Russell Clark (criminal)
Russell Lee Clark | |
---|---|
Born | Vigo County, Indiana, United States | August 9, 1898
Died | December 24, 1968 Detroit, Michigan, US | (aged 70)
Other names | Boobie |
Occupation(s) | Bank robber and thief |
Criminal status | Paroled for health reasons in 1968 |
Spouse | Opal "Mack Truck" Long |
Conviction(s) | Murder (1934) |
Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment |
Russell Lee "Boobie" Clark (August 9, 1898 – December 24, 1968) was an American thief, bank robber and prison escapee. He is best known as the "good natured" member of the John Dillinger gang and participated in armed holdups with them in a three-month crime spree across the Midwestern United States from October 1933 until his capture in January 1934.
Biography
Early life and career
A native of
He spent his term at the state penitentiary in Michigan City and, while there, learned from veteran stick up artists. Clark's bitterness and rebellious attitude led to disciplinary problems with prison authorities. He made three unsuccessful escape attempts and was one of the ringleaders of an inmate strike in 1929. Clark was a popular jokester among inmates and was part of a "clique" which included Harry Pierpont, Charles Makley, John "Red" Hamilton, Homer Van Meter and John Dillinger.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
When Dillinger was paroled in May 1933, he launched a series of bank raids to finance the escape of his friends and was able to smuggle guns into the prison only four months after his release. On September 26, 1933, Clark and nine other convicts used the guns to help in a mass escape from the penitentiary. Along with Pierpont, Makley and Hamilton, the other escapees included
Dillinger had been arrested in
Time with the John Dillinger gang
Clark was absent from the gang's first robbery in
Following the Chicago bank heist, the state of Illinois published a list of
Trial, conviction and imprisonment
The trial began on February 14, 1934, and both Pierpont and Makley were sentenced to death the following month.[3] Clark expected the same sentence and expressed disinterest in his own trial. He was often seen yawning loudly and sleeping in court. His lawyer Louis Piquett, a known underworld lawyer in Chicago, was able to persuade the jury to grant leniency in Clark's case, especially as the triggerman was already sentenced to death, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment[9] on March 24.[1][4][5][6][7][8]
The three men still held out hope that they would be liberated once more by Dillinger. When Dillinger was gunned down by federal agents in Chicago four months later, they decided to break out themselves. On September 22, 1934, a little more than a year after their last escape, Pierpont and Makley surprised their guards using pistols made from soap cakes (blackened with shoe polish) and escaped from their cells. They then moved on to free Clark and six other inmates but were stopped when they reached a set of barred doors. The convicts were then met by guards who fired at them, killing Makley and leaving Pierpont seriously wounded, while Clark and the other prisoners retreated back to their cells.[1][4]
Clark remained imprisoned in Columbus, Ohio for the next 34 years until being paroled for health reasons on August 14, 1968. He died of cancer in Detroit, Michigan on Christmas Eve only four months after his release.[1][4] He was the last surviving member of the original Dillinger gang.[5][6][7]
In popular culture
Clark has been featured in two
References
- ^ ISBN 0-7385-2406-9
- ^ a b c d Toland, John. The Dillinger Days. New York: Random House, 1963. (pg. 28-31, 154, 157, 176-186, 193-194, 220, 243-244)
- ^ ISBN 0-8135-2487-3
- ^ ISBN 0-8160-4488-0
- ^ ISBN 1-59420-021-1
- ^ ISBN 0-253-21633-8
- ^ ISBN 0-7867-1558-8
- ^ ISBN 0-19-530483-7
- ^ ISBN 0-275-94990-7
- ^ ISBN 1-58182-272-3
- ISBN 0-7627-4114-7
Further reading
- Bruns, Roger. The Bandit Kings: From Jesse James to Pretty Boy Floyd. New York: Crown Publishers, 1995. ISBN 0-517-59153-7
- Congdon, Don. The Thirties: A Time To Temember. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1962.
- Cook, Fred J. The FBI Nobody Knows, Volume 2. New York: Macmillan, 1964. (pg. 196-200)
- Cooper, Courtney Ryley. Ten Thousand Public Enemies. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1935.
- Mooney, Martin. The Parole Scandal. Los Angeles: Lymanhouse, 1939.
- Pinkston, Joseph. Dillinger: A Short and Violent Life. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962.