The Barker Gang was one of the vilest criminal enterprises in American history. The gang tore up the mid west in the 1920's and 30's with kidnappings, murders and robberies. Arizona Donnie Clark otherwise known as Kate "Ma" Barker (first picture on left) was known then as the brains of the outfit and the 20th centuries most infamous female gangster.
Ma Barker left her husband and moved to Tulsa with three of her sons, Fred,Herman and Arthur, who was later known as Doc. Ma's other son Lloyd (fifth picture down) began to serve a twenty two year sentence in 1932 for mail robbery and was never part of the later gang that put the family in the spotlight. While there they joined up with several misfits and burgled and robbed as the Central Park Gang. Ma's loyalty to her sons became legendary,when in 1927 when she suffered a tremendous blow. Herman (fourth picture down) was stopped by two police for information about a stickup, he shot one in the head. He feared of getting in trouble so he then killed himself. Ma was then left alone while Arthur(second picture down) was serving a life sentence for murder and Fred was doing 5-10 in the state pen. While serving his sentence Fred would meet Alvin Karpis, who would lead the gang to bigger thing after they were free in 1931. After Fred and Karpis reunited after their releases, started a legendary crime spree along with others. In 1932 Doc was pardoned and joined the other in the rampage. While murders, kidnappings and thefts mounted the FBI tried to stop them. In 1933 they abducted a Minnesota brewery owner, William A. Hamm, Jr, earning $100,00 from ransom and then kidnapped Minnesota millionaire Edward Bremer netting $200,000. In 1935 G-man Melvin Purvis surprised Docs outside his Chicago apartment, when he realized Doc wasn't armed he asked where his gun was. Doc replied with "Home, and ain't that a hell of a place for it?" He would die four years later in Alcatraz. Later that month Purvis and his crew approached a resort cottage in Oklawaha, Fla. that had Fred and Ma inside. They let fly with machine guns that started a six hour battle. Agents found Ma and her son inside dead. In 1947 Lloyd gained his freedom and then was shot and killed by his wife two years after. |