Robert Creed Kills Cuckoos’ Leader

Before reading Gangs of St. Louis: Men of Respect by Daniel Waugh, I knew and wrote about Robert Creed and his brother Thomas murdering St. Louis Police Officer George Geisler on Halloween Day 1920.  What I didn’t know was Robert Creed was a member of the Cuckoo Gang, an ultra violent criminal organization in the 1920s.

Robert Creed was the suspect in another murder during 1920.  While awaiting trial for shooting yet another man, Robert Creed was implicated in the murder of John “Jack” Lyons, current leader of the Cuckoo Gang, several months prior to shooting Officer Geisler.  Lyons was thought to be involved in a power struggle with his second in command, Benjamin “Red” Allen.  Robert Creed was allied with Allen and was induced or decided on his own to transfer power to his boss.

On Sunday, June 13, 1920, Jack Lyons was visiting “Red” Allen at his soft-drink parlor, a common front during Prohibition, at the southwest corner of S. Tenth and Hickory Streets.  It was a pleasant evening, so they were sitting outside at the tables and chairs on the sidewalk.  Besides Allen, two or three other Cuckoo members were present.

A man in a green striped shirt exited a waiting car, walked towards the men and said, “Hello, Jack.”  Depending on which account you read, Lyons either acknowledged the man and returned the greeting or was turning around, when the man in the green shirt started shooting.

The 37-year-old Lyons ran for the front door of Allen’s soft drink saloon and collapsed through the front door after at least 5 shots were fired at him.  The one bullet, which hit him in the chest, would prove fatal.

The assailant jumped into a red touring car and fled with 3 or 4 other men.  Allen took Lyons to the City Hospital.  Whether Lyons knew Allen had anything to do with the hit or not, he wouldn’t cooperate with the police.  Both men said they never saw the assassin before even though he greeted Lyons.

Detectives told Lyons he would likely die.  Lyons replied, “I couldn’t identify him.”  Several bystanders did identify Robert Creed to St. Louis Police but without anyone else’s testimony, Creed was released.  Lyons died two days later on June 15, 1920 leaving 29-year-old Allen as leader of the Cuckoos.

While Robert Creed could have decided to kill Lyons on his own, it is highly unlikely.  Allen would arrange to have Creed killed, if he didn’t agree with the murder of Lyons.  The fact that at least 3 Cuckoos were with Lyons, when he was shot, but no one returned fire is further evidence that it was a planned power grab.  John Rawie, Lyons’ oldest friend and ally in the Cuckoos was waylaid 30 minutes before the hit, to keep him from interfering with the murder.

Robert Creed would spend the next 10 years in and out of prison for the murder of Officer Geisler.  After being released in July 1930, he would spend more time behind bars in both the 1930s and 1940s for two botched tavern robberies.  Creed died on June 23, 1965 at 70 years of age, which was unusual for someone leading such a violent life.

I would recommend Waugh’s book.  I found it to be thoroughly researched and well-written.  A must to understand the St. Louis gang wars in the 1920s and early 1930s.

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Sources: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 14, 1920 edition, p. 3, and June 16, 1920 edition, p. 3. St. Louis Star-Times, June 15, 1920 edition, p. 3 and April 9, 1940, p. 4. Missouri Death Certificate Database and Missouri State Penitentiary Records.

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