Chris Enss's Blog - Posts Tagged "true-crime"
Gunfight at Lake Weir
Enter now to win a copy of
Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
In a time when notorious Depression-era criminals were terrorizing the country, the Barker-Karpis Gang stole more money than mobsters John Dillinger, Vern Miller, and Bonnie and Clyde combined. Five of the most wanted thieves, murderers, and kidnappers by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1930s were from the same family. Authorities believed the woman behind the band of violent hoodlums that ravaged the Midwest was their mother, Kate “Ma” Barker.
Fifteen federal agents stood in rapt silence outside the home of Mrs. Blackburn and her son in Lake Weir, Florida. Mrs. Blackburn was really Ma Barker. At 5:32 in the morning on January 16, 1935, an investigator had knocked on the front door of the house and shouted, “We are Department of Justice men. Come on out!” He heard naked feet patter along an inside hallway and doors on the second floor of the home opening and closing. The FBI believed Ma and Fred were inside the house but were not certain if anyone else was with them.
The agent who had dared approach the two-story residence walked backwards to a spot behind one of the many oak trees on the property. He exchanged a glance with the other agents under cover around him. Their lips were grim, their hands loose upon their machine guns. No one said a word for several long moments. Finally, Ma responded to law enforcement’s demand that she and her son, Fred come out.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Federal officers,” the lead agent replied.
More time passed; then Ma called out, “All right, go ahead.”
The special agents interpreted the remark to mean that Ma and Fred were going to surrender, but they were wrong. Fred suddenly appeared in the front doorway, bare-headed, in a white shirt and gray trousers, and with a spitting machine gun. As Fred’s bullets crashed toward the agent, Ma’s high shrill voice came like a cry of doom: “Let ‘em have it!” Fred’s machine gun fire was answered by tear gas bombs, rifle fire, and machine-gun fire from weapons in the hands of FBI agents.
Across the way from the white house, Mrs. A. F. Westberry was awakened by the roar of gunfire. It seemed to come from all sides of her house; it was close up, and it seemed to shake the building. In abject terror, she jerked herself to a sitting position as bullets crashed through her closed bedroom door and buried themselves in the head of her bed. She later told newspaper reporters:
“I got out of bed…opened the door a crack, and more bullets came through the window and hit the face of the door above my head. I looked out the window and saw the yard was full of men. From Mr. Bradford’s house across the road there was a lot of shooting. I could see streaks of fire from the guns. I could see the blazes from the men’s guns on the outside. There was a lot of rapid fire like machine guns. My daughter was in bed. I broke open the back window of our room and told her we had to get out. About that time some more bullets came smacking through the dining room window and hit the wall.
To learn more about Ma Barker and he Barker Gang read Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
In a time when notorious Depression-era criminals were terrorizing the country, the Barker-Karpis Gang stole more money than mobsters John Dillinger, Vern Miller, and Bonnie and Clyde combined. Five of the most wanted thieves, murderers, and kidnappers by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1930s were from the same family. Authorities believed the woman behind the band of violent hoodlums that ravaged the Midwest was their mother, Kate “Ma” Barker.
Fifteen federal agents stood in rapt silence outside the home of Mrs. Blackburn and her son in Lake Weir, Florida. Mrs. Blackburn was really Ma Barker. At 5:32 in the morning on January 16, 1935, an investigator had knocked on the front door of the house and shouted, “We are Department of Justice men. Come on out!” He heard naked feet patter along an inside hallway and doors on the second floor of the home opening and closing. The FBI believed Ma and Fred were inside the house but were not certain if anyone else was with them.
The agent who had dared approach the two-story residence walked backwards to a spot behind one of the many oak trees on the property. He exchanged a glance with the other agents under cover around him. Their lips were grim, their hands loose upon their machine guns. No one said a word for several long moments. Finally, Ma responded to law enforcement’s demand that she and her son, Fred come out.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Federal officers,” the lead agent replied.
More time passed; then Ma called out, “All right, go ahead.”
The special agents interpreted the remark to mean that Ma and Fred were going to surrender, but they were wrong. Fred suddenly appeared in the front doorway, bare-headed, in a white shirt and gray trousers, and with a spitting machine gun. As Fred’s bullets crashed toward the agent, Ma’s high shrill voice came like a cry of doom: “Let ‘em have it!” Fred’s machine gun fire was answered by tear gas bombs, rifle fire, and machine-gun fire from weapons in the hands of FBI agents.
Across the way from the white house, Mrs. A. F. Westberry was awakened by the roar of gunfire. It seemed to come from all sides of her house; it was close up, and it seemed to shake the building. In abject terror, she jerked herself to a sitting position as bullets crashed through her closed bedroom door and buried themselves in the head of her bed. She later told newspaper reporters:
“I got out of bed…opened the door a crack, and more bullets came through the window and hit the face of the door above my head. I looked out the window and saw the yard was full of men. From Mr. Bradford’s house across the road there was a lot of shooting. I could see streaks of fire from the guns. I could see the blazes from the men’s guns on the outside. There was a lot of rapid fire like machine guns. My daughter was in bed. I broke open the back window of our room and told her we had to get out. About that time some more bullets came smacking through the dining room window and hit the wall.
To learn more about Ma Barker and he Barker Gang read Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
Waiting for a Grave
Enter now to win a copy of
Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
In a time when notorious Depression-era criminals were terrorizing the country, the Barker-Karpis Gang stole more money than mobsters John Dillinger, Vern Miller, and Bonnie and Clyde combined. Five of the most wanted thieves, murderers, and kidnappers by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1930s were from the same family. Authorities believed the woman behind the band of violent hoodlums that ravaged the Midwest was their mother, Kate “Ma” Barker.
The bodies of Ma Barker and her son Fred were taken to the Pyle Mortuary in Ocala, Florida, after they were killed in the shoot-out with federal agents. On January 16, 1935, mother and son were laid on stainless steel slabs, their frames covered with sheets from their necks down. Marion County officials and federal agents posed for photographs with the dead gangsters, and reporters negotiated with morgue employees for a chance to see the well-known criminals lying in state.
The deceased outlaws were the town’s top attraction for eight months. Their iced-down bodies, riddled with bullet holes, were still and bloated, waiting for somebody to come bury them. The FBI encouraged the Barkers’ extended stay in Florida, hoping that gang members still at large might drop by to make sure the two gangsters were indeed Ma and Fred Barker. No gang members showed, but tourists came from all over the country to view the bodies.
George Barker, Ma’s estranged husband, was notified of the death of his wife and son on January 17, 1935. The January 18, 1935, edition of the Springfield Daily News noted that George, now sixty-seven, wasn’t interested in hearing about the pair. “I don’t care when and how Fred and Kate are buried,” he told reporters. “I don’t care to have them brought back here. I wouldn’t care to attend the funeral. I’d like to be left out of all this. They chose their path some years ago and I followed mine. I haven’t seen any of them in years.”
George was a solitary man who had worked at a gas station and as a caretaker of a campground in Joplin, Missouri, since he and Ma had gone their separate ways in 1928. An article in the October 14, 1935, edition of the Pulaski Southwest Times reported that George rarely, if ever, spoke to his estranged wife and children. He was visited often by law enforcement agents who speculated that members of the Barker-Karpis Gang might use his home and business as a place to hide from the law. George’s friends and neighbors said he was honest and upright and that his only solace came in knowing that at least one member of the family remained respectable.
“After the Barker boys began to get in ‘big time’ crime they tried to lure their father away from Joplin,” the Pulaski Southwest Times article read. “They told him he would not have to worry anymore about money the rest of his life. George, however, chose to remain in Joplin barely earning enough to live on.”
The government strongly encouraged George to assume the legal responsibility for taking care of burying his family. It wasn’t until George learned that Ma and Fred would be given a pauper’s funeral and laid to rest in Florida that he decided he wanted to bring them home. The problem was he didn’t have money for his estranged wife and son to be transported to Oklahoma to be buried next to Herman. It would take George several months to gather enough funds to get the job done.
In the meantime, George learned that he and another gentleman named Frank Dixon were named co-administrators of Fred’s estate. The money discovered at the Florida home where Fred and Ma were killed had been confiscated by the FBI. The serial numbers on the bills did not match those on the ransom money from the Bremer kidnapping, but the bureau had a reasonable expectation that the cash had been acquired from some illegal activity. The government would not release the funds to Fred’s estate and refused to give George a receipt for it.
To learn more about Ma Barker and he Barker Gang read Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
Register to win a copy of Ma Barker: America's Most Wanted Mother here or at www.chrisenss.com.
Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
In a time when notorious Depression-era criminals were terrorizing the country, the Barker-Karpis Gang stole more money than mobsters John Dillinger, Vern Miller, and Bonnie and Clyde combined. Five of the most wanted thieves, murderers, and kidnappers by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1930s were from the same family. Authorities believed the woman behind the band of violent hoodlums that ravaged the Midwest was their mother, Kate “Ma” Barker.
The bodies of Ma Barker and her son Fred were taken to the Pyle Mortuary in Ocala, Florida, after they were killed in the shoot-out with federal agents. On January 16, 1935, mother and son were laid on stainless steel slabs, their frames covered with sheets from their necks down. Marion County officials and federal agents posed for photographs with the dead gangsters, and reporters negotiated with morgue employees for a chance to see the well-known criminals lying in state.
The deceased outlaws were the town’s top attraction for eight months. Their iced-down bodies, riddled with bullet holes, were still and bloated, waiting for somebody to come bury them. The FBI encouraged the Barkers’ extended stay in Florida, hoping that gang members still at large might drop by to make sure the two gangsters were indeed Ma and Fred Barker. No gang members showed, but tourists came from all over the country to view the bodies.
George Barker, Ma’s estranged husband, was notified of the death of his wife and son on January 17, 1935. The January 18, 1935, edition of the Springfield Daily News noted that George, now sixty-seven, wasn’t interested in hearing about the pair. “I don’t care when and how Fred and Kate are buried,” he told reporters. “I don’t care to have them brought back here. I wouldn’t care to attend the funeral. I’d like to be left out of all this. They chose their path some years ago and I followed mine. I haven’t seen any of them in years.”
George was a solitary man who had worked at a gas station and as a caretaker of a campground in Joplin, Missouri, since he and Ma had gone their separate ways in 1928. An article in the October 14, 1935, edition of the Pulaski Southwest Times reported that George rarely, if ever, spoke to his estranged wife and children. He was visited often by law enforcement agents who speculated that members of the Barker-Karpis Gang might use his home and business as a place to hide from the law. George’s friends and neighbors said he was honest and upright and that his only solace came in knowing that at least one member of the family remained respectable.
“After the Barker boys began to get in ‘big time’ crime they tried to lure their father away from Joplin,” the Pulaski Southwest Times article read. “They told him he would not have to worry anymore about money the rest of his life. George, however, chose to remain in Joplin barely earning enough to live on.”
The government strongly encouraged George to assume the legal responsibility for taking care of burying his family. It wasn’t until George learned that Ma and Fred would be given a pauper’s funeral and laid to rest in Florida that he decided he wanted to bring them home. The problem was he didn’t have money for his estranged wife and son to be transported to Oklahoma to be buried next to Herman. It would take George several months to gather enough funds to get the job done.
In the meantime, George learned that he and another gentleman named Frank Dixon were named co-administrators of Fred’s estate. The money discovered at the Florida home where Fred and Ma were killed had been confiscated by the FBI. The serial numbers on the bills did not match those on the ransom money from the Bremer kidnapping, but the bureau had a reasonable expectation that the cash had been acquired from some illegal activity. The government would not release the funds to Fred’s estate and refused to give George a receipt for it.
To learn more about Ma Barker and he Barker Gang read Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
Register to win a copy of Ma Barker: America's Most Wanted Mother here or at www.chrisenss.com.
The End of An Era
Don‘t keep Ma waiting. Enter now to win a copy of
Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
In a time when notorious Depression-era criminals were terrorizing the country, the Barker-Karpis Gang stole more money than mobsters John Dillinger, Vern Miller, and Bonnie and Clyde combined. Five of the most wanted thieves, murderers, and kidnappers by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1930s were from the same family. Authorities believed the woman behind the band of violent hoodlums that ravaged the Midwest was their mother, Kate “Ma” Barker.
On January 14, 1939, immediately following an autopsy of the slain convicted kidnapper Arthur Barker, a staff member at the San Francisco Coroner’s Office made a death mask of the dead man’s face.
A memorandum written by a representative of the San Francisco division of the FBI noted that a plaster mold of Arthur’s face had to be made as close to his death as possible. “Well before bloating and the elements distort the character of expression,” the memo read. The process of making the mold was included in the note dated April 20, 1939. “Apply grease to the face and especially any facial hair, including eyebrows. Once the plaster dries layer plaster bandages mixed with water on the face. The first layer captures the details, even wrinkles, while the other layers reinforce the first. Then carefully remove the hardened mold, or negative, from the face. Finally, pour a substance like wax or a metal such as bronze into the negative to make a positive, three-dimensional death mask.”
The memo, outlining the dos and don’ts of making a death mask, was addressed to J. Edgar Hoover’s office. “This is a good death mask,” the note read. “I am arranging for a negative mold of the same to be made at once so that several copies can be made and used in the Director’s office or wherever else it may be considered desired to exhibit.”
The mask made of Arthur’s face was not the first FBI Director Hoover requested to be made. He had one poured of gangster John Dillinger in July 1934. Four masks of Dillinger’s face were made, and Hoover proudly had one on display in his office. The mask captured every detail of Dillinger’s face: the bullet wound, the scrapes from where he had hit the pavement, the bloating and the swelling from the heat and pooling blood, and even the tell-tale signs of underground plastic surgery. Arthur’s mask was just as telling. His original death mask was placed for safe keeping in the glass exhibit case on displaying moulage (the process of making molds) in the front exhibit room of the San Francisco coroner’s laboratory.
To learn more about Ma Barker and he Barker Gang read Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
Register to win a free book here or at www.chrisenss.com.
Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
In a time when notorious Depression-era criminals were terrorizing the country, the Barker-Karpis Gang stole more money than mobsters John Dillinger, Vern Miller, and Bonnie and Clyde combined. Five of the most wanted thieves, murderers, and kidnappers by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1930s were from the same family. Authorities believed the woman behind the band of violent hoodlums that ravaged the Midwest was their mother, Kate “Ma” Barker.
On January 14, 1939, immediately following an autopsy of the slain convicted kidnapper Arthur Barker, a staff member at the San Francisco Coroner’s Office made a death mask of the dead man’s face.
A memorandum written by a representative of the San Francisco division of the FBI noted that a plaster mold of Arthur’s face had to be made as close to his death as possible. “Well before bloating and the elements distort the character of expression,” the memo read. The process of making the mold was included in the note dated April 20, 1939. “Apply grease to the face and especially any facial hair, including eyebrows. Once the plaster dries layer plaster bandages mixed with water on the face. The first layer captures the details, even wrinkles, while the other layers reinforce the first. Then carefully remove the hardened mold, or negative, from the face. Finally, pour a substance like wax or a metal such as bronze into the negative to make a positive, three-dimensional death mask.”
The memo, outlining the dos and don’ts of making a death mask, was addressed to J. Edgar Hoover’s office. “This is a good death mask,” the note read. “I am arranging for a negative mold of the same to be made at once so that several copies can be made and used in the Director’s office or wherever else it may be considered desired to exhibit.”
The mask made of Arthur’s face was not the first FBI Director Hoover requested to be made. He had one poured of gangster John Dillinger in July 1934. Four masks of Dillinger’s face were made, and Hoover proudly had one on display in his office. The mask captured every detail of Dillinger’s face: the bullet wound, the scrapes from where he had hit the pavement, the bloating and the swelling from the heat and pooling blood, and even the tell-tale signs of underground plastic surgery. Arthur’s mask was just as telling. His original death mask was placed for safe keeping in the glass exhibit case on displaying moulage (the process of making molds) in the front exhibit room of the San Francisco coroner’s laboratory.
To learn more about Ma Barker and he Barker Gang read Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
Register to win a free book here or at www.chrisenss.com.
Leave No Fingerprints Behind
Enter now to win a copy of Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
In a time when notorious Depression-era criminals were terrorizing the country, the Barker-Karpis Gang stole more money than mobsters John Dillinger, Vern Miller, and Bonnie and Clyde combined. Five of the most wanted thieves, murderers, and kidnappers by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1930s were from the same family. Authorities believed the woman behind the band of violent hoodlums that ravaged the Midwest was their mother, Kate “Ma” Barker.
The heat generated by the kidnapping of bank president Edward Bremer—which resulted in $200,000 in ransom being paid after the wealthy man was released on January 7, 1934—chased the Barkers, or what was left of them, into hiding. Those who stayed in the Chicago area adopted easy disguises. Alvin Karpis and Fred Barker felt it necessary to take more drastic measures as they were too well-known to the FBI. In mid-March 1934, Karpis—nicknamed “Old Creepy” because of his expressionless eyes—and Fred Barker went to the secluded office of Doctor Joseph Moran to have their fingerprints altered and faces changed.
Doctor Moran had a respectable practice until he started drinking heavily, became an abortionist, and was eventually sent to Joliet prison. When paroled, Moran was hired as a physician for the Chicago Chauffeurs’ Teamsters’ and Helpers Union and set up practice in a hotel, where he led a double life, treating gangsters as well as ordinary patients.
The night he operated on Alvin and Fred he was a physical ruin. His fumbling fingers did little more than butcher his two patients, who were injected with morphine and sent off to recuperate.
Ma Barker gave them medical attention. Though Alvin was stoical, Fred often screamed from the pain and had to be restrained forcefully. In addition to nursing duties, Ma was completing arrangements with gangster Adelard Cunin, a survivor of the North Side mob in Chicago, to launder the $100,000 the Barker-Karpis Gang received as a ransom for kidnapping W. J. Hamm Jr., the president of Hamm’s Brewery in St. Paul, Minnesota. Adelard had agreed to handle the ransom money from the Bremer kidnapping job as well.
The Chicago branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was made the busiest field office in FBI history by the depredations of numerous well-known gangs, the perpetrators of the Kansas City massacre, and the normal flow of investigations. Melvin Purvis, the Special Agent in Charge, was the nominal chief. However, that spring of 1934 the office on the nineteenth floor of the Bangers Building was also the headquarters of a Special Squad which the Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, supervised personally.
Hoover’s dogged concentration on Midwest crime prompted Ma Barker to advise her sons and their outlaw companions to leave the city. She decided it was too dangerous for any member of the Barker-Karpis Gang, disguised or not, to remain in Chicago. Most of the gang scattered. By January 1935, FBI agents had disposed of Pretty Boy Floyd and John Dillinger’s gangs. Ma’s son Arthur had also been seized by authorities.
To learn more about Ma Barker and he Barker Gang read Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
Enter the giveaway on GoodReads or register to win a copy of Ma Barker: America's Most Wanted Mother at www.chrisenss.com.
In a time when notorious Depression-era criminals were terrorizing the country, the Barker-Karpis Gang stole more money than mobsters John Dillinger, Vern Miller, and Bonnie and Clyde combined. Five of the most wanted thieves, murderers, and kidnappers by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1930s were from the same family. Authorities believed the woman behind the band of violent hoodlums that ravaged the Midwest was their mother, Kate “Ma” Barker.
The heat generated by the kidnapping of bank president Edward Bremer—which resulted in $200,000 in ransom being paid after the wealthy man was released on January 7, 1934—chased the Barkers, or what was left of them, into hiding. Those who stayed in the Chicago area adopted easy disguises. Alvin Karpis and Fred Barker felt it necessary to take more drastic measures as they were too well-known to the FBI. In mid-March 1934, Karpis—nicknamed “Old Creepy” because of his expressionless eyes—and Fred Barker went to the secluded office of Doctor Joseph Moran to have their fingerprints altered and faces changed.
Doctor Moran had a respectable practice until he started drinking heavily, became an abortionist, and was eventually sent to Joliet prison. When paroled, Moran was hired as a physician for the Chicago Chauffeurs’ Teamsters’ and Helpers Union and set up practice in a hotel, where he led a double life, treating gangsters as well as ordinary patients.
The night he operated on Alvin and Fred he was a physical ruin. His fumbling fingers did little more than butcher his two patients, who were injected with morphine and sent off to recuperate.
Ma Barker gave them medical attention. Though Alvin was stoical, Fred often screamed from the pain and had to be restrained forcefully. In addition to nursing duties, Ma was completing arrangements with gangster Adelard Cunin, a survivor of the North Side mob in Chicago, to launder the $100,000 the Barker-Karpis Gang received as a ransom for kidnapping W. J. Hamm Jr., the president of Hamm’s Brewery in St. Paul, Minnesota. Adelard had agreed to handle the ransom money from the Bremer kidnapping job as well.
The Chicago branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was made the busiest field office in FBI history by the depredations of numerous well-known gangs, the perpetrators of the Kansas City massacre, and the normal flow of investigations. Melvin Purvis, the Special Agent in Charge, was the nominal chief. However, that spring of 1934 the office on the nineteenth floor of the Bangers Building was also the headquarters of a Special Squad which the Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, supervised personally.
Hoover’s dogged concentration on Midwest crime prompted Ma Barker to advise her sons and their outlaw companions to leave the city. She decided it was too dangerous for any member of the Barker-Karpis Gang, disguised or not, to remain in Chicago. Most of the gang scattered. By January 1935, FBI agents had disposed of Pretty Boy Floyd and John Dillinger’s gangs. Ma’s son Arthur had also been seized by authorities.
To learn more about Ma Barker and he Barker Gang read Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
Enter the giveaway on GoodReads or register to win a copy of Ma Barker: America's Most Wanted Mother at www.chrisenss.com.
Barker Gang Kidnap Bank President
Ma’s days are numbered. Enter now to win a copy of Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
In a time when notorious Depression-era criminals were terrorizing the country, the Barker-Karpis Gang stole more money than mobsters John Dillinger, Vern Miller, and Bonnie and Clyde combined. Five of the most wanted thieves, murderers, and kidnappers by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1930s were from the same family. Authorities believed the woman behind the band of violent hoodlums that ravaged the Midwest was their mother, Kate “Ma” Barker.
When the suggestion to kidnap Edward Bremer was presented to Ma, she ordered her crew to meet and discuss the proposal. In the summer of 1933, the Barker-Karpis Gang had kidnapped William Hamm, Jr., the president of Hamm’s Brewing Company. The caper was successful, yielding the gang $100,000 in cash for the return of the millionaire. News of the kidnapping was reported throughout the country. “Money or death was the ultimatum laid down by the culprits that absconded with Hamm’s Brewing Company executive,” the June 17, 1933, edition of the Albert Lea Evening Tribune read.
William had been captive near the same location in Bensenville, Illinois, where Edward Bremer was secured away. The police had withdrawn from the case at the request of the family. They were frightened of what might happen to William if law enforcement interfered. The ransom note from the abductors warned the Hamms that William would be shot and killed if the police were allowed any involvement. A note sent to William’s father instructed him to deliver the ransom money in “$5, $10, and $20 bills.” Payment of the ransom for the release of William, the kidnappers directed, was to be made using one of the company’s beer trucks. Not only did the Barker-Karpis Gang get the full amount they were asking in ransom, but when the authorities did begin investigating the kidnapping, a rival gang was arrested for the crime.
“J. Edgar Hoover himself announced from Washington that his men had put together a solid case against the Touhy gang,” Alvin Karpis wrote in his memoirs. “The scientific evidence left no doubt at all,” Hoover said, “that the Touhys were behind the kidnapping of William Hamm.”
The ease with which the Barker-Karpis Gang was able to get away with taking William and collecting the ransom was an argument for kidnapping Edward Bremer. In late December 1933, Ma’s boys convened at William Weaver’s apartment in St. Paul to talk through the details of the abduction. Who would trail Edward to learn about his habits, routine, friends, and work associates, who would write the ransom notes, who would deliver those notes to what contact, and when the job would be done were all determined. With the exception of Arthur, whom Ma suggested might have been a little too rough with the victim, everyone performed his duties as planned.
To learn more about Ma Barker and he Barker Gang read Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
Register to win a copy of Ma Barker: America's Most Wanted Mother here or when you visit www.chrisenss.com.
In a time when notorious Depression-era criminals were terrorizing the country, the Barker-Karpis Gang stole more money than mobsters John Dillinger, Vern Miller, and Bonnie and Clyde combined. Five of the most wanted thieves, murderers, and kidnappers by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1930s were from the same family. Authorities believed the woman behind the band of violent hoodlums that ravaged the Midwest was their mother, Kate “Ma” Barker.
When the suggestion to kidnap Edward Bremer was presented to Ma, she ordered her crew to meet and discuss the proposal. In the summer of 1933, the Barker-Karpis Gang had kidnapped William Hamm, Jr., the president of Hamm’s Brewing Company. The caper was successful, yielding the gang $100,000 in cash for the return of the millionaire. News of the kidnapping was reported throughout the country. “Money or death was the ultimatum laid down by the culprits that absconded with Hamm’s Brewing Company executive,” the June 17, 1933, edition of the Albert Lea Evening Tribune read.
William had been captive near the same location in Bensenville, Illinois, where Edward Bremer was secured away. The police had withdrawn from the case at the request of the family. They were frightened of what might happen to William if law enforcement interfered. The ransom note from the abductors warned the Hamms that William would be shot and killed if the police were allowed any involvement. A note sent to William’s father instructed him to deliver the ransom money in “$5, $10, and $20 bills.” Payment of the ransom for the release of William, the kidnappers directed, was to be made using one of the company’s beer trucks. Not only did the Barker-Karpis Gang get the full amount they were asking in ransom, but when the authorities did begin investigating the kidnapping, a rival gang was arrested for the crime.
“J. Edgar Hoover himself announced from Washington that his men had put together a solid case against the Touhy gang,” Alvin Karpis wrote in his memoirs. “The scientific evidence left no doubt at all,” Hoover said, “that the Touhys were behind the kidnapping of William Hamm.”
The ease with which the Barker-Karpis Gang was able to get away with taking William and collecting the ransom was an argument for kidnapping Edward Bremer. In late December 1933, Ma’s boys convened at William Weaver’s apartment in St. Paul to talk through the details of the abduction. Who would trail Edward to learn about his habits, routine, friends, and work associates, who would write the ransom notes, who would deliver those notes to what contact, and when the job would be done were all determined. With the exception of Arthur, whom Ma suggested might have been a little too rough with the victim, everyone performed his duties as planned.
To learn more about Ma Barker and he Barker Gang read Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
Register to win a copy of Ma Barker: America's Most Wanted Mother here or when you visit www.chrisenss.com.
The Bad Mother's Handbook
Ma’s days are numbered. Enter now to win a copy of Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
In a time when notorious Depression-era criminals were terrorizing the country, the Barker-Karpis Gang stole more money than mobsters John Dillinger, Vern Miller, and Bonnie and Clyde combined. Five of the most wanted thieves, murderers, and kidnappers by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1930s were from the same family. Authorities believed the woman behind the band of violent hoodlums that ravaged the Midwest was their mother, Kate “Ma” Barker.
Ma Barker removed a tattered handkerchief from the navy blue pocketbook cradled in her lap and dabbed away a fake tear. The guards on duty at the Oklahoma Prison were disinterested in her supposed grief. Their job was to make sure the inmates at the facility moved efficiently from the visitor’s area back to their cells. Ma watched a pale-faced, stupefied guard escort her son Arthur out the room. It was mid-February 1920, and mother and son had concluded a short visit. A thick, long glass separated the convicts from the civilized world. Here, communication was done using plain, black phones minus a dial wheel, wired from one side of the glass to the other. Arthur and Ma each had their own receiver to talk through as did several other family and friends visiting their loved ones through the glass partition.
The iron-barred doors clanged shut as the last prisoner was ushered out the room. Ma sat stock-still until she heard the guard lock the door behind the inmates. As she turned to get up from her assigned seat, a heavyset guard approached her, and with flinty eyes, looked her up and down. She looked more frumpy than menacing. The coat she wore was big and bulky, frayed in spots, and a few buttons were missing. The tan, bell-shaped hat on her head had seen better days, and her hair underneath it was pinned back in a haphazard fashion. “My boys would be all right if the law would leave them alone,” she told the guard. He had no response and simply led her to the exit of the room, and she shuffled along as little old ladies do.
Two short siren blasts issued from the main building of the jail as Ma exited the complex. She glanced back at the other visitors following after her and at the stone walls topped with snaky concertina wire overhead. Once every guest had left the jail, the heavy steel doors were closed behind them.
A Cadillac sedan pulled in front of the detention center and stopped. Ma abandoned the old lady gait and hurried to the car as though nothing whatsoever was bothering her physically. She pulled off the old coat she was wearing and draped the fur wrap over her shoulders that one of the passengers inside the car handed her through the window. She opened the passenger’s side door and slid into the seat. The June 19, 1959 edition of the Amarillo Globe Times reported that the Jasper County filing clerk who witnessed Ma Barker leaving the prison saw her removing her hat and straightening her hair as the sedan drove away. “In a few moments she transformed from a somewhat feeble grandmother type to a hearty, rather spirited woman,” the clerk described.
To learn more about Ma Barker and he Barker Gang read Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
Visit www.chrisenss.com
In a time when notorious Depression-era criminals were terrorizing the country, the Barker-Karpis Gang stole more money than mobsters John Dillinger, Vern Miller, and Bonnie and Clyde combined. Five of the most wanted thieves, murderers, and kidnappers by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1930s were from the same family. Authorities believed the woman behind the band of violent hoodlums that ravaged the Midwest was their mother, Kate “Ma” Barker.
Ma Barker removed a tattered handkerchief from the navy blue pocketbook cradled in her lap and dabbed away a fake tear. The guards on duty at the Oklahoma Prison were disinterested in her supposed grief. Their job was to make sure the inmates at the facility moved efficiently from the visitor’s area back to their cells. Ma watched a pale-faced, stupefied guard escort her son Arthur out the room. It was mid-February 1920, and mother and son had concluded a short visit. A thick, long glass separated the convicts from the civilized world. Here, communication was done using plain, black phones minus a dial wheel, wired from one side of the glass to the other. Arthur and Ma each had their own receiver to talk through as did several other family and friends visiting their loved ones through the glass partition.
The iron-barred doors clanged shut as the last prisoner was ushered out the room. Ma sat stock-still until she heard the guard lock the door behind the inmates. As she turned to get up from her assigned seat, a heavyset guard approached her, and with flinty eyes, looked her up and down. She looked more frumpy than menacing. The coat she wore was big and bulky, frayed in spots, and a few buttons were missing. The tan, bell-shaped hat on her head had seen better days, and her hair underneath it was pinned back in a haphazard fashion. “My boys would be all right if the law would leave them alone,” she told the guard. He had no response and simply led her to the exit of the room, and she shuffled along as little old ladies do.
Two short siren blasts issued from the main building of the jail as Ma exited the complex. She glanced back at the other visitors following after her and at the stone walls topped with snaky concertina wire overhead. Once every guest had left the jail, the heavy steel doors were closed behind them.
A Cadillac sedan pulled in front of the detention center and stopped. Ma abandoned the old lady gait and hurried to the car as though nothing whatsoever was bothering her physically. She pulled off the old coat she was wearing and draped the fur wrap over her shoulders that one of the passengers inside the car handed her through the window. She opened the passenger’s side door and slid into the seat. The June 19, 1959 edition of the Amarillo Globe Times reported that the Jasper County filing clerk who witnessed Ma Barker leaving the prison saw her removing her hat and straightening her hair as the sedan drove away. “In a few moments she transformed from a somewhat feeble grandmother type to a hearty, rather spirited woman,” the clerk described.
To learn more about Ma Barker and he Barker Gang read Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
Visit www.chrisenss.com
Ma Barker's Last Days
Ma Barker’s last day. Last chance to enter to win a copy of Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
In a time when notorious Depression-era criminals were terrorizing the country, the Barker-Karpis Gang stole more money than mobsters John Dillinger, Vern Miller, and Bonnie and Clyde combined. Five of the most wanted thieves, murderers, and kidnappers by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1930s were from the same family. Authorities believed the woman behind the band of violent hoodlums that ravaged the Midwest was their mother, Kate “Ma” Barker.
Federal agents shouted to Ma Barker to surrender. The answer came in renewed flashes of fire, shooting from first one window, then another. Occasionally law enforcement officials could see Ma’s gray head or Fred’s dark, red hair as they darted like phantoms across the corner of a window. Hours passed and the fight continued with intermittent bursts of shooting. News of the battle had spread throughout the surrounding country; crowds were arriving, but they kept well back from the line of fire.
It was just before noon when the fusillade died out. Agents carefully inched their way out of their hiding spots and rushed toward the house. They lobbed tear-gas shells into the upstairs windows and waited for it to take effect. Federal authorities sent Willie Woodbury into the house to find out if anyone inside was alive. Agents reasoned the Barkers wouldn’t shoot the loyal servant. Willie entered through the back door moving slowly and cautiously. A minute later, he stuck his head out the upstairs window, coughing and wiping his eyes. The tear-gas fumes were overwhelming. “They are all dead,” he called out to the investigators below. An armed agent hurried into the building to confirm Willie’s findings. It was true. The Barkers were dead.
Ma Barker and Fred were found lying side by side. Her arm was around her youngest boy, his blood staining her breast. Eleven machine-gun slugs were taken from Fred’s corpse, but one shot in the head had killed Ma. Her pudgy hands clasped an empty machine gun. According to the FBI report, a .45 caliber automatic pistol was found near Fred’s body. The report also said:
A search of the house after the battle had disclosed $14,000 in $1,000 bills, and an investigation revealed that these $1,000 bills were a part of those that had been obtained by Cassius McDonald in Havana, Cuba, in exchange for the Bremer ransom money. There was also found other currency of smaller denominations totaling approximately $293.00.
A small arsenal was located in the house which consisted of: two Thompson submachine guns, one Browning .12 gauge automatic shotgun, one Remington .12 gauge pump shotgun, two .45 caliber automatic pistols, one .33 caliber Winchester rifle, and one .380 Colt automatic pistol, together with machine gun drums, automatic pistol clips, and a quantity of ammunition.
There was also found in the house a letter signed by B. L. Barnes which was a letter to Fred Barker from his brother Arthur. The letter read as follows: “Hello ever [sic] one how is that old sunshine down there fine I hope. Boy it is not so hot up here, for we are having some winter. I Bet you and Buff are not catching no fish now for I think I caught them all when I was down there. I took care of that Business for you Boys it was done. Just as good as if you had did it yourself. I am Just like the standard oil always at your service ha ha. Tell, Bo, you know the Boy with the rosey [sic] cheek that Moxey is up here looking for him and if it is alright to send him down. I have not seen c_ _ _k yet I have Been Busy on that other he was perrty [sic] hard to locate. But will see him right away, and see if he wants come down there. Tell mother that deer was mighty fine and I said hello and her and the squaw had better not let you Bums Beat them in a catching fish ha ha well I will close for this time as ever you [sic] Big Bud. B. L. Barnes.”
To learn more about Ma Barker and he Barker Gang read Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
This is the last day to register to win a copy of Ma Barker: America's Most Wanted Mother either through GoodReads or www.chrisenss.com.
In a time when notorious Depression-era criminals were terrorizing the country, the Barker-Karpis Gang stole more money than mobsters John Dillinger, Vern Miller, and Bonnie and Clyde combined. Five of the most wanted thieves, murderers, and kidnappers by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1930s were from the same family. Authorities believed the woman behind the band of violent hoodlums that ravaged the Midwest was their mother, Kate “Ma” Barker.
Federal agents shouted to Ma Barker to surrender. The answer came in renewed flashes of fire, shooting from first one window, then another. Occasionally law enforcement officials could see Ma’s gray head or Fred’s dark, red hair as they darted like phantoms across the corner of a window. Hours passed and the fight continued with intermittent bursts of shooting. News of the battle had spread throughout the surrounding country; crowds were arriving, but they kept well back from the line of fire.
It was just before noon when the fusillade died out. Agents carefully inched their way out of their hiding spots and rushed toward the house. They lobbed tear-gas shells into the upstairs windows and waited for it to take effect. Federal authorities sent Willie Woodbury into the house to find out if anyone inside was alive. Agents reasoned the Barkers wouldn’t shoot the loyal servant. Willie entered through the back door moving slowly and cautiously. A minute later, he stuck his head out the upstairs window, coughing and wiping his eyes. The tear-gas fumes were overwhelming. “They are all dead,” he called out to the investigators below. An armed agent hurried into the building to confirm Willie’s findings. It was true. The Barkers were dead.
Ma Barker and Fred were found lying side by side. Her arm was around her youngest boy, his blood staining her breast. Eleven machine-gun slugs were taken from Fred’s corpse, but one shot in the head had killed Ma. Her pudgy hands clasped an empty machine gun. According to the FBI report, a .45 caliber automatic pistol was found near Fred’s body. The report also said:
A search of the house after the battle had disclosed $14,000 in $1,000 bills, and an investigation revealed that these $1,000 bills were a part of those that had been obtained by Cassius McDonald in Havana, Cuba, in exchange for the Bremer ransom money. There was also found other currency of smaller denominations totaling approximately $293.00.
A small arsenal was located in the house which consisted of: two Thompson submachine guns, one Browning .12 gauge automatic shotgun, one Remington .12 gauge pump shotgun, two .45 caliber automatic pistols, one .33 caliber Winchester rifle, and one .380 Colt automatic pistol, together with machine gun drums, automatic pistol clips, and a quantity of ammunition.
There was also found in the house a letter signed by B. L. Barnes which was a letter to Fred Barker from his brother Arthur. The letter read as follows: “Hello ever [sic] one how is that old sunshine down there fine I hope. Boy it is not so hot up here, for we are having some winter. I Bet you and Buff are not catching no fish now for I think I caught them all when I was down there. I took care of that Business for you Boys it was done. Just as good as if you had did it yourself. I am Just like the standard oil always at your service ha ha. Tell, Bo, you know the Boy with the rosey [sic] cheek that Moxey is up here looking for him and if it is alright to send him down. I have not seen c_ _ _k yet I have Been Busy on that other he was perrty [sic] hard to locate. But will see him right away, and see if he wants come down there. Tell mother that deer was mighty fine and I said hello and her and the squaw had better not let you Bums Beat them in a catching fish ha ha well I will close for this time as ever you [sic] Big Bud. B. L. Barnes.”
To learn more about Ma Barker and he Barker Gang read Ma Barker: America’s Most Wanted Mother.
This is the last day to register to win a copy of Ma Barker: America's Most Wanted Mother either through GoodReads or www.chrisenss.com.
Life at the Crossbar Hotel
Enter to win a copy of The Death Row All Stars.
The sheriff of Uinta County delivered Joseph Seng to the state penitentiary on April 18, 1911. An endless blue sky was the backdrop for the massive, three-story structure that day. High, barbed wire fence lined the building on all sides, and a plaque on the structure read “Welcome to the Crossbar Hotel”. Felix Alston, who had taken over the duties of prison warden the day before, watched Seng arrive. A pair of guards helped the shackled and handcuffed prisoner out of the vehicle in which he was transferred. The iron-barred door in front was opened, and Seng was escorted inside the penitentiary. The doors were then closed and locked behind him.
According to Joseph Seng’s family, his father, Anthony, had cried when he read an article about his son in the April 22, 1911, edition of the Wyoming Press. “On last Monday morning Sheriff Ward and Special Deputy Sam Rider took Joseph Seng, the convicted murderer of William Lloyd, to the penitentiary where the man will be confined until he is executed,” the report announced. “Seng was handcuffed to Sheriff Ward . . . he passed through the streets of Evanston thus manacled; he was smoking a cigar, and was accompanied by his customary indifference as to the gravity of the situation.”
There was a standard routine for admitting an inmate into a state facility. The guards would lead a prisoner into an intake room and remove his shackles and chains. They would remove all items from the prisoner’s pockets and set them aside on a table to be inventoried. The prisoner was then ordered to remove his clothes. A guard carrying a fire hose would enter the intake room and point the hose at the prisoner. When the water was flipped on, the force generally slammed the prisoner back against the stone wall. After a few moments, the water was shut off, and the guards would pull the prisoner to his feet. A huge scoop of delousing powder was then tossed on him. Gasping and coughing, blinking powder from his eyes, the prisoner was then shoved toward a trustee cage, a small, defined area where the “trustee,” an inmate who had proven himself trustworthy and had been given a job within the prison, was separated from the prisoner by a thick wall of wire rope with a small slot in it.
Enter to win a copy of The Death Row All Stars here at GoodReads or when you visit www.chrisenss.com.
The sheriff of Uinta County delivered Joseph Seng to the state penitentiary on April 18, 1911. An endless blue sky was the backdrop for the massive, three-story structure that day. High, barbed wire fence lined the building on all sides, and a plaque on the structure read “Welcome to the Crossbar Hotel”. Felix Alston, who had taken over the duties of prison warden the day before, watched Seng arrive. A pair of guards helped the shackled and handcuffed prisoner out of the vehicle in which he was transferred. The iron-barred door in front was opened, and Seng was escorted inside the penitentiary. The doors were then closed and locked behind him.
According to Joseph Seng’s family, his father, Anthony, had cried when he read an article about his son in the April 22, 1911, edition of the Wyoming Press. “On last Monday morning Sheriff Ward and Special Deputy Sam Rider took Joseph Seng, the convicted murderer of William Lloyd, to the penitentiary where the man will be confined until he is executed,” the report announced. “Seng was handcuffed to Sheriff Ward . . . he passed through the streets of Evanston thus manacled; he was smoking a cigar, and was accompanied by his customary indifference as to the gravity of the situation.”
There was a standard routine for admitting an inmate into a state facility. The guards would lead a prisoner into an intake room and remove his shackles and chains. They would remove all items from the prisoner’s pockets and set them aside on a table to be inventoried. The prisoner was then ordered to remove his clothes. A guard carrying a fire hose would enter the intake room and point the hose at the prisoner. When the water was flipped on, the force generally slammed the prisoner back against the stone wall. After a few moments, the water was shut off, and the guards would pull the prisoner to his feet. A huge scoop of delousing powder was then tossed on him. Gasping and coughing, blinking powder from his eyes, the prisoner was then shoved toward a trustee cage, a small, defined area where the “trustee,” an inmate who had proven himself trustworthy and had been given a job within the prison, was separated from the prisoner by a thick wall of wire rope with a small slot in it.
Enter to win a copy of The Death Row All Stars here at GoodReads or when you visit www.chrisenss.com.
Path to Righteousness
Take a chance. Enter to win a copy of the book The Death Row All Stars. Visit www.chrisenss.com
It was evident after practicing with the other men on the team only a short while that Joseph Seng was an exceptional baseball player. News of the talented addition to Alston’s All Stars spread quickly throughout the area. Patrons who frequented the Turf Exchange, the Senate, the Elkhorn, and other watering holes in Rawlins, speculated on how well the team would do against more established ball clubs in the region. George Saban encouraged such talk whenever he made stops at the saloons as part of his duties transporting items to and from the prison accompanied by prison guard D. O. Johnson in the penitentiary wagon. Security was always lax where Saban was concerned. He came and went from tavern to tavern as he pleased and boasted about the baseball team he helped manage.
Betting on baseball was commonplace in 1911, regardless of its legality. Partnering with a drifter named George Streplis, a man who had been arrested in March 1911 in Wyoming and held over for trial on gambling charges, Saban had plans to capitalize on the trend of betting on baseball games by urging patrons at saloons in Rawlins to bet heavily on the Death Row All Stars. Any ideas Saban had about placing bets on the penitentiary ball club were tabled, however, until he knew how long Seng would be at the Rawlins facility. He didn’t want to gamble on the team if Seng wasn’t going to be at the prison long enough to play with the All Stars. An appeal of his sentence had been filed with the governor immediately; on June 15, 1911, Governor Carey responded favorably to the appeal, and, on July 18, 1911, the Chief Justice Board of the state Supreme Court granted a stay of execution in his case.
Regardless of the fact that his time as head of the prison lessee program was coming to an end, Otto Gramm believed he had some lingering influence at the facility. He did own all the equipment and material used to manufacture the brooms, and, as long as that was the case, he would insist on being a part of the business, visiting the penitentiary and played like professionals. There was no infighting, and players didn’t discuss the specifics of their criminal history with one another. The focus was the game.
The stories of the men who took to the field were varied. Shortstop Joseph Guzzardo had killed a woman in 1908 while shooting at a man who was threatening his life. Eugene Rowan, the first baseman, had been convicted of breaking and entering and attempted rape in Cheyenne. Right fielder and catcher James Powell had attacked a young woman. Team captain George Saban had pled guilty to three killings. And catcher and fielder Joseph Seng had been sentenced to death for the murder of a man in Uinta County.
Every time a player came to bat and slapped a ripping fastball on the nose for a solid hit to left field or someone snatched up a red-hot grounder and heaved it to the proper base to get an out, the All Stars forgot they were little more than caged creatures. Warden Alston and Saban stood on the baselines conferring on strategies of the game, discussing when a good bunt would beat a strong hit and how best to utilize each player. But the ever-watchful Gramm believed that their conversation went deeper than that. Prison guard D. O. Johnson had reported to Gramm that Saban was illegally betting on the All Stars’ games using money given to him by Warden Alston. Gramm relayed the information to Senator Francis Warren, who suspected the rumor might have a future and that Governor Carey, who had handpicked Warden Alston for the job, was also involved. Senator Warren once said of Governor Carey, “If I hadn’t known Carey from the time he stepped off the train in 1869, a green boy up to the present, and hadn’t figured inside of the inner circles so much with him in political affairs, he might possibly fool me once in a while, for he surely is the most monumental hypocrite, and the most infernal liar—when necessary—that God ever permitted to live.
Enter to win a copy of the book The Death Row All Stars when you visit www.chrisenss.com.
It was evident after practicing with the other men on the team only a short while that Joseph Seng was an exceptional baseball player. News of the talented addition to Alston’s All Stars spread quickly throughout the area. Patrons who frequented the Turf Exchange, the Senate, the Elkhorn, and other watering holes in Rawlins, speculated on how well the team would do against more established ball clubs in the region. George Saban encouraged such talk whenever he made stops at the saloons as part of his duties transporting items to and from the prison accompanied by prison guard D. O. Johnson in the penitentiary wagon. Security was always lax where Saban was concerned. He came and went from tavern to tavern as he pleased and boasted about the baseball team he helped manage.
Betting on baseball was commonplace in 1911, regardless of its legality. Partnering with a drifter named George Streplis, a man who had been arrested in March 1911 in Wyoming and held over for trial on gambling charges, Saban had plans to capitalize on the trend of betting on baseball games by urging patrons at saloons in Rawlins to bet heavily on the Death Row All Stars. Any ideas Saban had about placing bets on the penitentiary ball club were tabled, however, until he knew how long Seng would be at the Rawlins facility. He didn’t want to gamble on the team if Seng wasn’t going to be at the prison long enough to play with the All Stars. An appeal of his sentence had been filed with the governor immediately; on June 15, 1911, Governor Carey responded favorably to the appeal, and, on July 18, 1911, the Chief Justice Board of the state Supreme Court granted a stay of execution in his case.
Regardless of the fact that his time as head of the prison lessee program was coming to an end, Otto Gramm believed he had some lingering influence at the facility. He did own all the equipment and material used to manufacture the brooms, and, as long as that was the case, he would insist on being a part of the business, visiting the penitentiary and played like professionals. There was no infighting, and players didn’t discuss the specifics of their criminal history with one another. The focus was the game.
The stories of the men who took to the field were varied. Shortstop Joseph Guzzardo had killed a woman in 1908 while shooting at a man who was threatening his life. Eugene Rowan, the first baseman, had been convicted of breaking and entering and attempted rape in Cheyenne. Right fielder and catcher James Powell had attacked a young woman. Team captain George Saban had pled guilty to three killings. And catcher and fielder Joseph Seng had been sentenced to death for the murder of a man in Uinta County.
Every time a player came to bat and slapped a ripping fastball on the nose for a solid hit to left field or someone snatched up a red-hot grounder and heaved it to the proper base to get an out, the All Stars forgot they were little more than caged creatures. Warden Alston and Saban stood on the baselines conferring on strategies of the game, discussing when a good bunt would beat a strong hit and how best to utilize each player. But the ever-watchful Gramm believed that their conversation went deeper than that. Prison guard D. O. Johnson had reported to Gramm that Saban was illegally betting on the All Stars’ games using money given to him by Warden Alston. Gramm relayed the information to Senator Francis Warren, who suspected the rumor might have a future and that Governor Carey, who had handpicked Warden Alston for the job, was also involved. Senator Warren once said of Governor Carey, “If I hadn’t known Carey from the time he stepped off the train in 1869, a green boy up to the present, and hadn’t figured inside of the inner circles so much with him in political affairs, he might possibly fool me once in a while, for he surely is the most monumental hypocrite, and the most infernal liar—when necessary—that God ever permitted to live.
Enter to win a copy of the book The Death Row All Stars when you visit www.chrisenss.com.
Betting on a Win
Enter to win a copy of the Death Row All Stars: A Story of Baseball, Corruption, and Murder.
Every day Joseph Seng took his usual position beside the guard’s desk in the mess hall and studied the inmates as they entered the room. Perhaps this was his way of fighting the monotony and routine of daily prison life. Maybe Seng was trying to assert himself as someone not to be trifled with, or maybe he had no agenda whatsoever. Some convicts believed he was a threat to the position they perceived to hold in the hierarchy of prisoners. Seng didn’t worry about what anyone thought of him. He maintained his spot by the desk regardless of the occasional disapproving glance.
In early August 1911 a particularly disagreeable inmate tired of Seng’s habit and decided to kill him. The displeased man who wanted Joseph dead wore a ball-and-chain restraint that clanged behind him as he shuffled along. His arms were generally full of the ten-pound ball attached to the iron links. His heavily bearded face was weathered, and his mouth was set in a perpetual snarl that looked inexpressively evil. He gave Seng a rough look as he passed by him and hauled himself and his ball and chain up a flight of steel stairs.
Once the violent inmate made it to the second landing of the facility, he stopped to look out over the people below, his face “filled with rage,” according to a story provided by an inmate and included in the Annals of Wyoming. “His cell was back at the farthest end of the top gallery,” the prisoner recalled. “At the top of the stairs there was a small box of sand about half full for a sort of trash receptacle. The box was about ten inches wide and probably two feet in length. The fellow set the iron ball on the floor of the gallery and picked up a box of sand. He raised it above his head and dropped it straight down at the head of Seng, twenty-five feet almost directly below.
“As the leaden box went down Seng partly turned to speak to the guard and the box struck the floor with a crash like the report of a gun and burst straight through the center sending sand in all directions. If Seng hadn’t turned just as he did it would have landed on his head. The fellow picked up the iron ball and went down the gallery to his cell. He had sawed the rivet in two that held the iron on his ankle and as he opened the door he loosened the thing from his leg and threw the ball and chain over the gallery. It struck the table and went straight through the floor leaving a six-foot length of board standing straight up in the center of the table.”
Although Seng was shaken by the attempt made on his life, it didn’t carry over to his performance on the baseball field. The Death Row All Stars were scheduled to cross bats for a second time with the Wyoming Supply Company Juniors on August 4, 1911. The prison team practiced often in July in preparation for the event.
Even in practices, the Death Row All Stars played with gusto and even temperament. They worked together as one cohesive unit and made the sport look like the easiest game in the world. They seemed to cherish the smell of the leather glove, the snap of the ball smacking their palms, the sensation of letting loose a throw and kicking up a cloud of dust. These were deep pleasures in a world that didn’t offer many happy moments, and they relished this one.
To learn more about the inmates who played baseball for their lives read the Death Row All Stars: The Story of Baseball, Corruption, and Murder.
Enter to win a copy of the Death Row All Stars on Good Reads or when you visit www.chrisenss.com.
Every day Joseph Seng took his usual position beside the guard’s desk in the mess hall and studied the inmates as they entered the room. Perhaps this was his way of fighting the monotony and routine of daily prison life. Maybe Seng was trying to assert himself as someone not to be trifled with, or maybe he had no agenda whatsoever. Some convicts believed he was a threat to the position they perceived to hold in the hierarchy of prisoners. Seng didn’t worry about what anyone thought of him. He maintained his spot by the desk regardless of the occasional disapproving glance.
In early August 1911 a particularly disagreeable inmate tired of Seng’s habit and decided to kill him. The displeased man who wanted Joseph dead wore a ball-and-chain restraint that clanged behind him as he shuffled along. His arms were generally full of the ten-pound ball attached to the iron links. His heavily bearded face was weathered, and his mouth was set in a perpetual snarl that looked inexpressively evil. He gave Seng a rough look as he passed by him and hauled himself and his ball and chain up a flight of steel stairs.
Once the violent inmate made it to the second landing of the facility, he stopped to look out over the people below, his face “filled with rage,” according to a story provided by an inmate and included in the Annals of Wyoming. “His cell was back at the farthest end of the top gallery,” the prisoner recalled. “At the top of the stairs there was a small box of sand about half full for a sort of trash receptacle. The box was about ten inches wide and probably two feet in length. The fellow set the iron ball on the floor of the gallery and picked up a box of sand. He raised it above his head and dropped it straight down at the head of Seng, twenty-five feet almost directly below.
“As the leaden box went down Seng partly turned to speak to the guard and the box struck the floor with a crash like the report of a gun and burst straight through the center sending sand in all directions. If Seng hadn’t turned just as he did it would have landed on his head. The fellow picked up the iron ball and went down the gallery to his cell. He had sawed the rivet in two that held the iron on his ankle and as he opened the door he loosened the thing from his leg and threw the ball and chain over the gallery. It struck the table and went straight through the floor leaving a six-foot length of board standing straight up in the center of the table.”
Although Seng was shaken by the attempt made on his life, it didn’t carry over to his performance on the baseball field. The Death Row All Stars were scheduled to cross bats for a second time with the Wyoming Supply Company Juniors on August 4, 1911. The prison team practiced often in July in preparation for the event.
Even in practices, the Death Row All Stars played with gusto and even temperament. They worked together as one cohesive unit and made the sport look like the easiest game in the world. They seemed to cherish the smell of the leather glove, the snap of the ball smacking their palms, the sensation of letting loose a throw and kicking up a cloud of dust. These were deep pleasures in a world that didn’t offer many happy moments, and they relished this one.
To learn more about the inmates who played baseball for their lives read the Death Row All Stars: The Story of Baseball, Corruption, and Murder.
Enter to win a copy of the Death Row All Stars on Good Reads or when you visit www.chrisenss.com.
