| Show BULLETS T cr Vt JUSTICE JUSTIC By REX COLLIER Copyright 1936 by the North American Newspaper Alliance Inc Ine 1 House in St. St Paul Where Green Was Vas Trapped EDDIE GREEN GREENE GREEN St. St Paul gunman gunman gunman gun gun- E EDDIE man and bank robber who had the underworld distinction distinction distinction tion of active membership me in the Dillinger and the Karpis- Karpis Barker gangs at the same time i invited death death and and got it Circumstances surrounding t the h e fatal shooting of Green by federal II bureau of investigation agents who set a trap for him on April 3 1934 at a house in St. St Paul were the I subject of an under-cover under inquiry recently by secret service agents I The ill advised secret service activities apparently were prompted by recurring rumors that men G-men I fired at Green without knowing his i identity that they only learned who i i he was by questioning him on his j death-bed death at t the h e hospital that i Green was mowed down merci merci- mercilessly mercilessly I lessly and without warning and that he was a minor hoodlum who 1 I deserved better treatment I Well VeIl lets let's look at the record I j With the operation co-operation of Director i Hoover of the F F. F B B. B I I. I I have gone goneI thoroughly over the bureaus bureau's heretofore here- here I I i confidential files on the Green case and I believe have found t i t the answer answer officially answer officially ally to to the quest questions questions ques ques- which puzzled curious secret service men I In the first place a study of the criminal record of Edward Green GreenI I alias alias Eugene Green G George e o 0 r g e Graham Charles Ryan George Green Fred Frederick Riley Riley Ri- Ri ley Fred Graham and Eugene Riley Riley Riley Ri- Ri ley fails to support the rumor that he was just a bad boy who became involved innocently with time big-time killers illers He started out as a timer small his f fir first i r s t sentence having been served in the house of correction for grand larceny but he graduated into such select gangland company as that represented by Frank Nash cause of the Kansas City massacre Ye Verne ne Miller one one of f the massacre I tr trigger men Alvin Karpis and the Barker brothers of note and finally John Dillinger He robbed banks with the Karpis- Karpis Barker gang and with the Dillinger gang His home was the haven to which I members of both gangs would flee in in time of trouble the post office 1 I through which they received their I mail the clearing house through i which they kept in touch with one another the headquarters where I m man a n y desperate crimes v we were e r e 1 i plotted i i At the time of his death he was wasi i custodian of much of the heavy I artillery composing the arsenal of the Dillinger mob I I A second point supplied by the I records is that Hoovers Hoover's men knew exactly whom they were shooting when they opened fire They had I Iset set their trap for Green and no one else I A third point is that Green was wasI shot only as a final resort resort resort-as as he I answered a command to halt by starting to run and reaching for his hip pocket I The fact that he lived for eight days after the shooting and was conscious until a few hours before I his death belies reports that he was riddled with bullets I Full details of the events which led up to the capture of Green are disclosed herewith by permission of the F F. F B. B I. I I It will be recalled that on March I 31 1934 Dillinger Homer Van VanMeter VanMeter VanMeter Meter and Evelyn Frechette shot their way out of a St. St Paul apartment apartment apartment apart apart- ment house A careful inquiry at this apartment provided men G-men with the address of another apartment on Marshall avenue which they immediately immediately immediately im im- im- im mediately investigated At the second apartment they learned that apartment h had a d been occupied by a man of susI suspicious suspicious sus sus- I habits until the day of the Dillinger shooting affray and that the man had not returned since that time His description tallied I with that of Van Meter The manager manager manager man man- ager said the apartment had been I I rented two weeks before by a Mr D. D A A. A Stevens and that the latter j I had turned the apartment over to the man answering Van Meters Meter's description The agents obtained permission to enter this apartment T The They h e y found a leather bag a Thompson machine gun stock that fitted a stockless gun abandoned by Van VanMeter VanMeter VanMeter Meter in his escape on March 31 a large quantity of ammunition a aI I revolver holster a pair of field glasses a two-foot two piece of dynamite dynamite dynamite dyna dyna- mite fuse and several get away charts and road maps used in bank robberies I While the agents were in the apartment two colored women appeared appeared ap ap- ap and announced they had i had 1 I. d IJ ti t Y 1 I been sent to clean the apartment These women upon interrogation eventually admitted that the D AStevens AStevens AStevens A. A Stevens who had rented the thee apartment apartment apartment apart apart- ment was really Eddie Green for whom they had vor worked ed at a road- road house They Thay said Green and his paramour paramour paramour para para- mour had called at their house that morning and asked them to go to the Stevens apartment on Marshall Marshall Marshall Mar Mar- shall avenue and get a suitcase a coat and some laundry Their instructions instructions instructions in in- were to take these articles to their home where Green would call for them later that day Several agents were planted in inthe inthe inthe the colored women's home They were armed with rifles and automatic automatic automatic auto auto- matic pistols for they believed they were to face a desperate man an associate of Dillinger and Van Meter The latter pair had machine- machine gunned their way to freedon only a few days before The agents were determined not to let another member member member mem mem- ber of the gang escape One of the colored women was instructed to open the door and hand the bag to Green when he appeared then step aside Three agents were hidden at strategic places on the first floor where they could watch developments through curtained windows Just before 6 p p. p m m. a sedan pulled to a stop in front of the house There were a woman and a man manin manin manin in it Green and his paramour Green began getting out of the car almost before it stopped ran up to the front door of the house and received the suitcase from the colored colored colored col col- col- col ored woman Then he turned q quickly and dashed back toward the car the motor of which had been left run run- ning As Green leaped down the front steps the agent in charge of the squad commanded him to halt Instead of obeying this command the F. F B. B I. I files show Green quickened quickened quickened quick quick- ened his pace and startled by the command reached toward h his i s pocket as though to draw a gun I That instinctive menacing gesture gesture gesture ture was a fatal one one one-it it was the signal for the agents to fire or seek safety and let another gangster escape escape escape es es- es- es cape without so much as a struggle Actually that impulsive sweep of Greens Green's hand toward his gun pocket was a futile move He had left his guns at home home and and it proved to be quite an arsenal when men G-men found it later His woman companion was arrested arrested arrested ar ar- ar- ar rested and questioned She had on her 1155 Green was found to have two I safety deposit boxes containing and respectively Green questioned at the hospital made the following admissions to F F. F B. B I. I agents He had been downstairs in the St. St Paul apartment when Dillinger and Van Meter made their sensational sensational sensational sensa sensa- escape on March 31 1934 fleeing during the confusion He had arranged for Dr Clayton E E. E May l Minneapolis physician since convicted of harboring Dillinger Dil Oil linger to treat a bullet wound Dillinger Dillinger Dillinger Dil Dil- linger received in the apartment house battle He had committed numerous bank robberies in association with the Karpis-Barker Karpis and Dillinger gangs He had two weeks before before be be- fore with Dillinger Van Meter John Hamilton Baby Face Nelson Nelson Nelson Nel Nel- son and Tommy Carroll in the robbery of the First N National National Na Na- a- a bank at Mason City Iowa He was planning to rob a bank bankin in Newton Iowa at the time he was shot Part of his long criminal record in the fingerprint division of the F. F B. B I I. I follows As Eugene Green arrested by police Milwaukee Wis August 11 1916 charge grand larceny sentenced sentenced sentenced sen sen- to six months As Frederick Riley arrested by police Des Moines Iowa suspicion of safe blowing released to St. St Paul police who also wanted him for and robbery August 12 1922 As Eddie Green received at State reformatory St. St Cloud Minn November November November No No- vember 15 1922 under sentences of forty and five years and transferred transferred transferred trans trans- to Minnesota State As Eddie Green paroled parolee from Minnesota State penitentiary July 1 1930 As Edward Green arrested St. St Paul Minn April 3 1934 a and n d charged with attempting murder of F. F B. B I I. I agent This was the bad boy whose death appears to have aroused the sympathies of some critics critic of the tI-e G I t i Li j jI I V i r J I it 1 |
