Infamous America - PRETTY BOY FLOYD Ep. 3 | “No Turning Back”

Episode Date: February 9, 2022

When Charles Floyd returns to Kansas City after his family tragedy in Oklahoma, he joins a gang in Kansas City and then ends up in Ohio. Floyd is arrested for robbery and murder, but makes a daring escape from custody. His crime spree truly begins as he travels between Missouri, Ohio, and Oklahoma. He robs banks, survives shootouts with police, and meets a new criminal partner. Check out the Jordan Harbinger show today! jordanharbinger.com/start Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join To advertise on this podcast, please email [e-mail] For more details, please visit www.blackbarrelmedia.com. Our social media pages are: @blackbarrelmedia on Facebook and Instagram, and @bbarrelmedia on Twitter. This show is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please visit AirwaveMedia.com to check out other great podcasts like Ben Franklin’s World, Once Upon A Crime, and many more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Officer Joe Paco snapped at one of his prisoners. You can go when we pull out of here, he said. The prisoner, Frank Mitchell, had been bugging him to use the bathroom since the train left Toledo. They were now in Kenton, Ohio, where they stopped to pick up passengers on the way to their final destination. Officer Pacco and his partner that night, Joe Danielack, were escorting three prisoners to the Ohio State Prison in Columbus. And this one, Frank Mitchell was becoming a pain. The train left Toledo at 5 p.m. on a bitterly cold December evening, and they were now just an hour from the prison. The whistle blew, the wheels spun, and the train pulled out of Kenton.

As soon as it cleared the city limits, it rolled through farm country. Paco looked out the window and saw the pure blackness of the fields. There was no moon and no stars. Finally, he motioned to Mitchell to get up and go to the bathroom. Frank Mitchell was chained to the man next to him. The prisoner had nodded off, so Mitchell elbowed him and told him to get up. The two men shuffled back to the bathroom. Officer Paco looked over his shoulder and watched them enter the facility.

He heard them moving around in the restroom, and then within a few seconds, he heard the sound of shattering glass. Paco leapt up and pulled the emergency cord. Officer Danielak, who was positioned at the far end of the car, raced down the aisle to the bathroom. When Paco made it to the restroom and looked inside, Danielak was pulling one of the prisoners back through a broken window. The brakes of the train squealed. The train needed hundreds of yards to come to a complete stop,

and Danielak wasn't going to wait that long. He went to the boarding door, threw it open, and jumped off the train while it was still moving. All he saw was dark, empty, motionless farmland. Prisoner Frank Mitchell had only jumped from the train a minute or so earlier, but he was nowhere to be seen. When the train finally stopped, Officer Paco joined the search, but the inmates seemed to have vanished.

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From BlackBarril Media, this is Infamous America. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer. In this season, we're telling the story of 1930s bank robber, Pretty Boy Floyd. This is episode three, no turning back. After the funeral of Charles Floyd's father Walter in November 1929, Charles left the family home in Aiken's, Oklahoma, and returned to Kansas City. Almost immediately, he was implicated in a botched hit on Detective Bert Haycock. Haycock, who was well known for targeting members of the underworld, had his car shot up by several men. Haycock curled up on the floor and escaped the attempted murder without injury, and he identified Charles Floyd as one of the shooters.

But no charges were filed. and it's still unclear if Floyd participated in the assassination attempt. Gunning down a police detective in broad daylight would have been a big escalation for Floyd. Nonetheless, the word on the streets in Kansas City was that there might be some ruthlessness in the pretty boy from Oklahoma. Another formative event for Floyd was joining up with the Bradley gang. James Bradley was a lifelong felon known for breaking and entering and holdups. A mistake by prosecutors led Bradley to getting out of a life sentence for murder. However, he did go to prison on a 30-year sentence for robbery.

That prison was the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, where he met Charles Floyd. Bradley escaped the old Jeff, and escaped that many, including the prison's warden, believed was facilitated by Floyd. Kansas City law enforcement was cracking down at the beginning of 1930. due to a series of attacks on police officers, not the least of which was the attempted murder of Detective Haycock. The Bradley gang decided it was time to try their hand in a new city. They settled 800 miles northeast in the city of Akron, Ohio.

They easily blended into the smaller city's crime world and began planning a bank heist. After casing numerous banks in the Akron and Toledo areas, they decided to hit the farmers and merchant. bank in Sylvania, Ohio. The headlines on February 6, 1930, reported that five men made off with $6,000. The reports mostly spoke of a cashier in his 30s who had stymied the robbers and prevented them from accessing the vault.

In truth, all the cashier had done was tell the ill-informed thieves that the vault was on a timer and wouldn't unlock until after the bank was closed. He got bashed on the nose with the butt of a pistol for his effort. The gang escaped Sylvania and headed back to Akron where they were renting a house. The crew laid low for a few weeks, limiting their moves, but still spending some heist cash on whiskey and entertainment. But their situation changed in early March. After being cooped up, the men started frequenting a local speakeasy that was run out of a couple's home.

On Saturday night, March 8, 1930, Akron police were surveilling the Speakeasy and were considering a raid when two men and two women left the establishment. They were clearly intoxicated, and the two men were James Bradley and fellow gang member Bob Amos. When they peeled out of the driveway, they raced down the road past the police and almost immediately had a head-on collision with another vehicle. The officers rushed to the scene. Officer Harland Mains pulled James Bradley out of one of the vehicles. Bradley's injuries weren't life-threatening, so Mains dragged him toward the police cruiser. Bradley pulled a pistol out of his pocket and fired. The shot hit Officer Mains from nearly point-blank range.

The other officers at the scene opened fire, and it appeared Bradley was hit. But when the officers turned their attention to the fallen Mains, Bradley somehow vanished. The next day, the Akron police questioned everyone who had been at the speakeasy. Eventually their investigation led them to the Bradley gang's hideout. The cops raided the house and found guns, money, and a gut shot James Bradley. And they also found and arrested gang members, Nathan King and Charles Floyd. Charles was cleared of being at the scene of the shooting of Officer Mains, but was held in custody

and Akron, suspected in several crimes that were currently under investigation. Two months passed before he would be connected to the farmers and merchant bank job. Part of that time was because he professed his innocence the entire time, and part of it was because he was using the name Frank Mitchell. Gang leader James Bradley's fate was worse. Officer Mainz succumbed to his gunshot wound, and Bradley was charged with first-degree murder. He was found guilty of the murder of Officer Harland-Maines and sentenced to die in the electric chair. Floyd, aka Frank Mitchell, was transferred to Toledo to stand trial for the robbery.

He was guilty, without a doubt, and he strongly considered a guilty plea. It might get him a shorter sentence, but this wasn't his first time through the system. He figured he would get at least 10 years, but he had to wait six months to find out. Charles sat in a jail cell all summer in most of the fall of 1930 and thought about his future. More and more, he couldn't envision himself in prison for another long stretch of time. That fall, he heard of a man named Charles Pansram, who was eventually executed at Leavenworth Prison. Pansram was responsible for 21 murders and claimed to have committed more than a thousand other despicable crimes. Floyd could not go back to being surrounded by men like that.

In June of 1930, MGM released a movie called The Big House, starring Chester Morris and Wallace Beery. It was one of the first films to depict the realities of modern prison life. It was full of informants and brutal guards and riots and general savagery. The fictional prison in the film was built for 1800 inmates, but housed more than 3,000. It was an example of art imitating life. Corruption in the legal system, over-criminalization of petty crimes, and in many cases laws that required mandatory minimums for minor transgressions had made prison overcrowding a major issue for America's justice system. The worst-case scenario came to fruition in April of 1930, when 322 inmates died in a fire that was caused by a candle that ignited a candle that ignited a, pile of oily rags. That prison was the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus, home to 4,300 inmates

in a facility that was built to house 1,500. When the sentence was passed for Charles Floyd, he would go to the Ohio State Prison in Columbus. The tales of the final hours of his partner, James Bradley's life, persuaded Charles that nothing was worse than going back to prison. On Bradley's way to the electric chair on November 10, 1930, he refused baptism. He said, I have lived the romantic life. I cannot change at this late hour. I will die as I have lived. He continued to profess his innocence in the killing of Officer Mainz. While the warden, a priest, the executioner, and onlookers remained solemn, Bradley faced his end with a smile. When he came face to face with old Sparky, he surveyed the room and then laughed and said,

well, this is a rather shocking evening. James Bradley was pronounced dead at 7.44 p.m. The next day, the Akron Beacon Journal headline read, Walker goes to death joking. But left out of the article with the other words that Bradley spoke to the audience. Witnesses to the execution said that as Bradley was strapped in, he gave them a warning.

He said, You think I'm tough? wait till you run up against this boy Mitchell. Two weeks later, Charles Floyd pled guilty and received a sentence of 12 to 15 years at the Ohio State Prison in Columbus. But Floyd was bound and determined to avoid prison at all costs. That day, the day of his sentencing, he managed to slip away from his guard detail at the courthouse. At Floyd's sentencing hearing, he suddenly found himself unattended for a moment outside the courtroom. His police escort, Officer Joe Pacco, was far enough away that Floyd decided to make a run for it.

Floyd slipped away and mingled with the crowd in the lobby and worked his way to the courthouse steps. He was outside and moving down the steps and was about to break into a full sprint when Officer Pacco spotted him. Paco shouted and Floyd bolted. He ran down the street, turned a corner by the local YMCA and collided with two men. They happened to be off-duty courthouse officers. They recognized him and detained him until Paco caught up. Paco almost certainly breathed a sigh of relief after retrieving a prisoner who nearly escaped from a crowded courthouse.

But now the prisoner had to be transported about 150 miles to Columbus to serve his sentence. And it would be a long train ride. The night train to Columbus left Toledo at 5 p.m. Charles Floyd, also known as Frank. Mitchell started pestering Officer Paco to let him use the restroom. Floyd was chained to fellow Bradley gang member Nathan King, who was also on his way to prison for robbery. At the other end of the train car was Paco's partner for this run, Officer Joe Danielack. At the moment, Danielack was lucky that he was too far away to have to endure the constant questions from Floyd. Floyd

kept asking to use the bathroom, and Paco kept denying. But by the time the train stopped in Kenton, just one hour from its final destination in Columbus, Paco gave in. The train stopped in Kenton, picked up some passengers, and then continued its trip. Pacco allowed Floyd and King to go to the restroom. The two men entered the stall, and Paco waited outside. Some historians believe that Floyd was somehow able to twist the chains enough to break them. But Officer Paco claimed that the prisoners were in the restroom for just a few seconds before he heard the window shatter. It wasn't enough time for someone to twist metal chains to the point where they would snap.

The police thought Floyd must have had a key. Later, when it was all over, they questioned the other prisoner, Nathan King, but he refused to solve the mystery. However Floyd did it, he was free in seconds. He kicked the glass window and launched himself into the darkness. Even though the train had just left the station, it easily could have been going 40 miles per hour. Floyd crashed to the ground. He laid in the grass and tried to gather himself.

The ground was cold and hard and the night was black. The brakes of the train screeched. The train slowly ground to a halt, but before it stopped, Officer Danielack leapt off and started searching for Floyd. Floyd laid perfectly still. He listened to yelling voices and crunching boots as men scoured the area for him. He knew that if he got up and ran, he'd be spotted. So he stayed down and watched and waited. Finally, after what seemed like in eternity, the search stopped.

The train rumbled back to life and resumed its trip. Before long, its lights disappeared into the darkness. Officers Paco and Danilac would have some experience. explaining to do, but Charles Floyd was free. In the morning, Floyd found a farm whose owner was generous enough to give him a lift. Thankfully for Charles, he was in civilian clothes instead of a prison uniform. While recapping the tale to a reporter the following summer, Charles would say that he got one more thing from the farmer, a gun. That was all he needed to get back to Kansas City.

Floyd stayed off the main roads and away from bigger towns and cities. He traveled mostly by night, walking or hitchhiking or riding the rails. He covered nearly 700 miles, but eventually made it to Kansas City. He returned to the Ash Boardinghouse and the embrace of Bula Baird, and even after that adventure, he wasted no time relaxing. Floyd quickly found a new partner, a wanted man named Billy Miller, who went by the ominous nickname Billy the Killer Miller. Miller had earned the nickname after killing his own brother in a squabble over a woman.

He had also robbed banks all over the Midwest and had recently escaped from prison. He already had two robberies under his belt as an escapee, and he willingly teamed up with Pretty Boy Floyd. Early in 1931, Charles, Bula, and Billy Miller made a trip to Oklahoma. Charles and Billy robbed their first bank together. They stole $3,000 from the bank in Earlsboro and added a nice job to their criminal resumes. With their profitable trip to the sooner state complete, the three headed back to Kansas City. Billy missed Bula's sister Rose.

While Billy was living at the Ash boarding house, he'd grown quite fond of Rose. And now, the two outlaws and the two sisters were couples, and not everyone was happy about. it. William and Wallace Ash, whose mother owned the boarding house, had been married to Bula and Rose, but the brothers, who were small-time criminals, had been pushed aside in favor of the bank robbers. In March, Floyd barely escaped a police raid on a gambling hall. Clearly, law enforcement had been tipped that Floyd was there, and suspicion for the tip-off quickly fell on William and Wallace Ash. When the brothers went missing on the evening of March 25th, Floyd was the betting favorite as the man responsible for the disappearance.

Two days later, police were called to a grim sight. A burned-out Chevy had been found on the side of the road, and nearby were two bodies that rolled into an irrigation ditch. Detectives could tell by the gunshot wounds and the position of the corpses that this had not been a robbery gone bad. It had been in execution. While kidnapping and possibly murder weren't his M.O., Floyd had stolen Wallace's girl and introduced William's ex-wife to Billy Miller. And Floyd certainly would have wanted retribution for nearly getting pinched.

But even if Floyd and maybe Billy Miller were not responsible, they left Kansas City shortly after the discovery of the bodies. The Baird sisters were with them, and they went on a bit of a spree. The robbers hit small banks in Grant County, Kentucky, and White House, Ohio. They stole a car and spent their money lavishly. Then in mid-April, 1931, a call came into the Bowling Green Ohio Police Station. A downtown shop clerk said four customers, two men and two women, came in and spent big money. They had Missouri tags on their car. He wondered if they might be the ones who hit the bank up in White House.

House. Sheriff Carl Galaher and patrolman Ralph Kastner met the clerk, learned descriptions of the suspects, and parked on Main Street to see if they could spot the foursome. Soon enough, they saw Rose and Bula shopping bags in hand. As the ladies moved past the squad car, two men on the opposite side of the street who had been standing outside the local bank, waved to them and crossed the street to meet them. Galaher and Kastner stepped out of the car. Floyd spotted them and shouted, Look out to Billy Miller.

True to his nickname and reputation, Miller didn't hesitate. He drew a gun and fired. Kastner, who was closer, returned fire with his service revolver, but he was flanked by Floyd, who also opened fire. Floyd shot Kastner twice. Kastner went down, but he wasn't dead. Sheriff Galaher opened fire from the far side of the car. Floyd emptied his weapon, but was still taking fire from the sheriff and the

wounded Kastner. Floyd ducked for cover, and that was when he saw Bula on the ground bleeding from an apparent head wound. In the street, between Floyd and the injured Kastner, Billy Miller lay motionless. He'd only fired one shot before Kastner or Galaher dropped him. Floyd ran from the scene. Galaher gave a short pursuit, but as always, Floyd was able to get away. He got back to their car and fled the city of Bolling Green and the entire state of Ohio. After the shootout in Bowling Green, Floyd was on the run. Billy Miller was dead. Bula Baird recovered from her injury, but she and her sister Rose were in custody.

An officer Ralph Castner died of his gunshot wound. Floyd had been cleared of the murder of a previous officer, but that wouldn't happen now. The bullet that was extracted from Kastner matched Floyd's gun. Charles Arthur Floyd, as his name now appeared in newspapers, was charged with first-degree murder. He was the target of a manhunt, and the Wood County Sheriff placed a $1,000 bounty on his head. Authorities checked Floyd's former hangouts in Toledo and Akron. They questioned bystanders in Bowling Green. and inmates who knew Floyd in jail.

They hassled crooks in East Liverpool, Ohio, a place that was commonly called Hell's Half Acre, because it was a known refuge for criminals. But as usual, Charles Floyd was a ghost. While the authorities hunted for Charles in the Upper Midwest, he headed back to friendlier environs of Oklahoma and Missouri, though he was learning that no place was completely safe. In Kansas City, on a muggy night in Lassiz,

late July, a team of prohibition agents gathered outside a flower shop just outside the financial district. It was alleged that the second floor of the building was being used as a meeting place for bootleggers and a stash house for their goods. The agents rushed up to the second floor and bashed in the door. A round table of criminals, one of whom was Charles Arthur Floyd, was in the room and most raised their hands in surrender. One man yelled at the lawmen, and an agent busted the side of his face with the stock of a shotgun. The agents covered the rest of the men and kept them at the table. But while a search of the premises began,

Charles began noticing agents whispering to each other, and he assumed it was about him. One agent barely got the words, Aren't you pretty boy Floyd out of his mouth, before Charles went for a pistol. A gun battle erupted in the room. Somehow, with guns blazing in all directions, Charles shoved his way through the melee and out the door.

With yet another improbable escape on his resume, Floyd earned a new nickname, the Phantom of the Ozarks. But the shootout in Kansas City also added another crime to his wanted poster. Agent Curtis Burke died in the gunfight, and his death was attributed to Pretty Boy Floyd. Floyd ran to Oklahoma and found a little respite, but it didn't last. He partnered with a guy named George Birdwell, and they were robbing banks together by the time summer turned to fall.

Birdwell wasn't a complete unknown, but he wasn't very experienced either. He had been the driver for the heist that Floyd and Billy Miller pulled in Earlsboro, Oklahoma. Other than that, Birdwell's exploits were few. That changed the second he partnered with Pretty Boy Floyd. The two men would tear across Oklahoma and their spree would become less. legend. Floyd was already wanted for multiple robberies, multiple murders, and multiple escapes from custody. But all that was chicken feed compared to what was to come. And ironically, the crime he was most closely associated with, and the one that was the most cold-blooded,

was the one he probably didn't commit. Next time on infamous America, Charles Floyd robs banks with George Birdwell, reconnects with his family, and narrowly survives more confrontations. with the law. But one of those confrontations will have far-reaching effects on Floyd's life and career. That's next week on Infamous America. Members of our Black Barrel Plus program don't have to wait week to week for new episodes. They receive the entire season to binge all at once with no commercials, and they also receive exclusive bonus episodes. Sign up now through the link in the show notes or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. Memberships begin at just $5 per month.

This season was researched and written by Jamie Lyko, original music by Rob Ballier. I'm your co-writer, host, and producer, Chris Wimmer. Find us at our website, blackbarrelmedia.com or on our social media channels. We're Black Barrel Media on Facebook and Instagram and B-Barrell Media on Twitter. And you can stream all our episodes on YouTube.

Just search for Infamous America Podcast. This show is part of the Airwave Media Podcast Network. Please visit airwavemedia.com to check out other great podcasts like Ben Franklin's World, Once Upon a Crime, and many more. Thanks for listening.