Alvin Karpis
public enemy number one
Alvin Articles
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May 2,1936 ALVIN KARPIS,NO.1 GANGSTER,CAPTURED BY HOOVER IN NEW ORLEANS TRAP - FUGITIVE TAKEN WITHOUT FIGHT BY U.S. AGENTS - MAN AND WOMAN ALSO SEIZED AT DESPERADO'S APARTMENT
Alvin Karpis,public enemy No.1,with a reward of $7,000 on his head,wanted for kidnapings,robberies,murders,today was a captive of department of justice agents,bound for the north to stand trial for his misdeeds.
Karpis,the last man at large of a major gang,had long boasted,"I will never be taken alive."
But when G-man swarmed about him as he emerged from an apartment building here,he surrendered hastily,without a word,his hands high in the air.
TWO OTHERS NABBED
Other agents went to action at once.They went to the Karpis apartment and,after a struggle,arrested a handsome,22 year old girl,whose identity the agents still are concealing,and Fred Hunter,a suspected bank robber.
Karpis and the girl had lived in the apartment as Mr. and Mrs. Edward O'Hara since April 10,when Karpis is believed to have first come to New Orleans.
Karpis had made at least two mysterious automobile trips since then.Returning from one,he was accompanied by Hunter.Federal men believe that he had gone to a distant city and with Hunter participated in a hold-up.Federal agents suspected him of using New Orleans as a base for a number of robberies.
RUSHED BY PLANE
Karpis was rushed to department of justice headquarters here and questioned.Less than five hours after his meek surrender,the former terrorist of the midwest was chained hand and foot and rushed to the bar of justice by plane.Federal agents
May 24,1935 ALVIN KARPIS IS STILL AT LARGE;WAS JUST ORDINARY BURGLAR
Jack Loague was just another citizen in trouble with the law today as he awaited resumption of his journey to Memphis,Tenn.,to face burglary charges.Yesterday,however,Loague was,to a reading public that saw him through his own description as relayed by an airplane stewardess,"Alvin Karpis,public enemy No.1" traveling eastward by plane,attired in pajamas and chains and in custody of two federal agents.Since for several hours few persons knew the difference.Loague attracted as much attention as if he had been "public enemy Karpis." Then the plane bearing him eastward landed at Chicago and the mystery was cleared hurriedly.Loague was further identified by Detective Sergeant A.O.Clark of Memphis,who had him in charge for the trip from Vale,Ore.,to Memphis.
April 26,1936 KARPIS - CAMPBELL NOTICES RECEIVED - REWARDS OFFERED FOR ARREST OF BANDIT PAIR -
Miami police today were in possession of circulars giving descriptions of Alvin Karpis,Public Enemy No.1,and his companion,Harry Campbell.The notices,received yesterday,offer rewards of $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of Karpis and $2,500 for Campbell.The two,with their women companions,escaped from Miami a year and a half ago after having lived in a N.E. 82nd st. house for some time.They also were guests of a downtown hotel for weeks.The party fled from their north-east section house immediately after department of justice agents had killed Fred Barker and his mother in a machine gun battle in central Florida.Barker had been associated with them.Shortly after leaving Miami,Karpis and Campbell shot their way clear of a justice department trap in Atlantic City,N.J. Joseph H.Adams,hotel and dog track operator,and Henry Stern,also known as Duke Randall, arrested here shortly after the escape of the desperadoes,now await trial in federal court on haboring charges.
January 18,1937 KARPIS GANG PILOT HELD ON FEDERAL COUNT
Emerich B.F[?]eed,U.S. district attorney,announced today the arrest of John Zetzer,36,named in a secret federal grand jury indictment relating to a $46,000 Erie mail robbery which the government claimed was staged by the Alvin Karpis gang.Zetzer,aviator,marine mechanic and garage operator,said he unwittingly flew Karpis and two henchmen from Ohio to Hot Springs,Ark. and Tulsa,Okla.,a short time after the train robbery.He was taken into custody at Port Clinton,O.,his home.
January 7,1969 KARPIS COMES HOME
Orders for the release and deportation of Alvin Karpis,one time public enemy No.1 and McNeil Island federal penitentiary's best-known prisoner,have been received by the United States department of immigration and naturalization.A spokesman for the office said Monday a news conference will be held in Seattle Jan. 14,the date of Karpis' release.Karpis,co-leader of the Karpis-Barker gang of the mid-1930s,will be deported to Canada.The former gangster has been in McNeil Island since 1962.Karpis' first 25 years of confinement were spent in Alcatraz and he was transferred to McNeil after Alcatraz closed.
June 25,1969 KARPIS FRIEND OF INMATE
Alvin Karpis,one-time public enemy No.1 of the 1930s,has become No.1 friend to a 70-year-old Kansas State Prison inmate.In a petition to Gov.Robert Docking,of Kansas,Karpis swears that the June,1932 robbery of a bank in Ft.Scott,Kan.,was committed by the Karpis-(Ma)Barker gang,and not by Frank Sawyer,who is doing 20 to 100 years on the conviction in Kansas State Prison,Lansing.Karpis was released from McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary last January after 33 years behind bars,including 25 at Alcatraz.He now lives in Montreal.James Carty,of Woodland,Karpis' attorney,said Monday that the Karpis' sworn statement to the Gov.Docking had been mailed.In his petition, Karpis claims that he "and his associates" robbed the Ft.Scott bank and fled to Kansas City,Mo.There,he said,the Karpis-Barker gang learned that Sawyer,and two men named Jim Clark and Ed Davis,had been arrested for the robbery.Robert Ochs,Docking's pardon attorney,confirmed Sawyer has been in Kansas state prison since 1962.