Edward J. Adams

Eddie Adams

Edward J. "Eddie" Adams (born 1887 in Hutchinson , Kansas , † November 22, 1921 in Wichita , Kansas) was a notorious American criminal and murderer in the Midwest . He was credited with seven murders, including that of three Wichita police officers, over a period of approximately 14 months. He wounded at least a dozen other victims. Adams was eventually located by Wichita police at the age of 34, surrounded, and then shot.

Early years

Edward J. "Eddie" Adams was born William Joseph Wallace in 1887 on a farm in Hutchinson, Kansas . His father died when he was young, so his mother remarried. Eddie had a great disdain for his stepfather and for manual labor. He learned the hairdressing trade and moved to Wichita , Kansas around the turn of the century . There he met criminal John Callahan, who quickly introduced him to criminal acts such as bootlegging and car theft . Adams had a charismatic aura and surrounded himself with a large number of criminals and loose women. His wife left him because of his infidelity and increasing illegal activities. He formed his own gang and began robbing banks and trains in Kansas , Missouri, and Iowa . Eventually he earned a reputation for being the leading bandit in the Midwest in the early days of Prohibition in the United States .

Assault in Kansas City

In 1920, Adams made a pact with the lawless Major brothers, Ray and Walter Major, with whom he robbed the casino on Grand Avenue in Kansas City , Missouri , on September 5, 1920 , which the gangster owned Harry Trusdell found. A shootout between the bandits and the employees of the illegal casino resulted in the death of the player and criminal Frank Gardner. The gang was caught by the police a short time later and arrested.

Adams was sentenced to life imprisonment in February 1921. His partners, the major brothers, made a deal with the police. They pleaded guilty to the robbery and were sentenced to a lesser prison term of just five years. Both brothers later died behind bars.

Raid in the Midwest

When Adams was transported to Missouri State Prison in Jefferson City, Missouri, he jumped off the train and escaped. He stayed for a few days with the gangster Julius Finney, with whom he committed a robbery on February 11, 1921 on a bank and general store in Cullison, Kansas. He was near Garden Plain by a posse , a member of a kind of vigilante caught, six days later after destroying a stolen vehicle under a bridge. Adams was convicted of the bank robbery and received a life sentence in Missouri for murder and 10 to 30 years in Kansas State Prison in Lansing .

On August 13, Adams escaped from prison again after sabotaging the prison power station by climbing the prison walls of Lansing during the night along with inmates Frank Foster, George Weisberger and DC Brown. The escape with driver Billy Fintelman, a veteran from the First World War , was difficult. With the exception of Brown (who was caught again a few days later), however, the refugees were able to evade registration by the state authorities and formed the core of the future Adam gang.

In September of the same year, the gang, along with Fintelman, robbed banks in Rose Hill and Haysville , Kansas, and looted around $ 10,000. According to the police report, during the Haysville robbery, Adams hit 82-year-old James Krievell on the head with his pistol for no apparent reason, and the latter later died of a fractured skull. On October 8th, police tried to lure the gang into a trap near Anoly, Kansas, but they managed to escape after a shooting. Gang member Benjamin Fisher was wounded. The gang was spotted again eleven days later in a $ 500 silver theft near Osceola, Iowa . Another antics attempt to catch the gang south of Murray, Iowa followed. The gang rested for several hours on a gravel road just a few kilometers from the city. Farmer CJ Jones became suspicious when he saw the gang's getaway vehicle and contacted the sheriff, west of Murray. A couple of men were put together to look into the matter. When approaching the vehicle, the sheriff was nearly hit in the face by a revolver bullet. However, he was able to take cover in time before a shooting started that seriously injured several members of the posse. Farmer Jones, according to him, when he heard the gunfight, grabbed his shotgun and ran to the street to support the farce. The gang tried to escape and, while turning in the street, fired at Jones, who was mortally wounded. In the direction of Wichita, the gang continued their raid on eleven branches in Muscotah, Kansas, and kidnapped two motorcycle police officers outside of Wichita, where they also set their motorcycles on fire. Back in Wichita on November 5, 1921, Adams shot and killed AL Young in cold blood while Young was on duty.

The gang then committed their most successful heist when they robbed the Santa Fe Express train near Ottawa , Kansas, and looted $ 35,000.

Downfall of the gang

Replica of the fatal shootout between Adams and the police (published in the Wichita Eagle newspaper on November 23, 1921).

On the evening of November 20th, Adams went on some excursions around Wichita with Foster, Nellie Miles (a longtime friend of Adams), George J. McFarland (a local gangster and smuggler ) and two alleged prostitutes . Another car with Fintelman, his wife, Weisberger, PD Orcutt and two ladies followed at high speed. Two motorcycle cops tried to stop the vehicle with Adams, after which a shot came from the vehicle - it is not known whether the shot was fired by Adams or Foster - and killed the patrol officer Robert Fitzpatrick. The criminals headed south to Cowley County after the women fled. Later that evening, the trio ran out of gas and stopped at a farm where Adams was trying to steal farmer George Oldham's car. When Oldham resisted, Adams shot him. Adams and Foster took the car while McFarland escaped into the night alone. The duo returned to Wichita in the stolen car. The next day, Adams and Billy Fintelman went to McFarland's house to look for him. Two policemen were waiting for them there. Adams shot Officer Ray Casner, who was not fatally injured. His colleague could hide under a bed. Adams was able to escape one more time. Adams went into hiding until the funeral of the fallen Officer Fitzpatrick on November 22nd, the day he believed most of the police would be there. He planned to take a rental car to get out of town forever. However, the owner of the rental company recognized him and contacted the police. Three officers came to the site and were immediately put under fire by Adams. Detective Charles Hoffman, who could still throw Adams on the ground, was fatally wounded. Officer Charles Bowman was also hit by Adams. The third officer, DC Stuckey, was able to hide behind a pillar, then shot Adams three times and mortally wounded him.

Eddie Adam's body was displayed to the public in a gruesome ceremony in the town of Undertaking Parlor to mark the end of his terror. More than 9,000 people watched the outlaws who were shot. In the end, 18 people were found and arrested as accomplices and accomplices of Adams. Four were sent to Kansas Detention Center and Frank Foster received life imprisonment.

literature

• Newton, Michael. Encyclopedia of Robbers, Heists, and Capers . New York: Facts On File Inc., 2002.
• Wellman, Paul. A Dynasty of Western Outlaws . New York: Bonanza Books, 1961.
• The Wichita Eagle Beacon. The First One Hundred Years . Wichita: Eagle Beacon Publishing Co., 1972, page 49.

Web links

• Arkansas City Miscellaneous - Part X ( February 4, 2012 memento on the Internet Archive ), Nov. 23, 1921