Harry Tracy

The details behind the story

Dave Merrill

I got this Dave Merrill mug shot from the LOC a while ago. I had no idea who he was. But one look at that kisser and I knew he was not a good guy. I finally found out who he was (never felt like just Googling his name) by reading a book on the Newton Boys. A little over a hundred years ago Merrill was a fairly well known outlaw and he escaped from the Oregon State Penitentiary with Harry Tracy. After the two escaped to Washington state Tracy shot Merrill in the back. Mmmm...maybe I will Google this tale.

Endings

Well, finished reading the copies I made at the archives. Always enlightening but this time just a little sad. One of the documents that I copied was a report on Vivian Chase's funeral. At the end of the report there's an addendum detailing what happened the night she was killed.


Vivian and other members of her gang had finished a robbery. They decided to have a few drinks. Vivian said something to one of the men, Clarence Sparger, and he shot her then he ran away from the group. Evidently the remaining gang members took Vivian to St. Luke's Hospital. They left her inside the car at the hospital's parking lot. She died a couple of hours before anyone found her body.

There has always been speculation that Vivian was executed because of a double cross. The truth is it was a drunken quarrel.

Vivian again

Ah..today I went to the Archives again. I can't believe this is my last day of vacation.

I'm almost positive that I was wrong about Vivian and Pearl Loge being the same person. I took a close look at the original photograph and Pearl Loge seems less hardened; she also talked up a storm. Vivian Chase was notoriously closed mouth when questioned. Also, agents noted the resemblance to Vivian right away so I'd tend to think that they would have tried to match fingerprints with Vivian's first thing.

Another thing, Percy Fitzgerald, one of the August Luer kidnapping team stated that Vivian was only used to gain entry into the house. Some how that makes me feel better about her because it was an incredibly unprofessional job. I like to think she did her part and then let the rest of them make a mess. Looks like I have some fun reading tonight.

Mmmm...

Well, I know it's been a while since I've posted. Largely my silence has been due to multiple personal/professional disruptions that no one except for the parties involved care to know.

Anyway yesterday I went to the LOC to look up Vivian Chase articles. I was disappointed to find out that the LOC does not have issues of the Kansas City Times microfilmed. The Kansas City times was the morning edition of the Kansas City Star for the years I'm interested in. I'm convinced that the truly interesting stuff is in the Times (only because it is unavailable to me)! I did get some great articles about the 1932 bank robbery with Luther Jordon. She was actually implicated in the murder of Earl McDowell a union organizer and thug wanted in Chicago for the murder of some unfortunate female. The article stated that Jordon may have killed McDowell because he was jealous of Vivian's affections for him. Jordan always denied he was ever romantically involved with Vivian Chase. I don't doubt that Chase and McDowell were paramours (as the FBI likes to call such relationships) because an alias she used at the time was Vivian McDowell. Vivian seems to have taken the last name of her lovers when propriety dictated it as the most prudent course. After all it was the 20's and 30's.

So loads of information from this trip; unfortunately I didn't get all the articles I was looking for. The next trip in I will concentrate on the 20's. Tomorrow or Friday I'm going to make a trip to the Archives again to copy more of the Luer Kidnapping file. I was going to go to the FBI reading room to read some of the Karpis gang file, but this week off is going by fast. Again amazing how personal time goes much quicker than professional time.

Well I've got a bunch of stuff I wanted to accomplish today, important stuff like getting a pedicure so I'm off again.

Same Woman?

Well I had my field trip to the Archives yesterday and actually spent the whole day with the Luer kidnapping file. I'm pretty sure that this file contains everything the FBI knows about Vivian Chase since this Kidnapping is the only federal crime she was ever wanted for.

I got some miscellaneous dope on Vivian that I can add to my biography. I also took the liberty of making photo copies of her mug shot for a mere $5.75. Doing the research your self is whole lot better than buying the book!

Anyway take a look at the pictures to your left. These 3 women are not the same woman according to the FBI. The 2 pictures to the right (mug shots) are Vivian Chase the picture on the left is Pearl Loge. According to the FBI file Pearl Loge was captured with the other Luer kidnappers and questioned. Supposedly, Pearl shared a room with Vivian at another suspects' rooming house and that's how Pearl knew the kidnappers. I'm thinking Pearl and Vivian are one in the same! And that means that when I get another day off with pay I take a second look at that particular file. While there are mention of Vivian's fingerprints I not completely sure that Pearl was fingerprinted. Maybe they aren't the same...I'm going to have some breakfast and read my copies. I love it when things get interesting and complicated!

Yippee

I am so EXCITED! I get a day off so I am going to the Archives to look at the Luer kidnapping file! I can't wait. I've been wanting to do this forever and now I finally have the chance. It has to be done during a week day because the archives doesn't pull files on the weekend. There are supposed to be 3 boxes so we'll see if I can get anything interesting!

Fleagle Gang

This book is interesting because I'm not sure how much I enjoyed it! The book is about the 1928 robbery of the First National Bank of Lamar Colorado committed by the "Fleagle Gang". The Fleagle's were a group of brothers. There were 4 of them, Ralph, Fred, Little Jake, and Walter. Whether they were all thieves or whether it was just Ralph and Little Jake isn't easily determined by the book. It's definite that the other 2 brothers knew of Ralph's and Little Jake's activities and offered assistance that 8 years later would have had them thrown in jail.

While I'm not sure I enjoyed the books reliance on old newspaper articles to tell the Fleagle's history; the use of the articles brings the reader into the dramatic events. A traditional narrative would have told the story much quicker and still have been interesting.

This book is the first I've read about a robbery that was prior to the depression. The Lamar robbery was violent: 2 deaths during the robbery; a hostage murdered; a doctor kidnapped and murdered. A comparison with some of the depression bandits who were both vilified and praised in different circles would make for interesting commentary.

Ralph Fleagle or maybe it was the sire Jake Fleagle made the commentary that they didn't steal from anyone who couldn't afford it. Sound Familiar? Crime was on the increase and local police were at a disadvantage because of jurisdiction problems and inferior transportation. Hmmm....

Anyway, one of the things that I liked about this group of cold blooded murdering thieves is that they took a very pragmatic approach to gang membership. While Ralph and Little Jake were the corner stones they actually hired other gang members for each job for a set fee. The hired men in the Lamar, Co. robbery, Abshier and Royston, each got $1500 for their part and a date with the hangman.

Oh yeah, this case is also great because it's one where forensic science really brought the killers to justice. One fingerprint brought the whole gang down during a time when there was a huge amount of scepticism on the science.