| Lawrence DeVol | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 17, 1903 Ohio, United States |
| Died | July 8, 1936 (aged 31) Enid, Oklahoma |
| Cause | Killed in police shootout |
| Occupation | Bank robber |
Lawrence DeVol (November 17, 1903-July 8, 1936) was an American criminal, bank robber, prison escapee and Depression-era outlaw. He was connected to several Midwestern gangs during the 1920s and 1930s, most often with the Barker-Alvin Karpis and Holden-Keating Gangs, and was also a former partner of Harvey Bailey early in his criminal career.[1]
Lawrence DeVol was born in Belpre, Ohio on November 17, 1903, and moved with his family to Oklahoma as a child. On May 20, 1914 he was sentenced to the Oklahoma State Training School for White Boys as an incorrigible youth. After serving a short term, he soon became involved in theft and other criminal activity and, as a member of the Tulsa "Central Park Gang", he was first arrested for larceny at age 13. DeVol participated in his first bank robbery on August 19, 1927, when he joined Eddie Fitzgerald, Harry Morris and Harvey Bailey in stealing $70,000 from a bank in Vinton, Iowa. He joined the group in a second robbery, which included Al Johnson, stole $225,000 from a bank in Washington Court House, Ohio on February 6, 1928.[1]
DeVol was convicted that same year in connection with a bank robbery in Kansas and sent to the state reformatory in Hutchinson. During his incarceration, he was befriended by Alvin Karpis. The pair escaped from the facility on March 9, 1929, and reached Pueblo, Colorado where they stole a car and headed south. They stopped in Woodward, Oklahoma where they attempted to burglarize a store but DeVol was caught, arrested and returned to Hutchinson. In spite of his escape attempt, DeVol was paroled by the end of the year and rejoined his old partner in a string of robberies throughout Kansas and Oklahoma. They were eventually arrested in Kansas City, Kansas on March 23, 1930, with DeVol posting $1,000 bail on April 1 and abandoning Karpis by leaving town.[1]
As a fugitive, DeVol became increasingly hardened and violent during his years on the run. In April 1930, he and Jimmie Creighton were the prime suspects in the robbery and murder of two businessmen at the Hotel Severs in Muskogee, Oklahoma. On June 25 of that year, he committed his first known murder when he shot and killed two police officers, Sheriff William Sweet and City Marshal Aaron Bailey, in Washington, Iowa. Less than three months later, he reunited with Harvey Bailey to rob $40,000 from a bank in Ottumwa, Iowa as part of a team which included Thomas Holden and Francis Keating, Vernon Miller and Frank Nash. On November 17, he single-handedly robbed a theater in Hannibal, Missouri and killed Kirksville Marshal John Rose as he made his getaway.[1]
DeVol disappeared for nearly a year before turning up in St. Paul, Minnesota around Christmas where he joined the Barker Gang. His first known robbery with the gang was on March 29, 1932, when he joined Fred Barker, Alvin Karpis, Thomas Holden and Bernard Phillips in stealing $226,500 in cash and securities from a bank in Minneapolis. On June 17, DeVol was part of an eight-man team including Fred Barker, Alvin Karpis, Thomas Holden, Francis Keating, Harvey Bailey, Vern Miller and Frank Nash which robbed $47,000 from a bank in Fort Scott, Kansas. The next robbery earned even more when he and Fred Barker, Karpis, Jess Doyle and Earl Christman stole $250,000 in cash and bonds from a bank in Concordia, Kansas on July 25. While this was possibly the most successful heist he had been involved in, his next bank job in Wahpeton, North Dakota netted only $6,900. His accomplices were Doyle, Karpis and Fred and Arthur Barker.[1]
He returned with the gang to Minneapolis at the end of the year, where along with seven other men, including Bill Weaver, Doyle, Verne Miller, Karpis and the Barker brothers held up a bank for $22,000 in cash and another $92,000 in bonds on December 16. The robbery turned violent as DeVol killed Patrolmen Ira Evans and Leo Gorski outside the bank. Fred Barker also killed an innocent bystander when the gang were switching getaway cars in St. Paul.[1]
DeVol was arrested in St. Paul days after the robbery, either on December 18 or 21, 1932, convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was first sent to the state prison in Stillwater, Minnesota but later transferred to the St. Peter Hospital for the Criminally Insane. He escaped from there in a mass breakout, along with fifteen other inmates on June 6, 1936. On July 8, DeVol robbed a bank with Don Reeder in Turon, Kansas. He then fled into Oklahoma where was trapped by police at the German Village Tavern in Enid, shot it out, killing officer Cal Palmer[2] and wounding another officer before being gunned down.[3][1]