On this day, Aug. 12, in 1933, lawmen unwittingly captured Harvey Bailey, considered the “dean of American bank robbers.”
Bailey meticulously planned his bank jobs, obtaining road maps from the county surveyor to learn his getaway routes. Bailey stole more money than John Dillinger but is largely unknown today.
Recommended Stories
In 1933, Bailey escaped from a Kansas prison and hooked up with George “Machine Gun” Kelly. Police looking for Kelly in the kidnapping of Oklahoma oil tycoon Charles Urschel descended on the Texas farm of Kelly’s wife, where Bailey was sleeping.
Police assumed Bailey was small fry, but found $500 from the Urschel ransom and realized they had captured “Old Harv.”
Bailey was released from federal prison at Alcatraz in 1963. He died in Missouri in 1979 at age 91.
— Scott McCabe
