The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1934-09-29
GANGS STORY
HAS THRILLS


Escape of Robert MaiS and Will
liam Davis from the Richmond
Jail today adds another Sordid
chapter to the already bloody his
tory of the famous Tri-State gang.
The gang, prior to its breakup
by Washington and Pennsylvania
police, included, besides Mais and
Davis, Herbert Myers, 80; Arthur
Misanas, 81; John Kendrick, 80.
escaped Lorton convict; Barbara
Kendrick, his wife, and Marie Nc.
Keever, "a, a friend of Mais.
The two gangsters were convict.
ed several weeks ago Of the muir.
der of E. M. Huband, driver Of a
Federal Reserve Bank truck, dur
ing a holdup last November and
sentenced to the electric chair.
Had Three Companions
After obtaining a furnished
apartment in a certain city the
gang would usually devote them.
selves to three occupations, drink
ing, gambling and staging metho6
ical holdups.
Among major crimes here
tributed to the Tri.State gangste.
was the sensational holdup of
mail truck at Union Station De
cember S, 1888, during which the.
shot Francis White, a postal guard.
Only a few weeks before that
they were believed to have staged
a $4,000 mail holdup in Charlottes-
vile, Va.
Following the mail robbery here
came the sensational shooting of
Elizabeth Fontaine, quiet little
Canadian girl who became en-
meshed in the coils of the gang
through her love for William Phil
lips, an expert auto thief and
getaway driver" for the gang.
Phillips Killed Here
Phillips was later shot and
killed at Adams Mill Road and
Ontario Place and the gang fled
TO Upper Darby, Pa, taking the
Fontaine girl with them.
Because they believed she knew
too much" she was shot and left
for dead when the gang left the
Pennsylvania hideout.
That was their undoing, for
Elizabeth recovered and turned
States evidence. It was her iden.
LITIGATION of Mais and Davis that
led to their conviction and sen"
tence in Richmond a month ago.
The gang was also blamed by
employees of Heurich's Brewery
here as the men who held up and
robbed the plant of $1,640 last
June 4.
Shot Fighting Arrest
Six weeks later Myers was shot
by New York police when he re.
sisted arrest.
Intense excitement prevailed
here during the roundup of the
gang particularly because it was
believed they had secreted $780,
900 of loot here.
Following the arrest of Mais
and Davis in Baltimore and of
Arthur Misanas in San Francisco,
July "a, efforts were made to
bring the pair here for immediate
trial.
The Fontaine girl was injured,
however, in an automobile acci-
dent enroute to Richmond, to-
gether with two officers escorting
her there, and the trial was post
poned nearly a fortnight pending
her recovery.
Club Is Bombed
The eve of the trial brought
additional sensational develop
ments when the Club Forest, for.
merly used as a rendezvous by
the gang near Richmond, was
bombed.
This was believed to be a threat
made by friends Of Mais' as an
intimation Of what might be ex.
pected if Mrs. Fontaine persisted
in her plan to identify Mais and
Davis as killers.
Arrest of Mais and Davis was
believed by Chief of Detectives
Frank S. w. Murke to have wiped
out all but un1mportant members
Of the gang.
Blamed for Crimes
Other crimes attributed to the
now-famous gang included a Bal
timore car barn, $4,000; a biscuit
company, $4,000; a Peoples Drug
Store warehouse here, which
Melted them only Cancelled checks:
a Baltimore bank, $4,000 and a
safe-cracking job at Bowie which
failed when a blow torch set fire
to a partition.
At Petersburg, Va, the mem.
bers staged a cigarette robbery
which netted them $4,000.
Kendrick was given his Lorton
sentence for wounding a Wash.
ington policeman. He was sen.
fenced to 10 years imprisonment.
but escaped with Davis, who was
serving a sentence for safe rob
berry.