John Joseph O'Connor and the "Layover Agreement"
(One Person's Observations)
Layover Agreement Chronology
December 18, 1932:
Lawrence "the Chopper" DeVol, bank robber, and associate of both the Holden-Keating and Barker-Karpis gangs, is arrested by police at the Annbee Arms Apartments, 928 Grand Avenue, near South Milton Street in Saint Paul, for the December 16th bank robbery (above).
March 22, 1933:
The Volstead Act is repealed and the city goes about cleaning itself up. The gangster era is coming to an end and under a new administration the police department begins to rebuild its image as a "reform" agency.
June 15, 1933:
Brewing company executive William A. Hamm Jr. is kidnapped by Barker-Karpis gang near the corner of Minnehaha Avenue and Greenbrier Street, on Saint Paul's Eastside. He is released four days later near Wyoming, Minnesota, in exchange for $100,000 ransom.
August 12, 1933:
Roger "the Terrible" Touhy and three Chicago associates are indicted for the kidnapping of William A. Hamm Jr. in August of 1933. They are acquitted of all charges on November 28th.
August 30, 1933:
The Barker-Karpis gang robs $33,000 from stockyards payroll delivered by train to South Saint Paul Post Office, killing one policeman, Leo Pavlak, and seriously wounding another, John Yeaman. The officer slain by "Doc" Barker was the father of future Saint Paul Police Lieutenant, Legislator and U.S. Marshal Robert L. Pavlak. Robert, in turn, had two sons that went into law enforcement, one with Saint Paul and one with Ramsey County.
September 4, 1933:
Dillinger gang associate Thomas Leonard "Tommy" Carroll, aka James Roy Brock and Frank Sloan, bank robber, auto thief, burglar and murderer is arrested in Saint Paul after an automobile accident at Wheelock Parkway and Rice Street, when police discovered a loaded .45 caliber pistol in his car; police release Carroll on September 6th, despite the fact that he was out on bond for a Wisconsin post office robbery. He shortly thereafter participated in the Brainerd, Minnesota bank robbery on October 23, 1933.
December 5, 1933:
Prohibition ends with the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment as the New Deal begins, restoring public faith in government and the U.S. economy.
c. 1934:
Six .45 caliber Thompson submachine guns and body armor were purchased for the police department through public donation, long after the gangsters were using said weapon. They, in turn, were replaced in c. 1971 by the .223 caliber AR-15. A replica Thompson can be viewed in the Saint Paul Police museum, as well as a Thompson, dismantled, and in a violin case.
January 13, 1934:
Northwest Airlines employee Roy McCord, wearing his radio operator's uniform, is mistaken for a policeman and shot by Alvin F. "Creepy" Karpis of the Barker-Karpis gang near their Saint Paul Summit Hill hideaway.
January 17, 1934:
Barker-Karpis gang kidnaps banker Edward G. Bremer at South Lexington Parkway and Goodrich Avenue in Saint Paul; Bremer is released February 7th near Rochester, Minnesota after payment of a $200,000 ransom. This was the last major criminal enterprise of the Barker-Karpis gang.
March 5, 1934:
John Herbert Dillinger, bank robber, murderer, and most notorious of all American gangsters, escapes from jail in Crown Point, Indiana, and moves with his girlfriend Evelyn Frechette to Minneapolis. After several heists in Indiana, Iowa and South Dakota, he moves into the Lincoln Court Apartments in Saint Paul (below).
March 14, 1934:
John Dillinger and associate, bank robber John "Red" Hamilton, aka "Three-Finger Jack", show up at the home of Dr. Nels Mortensen, 2252 Fairmount Avenue, near Woodlawn Avenue in Saint Paul, after being wounded during a Mason City, Iowa, bank robbery earlier in the day. The doctor later denies any knowledge of his patients' identification.
March 19, 1934:
John Dillinger moves into Lincoln Court Apartments, 95 South Lexington Parkway, at Lincoln Avenue in Saint Paul, to recuperate from gunshot wounds suffered during the aforementioned Mason City bank job.
March 31, 1934:
John Dillinger, Mary E. "Billie" Frechette, and Homer V. Van Meter evade capture by F.B.I. and a Saint Paul police detective during a shootout at the Lincoln Court Apartments (above). A wounded Dillinger escapes to the clinic of Dr. Clayton May in Minneapolis, and federal and state efforts to arrest Dillinger intensify. Evidence from the Lincoln Court Appartment can be viewed in the Saint Paul Police museum.
April 3, 1934:
Dillinger gang member Harry E. "Eddie" Green, bank robber, and associate of both the John Dillinger and Barker-Karpis gangs, is mortally wounded by F.B.I. agents in a shootout at 778 Rondo Avenue (Concordia Avenue) at North Avon Street in Saint Paul; he dies April 11th.
May 1934:
In May of 1934 Wallace Ness Jamie, criminologist nephew of Eliot Ness, who was hired by anticrime crusader and editor of the St. Paul Daily News, Howard Kahn to expose police-underworld corruption, arrives in Saint Paul. He installs telephone taps in police offices and conducts a yearlong investigation. For a period of time Jamie was appointed deputy commissioner of public safety under Public Safety Commissioner Harry E. "Ned" Warren.
May 18 1934:
Congress passes and President Roosevelt signs Attorney General Homer S. Cumming's anti-racketeering legislative package, which includes the expansion of the F.B.I.'s jurisdiction, enabling the bureau to pursue gangsters in cities such as Saint Paul. Agents were also given statutory authority to carry weapons nationwide, irrespective of state and/or local regulations. A "public enemy's" list of ten most-wanted criminals is also launched.
June 6, 1934:
The last piece of the anti-racketeering legislation (above) is passed and signed allowing for reward money to be offered for the capturing of wanted criminals.
June 22, 1934:
On Dillinger's birthday, the F.B.I. declares the gangster "Public Enemy Number One" and places him on the national radar.
July 22, 1934:
Dillinger is shot and killed by F.B.I. agents outside of Chicago's Biograph Theater, marking the end of a nation-wide manhunt.
August 7, 1934 – October 11, 1934:
In August of 1934 Frank R. Cullen was appointed chief of police. Cullen, a veteran with eighteen years on the department, had previously been an assistant chief of police. Chief Cullen was present at the attempted arrest and shooting death of a John Dillinger lieutenant, Homer Van Meter, on August 23, 1934 (below).
August 23, 1934:
Dillinger lieutenant Homer V. Van Meter, aka Kenneth R. Jackson, train and bank robber, is shot to death during an arrest attempt in Saint Paul by University Avenue and Marion Street, near the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul. Evidence from this scene can be viewed in the Saint Paul Police museum.
January 16, 1935:
Fred and "Ma" Barker are killed in a shootout with the F.B.I. at Lake Weir, Florida. Their deaths end a long-running pursuit of the Karpus-Barker gang.
October 16, 1934 – July 3, 1935:
In October of 1934 Michael J. Culligan was appointed chief of police, having previously been appointed acting chief of police, earlier the same month. As part of the gangster era's "Big Cleanup", several members of the police department were suspended or fired for corrupt activities, and was forced to resign in July of 1935.
December 18, 1934 – July 31, 1935:
In December of 1934 Gustave H. "Gus" Barfuss was appointed deputy commissioner of public safety. Barfuss, a veteran with twenty-two years on the department, had previously been an assistant chief of police. Turning down the job of chief of police, he returned to the Police Department in July of 1935. Known as a reformer, Barfuss was an active participant in the fight against corrupt officers with ties to organized crime.
