Pat Crowe | |
---|---|
Born | Pat Crowe 1864 Iowa |
Died | 1938 New York |
Cause | Heart attack |
Alias(es) | Frank Roberts |
Charge(s) | Bank robbery, train robbery, kidnapping |
Conviction(s) | Larceny |
Penalty | 6 years prison |
Status | Served |
Occupation | Criminal, author, speaker |
Spouse | None |
Children | None |
Pat Crowe (1864–1938), aka Frank Roberts,[1] was a criminal turned author and lecturer who was implicated in the 1900 kidnapping of Edward Cudahy, Jr. in Omaha. Crowe's criminal notoriety as a bank and train robber and as a kidnapper gained him fame across the United States when he began writing and speaking about his exploits in the early 20th century. According to Time magazine, Crowe's "misdemeanors began with robbing Omaha streetcars in 1890 and included a diamond theft, homicidal attempts, a visit to and escape from Joliet prison, hold-ups and pilfering on railroads."[2]
Today, his written personal narratives of the Cudahy story are studied for their authenticity.[3] After his last acquittal in the Cudahy trial, the Omaha Daily News described him as "one of the few really spectacular and truly named desperadoes" of the day,[4][5] while an obituary called him, "one of the most colorful figures in American criminal history."[6]
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Crowe was born on a farm outside Davenport, Iowa, and had 11 siblings. Soon after he turned 17 his mother died, and Crowe moved to South Omaha, Nebraska, a new town centered on a growing meatpacking industry. Along with a partner named Pat Cavanaugh, Crowe opened a butcher shop in the area. Soon after his shop was closed by the large operation owned by Edward Cudahy. He was hired by the Cudahy Meatpacking Plant shortly thereafter. Cudahy fired Crowe after he was caught stealing money from the operation.[7]
Crowe held a variety of jobs and committed small crimes until the early 1890s. Using the alias Frank Roberts, Crowe perpetrated a variety of crimes. After an attempted robbery in Joliet, Illinois, Crowe got in a gunfight with police in Chicago. He was arrested and sentenced to six years in prison. In 1897, Crowe, again as Roberts, was sent to trial in Denver, Colorado, for burglary and larceny of a jewelry store. However, he jumped bond and was never tried.[8]
Crowe resurfaced in South Omaha around 1900 with his old comrade Pat Cavanaugh. That winter they kidnapped Edward Cudahy, Jr. After scoring the first successful ransom for a kidnapping in the United States, Crowe disappeared, resurfacing a number of times[9] until 1905.[10] That year he walked down the streets of Butte, Montana, asking to be arrested for the kidnapping. In February 1906, despite the prosecution's 40 witnesses, a firsthand account of a confession to a priest, and no testimony by his defense, Crowe was acquitted by a jury.
After his acquittal Crowe was not implicated in any more crimes. He wrote two autobiographies, in both of which he admitted his responsibility for Cudahy, Jr.'s kidnapping. In 1927 a biographer wrote Crowe's life story, portraying him as "a modern-day Robin Hood."[11] After scoring the first successful ransom for a kidnapping in the United States, Crowe disappeared, resurfacing a number of times[12] until 1905.[13]
Crowe died of heart disease in poverty in Harlem, New York City in 1938.[14]