Single fingerprint key to capture
of murdering Kansas bank robbers
True crime from the roaring 20s – precursor of today's crime scene investigation (CSI) shows – begins with the murder of four men as part of a brazen daylight robbery of the First National Bank of Lamar, Colo. on May 23, 1928.
The case in 1928 hinged on a single fingerprint found on a murdered Dighton, Kan., doctor's car – by a Garden City, Kan. police officer who was an amateur fingerprint collector.
The Federal Bureau of Identification (FBI) played a crucial role turning the fingerprint into solid forensic evidence used to find, arrest and convict members of the Fleagle Gang. This case is credited as the first case where the FBI was able to identify and help convict a criminal with a single fingerprint. At the time J. Edgar Hoover was the new leader creating his "G-Men." Today the Crime Scene Investigation technicians continue to rely on fingerprints as the first weapon in identifying victims and criminals. The technology is much faster – mostly handled by computers – than it was nearly 100 years ago, but the principle of identification remains the same.
The book continues to sell well as it enters the seventh year of publication with more than 1,800 copies sold.
The Fleagle Gang can be previewed through Google/Books and on Amazon.com.
The window from the murdered Dighton doctor's car — with the original fingerprint — was on display at the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington for more than 20 years, but when the building was remodeled it was boxed up and lost for years.
An FBI agent, a grandson of Garden City Police Chief Richardson found the window and used it in his training speeches until he retired.
When the Finney County Museum wanted to do a Fleagle exhibit more than 15 years ago he shipped the window to the museum where it is located today.
Jake Fleagle
as he appeared when arrested in Stockton, Calf.
It was Jake's index fingerprint, found on the Dighton, Kan. doctor's car, that led to the arrest of his brother Ralph and then the rest of the gang. Jake managed to escape capture until after Ralph and the two other gang members, Abshire and Royston, had been executed in Colorado in 1930. Jake was caught by detectives on a train in October 1930 at Branson, Mo. where he resisted arrest and was shot. He was taken to a hospital in Springfield where he died two days later. Jake was the best shot of the gang, and the death of the doctor and the kidnapped teller were placed at his feet.
It was his girlfriend, Beatrice Gramps, who worked hard to get Jake caught after he embarrassed her by getting her arrested in Stockton, Calif. She shared in the reward money after all the gang members were caught. The Denver Post offered a reward of $1,000 for each bank robber as did the Colorado Banker's Association and Prowers County. Over $14,000 in reward money was paid to people from California, Illinois, Kansas and Colorado who aided in the arrest and conviction of the Fleagle gang members.
Cartoonist Al Capp used Jake to create his character Evil Eye Fleegle in the Lil Abner cartoon strip and Broadway show.
The Gang's history
The Fleagle Gang robbed
banks and trains in Kansas, Colorado, Oregon and California of
over $1 million in the 10 years they operated. Crimes in other
states including Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri have been credited
to the Fleagle Gang, but they have not been investigated enough
to be certain it was their gang.
Three gang members, Ralph Fleagle, George Abshire and Howard
Royston, were "jerked up" at the Colorado Penitentiary
a little over two years after committing the Lamar, Colo., bank
robbery. The fourth, Jake Fleagle, was trapped and shot in October
1930 on a train in Branson, Mo., by postal inspectors and detectives
from several states. A total of 54 men were arrested and questioned
about the Lamar bank robbery, and at the time Ralph Fleagle was
arrested five were in jails in Colorado awaiting trial.
The book
details the search, arrests and court procedures as well as the
reward cases after the robbers were convicted and killed. At
the time of the robbery rewards totaling $44,000 were being offered,
but by the time the court began handing out the reward money
a bit over $14,000 was available. People from at least five different
states received money for their part in solving and bringing
the gang members to justice.
Fate of the Fleagle Gang
is one of the songs on a CD from the British Archive Of Country Music
Order FRANK LUTHER An Old Man's Story CD D 103
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The book has been written after years of research, and interviewswith people who were on the scene and with Fleagle family members.
The publisher is authorhouse.com and it can be ordered through their online Book Store. Search for the author by last name: Betz The book is available in a paperback and electronic format.
It is available at the Big Timbers Museum north of Lamar, Colo.; the Holly Library, Holly, Colo.; Finney County Museum and Hastings Book Store in Garden City, Kan.; Fick Fossil and History Museum, Oakley, Kan.; the Colorado Prison Museum in Canon City, Colo; and by order from book stores nationwide including Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Hastings, GoHastings.com and The Tattered Cover in Denver.
Since May 2005
