In September 1930, George “Machine Gun” Kelly took part in a high-profile bank robbery in Ottumwa, Iowa. He was joined by a group of notorious criminals, including Harvey Bailey, Thomas Holden, Francis Keating, Verne Miller, Fred Barker, and Larry DeVol—many of whom were already wanted by federal authorities for their involvement in other violent crimes across the Midwest. This robbery was part of a broader crime wave during the early 1930s, a period marked by the rise of organized gangs and violent bank heists amid the hardships of the Great Depression. The Ottumwa heist exemplified the professional and well-coordinated nature of these criminal operations. Kelly’s participation further cemented his reputation as a dangerous outlaw and set the stage for his escalating criminal career, which would later include kidnappings and his eventual capture by the FBI. The presence of Fred Barker—of the infamous Barker-Karpis Gang—and other hardened criminals illustrates how interconnected these underworld figures were during this period.
