Show a by REX COLLIER copyright 1930 by the north amerlean Amerl can alliance inc V 5 F ty 1 1111 1 14 4 W ILI boom in n the florida house tn in W V aich 11 1111 ma all barker was killed MA BARKER HE G men killed a woman T THE a mother in their famous siege of the karpis barker gangs hideout on on lake weir florida but what a woman As a rno mother she had taught her four boys how to rob kidnap and murder she had given them private lessons s in the fine art of loading ind and firing a Thompson submachine az gun i she had plotted crimes for them obtained paroles for them chided them when they bungled a job P patted acted them on the back they hey carried out her carefully planned outrages screaming with rage shu had turned a machine gun on agents of the federal bureau of investigation who called on her to surrender at lake weir and she died wl with tai that gun still smoking in it her er hands such was the untimely end of kate barker known to the underworld of the mid midwestern weste rn crime corridor few years back as ma mal ma barker died with her bank robbing son son fred in a palatial eight room frame fraine house rented by the karels bark barker gang near lawaha Ok fla from the agent who led the raid on that house and from aiom data in the files of the F B L I 1 this writer has obtained a firsthand first hand official account of the spectacular end of kate and F fred red barker and of the incidents which led to descove discovery ery by the G men of the florida fortress the trail leading to the barkers began when experts in the technical laboratory of the F B 1 I identified fingerprints found on gasoline caas cans in the bremer as those of arthur doe doc barker paroled murderer and son of kate doc barker had a sweetheart in chicago whose name was learned by the F B 1 I agents investigating associates of the gang for six weeks agents shadowed her finally the long vigilance was rewarded doe doc barker arrived at the girls apartment one day but the agents waited in the hope that other members of the gang also would appear for fi four dur days thereafter t the h e agents trailed barker and the girl on pleasure jaunts and shopping tours about chicago and on several occasions they were seen to enter another apartment not far away from the girls agents were planted to watch the second apartment on pine grove avenue they saw two men and two women come and go from this apartment at various times but the men were not known to the 9 la t men on january 8 3 after doe barker had been seen in his girls apartment and the other quartet hid had been checked in at the pine grove avenue place it was decided to raid both apartments simultaneously or nearly so just before the hour for the raids barker barkei and the girl emerged from the batters lat apartment and waiting agents with drawn guns closed in on them doc barker started to run slipped on some ice felt fell to the ground and was seized before he could arise the girl was taken without a struggle it was not necessary to fire a shot I 1 the couple was taken to the F B I 1 office q quietly and the agents hurried to aid their fellow officers at the pine Grove venue avenue flat the inspector inspect oi in charge went into the lobby and called over the house telephone to the apartment upstairs in which it was believed members of the gang were vere living A woman answered he asked for mr bolton meaning byron bolton known knon to be a member of the karpis barker mob the woman asked who was calling and the inspector thereupon identified himself arn as a federal agent and demanded that everyone in the apartment ment come down the steps with uplifted hands there was a frightened outcry as the pho phone was hung up A momen tater the door of the a apartment part ment was ai opened ane id and nd two women comedown came down the stairs with hands raised high above their heads they were followed by byron bolton lihew likewise ise sion the trio was asked why the other man did not come an down the in specter w warned am ed that rei resistance istance would mean gunfire and that the apartment building was completely surrounded by armed agents one of the women frightened byj by this warning shouted a plea to daddy to s surender itar n dee daddy addy was vas russell gibson alias slim gray gibson meanwhile put on a bullet it roof vest picked up a browning automatic rifle turned the fhe lights out in the kitchen and stepped onto the back porch agents saw him and called on him to surrender i I 1 instead n gibson ope opened ed the rifle in ari an effort to cl earthe ithe way and started to run down the back steps ran fan agent stationed at the rear fire alre and gibson i fell them the remainder kofl atthe the way down the steps fatally rounded woun dedi in the apartment were found three browning automatic rifles tato automatic rifles four automatic pistols a s sawed awed off shotgun steel vests vest sand and a large quantity of ammunition most important of ally all however was a a torn letter found in th the apartment the salvaged portion of the letter kasnot vait not signed and had no address but it referred to the pleasant life the writer was leading in florida it mentioned a lake with a a houseboat on it and an alligator in it the alligator it said was waa named old joe with no more clues to follow tha than n these fj B agrios ag ants began a search for a lake alie in florida with a hoase houseboat boat and an alligator known as old jpe joe believe it fi or not the third lake visited by the agents answered the description given in the letter completely ely houses hodies iron fronting ironwing ting on this lake were investigated discreetly and one wa was is found that hid had aroused suspicions of neighbors because of strange goings on the occupants were described as a stout old woman of disreputable appearance her son and daughter in law mr and mrs blackburn Blackbur ii and two 0 other t h e r couples the other couples it was li learned arned had ad departed in an aut automobile that morning the deserio description of the old woman and her son fitted ma and fred barker more agents were rushed to okla waha by plane and automobile and plans W were are made to raid the house the next morning at dawn at 7 a ni it was light enough to seethe see the figure of aman a man sleeping on a cot at the front door the inspector in charge of the r raid a I 1 d stepped forward toward the front porch and shouted a demand that the occupants come out of the he house use hands raised fred barker jumped from the cot and ran upstairs the agents heard ma barkers raucous voice yell all right go ahe ahead adill the inspector shouted 0 K come on fred first ame come out first fred if you have the nervel immediately ma barker was seen to step to a window and open fire with a machine gain gun on the inspector who jumped behind a shed fred simultaneously began firing a powerful automatic rifle at an agent who had taken refuge behind a small tree ma and fred began to concentrate cen their fire on the agent behind the tree near the shed seeing th that at the agent a trusted companion would soon be killed by the rifle bullets which were easily capable a 01 01 penetrating the tree the inspector deliberately dashed from behind the shed to draw the fire away from the agent running and dodging across the lawn for a few feet the inspector chri threw himself headlong toward the front porch boich of the house and rolled over and over as bullets from mas machine riach lne gun threw dirt in hi his eyes and whistled around his cats cars by getting close to the house he was able to get out of range of fita fire as the barkers would have had to expose themselves in the window in order to aim at him before long i the firing from within th ehouse ceased nd after several hails bails had gone unanswered the agents entered the bullet riddled riddle house fred barker had fallen on his face with a 45 caliber autom automatic abic in his hand mi ma birker barker lay on the floor still caressing her machine gun which she had reloaded with a shot drum the drum had been partly used up in the chouse hou sethe the agents found another machine 1 e gun three rifles three automatic pistols a number of bulletproof bullet proof vests and a large quantity of ammunition the tha who had departed not long before the G men arrived it developed later were alvin kar karpis pid land and hirry harry campbell and kneir women A an few days later they shot their bayout way out of a police trap at atlantic city only to be hunted down and captured eventually fire by J edgar hoover and aji his men in sensational raids at new orleans and tolido toledo service |