As anniversaries go, it’s an odd one. But it’s still one of Memphis’ most spectacular crime stories.
Just before dawn on September 26, 1933, Memphis police officers and federal agents crept up to a quiet bungalow off South Parkway. Inside was their quarry, a man known throughout the country as “Public Enemy Number One,” and a killer so skilled with a tommygun that he could stitch his name in .45-caliber slugs.
The police crept up to the front porch, slowly opened the front door, and stepped inside. Just coming out of the bathroom was George Kelly Barnes, who raised his hands and meekly surrendered. Without firing a shot, the officers had arrested the notorious gangster known as Machine Gun Kelly, the Central High graduate who would end his days in Leavenworth and Alcatraz.
For the real story of the dramatic life of one of America’s most famous criminals, read the Flyer’s story.