Alvin Vs FBI

This page is a comparison of Alvin's side of the story and the FBI's side of the story. I'll leave it up to you to decide who you believe was telling the truth.

On August 10,1908,Alvin was born in Montreal,Canada as Francis Albin Karpowicz to Anna and John Karpowicz.

In 1910,Alvin's family moved to Topeka,Kansas.Alvin's home was situated on a small farm that consisted of some cows and a chicken house.His father provided for the family by working as a full-time design painter for the Santa Fe Railroad.Alvin attended only one year at the Branner Elementary School in Topeka.

When Alvin was around 10-years-old,he claimed that he began to run errands for pimps,whores and petty gamblers.He also stated that his very first robbery took place here with an eighteen-year-old named Arthur Witchey,which both broke into a grocery store,and were never caught.

In 1923,Alvin moved with his family to Chicago,Illinois.Alvin's father worked as a janitor while Alvin worked as an errand boy for a drug company,which he said he was later promoted to a shipping clerk position.

In 1925,Alvin began to have severe chest pains;when he was taken to the hospital,he was diagnosed with 'leakage of the heart,' and was told to take an extended vacation.Going on doctor's orders,Alvin moved back to Topeka,Kansas,where he lived with one of his sisters.When he moved back,he stated that a friend and he ran a hamburger stand that doubled as a base for peddling illegal booze.

Later on,Alvin claimed that he started to hop illegally on freight trains,which he was arrested for in Van Buren,Arkansas atop a Pan American train that was heading for Florida;his sentence was 30 days on a chain gang.

John Karpowicz

Alvin at 17

In 1926,Alvin was arrested for robbing a warehouse in Kansas. Alvin stated that because of the 30 day chain gang he served,he was given the steep sentence of 5-10 years,but the FBI claims that Alvin was never given a 30 day chain gang charge,and he was given a straight 10-year sentence.Either way,Alvin had to serve out his sentence at a Reformatory in Hutchinson,Kansas.

While Alvin served his time in Hutchinson,he worked as a baker's helper,but spent a majority of his time in isolation because he continued to break rules.However,he became friends with a fellow inmate named Lawrence DeVol.

In 1929,according to the FBI,Alvin escaped from the Reformatory with another inmate named Charles Carroll,but Alvin claims that he,DeVol and two other inmates (one possibly being Carroll),escaped from the Reformatory together.If the FBI's version is correct,Alvin and Carroll split up after the escape,and Alvin headed straight to Chicago to live with his parents,where he tried to go 'straight' by working at various bakeries and selling medical supplies door-to-door.

According to Alvin,he and DeVol split up from the other two inmates,then drove across Kansas,Colorado and Oklahoma together,not returning to Chicago until a year later.He did state that he worked at a bakery called 'Becker's Bakery' after returning to Chicago,but the owner let him go because he couldn't afford to pay him anymore.

Either way that it happened,DeVol showed up in Chicago to meet with Alvin.

Alvin said that he and DeVol went to Bristow,Oklahoma and Kansas before heading to Kansas City,Missouri,but the FBI believes they went from Chicago straight to Missouri.

What can be confirmed is that Alvin and DeVol were arrested in Missouri in March of 1930 for auto larceny and safe blowing.

DeVol and Alvin after arrest in 1930

Alvin tried to use the alias "Raymond Hadley" to keep from getting recognized as one of the escapees from the Kansas Reformatory,but an officer saw through the facade.He was sent back to Kansas for escaping,but because of his "bad reputation" for breaking rules at the Reformatory,he was transferred to the Kansas State Penitentary in Lansing,Kansas on May 19,1930.

At this prison,Alvin befriended a fellow inmate that would change his life: Fred Barker.

Alvin didn't break as many rules here as he did at the Reformatory,most believe he didn't so that he could obtain an early parole for good behavior.

He worked in the coal mine on the prison grounds where each prisoner was expected to dig a certain amount of coal a day,and for each ton mined over the required amount,the prisoner would have time taken off his sentence.

Alvin arranged to buy coal from "long-timers" in the coal mine,and was able to gain an early parole on May 2,1931.

Fred Barker was paroled before Alvin,and had told him to meet up with him when he got out,so Alvin soon met up with him,but where is up to debate.The FBI claims that Alvin met up with Fred in Tulsa,Oklahoma,but Alvin says he met up with Fred in Joplin,Missouri.

After meeting up,the two robbed jewelry and clothing stores,but on June 10,1931, they were both arrested for burglary and theft of jewelry.

Fred was sent to Claremore,Oklahoma to await trial,but he escaped. Alvin,on September 10,1931,pleaded guilty under the alias 'George Haller,' and was sentenced to four years at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary,but due-to restitution,he was released early on parole.

Weeks later,Alvin met up with Fred in Thayer,Missouri where they laid out the plans to rob a bank.

Mountain View,Missouri bank robbery:

Involved: Alvin(robber),Fred(getaway driver),Bill Weaver(robber) and Jimmie Wilson(look out)

At 3am: Alvin and Weaver broke into the bank and waited for employees to arrive in the morning

At 9am: Employees started to arrive at the bank;one employee was made to open the vault,which Alvin and Weaver took,then placed the employees inside the vault,unlocked.

Nothing went wrong and no one was hurt.

They walked away with $7,000.

On December 18,1931,the FBI states that Alvin and Fred robbed a store in West Plains,Missouri,but Alvin claims that the robbery never took place.

December 19,1931,Sheriff C.R.Kelly was killed by,who,is up to debate: the FBI says that Alvin and Fred went to the Davidson Motor Company Garage in West Plains,Missouri where their car was recognized by the local Sheriff as the one seen at the store robbery the day before.It's believed the two were trying to sell flat tires to the garage for cash.When the Sheriff walked over to investigate the vehicle,he was fired on.He later died from his wounds.

Fred Barker

Alvin's side of the story is that Fred and Weaver had borrowed his car to sell a few flat tires that they had on-hand,then the two went to the Davidson Garage.When they were questioned by Sheriff Kelly,he attempted to frisk the two of them,Fred then opened fire on the Sheriff,followed by back-up fire from Weaver.Alvin noted that Fred's shots were the fatal shots.His car was then left at the garage while Fred and Weaver fled on foot.This,Alvin believes,is what tied him to the murder of Sheriff Kelly.

The FBI disputes that the car that was at the Davidson Garage was found abandoned near Weaver's home.

The FBI continues to state that Alvin fled the state with Fred,Ma Barker (Fred's mother) and her boyfriend,A.W.Dunlop.When the FBI raided the cottage that all four had been staying at at the time of Kelly's murder,they found missing tires from the robbery the day before,and that fifty tires were still missing from the store.

Alvin claims that he stayed in Missiouri while Fred,Ma,and Dunlop left the state,claiming that he wanted to see how bad the 'heat' was over the murder of the Sheriff.He said that when he realized he was being linked to the murder,he started wandering through the woods until he found himself in Mammoth Springs,Arkansas.

Ma and A.W.Dunlop

Even if Alvin did or didn't flee with the Barkers and Dunlop,it's believed that the Barkers stopped at the home of a good friend named Herbert Farmer,in Joplin,Missouri.The FBI states that Farmer was the one who gave them the idea to go to St.Paul,Minnesota until things cooled down.

Either way,Alvin ended up in St.Paul with the Barkers,where they rented a house at 1031 South Roberts Street.

Alvin said that Dunlop had a drunken conversation with the landlady's son,and that Dunlop's tongue slipped about the crimes Alvin and Fred had committed.

The FBI states that the landlady's son had recognized Alvin and Fred from a Detective's magazine article where they were wanted for the murder of Sheriff Kelly.

However it happened,the authorities received a phone call from the landlady's son on April 25,1932.

Fred received a phone call in the wee hours of the morning on April 25,1932,from a friend and fellow criminal,Harry Sawyer,stating that a crooked cop told him that the local police had been tipped off where Fred and Alvin were staying.After the phone call,Dunlop was checked into a hotel under an alias,while Alvin,Fred and Ma headed for Kansas City,Missouri.

The rented house in Minnesota,today

On April 26,1932,Dunlop's nude body was found on the shores of Lake Frendsted near Webster,Wisconsin.He had been shot three times at close range with a .45.

Alvin claimed that neither he nor Fred killed Dunlop,but that Harry Sawyer had done it as a favor to the two,but the FBI claims that they found a woman's glove only feet from Dunlop's body...official records did NOT state that Ma had killed Dunlop,but that they believe Alvin or Fred did,and Ma helped with the disposal of the body.

After arriving in Kansas City,Alvin,Fred and Ma rented an apartment at the Country Club Plaza on 4804 Jefferson Street.The three posed as a mother with her two sons,who worked in the insurance business.

While here,Alvin met up with DeVol while becoming acquainted with fellow criminals Francis Keating,Thomas Holden,Harvey Bailey and Phil Courtney.Together,the group decided to rob a bank in Fort Scott,Kansas on June 17,1932.

Fort Scott,Kansas bank robbery:

(Alvin states that Keating did not participate in this robbery,but the FBI says that he did)

Involved: Harvey Bailey,Alvin,Lawrence DeVol,Fred Barker,Phil Courtney,Thomas Holden(getaway driver)

During the robbery,Bailey and Alvin held the tellers at gunpoint while DeVol,Fred and Courtney grabbed the cash,and put it into barrack bags.Alvin and DeVol joined Holden outside while the other three grabbed female hostages,but one got away before reaching the getaway vehicle.

No one was hurt,and they got away with $47,000.

Harry Sawyer and wife

The group went back to Alvin and Fred's apartment to split up the money,and have a small celebration for a successful robbery.

On July 5,1932,as a precaution,Alvin,Fred and Ma moved to a new apartment at 414 West 46th Terrace in Kansas City.DeVol also took up a residence here.Only two days later,things started to fall apart.

Keating,Holden and Bailey were already wanted by the FBI for bank robbery,and somehow,they were able to track the three down at the Old Mission Golf Course,and arrested them.Courtney,who was also at the golf course that day,was far enough away from the three that he was able to slip away unnoticed.

Courtney quickly warned the others.

The FBI stated that that same day,they were able to track down where Alvin and Fred had been staying,but the pair had left in such a hurry that a fully cooked meal,untouched,was still on the dinner table.

Alvin,Fred,Ma and Courtney all fled to St.Paul,Minnesota,where,on July 9,1932,they rented a cottage at a summer resort on White Bear Lake.

Francis Keating & Thomas Holden

Here,Alvin became acquainted with Earl Christman,Frank Nash and Jess Doyle while hanging out at known gang haunts "the Green Lantern" and "Hollyhocks."

On July 26,1932 the group robbed Cloud County bank in Concordia,Kansas.

Cloud County bank robbery:

(Alvin didn't want Christman to be part of this robbery because Christman had no experience in bank robberies,but as a favor,Christman participated anyways)

A lot of planning went into this robbery due-to the group wanting to return to St.Paul right after the robbery,so they made sure to leave coffee and sandwiches at the various gasoline drops they hid along the way.

According to Alvin,all of them wore overalls so that they would blend in with the population of Concordia.

Involved: Alvin,Fred,DeVol,Doyle(getaway driver) and Christman(look-out)

There were seven or eight employees already in the building when the group hit it mid-morning.

White Bear Lake cottage today

All employees were marched to a back room,while Fred and DeVol took a cashier to unlock a safe,but the cashier refused to open it.After nearly forty-five minutes,the cashier had yet to budge on opening the safe,so the group decided to just grab what they could get and leave.They took two female hostages from the bank,and held them on the running boards of the getaway car to keep police and/or vigilantes from shooting at them.A few miles away,they released the hostages.

The FBI reports that the gang got away with $240,000 in bonds and an unknown amount of cash.

Alvin never stated how much the bonds were worth,but he did note that one of them was the deed to the Concordia courthouse,and that they had gotten $22,000 in cash.

At the end of 1932,the FBI says that while Alvin and Fred were in St.Paul,they befriended a private detective named Jack Glynn,and that it was through Glynn that they were able to get Fred's brother,Arthur "Doc" Barker,released from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary on September 10,1932.Also,at this time,Alvin stated he had put up the money from his personal stash to get fellow robber,Volney Davis,released from the same prison on November 3,1932.

Hollyhocks today

From November to December 1932,Fred,Doc,Alvin and Doyle resided at the Twin Oaks Apartments in St.Paul,Minnesota.

On December 16,1932,the group robbed the Third Northwestern Bank in Minneapolis,Minnesota.

Third Northwestern bank robbery:

Involved: Fred,Doc,DeVol,Verne Miller and Doyle

(The FBI claims that Alvin was present for this robbery,but Alvin states that Ma had been having heart palpitations,and had asked for Alvin to come and get her,so he wasn't there)

Either way,a teller ended up setting off an alarm;a cop car with two police officers inside showed up,but DeVol and Doyle shot it up,killing both officers.

As a getaway,the group had planted a second car at Como Park in St.Paul to trade license plates with,but while they were in the midst of doing this,two curious men pulled up to the gang,and Fred fired on them,killing one while the other ran away.

They got away with $22,000.