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ABOUT FACTS NET
People
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Famous Old Time Gangsters Part 1
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The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) has released more material on some of the most famous gangsters of our time under the Freedom of Information Act. You will need Acrobat Reader to view the files. If you don't have it, it can be downloaded for free HERE. Source: FBI Except where otherwise noted. Warning, some of the Arcobat files are quite large and can take a long time to download, but they are worth the wait.
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
Acrobat Files -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Kate Ma Barker & Alvin Karpis Gang
Ma Barker and Alvin Karpis - Karpis Picture Source: National Park Service Kate "Ma" Barker and her sons, Herman, Lloyd, Arthur, and Fred teamed up with Alvin Karpis (whom Fred met in the penitentiary) and several other criminals. This summary gives an account of their criminal careers, including the 1934 kidnapping of Edward G. Bremer, a wealthy Minnesota businessman.
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Clyde C. Barrow & Bonnie Parker Bonnie and Clyde were suspects in many crimes. At the
time they were killed in 1934, they were believed to have committed
13 murders and several robberies and burglaries. Barrow, for example,
was suspected of murdering two police officers at Joplin, Missouri,
and kidnapping a man and a woman in rural Louisiana. He released them
near Waldo, Texas. Numerous sightings followed, linking this pair
with bank robberies and automobile thefts. Clyde allegedly murdered
a man at Hillsboro, Texas; committed robberies at Lufkin and Dallas,
Texas; murdered one sheriff and wounded another at Stringtown, Oklahoma;
kidnapped a deputy at Carlsbad, New Mexico; stole an automobile at
Victoria, Texas; attempted to murder a deputy at Wharton, Texas; committed
murder and robbery at Abilene and Sherman, Texas; committed murder
at Dallas, Texas; abducted a sheriff and the chief of police at Wellington,
Texas; and committed murder at Joplin and Columbia, Missouri.
Acrobat File -------------------------------------------------------------------------- FBI records concerning George"Machine Gun" Kelly consist of the investigation involving the kidnapping of Charles F. Urschel, a wealthy oil man, on July 22, 1933. George Kelly, his wife Kathryn, and 19 others were convicted in this case. Kelly is credited with coining the phrase "G-men." When arrested in Memphis on September 26, 1933, Kelly was reported to have thrown his hands in the air and cried "Don't shoot, G-men!" as he surrendered to FBI Agents.
George "Machine Gun" Kelly Picture Source: National Park Service
Acrobat File -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Summary of events leading up to the death of John Dillinger on July 22, 1934, when he grabbed for his gun and was shot by FBI Special Agents as he left the Biograph Theater in Chicago, Illinois. Dillinger, whose name once dominated the headlines, was a brutal thief and a cold-blooded murderer. From September, 1933, until July, 1934, he and his violent gang terrorized the Midwest, killing 10 men, wounding 7 others, robbing banks and police arsenals, and staging 3 jail breaks -- killing a sheriff during one and wounding 2 guards in another.
John Dillinger
Biograph Theater
Acrobat Files |
