List of Depression-era outlaws

This is a list of Depression-era outlaws spanning the years of Prohibition and the Great Depression known as the Public Enemy era. Those include, but are not limited to, high-profile criminals wanted by state and federal law enforcement agencies for armed robbery, kidnapping, murder and other violent crime.

Prohibition and the "Public Enemy" era (1919-1939)

Name	Portrait	Life	Comments
Edward J. Adams		1887-1921	Bootlegger, car thief, murderer. After being sentenced to life imprisonment, Adams escaped custody twice. He was killed in a shootout with police. [1] [2]
George "Dutch" Anderson	No image available	1879-1925	Anderson and his associates successfully robbed a US Mail truck of $2.4 million in cash, bonds, and jewelry. [1]
John Ashley	No image available	1895-1924	[1]
Harvey John Bailey	No image available	1887-1979	Considered one of the most successful bank robbers of the 1920's, Bailey stole over a million dollars. Bailey spent 31 years in prison and died at the age 91 in Joplin, Missouri. [1]
Basil "The Owl" Banghart	No image available	1900-1982	[1]
Ma Barker	No image available	1873-1935	Legendary associate of the Barker-Karpis gang. [1]
Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker		1909-1934	See Bonnie and Clyde. [1]
Albert Bates	No image available	d. 1948	[1]
Edward Wilheim Bentz	No image available	1895-1936	[1]
Joe Bergl	No image available	1901-1950	A mechanic for Al Capone, he supplied Capone with custom-made vehicles. The vehicles were designed for protection and evasion purposes and included armor plating, smokescreens, and oil slicks. [1]
George Birdwell	No image available	1894-1932	[1]
Fred William Bowerman	No image available	1893-1953	[1]
Ford Bradshaw	No image available	1908-1934	Bank robber who was killed resisting arrest. [1]
Robert "Big Bob" Brady	No image available	1904-1934	[1]
Al Brady	No image available	1911-1937	[1]
Harry Brunette	No image available	1911-?	[1]
Fred "Killer" Burke		1885-1940	Burke was an armed robber, contract killer, and primary suspect in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Burke was named America's most wanted man. Eventually imprisoned, he died there of heart disease.[1] [3]
John Callahan	No image available	1866-1936	[1]
Tommy Carroll	No image available	1901-1934	[1]
Gerald Chapman	No image available	1888-1926	Chapman was known as the "Count of Gramercy Park" and was convicted of several robberies and murders. Eventually considered one of America's top ten criminals, Chapman was convicted of the murder of police officer James Skelly. He was sentenced to hang and was executed on April 6, 1926.[1] [4]
John Paul Chase	No image available	1901-1973	[1]
Vivian Chase	No image available	1902-1935	Chase was an associate of several robbers, including her husband, George Chase, and Charlie Mayes. However, she is best known for her role in the kidnapping of banker August Luer. Because Luer was not in good health, Chase and her partner O'Malley released him not long after his capture. O'Malley was eventually arrested, while Chase escaped. She was later found dead in car outside St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.[1]
James "Oklahoma Jack" Clark	No image available		Clark was a bank robber who stole more than $15,000 from a bank in Clinton, Indiana. Held in an Indiana state prison, he met John Dillinger, Harry Pierpont, and others. He escaped using pistols smuggled in by a visitor, but was recaptured shortly thereafter. He died in prison.[1]
Jim Clark	No image available	1902-1974	[1]
Russell "Boobie" Clark	No image available	d. 1968	[1]
Joseph Cretzer and Arnold Kyle	No image available		[1]
Francis "Two Gun" Crowley	No image available	1912-1932	[1]
James "Killer" Cunniffe	No image available	1896-1926	[1]
Ed Davis	No image available	1900-1937	[1]
Volney "Curley" Davis	No image available	1902-1978	[1]
DeAutremont Brothers	No image available		[1]
Lawrence De Vol	No image available	1895-1936	[1]
Benny and Stella Dickson	No image available		The Dicksons were husband and wife and turned to crime shortly after their marriage. Shortly after Stella's 16th birthday, they robbed a bank in Elkton, South Dakota, taking more than $2000. Stella earned the nickname "Sure Shot" by shooting out the tires of a police patrol car after a heist in Michigan. Benny was killed by FBI agents in St. Louis. Stella was captured and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.[1]
John Herbert Dillinger		1903-1934	[1]
Frederick Grant Dunn	No image available	1905-1958	[1]
Martin James Durkin	No image available	1900-1981[5]	[1]
Aussie Elliott	No image available	1914-1934	Elliott was an associate of George Birdwell and Pretty Boy Floyd. He was convicted of bank robbery in 1922 and was sent to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. He escaped ten years later. In 1934, Elliott died in a gun battle with police near Sapulpa, Oklahoma.[1]
Frank P. Ellis	No image available		[1]
Herbert Allen "Deafy" Farmer	No image available	d. 1948	[1]
Julius Finney	No image available		[1]
Jake Fleagle	No image available	1890-1930	[1]
Charles Authur "Pretty Boy" Floyd		1904-1934	Floyd was an American bank robber and alleged killer, romanticized by the press and by folk singer Woody Guthrie in his song "Pretty Boy Floyd". Time magazine listed his first robbery as $3.50 in pennies from a local post office at the age of eighteen. He was arrested and convicted of payroll robbery three years later.[6][1]
Ralph Fults	No image available	1911-1993	[1]
Roy Gardner	No image available	1886-1938	[1]
Russell "Slim Gray" Gibson	No image available	d. 1935	[1]
Fred "Shotgun" George Ziegler Goetz	No image available	1896-1934	[1]
Eddie Green	No image available	1898-1934	[1]
Floyd Garland Hamilton	No image available	1908-1984	[1]
John "Red" Hamilton		1899-1934?	[1]
Raymond Hamilton	No image available	1913-1935	[1]
Thomas J. Holden and Francis L. Keating	No image available		[1]
Alva-Dewey Hunt and Hugh Gant	No image available		[1]
Elmer H. Inman	No image available	1880-1939	[1]
Eleanor "The Blonde Tigress" Jarman	No image available	1904-?	[1]
Charles E. Johnson	No image available		[1]
William Daniel Jones	No image available	1915-1974	[1]
Alvin "Old Creepy" Karpis		1908-1979	[1]
George "Machine Gun" Kelly		1895-1954	[1]
John Allen Kendrick	No image available	1897-?	[1]
Matthew Kimes and Ray Terrill	No image available		[1]
Jean LaBanta	No image available	1879-?	[1]
Herman K. "Baron" Lamm		1890-1930	[1]
Hyman S. Lehman	No image available		[1]
Clarence Lieder	No image available	1906-1969	[1]
Wilhelm Loeser	No image available	1876-1935	[1]
Henry Loftus and Harry Donaldson	No image available		[1]
Charles Makley		1889-1934	[1]
Ben Golden McCollum	No image available	1909-1963	[1]
Henry Methvin	No image available	1912-1948	[1]
Vernon C. Miller		1896-1933	[1]
William "Billy the Killer" Miller	No image available	1906-1931	[1]
Joseph P. Moran	No image available	1905-1934	[1]
Edna "Rabbits" Murray	No image available	d. 1966	[1]
Frank "Jelly" Nash	No image available	1887-1933	[1]
George "Baby Face" Nelson		1908-1934	[1]
Harry "Pete" Pierpont		1902-1934	[1]
Adam "Eddie" Richetti	No image available	1909-1938	[1]
Verne Sankey and Gordon Alcorn	No image available	1890-1934	[1]
James Franklin Sawyer	No image available	1899-1979	[1]
William Francis Sutton		1901-1980	[1]
Nicholas "Chaw Jimmie" Trainor	No image available	d. 1922	[1]
Wilbur "Mad Dog" Underhill, Jr.	No image available	1901-1934	[1]
Homer "Wayne" Van Meter		1906-1934	[1]
Richard Whittemore	No image available	1898-1926	[1]

References

External links

• Public Enemy #1 Gallery: Depression-Era Desperadoes
• Gangsters vs. Outlaws