Born to Hang
William Bagley was first arrested in Seattle in November 1917 as a fugitive from Skagit County, Washington. He was known for his safe-cracking prowess, as well as being a bootlegger running whisky for years. He became one of the most notorious and prolific criminals along the Pacific coast.
Escape from…Oakalla Prison and Whatcom County Jail and San Quentin State Prison and Folsom Prison
I keep an ever-growing stack of stories that I want to further research. This one falls into my “˜notorious bad guys’ file and started when I saw a reference to a Burnaby Police officer shot in Vancouver. Who knew it would take two weeks of exploration and digging because I kept finding rabbit holes that I jumped into with each of the spinoff gangs? I hope you enjoy the story !
Joanne McCormick
William Bagley (1892-1935)
William Bagley was first arrested in Seattle in November 1917 as a fugitive from Skagit County, Washington. He was known for his safe-cracking prowess, as well as being a bootlegger running whisky for years. He became one of the most notorious and prolific criminals along the Pacific coast.
On December 9, 1924, six men left Seattle for Bellingham in preparation for a “pretty good (bank) job up north.” In a complex plan, and using boats, the criminals crossed into Canada, meeting with others and renting vehicles to be used during the heist.
William Bagley was charged with complicity as one of seven men participating in the $42,000 robbery of the Nanaimo Royal Bank of Canada on December 12, 1924. They escaped in a boat launched from a harbour 10 kms south of Nanaimo, after a chase where the pursuing police vehicles’ tires were punctured by nails and glass thrown out the robber’s getaway car windows.
As the speedboat crossed the Strait, they were spotted by Sheriff Al Callahan and his deputies, who thought them to be rum-runners. Once on land, the money was taken by truck through Bellingham, where the police caught up, but were fired upon by rifle. The bandits made it to a spot where they transferred the money to a waiting car, which then drove south to Tacoma.
Arrested December 22, 1924, in Tacoma by Inspector Forbes Cruikshank (BC Provincial Police) on charges of robbery and being a fugitive from justice, Bagley was extradited to Canada in October 1925, after several unsuccessful appeals.
Five of the men were identified by Inspector Cruikshank, with the assistance of Seattle Police — all were convicted.
November 6, 1925, Bagley was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years plus two whippings of 10 lashes each. He served five, and was released from the BC Penitentiary November 30, 1930, and deported to the US.
In January 1931, Bagley was arrested in Seattle in connection with the seizure of dynamite caps.
On April 27, 1931, two bandits with a sawed-off shotgun held up the Harrison Hot Springs Hotel, trussed the nightshift manager and blew the safe, escaping with $700 cash and securities. A running gun battle with Provincial Police in Mission ensued, but the criminals disappeared after abandoning their car.
April 30, 1931, Border patrol arrested two men at Huntington, Washington. One of them was William Bagley. In his possession at the time of arrest, was a sawed-off shotgun and $150 Canadian, of which bills of the same denomination and markings had been stolen from the hotel. He was taken to the Whatcom County jail awaiting Canadian authorities.
During his time in solitary confinement, a revolver had been smuggled into the jail, allegedly in a bowl of soup brought by a female visitor.
On May 18, 1931, Bagley attempted escape by sawing through the bars and shooting it out with the jailer. As the soup had damaged the gunpowder, his gun misfired twice, and a third bullet missed the jailer, who had in the meantime fired his own weapon, wounding Bagley in the right thigh.
Bagley was charged with the attempted prison escape and assault with a deadly weapon.
On November 19, 1931, after recovering from his wound, Bagley was extradited to Canada and found guilty. He was sentenced to 14 years and 15 strokes of the lash at Oakalla Prison.
On January 3,1932, while waiting out his appeal, Bagley escaped the Oakalla Prison Farm with four other men:
- Norman Moore, 25 years, jailed for two counts of shop breaking.
- William Kearney (aka Lane), 23 years, serving time for possession of stolen property and attempt jail break from Oakalla in August 1926.
- Frank Sorge, 27 years old, awaiting appeal of his conviction of four years on two counts of having burglary tools in his possession.
- Gordon Fawcett, 21 years old, imprisoned for stealing a local lawyer’s vehicle and attempt robbery of the Bank of Montreal in 1931. He was wounded during the gun fight that followed, when a teller seized a gun and fired upon Fawcett and his two cohorts.
The mastermind behind the Oakalla escape was Bagley. Between 1630 and 1900 hours, he was able to manipulate the cell door locks to open, and once in the corridor, they sawed their way through two of the window bars. Throwing a blanket and using it as a rope, the five men dropped to the ground a distance of 18 feet.
It was believed that once outside, the fugitives found confederates waiting with clothing to cover their garb.
Police were notified at 1915 hours, with patrols dispatched to stop and search all cars moving through New Westminster (sic), all freight trains and hardware stores throughout the Lower Mainland, the Fraser River, and the border as far east as Hope.
Norman Moore and William Kearney had stolen a car, and in the 2000 block East 65th Avenue, they abandoned it. In the early afternoon of January 4th, they were captured by Vancouver Police Sergeant Charles Thomas and three constables in the bush near Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver.
At 1030 hours January 7, Frank Sorge was caught at Broadway and Victoria, after a two-hour hunt through the flats and bush of the area. Two tip-offs told Detectives John Branca and James Morrison that he had stopped at his parents’ home (3908 Slocan Street) prior to fleeing when being spotted. He was “wan, filthy, rain-soaked and had several days’ growth of beard. He was armed with a .32-calibre revolver, fully loaded and in his possession were 15 extra cartridges.”
“Branca and Morrison jumped from the car, and Branca covered the convict with a sawed-off shotgun, ordering him to throw up his hands. Sorge made a motion to reach for the gun in his pocket but Morrison seized the man’s hands. Upon searching, the gun had slipped through a hole in his pocket and down the leg of his underwear.”
Two powerboats were reported stolen at a New Westminster boat launch. It was felt quite possible that Bagley and Fawcett had made good their escape via the River.
Meanwhile, two custodial guards at Oakalla were suspended. Guard Douglas Campbell and P. Cunningham were in charge of the cell tier from which the convicts escaped. They were later exonerated of complicity in the escape and reinstated.
Over the next weeks, during one of the most intensive manhunts in B.C.’s history, police throughout the Lower Mainland received a flood of tips from citizens claiming to have seen one or more of the fugitives. All were dutifully chased down with nil results. Bagley and Fawcett were on the lam.
It wasn’t until March 26, 1932, when acting on a tip, Provincial Police officer and Game Warden W.H. Cameron responded to two suspicious males at a Ladner gas station. Finding the men seated in a restaurant, he had words with them, but didn’t get the sense that they were on the run. Cameron left to call the Vancouver branch of the Provincial Police to get advice.
By the time Cameron returned, the males had left, but not in the direction they had indicated (towards the ferry). Cameron drove trying to find them. At Snake Hill (Scott Road) he saw them with their broken-down vehicle at the roadside. Cameron pulled over and as he walked towards them, both pulled out revolvers: William Bagley had a .44 and Gordon Fawcett a .38.
The two suspects told Cameron to get into the backseat, while they transferred their safe-cracking tools, guns, and ammunition into his car. Bagley drove, while Fawcett held a gun on Cameron.
Driving east to Pacific Highway (today’s Old Yale Road), they noticed they were being followed. Trying to lose the tail, they doubled back, crossing the double-decked Westminster Bridge (old railway bridge east of the Patullo).
They lost the tail while continuing through Burnaby into Vancouver and then back into North Burnaby again. Cameron had no idea what they planned to do with him.
Three hours after they kidnapped Cameron, they pulled into a bush area in what would today be the Shellburn Terminal area of North Burnaby. Bagley told Cameron to get out of the car, and followed him, still armed. Fawcett then drove off, heading to Vancouver. He was to return in an hour.
Three hours later, Fawcett hadn’t returned and Bagley was concerned that he had been captured (in fact, he had been captured at the Terminal Hotel on Powell Street, by Provincial Police). He tied up and gagged Cameron, leaving him in the bush, stating he was going to get a car to go into the city. Cameron meanwhile was working his bonds off, only to have Bagley return.
Bagley had walked to Harry’s Tobacco & Confectionary shop (5527 E. Hastings), produced (Cameron’s) badge and told those in the shop he needed to get to Vancouver. Harry’s friend Roland Chasney’s car was outside, thus the quasi carjack. Stopping back at the bush, Bagley set Cameron free from the ropes/gag and gave him a fifty-cent piece to get home. When Bagley asked Cameron what he was going to do once loose, Cameron stated he was going after him (Bagley). “I don’t blame you,” he said. He ran from the bush and jumped into Chasney’s car.
Once free, Cameron also proceeded to Harry’s store to call Burnaby Police. Detective Sergeant David Maxwell had already been notified by Harry himself. Maxwell had arrived at the store, picked Harry Royle up and were enroute to find the criminals.
Cameron jumped into a passing car driving to Vancouver, and minutes later he found “˜the street covered with police.’
Detective Sergeant Maxwell (and Royle) had caught up to Chasney’s car, forcing him to a stop at Vernon Drive and East Hastings. Bagley sprang out of the passenger seat and started shooting at the officer and his driver Chasney.
Maxwell was hit in the arm and stomach, and as he dropped, he fired back at Bagley. Bagley returned fire, striking Maxwell in the chest and another to his abdomen. Bagley sped off in the now stolen auto. Maxwell fired off three more rounds at the fleeing vehicle to no effect.
Anticipating his arrival at the Terminal Hotel where Fawcett had gone, Vancouver Police, led by Deputy Chief John Murdoch, lay in wait. Unfortunately, Bagley was now “˜hinky’ and avoided the trap.
Bagley was charged in absentia with the attempted murder of Detective Sergeant Maxwell. He fled south, laying waste to cities along the Pacific Coast in a series of violent and ruthless crimes. Sergeant Maxwell underwent surgery and survived his ordeal.
Six months later, on September 30, 1932, Bagley, along with four others of his gang, were captured in two Oakland raids. Bagley was the ringleader of the group who had terrorized the San Francisco Bay area in a series of spectacular robberies over the last several months.
The gang’s crimes included: kidnap and $7,000 robbery of a chain store collector, abduction of a Richmond (California) policeman, and a garage holdup where 14 persons were lined up and robbed of money and jewelry valued at $2000. There was purported to be at least 20 robberies in total.
Chief Constable William J. Devitt (left) and Sergeant David Maxwell of the Burnaby Police 1921
At the time of their arrest, police found an arsenal, including a machine gun that had been used during the Nobel train robbery, several pistols, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Bagley pled guilty to allegedly avoid a return to Canada, and “much preferred to stay at Folsom Prison.” The Judge imposed the maximum sentence under California law.
Meanwhile, an extradition complaint was filed in the US Federal courts seeking Bagley’s return to BC as an escaped convict, as well as the attempted murder of Sergeant Maxwell. The Canadian government was prepared to “wait for him until he gets out.”
March 12, 1934, in the first of two attempted escapes from San Quentin, he and another inmate had fashioned a revolver from materials found in prison. The ammunition was made from soap fat and other ingredients rendered down to explosives. A third accomplice was shot by his partners for being weak when needed. The crime resulted in a death sentence for murder and assaulting a guard.
On September 2, 1935, Bagley attempted yet again to avoid the noose four days hence. He sawed three bars from his cell and stepped out. A guard who tried to stop him was felled by a blow from one of the bars. Bagley was thwarted when another guard slugged him into unconsciousness, fracturing his skull.
September 6, 1935, on the day of Bagley’s execution, he collapsed and had to be carried to the scaffold where “he died squirming at the end of a rope, like the rat he was.”
Gordon Fawcett
Meanwhile, Bagley’s accomplice in the Oakalla escape, who was arrested at the Terminal Hotel on March 26,1932, was found guilty of the previously aforementioned September 1931 Bank of Montreal robbery (Cambie at 16th), and sentenced to 2.5 years. He was later found guilty of the robbery and revolver theft (Game Warden Cameron’s weapon and vehicle), and sentenced to five years per charge to run concurrently with all of his other convictions. He was released June 1936.
On December 21, 1936, two men were caught by a homeowner trying to syphon gas from his garaged car. When the owner confronted them, he was struck over the head with a gun, causing a discharge. The men escaped, leaving the unconscious victim lying on the garage floor.
After a brief pursuit along Lougheed Highway into Pitt Meadows, the men bailed out, followed by Provincial Police constables. One suspect pulled his gun, a bitter struggle ensued, and both were captured. A search revealed they had two loaded guns along with ammo. Their vehicle had been stolen from Vancouver earlier, and contained drills, cold chisels, and other safe-breaking burglar tools. Charged with possessing firearms, a stolen auto, and attempted murder, Fawcett was again sentenced to Oakalla.
On April 4, 1937, Fawcett escaped Oakalla with fellow prisoner Vernon “Blackie” Campbell. They had inside help, but no blame was ever fixed. Moving from their cell corridor through a padlocked wooden door and through the execution room, they made their way down an unused elevator shaft with a blanket-rope. On May 25, Blackie was gunned down by Tacoma Police following a high-speed chase and spectacular crash in a stolen vehicle — two hours after he held up a hotel.
In October 1940, under the false name of Goodman, Gordon Fawcett registered at Alameda, California, for the selective service draft. Stating he was 34 years of age and born in Butte, Montana, he now had his draft card for identification purposes.
Fawcett resurfaces again in April 1941, when the FBI arrested him with a number of stolen vehicles and plates in California. Apparently, he had spent the last five years in Arizona, Utah, and California, and actually had legit work at a mine for a time. His wife, Frances Booth, was also arrested. He was sentenced to California prison time before being extradited to Canada to answer to the charges stemming from the theft and assault of the Port Moody victim, as well as the prison escape. The judge, who believed Fawcett had been trying to go straight, and had “˜married a good girl,’ decided to sentence him to serve one year in Oakalla.
The writer couldn’t find any further listings or records for Gordon Fawcett after this date.
Nanaimo Bank Job ““ The other players
Ross Watson, a former Seattle Detective, was one of six men held in connection with the Nanaimo robbery, but was acquitted at his second trial. Well-known in Vancouver as a competitor in police sports, he was dismissed from Seattle PD in September 1924 when he attempted to bribe another detective into letting him view the robbery suspect lineup from a $22,000 Bon Marche Department store robbery. He and another Seattle officer were charged with that robbery. He was possibly implicated in the earlier robbery of a cigar store (($12,000). Watson passed away in 1940 in Idaho.
Richard “Dick” Clarence Schively, former patrolman on the Seattle Police Force, couldn’t be extradited as he had been convicted and incarcerated in a US prison. It was his speed boat, the El Toro, which was used to cross the Strait before and after the Nanaimo job.
Alfredo Castro (aka Joe Moresco) pled guilty to the Nanaimo bank job, and received eight years and 20 lashes. In 1929, Castro provided a tip to police about a double murder of a young couple on December 19 in Oakland, California. Ernest Diaz was arrested but he fingered Castro, who was saved by an alibi. Diaz was charged and convicted, but continued to profess his innocence. Sentenced to hang, he received a Governor’s Mercy commuting his death sentence to life imprisonment without parole. No further information could be found on Castro.
Thomas H. “Big” Johnson, an alleged Chicago gang leader, was captured in Seattle following another bank hold up on September 29, 1925, where $6500 was stolen. While in custody awaiting the trial for this, as well as extradition for his role in the Nanaimo robbery, both he and Edward Gambertoli escaped custody.
On December 9, 1935 while serving his sentence at Walla Walla State Prison, Johnson and seven others crawled through a 50-foot tunnel they created under the prison wall. Johnson was caught later that afternoon in a stolen auto. Last heard, he was serving a 40-year term at Walla Walla.
James Burns, aka Edward Gambertoli, aka George Costello was arrested for the Nanaimo robbery, and held in the Seattle Jail, where he broke free along with five others, including Big Johnson. From here, he stowed away on a ship from Seattle to Shanghai. Due to his seasickness, he came up on deck, still armed with a revolver, but was so incapacitated, he was captured by the ship’s officers without a struggle. Once landing, he somehow escaped his berth and made shore only to disappear. He was the only one of the seven Nanaimo crew who escaped without trial before a Canadian court.
At some unknown date, Gambertoli returned to California. During the robbery of an Oakland bank on August 25, 1928, a bank teller was shot and killed. Gaining no money and panicked, the suspects fled. In a 20-block police chase, the thugs crashed their vehicle into a truck. Bailing out on foot, they carjacked a nearby automobile, but the engine stuck. This gave enough time for Oakland motorcycle officer Les Manning to approach and level his pistol at them. One male put his hand into his pocket, but Manning fired a shot in his direction. A second man attempted to flee, but was stopped by an ex-LA policeman, who tripped him. All three were in custody within 20 minutes of the heist.
Extradition to BC was not to be granted to Gambertoli due to the seriousness of this crime. He was sentenced to death on August 30. 1928 , but in several appeals, his hanging date was postponed. In his second attempt at suicide, on October 15, 1929, he slashed his throat with a bit of smuggled razor, suffering considerable loss of blood but no loss of life. On December 13, 1929, he climbed the gallows’ steps at San Quentin and the trapdoor was pulled.
Edward Gorman pled guilty to the Nanaimo bank job, and received eight years and 20 lashes.
Peter Farrington, aka O’Donnell, born 1897, was first arrested in August 1919, again in July 1922, and in April 1925 as a fugitive from the Nanaimo bank robbery. Sentenced to eight years and 20 lashes, he claimed a weak heart, thus foregoing the latter.
Released from the BC Penitentiary in 1930, he was arrested for the cold-blooded murder of Officer John Malcolm (San Francisco PD) after a payroll holdup April 29, 1930, on the San Francisco waterfront, along with Charles Berta.
Sentenced to hang for pulling the trigger in that murder, he proceeded to numerous appeals and stays of execution.
In January 1933, he and three other inmates attempted escape from Folsom, and on March 24, 1933, he was hung from that same place.
Charles Berta (aka Harry Stone aka George Rossi) was born in 1902. His first arrest was in 1920 for car theft and assaulting an officer. Charles later became a notorious train robber and part of the group who pulled off the Nanaimo job in December 1924. He pled guilty to the Nanaimo robbery, serving five years at BC Penitentiary.
On June 23, 1929, five bandits, armed with a machine gun and automatic pistols, stopped a train in McAvoy, California (40 miles northeast of San Francisco), and held the crew at gunpoint while looting the mail car of registered (payroll) mail. An engineer who refused to obey their commands was shot for his trouble. They made their escape in two cars, one found burning several hours later. Total stolen: $20,000. Charles Berta and Frank Ellis Smith would be later charged with this robbery.
On his April 11, 1930, marriage license, his listed occupation was machinist.’ His wife, Gladys, would factor into his future crimes as a lookout for several robberies. When she was caught by police she reportedly stated “I’m no stool pigeon.”
On April 29, 1930, he and Peter Farrington shot and killed Patrolman John Malcolm (San Francisco PD) while carrying out a payroll robbery on the Frisco waterfront.
On November 7, 1930 he participated in one of the most daring holdups of the day ““ the Nobel train robbery. In preparation, Berta and others held up a local garage for a machine’ (car) on November 6. The next day, using the stolen auto, men carrying rifles and machine guns stopped a South Pacific train at Nobel, California. Working in a leisurely manner, they were obvious veterans and well-organized for this crime. A shot was fired into the mail car door, and the mail guard was threatened with a bandit displaying 12 sticks of dynamite. They off-loaded mail sacks knowing exactly which ones to grab, carried them over a flat deck car on an adjoining track, over a fence and into the waiting stolen machine. The whole event lasted five minutes, with a haul of $56,000 in payroll.
The onboard passengers were calm during the event, until a nearby electric transformer blew, sounding like an explosion, and causing mass hysteria and panic throughout the train. The mastermind of this robbery, as well as the McAvoy event, was Frank Ellis Smith, who was shot and killed by police three weeks later when he and his wife were taken in for questioning.
On January 27, 1931, four Secret Service operatives set a trap for Berta in his Seattle apartment. His wife, Gladys, was present at the time, and when the phone rang, police told her to “answer it, but don’t make a false move.” She did so, and told the caller they had the wrong number, with a sneer aimed at police. Minutes later, the Secret Service dashed from the apartment to find Berta entering his car in front of the building. He pulled a gun and during a fierce struggle, shots were fired; Berta was hit through the shoulder. Berta was the fourth arrest in the Nobel robbery and sentenced in September 1931 to life at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary.
At 2100 hours on December 11, 1931, six prisoners armed with revolvers and shotguns entered the Warden’s office and forced he and four clerk secretaries outside through the prison gates. They commandeered a passing vehicle and grabbing the Warden, fled Leavenworth. Putting three miles between the prison and themselves, the vehicle stalled in a ditch. The escapees broke into a nearby farmhouse and grabbed a young woman and her little brother.
Three of the desperadoes, one of them Charles Berta, left the house and ran into the cornfield where they were later captured. The remaining three and their kidnap victims were forced out the door and down the driveway. Once onto the road, the young lady bolted, screaming hysterically. Fearing that she would be shot, the Warden risked his life by grappling with the apparent ringleader, and received a shotgun blast to his shoulder.
The men carjacked a passing car, and made it a further six miles. They broke into another farmhouse, but were quickly surrounded by troopers and guards. Over the next hour, the barricaded convicts shot it out with the “˜posse men’ outside. Suddenly, four of the guards kicked in the front door and once upstairs they found the three men, dead”¦.from an apparent murder-suicide. The ringleader, it was alleged, saw that the end was near and shot both of his comrades in the head, then pulled the trigger on himself.
Meanwhile, Berta and his two cornfield pals ran off, allegedly they attempted suicide by blowing themselves up with dynamite, but failed. Before being captured, Berta was (again) shot in the shoulder. His wife would later ask police if he was one of the escapees, then retort “I hope he’s killed, so he won’t have to go back (to prison).”
In March 1934, Gladys Gibson, Berta’s wife, was arrested with a “˜male companion,’ after police located three firearms in their residence. The companion himself had an extensive record. Gladys reminded police, “Don’t forget, I’m no stool-pigeon.”
Deeming Berta, Underwood, and Brown as difficult and dangerous felons, they were sent to the “˜latest in ironclad jails’ ““ Alcatraz, in September 1934. Berta never tried to escape Alcatraz – in fact, he got a coveted job as blacksmith on the island. He was released in August 1949 and found legitimate work as a bartender. Berta was the last surviving member of the escape from Leavenworth. He died in 1989.
William Bagley and his posse, aka the Walla Walla Gang
A gang of men, known by police as the “Walla Walla Gang,” had all been former inmates of the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla. Many crimes had been plotted by these thieves, and they were all arrested during the 1932 Oakland Raid.
Martin Flynn first came to police attention in October 1911, when he was arrested and sentenced to five years at San Quentin for robbery. In April 1917, he was arrested for robbery (dismissed); June 1918, arrested for burglary; December 1919, more burglary charges (dismissed). In July 1919, he was arrested in Seattle for robbery and sentenced to Walla Walla, where he escaped in November 1925, and not recaptured until 1927. He had just been released when he was arrested in Oakland (September 1932).
George Frederick was the most vicious of the gang. His criminal career dates back to 1908 when he was first arrested in Oakland. Since then, he was arrested many times for everything from petty thefts, holdups, robberies to shootings. In May 1921, he shot a man’s eye out and was charged with “˜assault to commit murder.’ In September that same year, he was arrested for a bank holdup and sentenced to 20 years at Walla Walla. He twice attempted escape, had improvised swords and knives confiscated from his cell, and subsequently spent 36 months of combined time in solitary confinement. After his release, he drifted to California and was arrested in the attempted holdup of a San Francisco nightclub, along with Sam Lynch.
Sam Lynch has a record dating back to March 1917, when he was arrested for robbery in Seattle and embezzlement in San Francisco. In September 1922, he was arrested in King County for burglary, and between 1928-1931, he was arrested for drug, vagrancy and other minor charges. In December 1931, he was caught attempting to dispose of $14,000 worth of stolen bonds from a bank robbery, but was exonerated. He then turned up in Tacoma, and was arrested for the robbery of the American Railway Express Co., but jumped bond. He was shot during a holdup of a nightclub in San Francisco in September 1932, and charged with multiple counts of robbery.
Al Moore was Bagley’s first lieutenant. He was first arrested in 1926 and sentenced to San Quentin, and released in 1929. He was subsequently arrested numerous times for vagrancy and drug violations, but never convicted. Moore was arrested in Oakland, convicted of first degree robbery and served a Folsom prison sentence.
Tony Campagnini was a ward of the juvenile courts back in 1914 when he was first arrested. In June 1919, he was charged with grand theft and sentenced to San Quentin. Released in July 1922, he was rearrested weeks later in Seattle for robbery, and sentenced to seven years. He was arrested during the Oakland raid for robbery.
Sources
Oakalla’s East Wing 195_; SFU / Burnaby Centennial Committee fonds, 370-700
Harry Royle 1930; City of Burnaby Archives, 204-266
Burnaby Police Department under Chief Devitt 1921; Burnaby Village Museum Photo Collection
Pacific Highway Views, 1931; posted December 14 2011
Historic Bridges ” New Westminster Railway Bridge” Fraser River Swing Bridge
1930 Marriage Records: Oakland, Alameda Co., California, April 11. Charles Berta & Gladys Marie McMurray
Division of Investigation, US Department of Justice: Charles Berta
Alcatraz “The Gangster Years”; David A. Ward. May 2009.
Soundcloud: Interview with Charles Berta
US World War II Draft Registration Card; Gordon Alexander Goodman, October 1940
Vancouver Sun
- 2 of 5 Escaped Oakalla Convicts Caught in Bush – January 4, 1932, page 1
- Frank Sorge, recaptured by City Detectives – January 7, 1932, page 1
- Wild Crime Career of BC’s Bad Man – October 1, 1932, pages 1 & 8
- Shot Down by Bagley – Extradition – October 14, 1932, page 2
- Bagley Hanged in US Prison – September 6, 1935, page 1
- Two Face Attempted Murder Charge – December 22, 1936, page 21
- Born to Hang “Part 1” – December 28, 1940, page 38
- Born to Hang “Part 2” – January 4, 1941, page 38 & 47
Province
- Bad Language let to arrest of Bank Robbery Suspects – December 23, 1924, page 1
- Bagley Fails in Effort to Shoot Way Out of Jail – May 18, 1931, page 1
- Bagley Eludes Police – March 28, 1932, page 1 & 10
- Long Term in Prison for Bagley – October 22, 1932, page 1
- Bagley Planned Reign of Terrorism in California – November 27, 1932, page 8
- Bagley Escape is Frustrated – September 3, 1935, page 4
Nanaimo Daily News
- Bagley found guilty and sentenced – November 6, 1925, page 1
Times Colonist
- Suspect is Taken – September 30, 1925, page 1
- Man wanted on Nanaimo Robbery Accused of Murder – August 10, 1928, page 1
Oakland Tribune
- Bank Thief and Slayer of Pal Hang – December 13, 1929, page 1
- Bank Bandits are indicted for Murder – July 26, 1929, page 1 & 2
- Where dynamite, machine guns played part – November 7, 1930, page 3
- 3 Convicts Killed in Suicide Pact – December 12, 1931, pages 1 & 2
- Thugs Kidnap Officer, Rob 6 – September 17, 1932, page 1
San Francisco Examiner
- Express Messenger – November 8, 1930, page 2
Salt Lake City Tribune
- Bandits net $20,000 in Train Robbery – June 23, 1929, page 2
Sacramento Bee
- Farrington’s Attorney to ask for new reprieve – January 17, 1933, page 5
Spokane Spokesman Review
- US After Cops’ Victim – February 1, 1931, page 34
- On Trial for Leavenworth Prison Break – December 8, 1932, page 10