Letters From Alcatraz - Michael Esslinger [135]
The kidnapping finally came to an end on February 6, 1934, when Magee received new instructions to locate a vehicle that had a note hidden in the glove box. Magee followed the additional instructions, which eventually led him down a dark dirt road at night, where he was to drop off the money. The FBI allowed the transaction to take place according to the wishes of the family, but they carefully recorded the serial numbers of the five and ten dollar bills. The following day, Bremer was released in the middle of an intersection near Rochester, Minnesota, and was told to stand with his back to the car and to count to fifteen before removing the large bandage covering his eyes.
After the kidnapping was safely resolved, U.S. special agents immediately embarked on an intensive investigation. Bremer had not been kept blinded folded all of the time, and he told agents that he could hear children playing outside of the hideout and two dogs barking frequently close to the house. Bremer had also studied his surroundings with great care. He had memorized the wallpaper and furnishings in the house, and the FBI searched for matching samples using old store receipts and other investigative means. Bremer had also heard traffic, and he told agents that when buses approached he could hear the drivers apply their brakes. Magee took agents to where he had dropped off the ransom money, and they found four flashlights that had been left behind. A young girl at a local store later identified photographs of Alvin Karpis and Doc Barker as the ones who had purchased the flashlights in downtown St. Paul. Bremer also remembered that his captors had thrown away a gas can that had been used to refuel the car during his kidnapping. The FBI recovered the gas can and it was found to have Doc’s full hand and fingerprints all over it.
The bills that had been used to pay in the ransom soon started surfacing in various banks around the Chicago area. Officials also later confirmed that Karpis and Fred Barker had met with Dr. J.O. Moran, a physician with close ties to Capone and the Chicago Crime Syndicate. Both of the criminals had received surgery to alter their facial features, and had also attempted the removal of their fingerprints. The operations were apparently severely painful, and the FBI later documented that Fred became a “raving maniac” from the acute distress. Volney Davis and Doc later underwent similar surgery, also attempting to conceal their identity. The Barker-Karpis Gang then started to split up to avoid apprehension, since word was growing stronger that the FBI was closing in on them.
Karpis moved to Cleveland, Ohio with Dolores Delaney, taking enough funds to live happily for several years. Soon thereafter Fred Barker followed them, and rented a home in a nearby housing development. Doc and several of the others also moved to Cleveland and led a fairly quiet existence. According to FBI reports, the gang still had about $100,000 of the original ransom money in their possession. The idyll was soon disrupted however, when a few of the female members were arrested for being drunk and disorderly in a hotel, and were quickly linked to the Barker-Karpis Gang. Karpis moved around the states, ending up in Miami, Florida, and then he and Dolores made their way to Havana, Cuba, where Alvin felt confident that agents would not find them. But Alvin Karpis would not be granted any rest, as his picture was already being circulated in the newspapers of Havana. He fled back to Miami, where once again several of the other gang members were starting to reassemble.
The FBI noted that during this period, Doc Barker spent time hiding in Toledo, Ohio, where he became infatuated