The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-02-14
BY LOU WEDEMAR
lima SAan Writer
THE First National Bank, of

Il Lamar. OOlO., " do oODuJ W CiOSe
on the afternoon of May %, 1923,
when four bandits entered
Stick EN- up" commanded the
leader, a tall. slim man, with
dark mustache
Senator A. A. Parrish, president
Of the bank, was at his desk. His
son. John, was in the paying
teller's cage, E. A. Kessinger,
another teller, was at the window
nearest the bandits.
1t had been a busy lay, and
more than $4,000 in cash was in
the vault Senator Parrish, who
had grown up in the west, had no
intention Of submitting to the
raiders He started toward them.
A hail of bullets struck him. His
son ran to help and fell under
another volley. Kessinger and
other employees were cowed, and
the bandits went to work.
Driving Kessinger ahead of
them, the leader and another man
entered the vault and brought out
sack after sack of gold, package
after package of paper money.
They dumped it all into two
large bags they had brought with
them, and then, before the alarm
had spread, started for the street.
A policeman was approaching,
but the leader had taken pre-
caution. He marched KesSinger
ahead of him, a revolver pressed
10 the teller's head.
Then the raiders and their pris-
oner stepped into an automobile
and sped away.
The officer opened fire, wound
ing one of the fugitives. At the
edge of Lamar, a group in ambush
tried to halt the car with gunfire,
but it roared through without
hating.
TINE pursuit was not halted.
Il Several weeks later Kes-
singers body, with dozen bull
lets in it, was found in western
Kansas. That made three dead,
$4,000 stolen, and no cleWs.
DR.. William Wineinger, popular
and prosperous physician in Digh-
ton, Kan, had heard of the hold
up in Lamar, but it meant little
to him.
One night he received tele-
phone call from the Dohn farm
near Garden City, saying a man
was dying. He hurried to his as
sistance.
Farmer Dohn did not answer
DR.. Wineinger when he knocked
at the door, but another voice
did. and he entered the house. A
man whose face was familiar
stood there in the lamplight and
pointed to another man on a bed.
Fix him up, doctor" he said.
A difficult operation performed,
Dr.. Wineinger put on his coat and
prepared to leave.
Don't let him move for a day
or two" he said. BY the way,
where is Mr. Dohn?"
The tall man produced a revol-
YER.
Hes tied to a chair in the
barn" he replied. DO you konw
me, Doc?"
L think 1 do. Aren't your
A shot sounded and DR.. Wine
niger fell dead beside his instru-
ment case.
TINE gang cleared out from the
Il Dohn farm the next day,
taking DR.. Wineinger's body and
his auto. At a canyon several
miles away they started the car,
leaped out and let it run into the
canyon
Farmer Dohn got free and tele-
phoned the sheriff Dohn thought
he had recognized one Of the ban
dts as man called Whitley
Pressed by public clamor, the au-
thorities rounded UP wv hit y
Walker, Charles c. Clinton, Floyd
Jarrett and Alfred Oliver.
The car was found in the can
yon, with Dr. Wineinger's body
near by. On it was a single fin
gerprint which was not DR.. Wine
myers.
The prisoners were taken to
Lamar. Colo. where huge crowd
gathered at the railway station
Before night sixty Lamar citi-
zens had signed affidavits identi-
flying the four prisoners as the
bank robbers and murderers. De-
spite the fact that they had alibis,
they were held for trial.
Now, in recent years police au-
thoritieS all over the country have
come to rely on the bureau of in
vestigations fingerprint division
and send to it duplicates of all