Alvin Karpis

His girlfriend, Dolores Delaney, was injured in a shootout in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where Karpis had a narrow escape from the law in January 1935. She was eight months pregnant at the time of the incident and later gave birth to a boy, who was adopted by Karpis’s parents. During this period, Karpis took refuge with brothel-keeper Edith Barry to remain away from the law.

He moved to Spain in 1973. Despite the criminal life that he had lived, he was known to be a voracious reader, had a good sense of humor, and enjoyed female company. His last girlfriend, Nancy, introduced him to pills and alcohol, and that ultimately claimed his life in August 1979.

His death was attributed to suicide, though Karpis was not the type of person to give up on life or take his own life. According to some sources, the overdose of pills may have been accidental.

He was born Albin Francis Karpavičius on August 10, 1907, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to John and Anna Karpavičius, who were immigrants from Lithuania. He was raised in Wichita, Kansas. He began associating with gamblers, pimps, and bootleggers at the age of 10.

Before he turned 20, he was arrested on charges of burglary and was sentenced to 10 years at the ‘State Industrial Reformatory’ in Hutchinson, Kansas. He escaped from the reformatory, along with a friend named Lawrence De Vol, and went back to committing crime with his associate, till Lawrence was arrested.

Alvin moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where he was arrested for stealing a car and was sent to the ‘Kansas State Penitentiary’ in Lansing, where he came into contact with Fred Barker, who belonged to the notorious gang ‘Bloody Barkers.’ At that time, Fred was serving time for a bank robbery.

The members of the Barkers family were gradually eliminated. Fred Barker and Alvin Karpis joined forces in 1931 and formed the ‘Barker–Karpis Gang’ in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The gang became one of the most-feared organizations that was ruthless in its ways and did not hesitate to kill.

In December 1931, Karpis and Fred killed the sheriff who was investigating the robbery of a store, in which the gang was involved. This caused some trouble for the gang. Subsequently, the gang dispersed for a while and waited for the situation to improve.

Karpis became the leader of the gang and was known for his sharp memory and presence of mind that gained him the respect of the other members of the gang and helped him evade the authorities. From robbing banks, they soon graduated to kidnappings and extortions as a lucrative business.

The gang kidnapped William Hamm, a millionaire brewer from Minnesota, in 1933, and extorted a ransom of $100,000 for his release. They gained confidence and soon abducted Edward Bremer, a rich banker from St Paul. The ransom for his release was $200,000.

Edward Bremer’s father was a good friend of President Roosevelt, and soon, the police department stepped up their operations to put an end to kidnapping in the state. This affected the ‘Barker–Karpis Gang’ adversely.

Ma Barker and Fred were killed in a shootout with the ‘FBI’ in January 1935, and the focus was back on Karpis, who was listed as ‘Public Enemy Number 1’ by the ‘FBI.’ The previous three gangsters on the list had already been eliminated. Karpis continued with his criminal activities. However, he had to maintain a relatively low profile in order to evade the law.

His first book, ‘Public Enemy Number One: The Alvin Karpis Story,’ was published in 1971. There is also a TV documentary of the same name. His second book, ‘On the Rock: Twenty-five Years in Alcatraz,’ co-authored by Robert Livesey, was published after his death, in 1980.