Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1935-08-08
BOOK in KANSAS
CITY MASSACRE IS
BALANCED AT LAST
Richetti, Last of Killers in
Gangland's Daring Exc
plot, Is Hanged.

Kansas City.-"This is a HI of q
thing to wake a man up for"
That was true. To be awakened
from a sound sleep to hear any ones
sentence Of death by hanging read
would be "a HI of a thing" But
sharp faced, eagle beaked Adam Rich
ETH had been asleep in a jail cell and
when the jailers woke him up 1t was
to hear his own sentence read.
It had taken a Jackson county
kansas City, jury just two hours and
IL minutes and three ballots for q
verdict of death for the murder Of
one Of Nash's guards, one of the four
peace officers who died In what is
known as the Kansas City massacre
The sallow little prisoner who spoke
50 brazenly had little right to expect
anything less than a death sentence
Three machine gunners are known to
have participated in the Union station
massacre of June IL, 1888 horrible
example Of gangster bravado in which
they murdered the man they were
trying to reScue, Desperate Frank
Nash, In addition to shooting down the
four officers, and of the three Richetti
Is the only one now alive.
Police Kill Pretty Boy.
Machine gunner Charles pretty
Boy) Floyd was shot and killed by fed
eral agents on farm near East Liver
pool, Ohio, October %, 1884, the day
after his fugitive pal, Richetti, had
been arrested in a nearby town during
a gun battle from which Floyd escaped.
Machine gunner Verne c. Miller, no
body's pal" was found near Detroit
on November 80, 1888, beaten to death
by enemy hoodlums who trussed his
naked body in a blanket and threw it
in a ditch.
Thus, with Richetti's execution, the
ledger recording the crime and punish
ment for the spectacular effort of
three men to snatch a fourth of
their kind from seven captors is bal
anced. Four policemen were slain. In
Guiding Nash, three gangsters have
been killed. Richetti makes four.
And for the three officers they
wounded, there are four conspirators
serving two-year sentences. Eight were
convicted, but the women were only
fined
The massacre occurred when the
seven guards brought Nash into Kansas
City from Hot Springs, Ark, where he
had been captured the day before
They were returning the Oklahoma
desperate, who had pillaged with AL
Spencer until he was killed by federals
IL years ago, to Leavenworth peni-
Tertiary. he had left there In a jail
break In 1880. q T.,
"Put Them Up, Up. Up"
From the train the eight went
through the big Union depot to the
plaza in front where two police cars
waited beside several other parked
automobiles. The police pushed Nash
into front seat and started to get In.
There was a cry, put them up, up,
up" and machine guns opened fire
from opposite sides of the cars. Kansas
OAty DCtCNtANCo AdAA A1Ct udnSOu anu
w. ]. Grooms fell dead on the side
walk. Nash crumpled up in his seat,
while R E. vetterli, a city police
agent, was hit in the arm as he
crouched beside the door. In the Sec
ond car Police Chief Otto Reed of Nc
Alester. Okla, who had aided in the
capture, and Raymond ]. Caffrey. fed
eral agent were mortally wounded.
F. J. Lackey. federal agent from
Oklahoma City, was critically hurt b1t
recovered. Only Frank Smith, the fed
eral agent who had arrested Nash, was
untouched by the deadly barrage. He
had taken a rear seat. apparently
where the gangsters thought Nash
would be sitting.
The machine guns went silent, the
murderers' car pulled out of a parking
lot and they jumped in as it gathered
speed. Vetterli fred a pump gun after
1t and young motorcycle patrolman,
Mike Tanning, winged one Of the
killers who fell but got to the car.