The Demise of Pretty Boy Floyd

Pretty Boy Floyd.  It’s a name you’ve no doubt heard.  Perhaps you know him as the depression-era outlaw, whose reputation for bank heists is as legendary now as it ever was.  We count him among historic bandits who’ve inspired a rare kind of admiration.

Did you know, however, that this notorious criminal met his demise in Columbiana County?  The controversial details surrounding his death remain unresolved today.  Perhaps that’s why his troubled spirit is known to roam the field where he was gunned down.

Come hear the story of one man, Mr. Michael Kishbucher, author of Legends & Lore of Little Beaver Creek.  Not only is he an avid folklorist, but he’s a native of Columbiana County with unique family ties to this legendary story.

 
Whatever you once thought of Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd, you won’t think the same about him again.

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And as always, keep wondering…

To purchase Legends & Lore of Little Beaver Creek, click here: https://www.amazon.com/Legends-Little-Beaver-Creek-American/dp/1467142301 

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to Ohio folklore. I'm your host Melissa Davies. I'm so glad you could join me. Today, I'm sharing the tale of the 1934 deaths of a man in Columbia County. It remains as controversial now as the day it happened. His restless spirit, distraught over his concealed execution, is rumored to haunt the mundane field where he died. Year after year, Ghost Hunters traveled to the spot next to the Ohio historical marker that documents his demise. This 30 year old bank robber from Oklahoma loathe by law enforcement officials across the nation had earned the admiration of a citizenry impoverished in the Great Depression. With no jobs left to be had many ordinary working class folks found themselves hungry day after day, without a roof above their heads. All this while on an entire class of bank owners went right on with their business, foreclosing on mortgages and pocketing what remained of the blood, sweat and tears of the American dream. Out of this misery and hopelessness rose the figure of a man that represented strength, resolve, and the audacity to create his own fortune. But before you become too enamored, let's remember that this man was a criminal by all measures. He's believed to have killed 10 men and total mostly law enforcement officers who died doing their jobs and nothing more. This outlaw a common bank safe should have faded into the annals of history as just another young man born into poverty, and short on scruples. Yet today, his name and reputation are synonymous with a daring nature and a kind of renegade brand. He scored bounties and bank heist after bank heist, and true to fashion. He boasted about how it just came naturally to him. He was thrilled when local banks complained that their insurance rates doubled due to his frequent raids. He was over the moon when local newspapers took to calling him the Robin Hood of Croxon hills. He agreed with the characterization saying I have robbed no one but moneyed men. This narrative was certainly true of his early bank robberies, most of which occurred in his home state of Oklahoma. Using a submachine gun and a bulletproof vest. He'd waltz into small town Oklahoma banks, usually alone and introduce himself by name to customers and staff alike. After loading up on cash, he'd asked to see where the mortgage documents and other promissory notes were stored. He then destroy or steal them, freeing towns people have any record of what they owed the institution. This so ingratiated himself to locals that he had no difficulty finding families more than happy to shelter him. Rarely was his familiar face turned away at the doorstep of a family who'd fallen on hard times. Usually, he was given a hot meal and a safe place to rest before moving on to the next town. He'd rarely leave before palming a large, freshly stolen stack of bills into their hands before heading out. I'm talking about Charles Pretty Boy Floyd and his controversial death in East Liverpool, Ohio. Although a native Oklahoman Floyd's reputation in Ohio was well known long before his unfortunate demise in the state. He'd robbed several banks here well known to us under an alias Frank Mitchell. Only in hindsight, would we come to see him for who he truly was? Charles Pretty Boy Floyd. These Ohio encounters are stories worth telling. Come hear these stories. In early 1930, Toledo's police department had developed somewhat of an unspoken truce with local bandits. Crime was relatively low within the city's limits. However, this arrangement was unknown to transient criminals moving through town. One such group of them included a young man that went by the name of Frank Mitchell. The alias was necessary to keep Floyd's rap sheet from catching up with him. Should he be captured? On February 5 1930, he in a small handful of other outlaws entered the Farmers and Merchants Bank in Sylvania. submachine guns at the ready. They made off with the loot, with only one small hitch. Several onlookers managed to record their license plate as they fled. A month later in Akron on March 8, the outlaws car was involved in a minor traffic accident. When Akron police officer Harlan mains arrived on the scene, the driver of the car, a Mr. Bert Walker, promptly shot and killed him. Further investigation of the tragic killing resulted in the police's discovery of the gang's hideout at 731 Lodhi street. There, they discovered an arsenal of firearms including machine guns, nitroglycerin and rubber gloves. They also discovered a Studebaker from which a section of glass and the rear window had been removed to allow an opening for the muzzle of a machine gun. The car was later confirmed to have been stolen from Toledo. Frank Mitchell was believed by Akron PD to be a leader of the group. It wasn't until the license plate from the car match the account of the Sylvania robbery that Toledo police sent a pair of officers to Akron. These lawmen would bring Floyd and another outlaw back with them for further questioning on the Sylvania robbery. I witnesses would later put Floyd at the scene. With evidence mounting against him Floyd still known to Ohioans is Frank Mitchell had no real choice but to plead guilty to the Sylvania bank robbery. He was sentenced to 12 years in the Ohio penitentiary. Floyd was boarded on a train set for Columbus to begin his sentence. And in a scene that feels written for a movie, he asked to use the lavatory inside the railcar. While inside, he managed to unlock his cuffs and then forced the window open. He leapt through it as the train sped down the tracks. Incredibly, he managed to flee without injury. Floyd or Mitchell as he was yet known, wasn't seen in Ohio again until April 6 1931. When he and fellow bank robber Billy the killer Miller robbed a bank and White House. Shortly after Floyd and Miller showed up in Bowling Green. local merchants had spotted them and reported their whereabouts to police chief Carl Gallagher. He'd kept them under surveillance for a couple of weeks while devising a plan for apprehension. Finally, after the criminals exit at a clothing store on Main Street, Chief Gallagher and Officer Ralph Kassner trailed them to a remote location. This was the opportunity to seize them without risking harm to the public. Both outlaws pulled out their pistols and fired the first shots on seeing the Lawman. When the shooting was over, Billy the killer Miller was dead, and Officer Kassner was injured. He would die from his wounds seven days later. Floyd however, escaped unharmed, he'd made it to the car in the melee and spat off. It was his uncanny skill, fleeing arrest and detention. It would become as well known to him as his handsome face. While Floyd continued robbing banks across the Midwest, even under assumed names, his position as a folk hero of all things only grew, Americans across the country developed a complicated relationship with Charles Arthur Floyd, as he rose through the ranks of most wanted lists everywhere. to federal and local law enforcement officials. He'd become a brash and conceited villain, eventually identified as public enemy number one. Yet for many common folk, he continued to represent something much more complex, the belief that any one of us with just enough self confidence and impedance could create our own fortune. Perhaps none better encapsulated Floyd's complex character than Woody Guthrie of folk music fame. He penned a song titled Pretty Boy Floyd, which included the lyrics but many a starving farmer the same old story told how the outlaw paid their mortgage and save their little homes. Others tell you about a stranger that come to beg a meal underneath his napkin, left $1,000 bill. Floyd inspired the kind of rare admiration reserved for Mavericks. This kind of character has been extolled for ages. Think of Jesse James Billy the Kid and countless other runners gays who have larger than life reputations in American folklore. Perhaps that's why pretty boy Floyd's death in a nondescript cornfield in rural eastern Ohio, led 1000s of mourners to come see his remains. Hordes of bereaved strangers descended on the small town of East Liverpool, and amassed outside the local funeral home where his corpse was being prepared. All the while old biddies and serious men alike whispered rumors about just what led to his death on that crisp autumn afternoon. So many believed he would go on eluding capture forever. So many were brokenhearted. On learning they'd killed him. The following account is a sample of what locals themselves were hearing. It's derived mainly from the front page of the East Liverpool review published October 23 1934, one day after Floyd fell in a barrage of bullets in the field outside a widow's farmhouse. Just one other note of caution. News reports of that day, especially of sensational stories, were rife with inconsistencies. In fact, different articles on the same front page held conflicting details as to what actually occurred and presenting one version of the events as they were told, so you get a sense for what it must have felt like to hear the rumors just as they were beginning to spread. Two days before his death on October 20 1934, Floyd and his accomplice, Adam machete robbed a bank until Evansville, Ohio, a tiny village about 40 miles down the Ohio River from East Liverpool. The town's fire engine responded to the bank alarm on account of the village not having a police force. As the engine approached, Floyd and machete hopped on the sideboard pointed a gun at the driver and demanded that he run them out of town. Just beyond the limits. The two bandits then rendezvous with an unnamed man waiting in a parked car. Remember this detail? You'll hear more about it later in this episode. Later that afternoon, John Foltz, the police chief of Wellsville a small town near East Liverpool received a call from our resident with the help of the unnamed local, the two bandits were driven 35 miles north and were spotted resting in the woods. They were seen wrapped in blankets on a hillside lying next to their guns. She faults and two other officers set out immediately to investigate. On approaching the pair machete drew his pistol and fired if the lawmen Floyd sprang up and ran up the hill. He to turn back to fire his weapon as he ran. Machete was soon overwhelmed and roses hands and surrender. However, the lawmen kept exchanging fire with Floyd, one of the officers received a direct hit to his shoulder that would later end his career. Despite their best efforts, Floyd disappeared further and further into the thickening forest. The sheriff had no idea of the true identities of these notorious criminals until they brought machete back for questioning. His attempts to disguise both he and Floyd's identities fell apart on the Chiefs learning that the duo were confirmed to have robbed the bank and Tilton Seville while Russia he was being interrogated, Floyd had managed to flag down a Model T driven by George McMullen of East Liverpool. When it ran out of fuel, he flagged down a second car driven by Wellsville florist James Bom. Floyd directed him to stay on the backroads in hopes of evading cops who are surely swarming the area looking for him. Despite these efforts, the suspicious vehicle making evasive maneuvers was soon spotted and assumed to be Floyd. There are varying accounts as to exactly what happened next. The when the whole thing was over. The poor florist had gotten shot in the leg by cops bullet and our outlaw had fled once again into the shelter of the forest. Pretty Boy Floyd was on the lam in the wilds of Columbia County. Arthur conkel, an East Liverpool farmer spotted a bedraggled man hiding behind feedstocks in his cornfield the day after Floyd last flood police. His instinct told him the man was dangerous. He could sense his frenzied state from the safety of his house and decided not to confront him. Only two hours later, he'd seen the same man on his neighbor's property that a farmer Robert Robinson. At this, he picked up the phone to dial constable Elmer Burch and reported the suspicious man. The constable agreed to investigate, but in the meantime conkel headed over to his neighbor's farm. By the time he arrived, Floyd had already moved on. Robinson confirmed that the suspicious man had indeed been Pretty Boy Floyd, and that he and his daughter prepared a quick lunch for him before he took off. Robinson was one of those many citizens who sympathized with the Outlaw. Floyd had claimed he'd gone without food for days, he'd stayed off all traveled roads and was sticking to fields and forests. Shocked conkel advised Robinson to tell all he knew to the constable, who would arrive any minute conkel waited for the law man to arrive to assure that the whole story was communicated to him. Arthur conkel had no way of knowing that Floyd's next tied out would stay very close to home indeed, his niece by marriage, a widow by the name of Mrs. Ellen conkel, owned a farm on spruce Ville road. By the next day, October 22 1934. Floyd approached the front door of her modest clapboard farmhouse and knocked. I am lost and hungry for the words that greeted her when she opened the door to a young disheveled man covered in Spanish needles from traipsing through the woods. She felt no apprehension on allowing him in. It was something in his demeanor that brought a sense of calm. Although he only asked for meat and bread, she decided to cook him a proper meal of pork chops, potatoes, and coffee. After finishing, he proclaimed it had been a meal fit for a king, as he slid $1 Bill across the table toward her and today's dollars, that amount to about 20 bucks. He then asked for directions on getting to Youngstown and how he might get there. Mrs. conkel suggested that her brother could drive him in his car once he returned from working in the fields. Floyd thought that a fine idea and said he would go out and wait in the car which was parked behind the corn crib. With that, he thanked her once more and walked out the front door. The widow's brother Stuart dike would later report that he discovered Floyd sitting at the wheel of his car attempting to rig the ignition to get it started. Instead of being enraged at the apparent theft, dike simply asked what he was doing. Floyd calmly explained his need to get to Youngstown. Again, something of the trusting way in which he spoke inspired dike to offer to drive him as far as Clarkson as the engine ward to life and they pulled forward to vehicles full of law enforcement officers came rolling down the driveway. On seeing them Floyd demanded dike back up behind the corn crib. He exclaimed that they were after him as he drew an automatic revolver from his waistband. dike opened his car door and demanded Floyd get out, which he did. Now this might seem like an odd place to pause, just as the story reaches its climax. But before we move forward, I've got a special treat for you. I promise to finish this episode with the rest of the story and the mystery which surrounds it. But before that, you'll get to hear from a native of Columbia County, a man with such a passion for local folklore that he wrote the book on it. Literally. Michael Kish Booker, author of legends and lore of little Beaver Creek, shares a passion for legendary tales of the region. His book offers a masterful telling of both well known and more obscure local legends. It can be easily found on Amazon, and elsewhere. His mention of the Pretty Boy Floyd story is what cued me into the tail in the first place. Kish Booker, a retired field grade officer in the US Air Force. Now a civilian intelligence analyst, offers a comprehensive look into the interplay between fact and fiction of these enduring tales. Yet even more than this, his own family's ties to this history offers a unique glimpse into how such a story is this shapes of people. I can't believe my good fortune and connecting with him and I'm so glad to be able to share his wisdom with you. Come hear his story. Well, I grew up in kind of the border area there between Ohio and Pennsylvania, between Columbiana County, Ohio, part time and Yuba County, Pennsylvania, a lot of my family's from Beaver County. But I went to school in the East Palestine district during Columbian Academy. I grew up right along the little Beaver Creek perspec, writing and having fun with with the swimming holes and things like that. And, of course, we always had our summertime camp outs with the family. And that's where we start to hear the various lingo stories, kind of sparked the interest in writing the book is just remembering those and trying to figure out if there was any actual history to them, or it was just all, you know, fabrication. So it was really kind of started organically for you. Right in your childhood. I think we all have those hometown ghost stories and legends. Right. So on that note, we're their stories about Pretty Boy Floyd and that you were told you remember being told as a child that were passed around? Yeah, we have some particular stories that are family stories. There could be actual history with distant relatives that might have been involved in pretty boys last bank robbery. And, you know, this was passed down to us kids several times over, but nobody really knows if it's, there's any truth to it? Yeah. So in that sense, you know, it has been a story that's been mentioned, among family members. And it was widely known among the locals, of course, that keep guide there. In the field, where the marker is. The story always comes about as the it seems silly how the national narrative, the national news made it seem like Floyd was just happened to be in the area because of the car accident when he was killed. But if you do some research, he had been there for a few days. And there was a bank robbery, and a shootout that's not really talked about watching Wellsville. That doesn't show up in the national news. Yeah, that's one of the many inconsistencies that I've noticed in my research, the overall summaries, but just say, yeah, he was passing through Ohio, on his way back to Oklahoma conflicts with a lot of documentation that shows that you're right, that he wasn't in area, and had been purposely doing some of his bank heist during that time. Yeah, so he had been there for a few days. Uh huh. Yeah, it wasn't just the story that he slid off the road and hit a telephone pole and was just hiding out in the woods. He had one of his partners was arrested and Wellsville after that shoot out there. And, and then there was a third gentleman that was never captured. So that's the that's where the family legend comes from. I see. So the family legend is maybe that third person had some connection. Yes. If you read if you read the old news clippings, there was definitely three men involved with the bank heist, and then three men involved in the shootout. But Rich Eddie got arrested and like I killed him. There's no mention of whatever happened to the third person. Interesting. But Floyd was familiar with area. There's the locals will say that he was a he was a Rum Runner in the 20s. there and that's probably where he met Willis, really the killer Miller, who was from East Liverpool. And that guy was I'm sure you've done the research, but he was a real psychopath. He killed his own brother over a woman when he was 19. They're a bit sadistic. And a lot of his reputation there for sure. Right? Yeah. And actually, from what I can find Floyd never actually killed anyone until he was in a shootout with Miller and trying to save Miller actually in a shootout where Miller got killed over him. The other side of Ohio. Yeah, there's the shootout in Bowling Green. Yes, yeah. Okay. Yeah, that all fits what I've been learning. They were they were friends. Matter of fact, when I think Floyd was killed several months later after our pay still had Miller's lucky silver dollar. Mr. Had some significant swarm. Yeah, but just the show ties to the to that area. Yeah, I mean, that's where Miller was from. Yeah. So you're thinking that maybe there was some room running earlier in the 20s in the area? Maybe that's another Absolutely. And, you know, I haven't done a whole lot of research into into Floyd. But I know the local stories that he had had done run running up and down the Ohio River, learning. The trade from folks like Miller and his brother, who was Alabama Gil. He was a real bootlegger before he got killed by his brother. And they, they ran their operations out there out of East Liverpool. There was a really seedy part of it called Hills half acre. Yeah, that come across that too. So that was kind of like an enclave of a lot of the criminal elements. Right. So and the stories are that you could easily get away from local police because it was right at the point of the boundary between Ohio, Pennsylvania. And if you crossed the river into West Virginia. Back then, of course, you know, the local cops couldn't Chase and the federal agents were still, the FBI wasn't as powerful as it is today. So probably a good spot to to lay it lay low and then take off if you need to do I guess? Yeah, you can use like across the state borders, and then you'd be out of jurisdiction range. I guess. That makes sense. So maybe that's part of the reason, you know, that Floyd had familiarity with the area as to why he would have returned and maybe had some support from other folks that were still around. Yeah, so if you research the that last bank robbery in the shootout that occurred the day after and Wellsville he was staying with somebody. The police got a tip that he was staying in the residence and when they approached it, that's when a fight broke out. He wasn't just randomly hanging out in well, so I'm sure he had friends. And then there are stories that the local sheriff's showed off for Chetty to the police and then regretted it later because there were posses, forming and threatening them was driving by with men, you know, cars full, and with guns. It was afraid they were gonna break him out. And that's why they call the FBI. Come and get them. Oh, this is interesting. So they were planning on swarming to free Resetti? Yes, that's the that's the stories. Yeah. No, so that there was at least one car drove by firing guns in the air. And that night, is one Melvin Purvis flew in to take custody of them. I think. So there's lots of indications that they had a great deal of support among the locals. At least, at least some support. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I'm sure there were many others who, you know, didn't want anything to do with these things. But that's part of the allure to that I've been learning about Floyd just generally, is that he inspired a kind of admiration from a lot of like, especially more downtrodden folks during the Depression, who kind of saw him as this figure, and somebody that could create his own fortune? Any of that Robin Hood mystique? Yeah. And I'm not sure if there's any truth to that, you know, the stories are that he would rather bank and then purposely look for mortgages, of farms during the, you know, this was during the Depression, and you would tear them up or burn them or take them. So these farmers that were being foreclosed on, he thought maybe that would help them out. I've seen lots of accounts of that. And it's even been immortalized in like the Woody Guthrie song and you know, where he would basically free a lot of local people of their mortgages and other promissory notes. Which would, you know, ingratiate him to the locals and probably support his cause to have, you know, somebody there shelter him. But it's an it's an intriguing concept, because I believe it sure is, and I'm sure the press romanticized it. Yeah, I don't think we should we should just gloss over that this was a killer very Oh, person. Oh, yeah. That's, that's the danger, too, is you want to kind of see him as the sympathetic figure. And I think he was his character is way more complex than probably a lot of us know. But that's really, my only history of it is the family lore. I mean, there's some artifacts, you know, bullets, and I think it was a pearl handled pistol at one time that I've never We're seeing that I've heard people talk about it. But pianos, distant relatives that are somehow was either involved or no family member made it up just to, to draw some attention. Well must be someone compelling. I mean, you have the object there, you can see it a pearl handled pistol of the era, I can see where that would would deepen the legend there. Absolutely. And in fact, I always just assumed it was a completely made up story from a crazy uncle or something until we started emailing each other and newspaper clippings about this third person that never was charged. Oh, wow. Yeah, one of those discovery moments that you just kind of hate. Yeah, the goose bumps on the back of your neck. I got kind of excited and call my mom. And this actually could have happened. And seems like I've been telling you how that's such a desperate so need about folklore like this is when you make that connection. And it just makes it so much more real. So what I've gathered from the spot itself, where he was killed, it seems to be like this really nondescript field? Is that the way that you would describe it? Yeah, it's part of the Beaver Creek State Park now. And it's used for or at least it was, I don't think it probably is anymore. But it was used for a radio controlled airplane enthusiast. Like would have a large area where they wouldn't be flying into trees or telephone poles. Right, but it's still there. And there's, there's an historic marker there, which is I always find interesting or ironic, because every time I go past it, it's full of bullet holes. That yeah, very on the nose, I guess for that. Okay. I'm assuming somebody decided to do that just to add a little extra genuineness to the whole thing. And I have come across a few claims that supposedly his ghost has been spotted or that people can hear you know, when they call him EVPs. Was that at all part of the legend that you remember hearing? Sure, that I've heard. I mean, there's so many ghost stories in Beaver Creek State Park, I swear there's more ghosts in that park than there are buildings. I don't know why. But that place seems to be just chock full of ghost stories. His is more infamous. Most folks just know that he died there. But I have I have heard folks say that you could see him on the day of his death is when you're supposed to go. I don't go stand that up. I don't really believe in that kind of thing. But I also am not a total skeptic. So sure. Right. It's just such a compelling stories with, you know, competing motives and part of why I think it lives on. Even yet today. You know, most people know the name Pretty Boy Floyd. Even if they don't know all the details, it's something that's what outlived him. His general education. It's kind of I always find interesting, these lumped into the gangster genre with like, you know, all proponents, all these true gangster schemes was more of a bandit, more of a farm boy that grew up to be a bank robber because of the situation he got put in, I guess. Yeah. I thought that to a lot of times, he's given that label of a gangster but he really didn't belong to a gang. Yeah. Yeah, from what I've read, I'm not pretty good for an expert. But from what I've read, he didn't really he wasn't part of organized crime at all. Other than, you know, the friends that you would, or acquaintances he would occasionally rob banks with. Yeah, yeah. And I would guess maybe he would bristle against that idea. You know, that there was probably part of him that enjoyed the freedom of, if you can call it that. Autonomy, maybe that's kind of operating on his own. And some of this might be my own assumptions here, too. But that's how I see my little more modern version of Jesse James or something like that. Yeah. And I think maybe that's one of the reasons that he holds a place in our collective unconscious, so to speak. You know, that we see him as a kind of archetype. Whether that's truly earned by him or not, that's what we project onto him maybe. Right. Yeah. It's an interesting story, that it's It still is very odd to me that I'm sure it had a lot to do with the press and the times being during the Great Depression. But these killers and outlaws became so popular, I assume that this had something to do with the way they were portrayed in the media at the time. I think that's a really fair point, you know, they was kind of the built into a character that you could root for, on some level. And, you know, I was also reading about when he was killed there in a slow repol that they've had 1000s of people descend on the town to do his body. It was this, you know, huge outpouring of grace from strangers. That just really reflected the the amount of, I guess, love that he inspired or at least admiration. Yeah. And I'm, I'm sure you are aware of the things they have. They're still death masks. They're part of a on display that folks can see. Yeah, yeah. Have you seen the death map? You're sorry, I'm not the person. What I read is that it's nailed to the wall above the washer and dryer at the Sturgis house, which is a bed and breakfast, which was used to be the funeral home where he was displayed. Right. The weird thing to have I know, and they you can actually see the picture where they posted it there on their website. And back then, you know, there was different attitudes, I guess. And you know, they were you could see pictures of his autopsy. They had video of it as well. Yeah, it's just, I don't know if it was just because he was so famous that they felt that they could do that. Even though his mother requested specifically they not do that. Different times, very different times. Very different times. Indeed. Usually, we avoid the messy details of death, even when it happens to those we think deserve it. Such was not the case for Pretty Boy Floyd. His death was a spectacle. It was proclaimed on front pages of newspapers across the country. His corpse was photographed, filmed, and immortalized in the making of a death mask. As we mentioned. 1000s came to view his body before it was sent on for burial in Oklahoma. So many wanted to say goodbye to this man, this thief, this killer. So many held sympathy, even respect for this outlaw who represents the embodiment of something fundamental in American culture, our worship of rugged individualism, and our reverence for tales of rags to riches of rising above all odds, earned are not Pretty Boy Floyd came to represent so much in the hearts of Americans down on their luck. There's one piece of the puzzle yet to be revealed here, the details of his death. First, let's take a listen to how the official story as recounted by the law men who were there was told in the days following what you'll hear next is a reading of an excerpt of a front page article of the East Liverpool review, the day after his death. It was the official account gleaned from lawmen who confronted Floyd that day. Come hear the story. We alighted from the cars and cautiously approach the field. When within hearing distance, we shouted, hold up your hands. The Outlaw kept pacing back and forth behind the crib of the federal agents and our policeman with three machine guns, two rifles, two sawed off shotguns and 238 caliber revolvers moved in. There were no prearranged plans of action. Every man knew his job. We were out there to get public enemy number one, and we were prepared for a fight. Floyd, apparently wanting to get to a Woods down near Beaver Creek darted from behind the barricade. As we approached, we ordered him to halt. He failed to obey the command and we all fired at once. We believe he was struck by the first volley but Floyd continued to run. We repeated the command to halt but again it was ignored. We fired a second volley and Floyd fell in the field. We closed in one look told us Floyd was dying. Who the hell tipped you off? Floyd asked. Where's Eddie? He next enquired. You got me twice. He admitted his identity as Mr. Purvis questioned Him saying, I'm Floyd. We carried him from the field to the road. And when we reached the highway, I said he is dead. We put the body in the Federal officers car. Two of the Department of Justice agents went to Clarkson, where by telephone they reported to Edgar Hoover, their chief and Washington. Floyd had a 45 automatic revolver with the release open in one hand, while stuck in his belt was another automatic revolver. He made no attempt to use either gun and apparently was trying to hide rather than fight it out with us. We had been cruising along the East Liverpool, Youngstown highway and side roads for more than an hour before we sided Floyd. We had not received a tip as to his whereabouts so far as I know, we were called by Purvis, who asked us to join the federal agents who previously were cruising in the district. After we brought the body to East Liverpool, a doctor was called and pronounced him dead. The only mark on Floyd's body other than the bullet wounds was a bullet scar on his right leg. Floyd's fingers were sandpapered an old trick to make fingerprints difficult. handcuffs were clamped on Floyd's wrists before he was carried from the field to the highway. In Floyd's clothes, we found $122 A small amount of change and a watch. This is the story that remained the official word on Floyd staff for nearly 45 years. Then, on September 24 1979, a new account was revealed. Retired East Liverpool police chief Chester Smith was then well into his 80s He'd been among the group of local officers who'd witnessed Floyd's death by 1979. In fact, he was the last man yet alive who could tell the tale. Not wanting to take the truth to his grave, Chief Smith agreed to share what he knew at a Time magazine article. No longer fearing denials from the FBI, he felt free to call out the lead agent Melvin Purvis for what he deemed criminal actions. Come hear his story as printed in Time Magazine. On October 22 1934, G Man Melvin Purvis cornered bank robber Charles Pretty Boy Floyd, at a farmhouse near East Liverpool, Ohio. When Floyd armed with 245 caliber pistols fled across a stubbled cornfield toward the woods. Purvis and his men shot him to death. It was one of the most celebrated exploits of the G men, for runners of the present day FBI agents and enhanced purposes reputation as one of the country's ableist crime fighters. This story of Floyd's death stood unchallenged for almost 45 years. Last week, however, retired East Liverpool police captain Chester C. Smith, now 84 came forward with a far different account of Floyd's death, one of six officers who accompanied Purvis on that day. Smith was the first to spot Floyd trying to escape, said Smith. I knew Purvis couldn't hit him, so I dropped him with two shots for my 32 Winchester rifle. Stunned, but not seriously wounded. Floyd sat up and was immediately disarmed by Smith. Then said Smith purpose brand up and ordered back away from that man, I want to talk to him. Pretty Boy glared and cursed, at which point said Smith. Purvis turn to g-man Herman Hollis and said, fire into him. Hollis obeyed, said Smith, killing Floyd with the burst from a tommy gun. Was there a cover up? Sure was said Smith, because they didn't want it to get out that he didn't killed and that way. Smith, who was promoted to captain following Floyd's killing, said he decided it was proper to set the record straight now because of the seven men involved. Only he remains alive and the truth can no longer hurt anyone. So what do you believe? Was Pretty Boy Floyd staff a consequence of his decision? And to flee from authorities that result from the risk he took and choosing to run yet again. Or in truth, did he die a disarmed and wounded man, executed by men blind with rage and revenge for the lawmen he killed? did he inspire in them, alerts into lawlessness, a willingness to take fate into their own hands? Is this not the kind of influence he held on so many during his short life? Did his criminal acts not provoke a kind of admiration rarely seen in civilized society? Perhaps with the right justification, be that poverty, oppression, economic depression, or in these moments case, share revenge. We're all susceptible to forces that push us beyond the society's limits. What will you do when tested? How will your morals hold up? Perhaps that's what keeps Floyd's restless spirit roaming. Perhaps he suffers guild rots of the innocent ones he killed. Several accounts of his life offer evidence that he regretted those caught up in his line of fire. On the other hand, perhaps his rest of soul longs for justice for his unlawful execution. Such justice would have been the kind his own victims never received. Whatever the truth of the matter, those who know are long dead. Whether they're ghosts still wrestle with this unfinished business is a question only folklore can address. This concludes today's episode on the demise of Pretty Boy Floyd. I hope you've enjoyed it. If so, please rate review and subscribe to Ohio folklore on your chosen podcast platform. Writing a review helps people find the show and so it is massively appreciated. You can find Ohio folklore on Facebook and at Ohio folklore.com. And as always, keep wondering