Public Enemies (94 page)

For forty years much of the new material uncovered on the War on Crime period has been unearthed by a dedicated band of amateur historians, many of whom provided tremendous help to me during my four years of research. Probably no one person has amassed more information on Depression-era outlaws than Rick Mattix of Bussey, Iowa, who opened his files to me and was always there to answer a thorny question. Thomas Smusyn, who knows more about John Dillinger than any man alive, was an expert guide through Dillinger’s old Chicago haunts.

I am deeply indebted to Paul Maccabee, whose history of the St. Paul underworld,
John Dillinger Slept Here,
is one of the finest books produced on the War on Crime period; to Robert Unger, who knows more about the Kansas City Massacre than anyone; to Bill Helmer, the dean of Dillinger historians; to Bob Bates in Oregon; to Curt Gentry, whose J. Edgar Hoover biography remains the finest in or out of print; and to Richard Jones in Oklahoma City, who allowed me to borrow from his great trove of 1930s-era detective magazines.

Dawn Trent, the widow of Bill Trent, Alvin Karpis’s ghostwriter, kindly lent me thousands of pages of interview transcripts that her husband made with Karpis in the late 1960s; these transcripts are a source of much new information on the period. A former FBI archivist, Susan Rosenthal, provided files on former FBI agents. Thanks as well to historians Glenn Jordan in Monroe, Louisiana; Arch McKinney in East Chicago; Robert Beresford in Wellesville, Ohio; Clyde Woolridge in McAlester, Oklahoma; and Orville Albritton and Bobbie McClain in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

A huge thank-you to the staff at
The Grapevine
in Quantico, Virginia, who allowed me to spend three days wading through back issues, and to the wonderful archivists at FBI headquarters in Washington. Thanks, too, to the children and extended families of the many FBI men and prosecutors who fought the War on Crime, including Alston Purvis, Melvin Purvis’s son; Samuel Cowley, Jr.; Doris Lockerman; Jared McDade in Ossining, New York; John Davis Rorer; Kristina Metcalfe, daughter of James Metcalfe; Werner Hanni, Jr.; Frazier Reams, Jr.; and the families of John Welles, Jay Newman, John Madala, and Hugh Clegg.

Thanks to the staff at the Chicago Public Library; the Chicago Historical Society; the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul; the Oklahoma Historical Society; the Missouri Historical Society; the J. Evetts Haley Museum in Midland, Texas; the Red River Historical Museum in Sherman, Texas; and the Hot Springs Historical Society in Hot Springs, Arkansas; the federal archives in College Park, Maryland, and Chicago, and Kansas City; as well as the Ohio public libraries in Cleveland, Akron, Toledo, Bluffton, Lima, and Dayton; the Indiana public libraries in Muncie, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Crown Point, East Chicago, Gary, Peru, Hammond, and Terre Haute; the Texas public libraries in Dallas, Fort Worth, Coleman, Waco, Austin, Houston, San Marcos, and San Antonio; the Iowa public libraries in Des Moines and Mason City; the Missouri public libraries in Kansas City, Joplin, and Springfield; the New Jersey public libraries in Summit, Maplewood, Newark, and Atlantic City; the Florida public libraries in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Ocala, Orlando, and Daytona Beach; the Arkansas public libraries in Little Rock and Hot Springs; the public library in Memphis; the Georgia public library in Albany; and the Wisconsin public libraries in Lake Geneva and Elkhorn.

I could not have attempted this book were it not for the patience of
Vanity Fair
’s editor, Graydon Carter, who looked the other way when I should have been writing stories for him. Anna Bakolas was a terrific researcher in the early months of this project. Marla Burrough, Doug Stumpf, Steve Swartz, and Jordan Glatt gave invaluable reviews of the manuscript. An-drew Wylie and Jeffrey Posternak at the Wylie Agency remain the best literary agents in the business. This project began as a television miniseries for the Home Box Office network; only after research began did I realize I loved it all too much not to write a book. Thanks to Brian Siberell for guiding me through Hollywood.

At Penguin Press, Scott Moyers always believed in this project and gave terrific advice in winnowing the final manuscript. His trusty assistant, Sophie Fels, kept the trains running on time. Melissa Goldstein ransacked archives across the country to gather the photographs. Thanks as well to my parents, Mac and Mary Burrough, in Temple, Texas, who are never too busy to listen. And as always, my greatest thanks goes to my family, Marla, Griffin, and Dane, who never complain about all the long hours Daddy spends alone in his office.

Adams, Joe

Akers, Herbert “Dutch”

Akers, Mrs. Walter

Akers, Walter Lynne

Alcorn, Bob

in Bonnie and Clyde ambush

Bonnie and Clyde pursued by

Alderton, Harold

Aldredge, W. J.

Allison, Leo J.

Al Spencer Gang

Alt, Rudolph

Ambush
(Hinton)

American Agent
(Purvis)

American Bank and Trust robbery

American Express Company

American Legion

American National Bank robbery

“American National Police, The: The Dangers of Federal Crime Control” (
Harper’s
)

Anderson, Esther

Anderson, Harold

Anderson, Joe

Angus, Bert

Angus, Ted

Arkansas
Gazette

Arnold, Flossie Mae

Arnold, Geralene

Arnold, Luther

Artery, John

Assignment Huntsville
(Simmons) 22
n

Associated Press

Atlantic City shoot-out

Auerbach, Joseph

Backman, Sally

Baczo, George

Bagley, Willis

Bailey, Harvey

Baird, Beulah

Baird, Juanita

Baker, Anne

Baker, Irene

Baker, Lewis

Barber, Al

Barber, Frank

Barce, Edward

Barclay, Tom

Barker, Arthur “Dock”

arrest of

background of

Bremer kidnapping and

death of

in Federal Reserve robbery

Hamm kidnapping and

manhunt for

Moran killed by

Barker, Fred

background of

Bremer kidnapping and

cosmetic surgery of

death of

description of

in Federal Reserve robbery

grave of

Hamm kidnapping and

in Lake Weir shoot-out

manhunt for

Moran killed by

Barker, George

Barker, Herman

Barker, Kate “Ma”

background of

death of

FBI and myth of

Karpis and

in popular culture

Barker, Lloyd

Barker-Karpis Gang map

Barnes, Bruce

Barnes, George,
see
Kelly, George “Machine Gun”

Barnes, John

Barr, W. E.

Barr, Mrs. W. E.

Barrow, Blanche

Barrow, Clyde

attempted ambush of

Bienville Parish sojourn of

Bonnie’s meeting with

Bonnie’s relationship with

in Commerce, Okla., shoot-out

death of

description of

in Dexfield Park shoot-out

Dillinger as model for

film on

gang of

grave of

Hamer’s ambush of

Hamer’s pursuit of

Hamilton breakout plot and

map

notoriety of

personality of

in Platte City shoot-out

in popular culture

in Reeds Spring shoot-out
see also
Parker, Bonnie

Barrow, Cumie

Barrow, Ivan “Buck”

Barrow, Nell

Barry, Edith

Bates, Albert

Batista, Fulgencio

Baum, Carter

Baum, James H.

Benedict, John

Benedict, William

Bentz, Eddie -31
n

Beresford, Bob “Brassy”

Berg, Harry

Berg, Izzy

Berg, Ollie

Birch, Tyler M.

Bitzer, Ernest

Blake, Frank

Bloody Mama
(Corman)

Blunk, Ernest

Boetscher, Charles II

Bogue, Meyer

Boisneau, Eugene

Bolton, Bryan

Bonnie and Clyde
(film)

Borcia, John

Boyard, Chester

Boyd, Percy

Brady, “Big” Bob

Brantley, Dwight

Bremer, Adolph

Bremer, Edward

Bremer kidnapping

Bremer’s release in

evidence discovered in

FBI and

Karpis and

police corruption and

ransom money laundering in

ransom negotiations in

ransom paid in

underworld connections in

Brenner, Lottie

Brining, Mary

Brock, John

Brooks (bank customer)

Brown, Elgar

Brown, Ralph

Brown, Tom

Bryant, Win

Bryce. A. “Jelly,”

Buchalter, Betty

Buchalter, Louis “Lepke”

Buchanan, Buck

Buchanan, James

Burdette, Wynona

Bureau of Investigation:

powers of
see also
Federal Bureau of Investigation

Burke, Fred “Killer”

Bush, George H. W.

Bush, Harold

Bybee, Hilton

Caffrey, Ray

Cagney, Jimmy

Cahoon, Sam

Campanas, Ana,
see
Sage, Ana

Campbell, Cal

Campbell, Charles

Campbell, Harry

Campbell, Jerry

Capone, Al

Carroll, Tommy

death of

description of

in First National Bank robberies

in Fostoria robbery

in Little Bohemia episode

in Security National Bank robbery

Carter, James Earl

Cartwright, Gladys

Cartwright, Lonzo

Casey, Will

Cassidy, Butch

Cassidy, Harold

Catfish, Maggie

Catfish, Ole “Ollie”

Catlett, John

Central National Bank robbery

Central Park Gang

Cernocky, Louis

Chaffetz, Max

Chase, John Paul

Cherrington, Arthur

Cherrington, Patricia

Cheyne, Herbert

Chicago shoot-out

Chiolek, Mike

Chiolek, Steve

Christiansen, Carl C.

Christiansen, Carl J.

Clark, Bernice,
see
Long, Opal

Clark, Russell

Clegg, Hugh

Beth Green interrogated by

in Little Bohemia debacle

Cleveland
Plain Dealer

Cochran, Frank

Coffey, Daisy

Coffey, Holt

Cohen, Delos

Coker, Sam Cole, John

Cole, Otis

Coleman, Cass

Collier, Rex

Colvin, Ralph

Commerce, Okla., shoot-out

Comstock, A. W.

Conforti, Mickey

Congress, U.S.

Conkle, Ellen

Connelley, Earl

Barker manhunt and

Cowley replaced by

Dillinger manhunt and

fate of

Gibson shooting and

Karpis manhunt and

in Lake Weir shoot-out

in Little Rock raid

Conroy, E. J.

Conroy, Ted

Cooney, Dennis

Cooper, Courtney Ryley

Copeland, Harry

Copeland, Royal

Corman, Roger

Corry, George

Coughlin, Philip

Coulter, Rufus

Cowley, Lavon Chipman

Cowley, Mathias

Cowley, Samuel P.

death of

Dillinger ambush and

Dillinger manhunt and

eulogy for

Hoover’s promotion of

in Nelson manhunt

Purvis’s demotion and

Cox, J. W.

“crime corridor”

Crime Doesn’t Pay
(vaudeville show)

Crosby, Lydia

Cross, Gilbert

Crown Point jail break

Crowson, M. H.

Cuba,
S.S.

Cullen, Frank

Cullen, Thomas

Culp, Frank

Cummings, Henry

Cummings, Homer S.

Cunningham, Miles

Dahill, Thomas

Dalton Brothers

Damron, B. L.

Davis, Ed

Davis, Volney

Deaderick, Kelly

Deandre, Phil

Deere, Father

Delaney, Delores

Delaney, Jean

Devereaux, W. J.

Dewey, Thomas

Dexfield Park shoot-out

Dickman, Lillian

Dillinger, Audrey

Dillinger, Hubert

Dillinger, John