William Rudolph and Union Bank Robbery

在12月的最後一周 1902, 威廉·魯道夫, 最近回到礦工富蘭克林縣, 和喬治·柯林斯搶聯合銀行在聯合, MO. 他們搶走了一夜, 當沒有人在席炸毀安全. Rudolph returned to his parents’ cabin in Stanton, MO. He and his accomplice hid out until the Franklin County Sheriff and Pinkerton Detective Agency descended on them on January 24, 1904.

This confrontation turned gunfight was the beginning of a three-year ordeal that would involve prison escapes. two out-of-state flights to avoid prosecution and the eventual hanging of both men.

After the robbery, the Union Bank hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to find the robbers. The agency assigned the case to Charles Schumacher, a Pinkerton Detective out of St. 路易. He arrived in Union, MO on January 17, 1903. He began questioning people in the area.

Schumacher learned during his investigation that a man in his early twenties rented a horse and cart. He drove the cart to Union, MO but discarded it without returning it. Witnesses saw the young man walking down the tracks toward Stanton, MO.

After Schumacher made a few more inquiries, he determined that the man was William Rudolph. Rudolph had returned to the area a few months before the robbery. Rudolph also had a poor reputation in the area.

Detective Schumacher, Franklin County Sheriff Bruch and two of his men traveled to the Rudolph home owned by William Rudolph’s stepfather and mother to question the men. As the posse approached the house, William Rudolph drew on Schumacher and Bruch. He told them to put up their hands but Schumacher tried to run behind cover. Rudolph fatally wounded Schumacher with one bullet.

Despite the efforts of the posse to chase down the murders, Rudolph and his associate George Collins made good their escape from the area. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department arrested the rest of the Rudolph family. The Rudolphs claimed that they did not know where William went. The family was probably being truthful. The Sheriff’s Department found most of the stolen bank money in the house.

三月 4, 1903, the Hartford, Connecticut Police Department arrested Rudolph and Collins in a hotel room. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department traveled to Hartford with a witness, who positively identified them. The sheriff arranged for their transfer back to Franklin County.

This story is only one chapter in the tale. Later this week, I will cover their return, William Rudolph’s confession and a jail escape.

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