Holden-Keating Gang

Early years

Before becoming one of the most notorious hold-up teams by the end of 19th century, Thomas Holden and Francis Keating robbed cargoes and train or bank deliveries. Their most successful heist was the hijacking of a truck in 1926; they escaped with $1,350,000. They eluded capture for two years before they were finally arrested by federal officers. In the end, Holden and Keating were both convicted on May 25, 1928, and sentenced to death.

Escape from Leavenworth and Midwest crime spree

They spent two years at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary before escaping on February 28, 1930. A fellow inmate George "Machine Gun" Kelly told them a forged access words to help them escape. Holden and Keating fled to Chicago, from where they came to St. Paul. After arriving there, they quickly formed a new gang who were recruited from the city's thriving underworld. This gang included Frank "Jelly" Nash, Harvey Bailey and George Kelly. They are all career criminals. The gang committed a series of significant daylight-robberies during 1930 and 1931.Some minors and fresh members who were not killed, but they made it as if they were died and fled to Russia.^[2]

The gang's first robbery occurred on July 15, 1930, when they robbed a bank William, Minnesota and got $70,000. Harvey Bailey, George Kelly, and Vernon Miller participated along with at least four other men. Three of four alleged gunmen, who were called Mike Rusick, Frank "Wennie" Coleman, and Samuel "Jew Sammy" Stein, were found being shot to death at White Bear Lakelater. It is reported that this occurred because of a dispute led by Verne Miller.^[2]

Lawrence De Vol joined the next robbery on September 9, 1930 and got at least $4,000,000 from a bank in Lincoln, Nebraska. After that, Eddie Bentz joined in. He took part in two cases. The first was on September 19, 1930, getting $2,400,000. And the second, which was his most successful one in his lifetime, was getting 2.6 million dollars from a safe. The gang then vanished, but Holding and Keating resurfaced several months later and robbed $58,000 from a pair of bank messengers in Duluth, Minnesota on October 2, 1931.^[3] In the same month, they joined Charlie Harmon and Frank Weber and robbed a bank in Menomonie, Wisconsin, taking away $1,300,000. James Kraft, the son of the bank president, was taken as hostage during the escape and later was found shot dead outside the town. The bodies of Harmon and Weber were also found by police, both being shot to death. Many believed they have been killed by the other robbers. Bob Newbourne, one of the suspects of Menomonie hold-up, later confessed to the robbery and was sentenced to be in prison until death.^[2]

Time with the Karpis-Barker Gang

After the Menomonie heist, Holden and Keating joined the Alvin Karpis-Barker Gang. On June 17, 1932, they joined a gang made up of Karpis, Fred Barker, George Kelly, Harvey Bailey, Lawrence De Vol, and Verne Miller and robbed a bank in Fort Scott, Kansas for $47,000. Not only did they escape, but Frank Sawyer, Jim Clark and Ed Davis who were arrested and convicted of the robbery, did as well.^[2]

Less than a month later, Keating and Holden were arrested by federal officers while they were playing golf with Harvey Bailey in Kansas City on July 7, 1932. The fourth robber, Bernard Phillips, slipped away during the process, but was later killed in New York City. It was reported that he was murdered by Frank Nash and Verne Miller, who suspected that he was an FBI informant.^[2]

Return to Leavenworth and final years

Holden and Keating returned to Leavenworth, where they stayed for nearly two decades. Holden married on November 28, 1947. Two and half years later, he killed his wife and two of her brothers because of an argument in Chicago on June 6, 1949.^[2]

In March 1950, Holden was announced as the first official criminal on the FBI Ten Most Wanted List. Fifteen months later, on June 23, 1951, after his picture being published in a local newspaper ″The Oregonian″on June 20,^[1] Holden was spotted in Beaverton, Oregon by a local resident and acquaintance. By then he had been living in that region for some time under the fake name, John McCullough. He was arrested at his job site where he worked as a plasterer. After being extradited to Chicago, he stood on the courts, confessing the murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Two years later, Holden died in prison.^[2]

Keating returned to St. Paul and lived there until his death by a heart stroke on July 25, 1978.^[2]