The Fleagle Gang: Betrayed by a fingerprint
by N. T. Betz
Category: Law

True crime from the roaring 20s based on the murder of four men involved in a brazen daylight bank robbery in Colorado. The case hinges on a single fingerprint found on a murdered doctor's car, and the fledgling Federal Bureau of Identification and the new boss J. Edgar Hoover play a crucial role in turning the fingerprint into solid evidence used to find, arrest and convict members of the Fleagle Gang. The Fleagle Gang robbed banks and trains in Kansas, Colorado, Oregon and California of over $1 million in the 10 years they operated. Three gang members were hung at the Colorado Penitentiary a little over two years after committing the Colorado bank robbery. The fourth was trapped and shot on a train in Branson, Mo. by postal inspectors and detectives from several states. Cartoonist Al Capp used one of the gang to create his character Evil Eye Fleagle in the Lil Abner cartoon strip and Broadway show. Cartoonist Carl Barks used the Fleagle Gang as the inspiration for The Beagle Boys who have tormented Donald Duck since 1951.