Harvey Bailey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Harvey Bailey (disambiguation).

Harvey John Bailey (August 23, 1887-March 1, 1979), called "The Dean of American Bank Robbers", had a long and successful criminal career. One one the most successful bank robbers during the 1920s, walking off with over one million dollars during that time, Bailey is almost forgotten today.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] His career

Born in West Virginia, Bailey robbed his first bank around 1920 and his last robbery was in Kingfisher, Oklahoma on September 9, 1933. He was in the Kansas St Prison July 8. 1932 until he escaped on June 1,1933. He was recaptured and found guilty of complicity in the Urschel Kidnapping and was sentenced to Life in Prison on October 7, 1933. Originally sent to Leavenworth, he was transferred to Alcatraz on Sept. 1, 1934. He was returned to Leavenworth in 1946 and transferred in 1960 to Seagoville Federal Correctional Institution in Texas, where he remained until he was finally released on March 30, 1964.

One of the many possible suspects listed as one of the four assassins in the St. Valentines Day Massacre is Fred "Killer" Burke. But in his 1973 autobiography, Bailey insisted that he and Burke were planning a bank robbery together in Calumet City, Illinois, about 20 miles south of the massacre site, at the time the massacre took place.

Harvey Bailey died peacefully in Joplin, Missouri on March 1, 1979 at the age of 91.^{[citation needed]}