St. Louis Police Nab Wild Bunch Members

On Tuesday, November 5, 1901, St. Louis Police captured Ben Kilpatrick and Laura Bullion for their part in the Great Northern train robbery in Montana on July 2, 1901. After prosecutors successfully prosecuted the case, Kilpatrick served 10 years, and Laura Bullion served three and a half years in the Missouri Penitentiary, but it would take weeks for the police to discover who they captured.

 

In the first week of November, a well-built man who was interested in buying a watch, approached a St. Louis jeweler. The jeweler sold the man the watch for $85, which the man paid for with new $20 bills drawn on the Bank of Montana. The man left with the watch and the jeweler went to deposit the generous sum at his bank.

The bank refused the deposit of the jeweler, Max Barnett of the Globe Loan Company at 109 N. Sixth Street, because they matched the description of the bills stolen in the Great Northern Train Robbery. The jeweler notified Chief of Police Kiely.

 

Kiely had a secret weapon at his disposal, “The Sherlock Holmes of St. Louis”, Chief of Detectives William Desmond. The 44-year-old Desmond put four of his best men on the case. While a couple of the officers were making inquiries, the detectives observed a man matching the description of the shopper walking Downtown. At 6 feet tall and two hundred pounds, the stranger was easy to spot.

 

The detectives watched the unknown man enter 2005 Chestnut Street before the detectives called for assistance. Once the reinforcements arrived, Detectives John McGrath, Al Guilon, John Shevlin, George Williams, James Burke, and Will Brady made the arrest. Detective Guilon set up the arrest by acting like a drunken man who was looking for his room.

 

During the ruse, Guilon stumbled into the unknown man’s room. Guilon asked why the stranger was in “his room”. When “John Arnold”, as he identified himself, stood up to protest and escort Guilon out of the room, the other detectives poured in. Guilon quickly took the powerful stranger down and secured his right arm, as Arnold tried reaching for a revolver. Detective McGrath quickly grabbed Arnold’s left arm and removed a second revolver before Arnold could grab it.

Detectives found $483 on Arnold and a gold watch which Arnold purchased from the Globe Loan Company. The money consisted of fresh $20 bills drawn from the Bank of Montana and change from Arnold’s purchases. The detectives captured Arnold’s companion “Lillie Rose” as she returned to the room. Detectives recovered $7,000 of the stolen money in her suitcase.

 

“Lillie Rose” admitted her real name was Laura Bullion. Bullion was a known associate of the Wild Bunch. The detectives believed their man was Harvey Logan also known as Kid Curry. However, Arnold was not Harvey Logan.

 

The case showed law enforcement did not have a complete handle on the identities of the Wild Bunch. The police thought Harvey Logan and Harry Longbaugh were the same person. Longbaugh was the famous “Sundance Kid.” The St. Louis Police also thought Butch Cassidy had been in St. Louis with “Arnold”. Butch Cassidy and “The Sundance Kid” moved operations to South America in February 1901. The other accomplice in St. Louis was most likely Harvey Logan.

 

While Chief Kiely interviewed Bullion, Detective Chief Desmond interviewed “John Arnold” who turned out to be Ben Kilpatrick, a Texas cowboy who took part in Wild Bunch robberies under the leadership of Butch Cassidy and later Harvey Logan.

 

Chief Desmond always said that Kilpatrick was one of the toughest interviewees that he ever had. It took weeks of “sweating” Kilpatrick before he gave Desmond the most basic information. Kilpatrick eventually admitted his part in the robbery but refused to implicate others. Kilpatrick served 10 years of a 15-year sentence in the Missouri Penitentiary.

 

Memphis Police shot Kilpatrick during a robbery in Memphis, Tennessee on March 12, 1912, nine months after Missouri released Kilpatrick from the Missouri Penitentiary. Kilpatrick died at only 38 years of age.

 

Laura Bullion served three and half years of a five-year sentence. Missouri released Bullion in 1905. Bullion moved around the country until she settled in Memphis in 1918. Bullion spent her later life as a sewer and housekeeper. She died in Memphis on December 2, 1961, at the age of eighty-five.

 

William Desmond solved thousands of other crimes while serving as Chief of Detectives. Desmond seldom found a criminal as tough to crack as Ben Kilpatrick.

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