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Baby Face Nelson Research Paper

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On March 13, 1934, a well-armed and experienced gang robbed the First National Bank in Mason City, Iowa. Contemporary accounts agreed that the robbers had a dark blue Buick Sedan, that there were seven of them, that they escaped with approximately fifty-two thousand dollars, and that one of them was John Dillinger. A combination of witness identifications and gangster confessions later determined that the other participants were John "Red" Hamilton (the actual leader), Baby Face Nelson, Eugene "Eddie" Green, Tommy Carroll, Homer Van Meter and either Joseph Burns or Red Forsythe. The fact that the seventh identification caused a problem is interesting because in one account, as reported by the Des Moines Tribune on March 14, 1934, there were six men and one woman. The following is a summary of the events of the afternoon. The gangsters parked their automobile on State Street, near the alley behind the bank. At least two of them remained by the car. According to most sources, Tommy Carroll stationed himself in the doorway of what was then Mulcahy's Prescription Shop. Baby Face Nelson was across the street, on or near the sidewalk by the alley. One gangster was probably in the car. In some …show more content…

Walters was in his elevated bulletproof observation booth, built into the wall near the front entrance. He followed procedure and fired a tear gas cartridge, which hit one of the robbers in the back. Statements differ as to which one was hit. In any case, the tear gas gun jammed and Walters was out of the fight. One of the gang members sprayed the bulletproof glass with gunfire, shattering it but missing Walters. While one or two of the gang cleaned out the teller's cash drawers, another, probably John Hamilton, took bank cashier Harry Fisher to the vault. Tom Barclay, a bank employee, saw what was going on, retrieved a tear gas bomb from another office and threw it on the

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