該 1904 Attempted St. Louis Jail Break

喬治·柯林斯, the second bank robber involved in the Union, MO bank robbery 十二月 26, 1902, 企圖逃跑的聖. 一月路易斯監獄 1904. 除了與其他囚犯在做一個洞在監獄的牆上工作, 他還安排了獄警已經鋸走私到他. Collins intended to use them, if he was returned to the Franklin County Jail for his execution.

George Collins struck up a friendship with Thomas Clark, a jailer. As reported in the January 9, 1904 版的 聖. 路易共和國, Collins mentioned to Clark that he could make good use of some saws if returned to the Franklin County Jail. Collins also intimated that he would reward someone handsomely if he was able to escape. Collins never directly promised Clark payment for his help.

Thomas Clark received a package of saws from Hartford, 康涅狄格州. The package was sent to a North Broadway saloon for Clark to pickup. Clark later claimed that he did not examine the package carefully, so he did not know who sent the saws.

Clark repackaged the saws and gave them to Chief Guard Hoffman. He asked Hoffman to deliver the package to George Collins. He claimed the package contained a pipe that Collins had requested when he was still a jailer. Chief Jailer James L. Dawson discharged Clark on October 22, 1903 for undisclosed reasons.

Hoffman was suspicious and turned over the package to Dawson, who discovered the saws. Dawson reported the matter to Chief of Police Kiely. Kiely had Clark arrested. The story takes a strange turn at this point.

Dawson turned over all the information to the Pinkerton Detective Agency, who were still looking for William Rudolph, the other robber who escaped the St. Louis Jail in July 1903. He would later be captured in the Kansas Penitentiary. Dawson turning the information over to the Pinkerton’s made Chief Kiely angry. It may have angered the District Attorney also because I cannot find when or if Thomas Clark was convicted of the crime. They may have felt his actions prejudiced the case.

The authorities did quash the attempted escape plot. They repaired the hole. Franklin County hung George Collins for the murder of the Pinkerton agent on March 11, 1904. 聖. Louis Police began to prepare for the World’s Fair, which would begin in April.

Why do you think Chief Jailer Dawson turned the information over to the Pinkerton’s? How is this case similar to events today? You can leave a comment or ask a question about this or any post on my Facebook頁面 和 Twitter的個人資料.

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