck at Charlotte, obtaining $120,000. He was next arrested in a 
fashionable apartment in Baltimore, Maryland, on February 10, 1934.

After standing trial in Chicago for participating in the Factor kidnapping 
and standing trial at Asheville, North Carolina, for participating in the 
mail robbery, he was returned to Illinois and incarcerated in the state 
prison at Menard to serve the ninety-nine years for the sentence which he 
had drawn for the Factor kidnapping.

On October 2, 1935, he and other inmates at Menard assaulted prison guards 
and, in a commandeered truck, crashed through the prison gates. Banghart 
was soon recaptured and, as previously pointed out, was sent to Joliet to 
complete his sentence.