262:. Banghart and Costner were eventually captured by the time the second trial for Factor's kidnapping was held on February 13, 1934. Facing long prison sentences for the Charlotte mail truck robbery, both men agreed to testify for the prosecution. Although Costner had not been involved in the ransom pickup, when Connors was found murdered on March 14, he took Connors' place and falsely stated that Banghart and he had been hired for the Factor kidnapping by Roger Touhy. When Banghart took the stand, however, he denied these claims and attempted to explain that the kidnapping was staged. Banghart's testimony was largely ignored, and Touhy, two others, and he were convicted and received 99-year sentences.
192:. He was taken to a federal building, and left alone in an office for a few minutes, Banghart used a phone to call local police, claiming he was a federal agent who had been assaulted and overpowered by his prisoner, Basil Banghart. He continued claiming that "Banghart" had escaped after handcuffing him, and described the US marshal who was escorting him, noting that he was "a dangerous, armed felon and a police impostor". When police arrived moments later, they took the escort into custody, while Banghart escaped in the confusion.
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On August 15, the two showed up at the scheduled drop on
Manheim Road just outside the Chicago city limits. As soon as they arrived, they found 300 Chicago police officers and FBI agents waiting for them. To make matters worse, inside the ransom package was only $ 500. In spite of the obvious double
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In 1954, a federal judge declared the Factor kidnapping a fraud and that
Banghart and Touhy had most likely been wrongly convicted involving the Chicago Outfit and corrupt Chicago officials. Banghart was transferred back to Stateville in 1959, and eventually his kidnapping conviction was overturned
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When the
Chicago Outfit staged the kidnapping of one of their own members, Jake "the Barber" Factor, in July 1933, it was expected to postpone his extradition to stand trial for fraud in Great Britain, as well as rid themselves of rival bootlegger Roger Touhy on whom the kidnapping would be blamed.
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The members of the
British consulate refused to believe the story, and won a judgment for Factor's extradition from the U.S. Supreme Court. In desperation, Factor and the Chicago mob sought to make the kidnapping more legitimate by arranging a pickup with the supposed kidnappers. Banghart and his
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in the bakery. Jokingly referred to by inmates as the "Karpis kitchen crew", Banghart and Karpis allegedly learned to produce wine and other alcoholic beverages from cherry pie juices and other material in the kitchen. "The challenge was to avoid becoming an alcoholic," Karpis later wrote in his
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After years of unsuccessful appeals, Banghart and Touhy escaped Joliet with Edward
Derlack, Martlick Nelson, William Stewart, St. Clair McInerney, and James O'Connor on October 9, 1942. The FBI immediately joined the manhunt, justifying its involvement charging that the convicts had violated the
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and the mail robbery charges were dropped for time served. He was released the following year, when at age 60, he was reunited with his longtime girlfriend Mae
Blacock. He had also received a small inheritance from his aunt 15 years before. Banghart retired to a small island in Puget Sound.
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On
January 31, 1933, Jimmy O'Brien was killed by Nitti's gunmen in front of the Garage Nightclub. O'Brien was one of Touhy's union men and one of the latest victims of the Touhy-Nitti feud. A week later, a man identified as Banghart returned to the nightclub, where he stepped out of a
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Banghart was arrested once more in
February 1930, and was returned to Leavenworth, but quickly escaped again. He was arrested in Detroit for armed robbery in January 1932 and held in the South Bend, Indiana, jail, but escaped by throwing pepper in a guard's face, then using a
279:, on December 19, which netted $ 20,000, although no charges were brought against them. McInerney and O'Connor were killed in a gun battle with federal agents less than two weeks after their escape, and the rest were captured at a nearby address on December 29, 1942.
169:, in 1901. He dropped out of college after one year to become a professional car thief, stealing over 100 cars in the Detroit area before his arrest in 1926. Around this time, Banghart acquired his criminal nickname "The Owl" because of his abnormally large eyes.
144:(September 11, 1901– April 5, 1982) was an American criminal, burglar, and prison escape artist. Although a successful "stickup artist" during the 1920s and early 1930s, he is best remembered for his involvement in the hoax kidnapping of Chicago mobster
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Despite being set up, Banghart and
Connors did not seek revenge against the Chicago Outfit, and instead went on the run. On November 15, 1933, they teamed with Ike Costner and Ludwig "Dutch" Schmidt to hijack a U.S. mail truck of $ 105,000 in
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partner
Charles "Ice Wagon" Connors were brought into the plan at this point. Hired to be the "bagmen", they were told all they needed was to pick up the money, make it "look real", and they could keep the ransom money.
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months into his sentence. Escaping from a window-washing detail, he leapt 25 feet from a window he was washing and over the prison's wall, escaping through the marsh on the other side. He got as far as
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The convicts were given even longer jail sentences for their escape, and on January 2, 1943, Banghart was returned to Stateville, where he was placed in
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over labor racketeering. Banghart became a major asset to Touhy during this time, and no doubt an active participant in Touhy's war with the
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Banghart headed south and eventually made his way to Chicago, where he joined Roger Touhy's organization. Touhy, a veteran
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of their change of address. Soon after their escape, Banghart and Touhy were suspected of taking part in a robbery at
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and tossed a bomb through the front doors of the club. No one was injured, but the club itself was heavily damaged.
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402:"A Byte Out of History: The Hunt for Roger "The Terrible" Touhy and His Gang"
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and he were eventually proven innocent after nearly 20 years in prison.
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384:. New York: Facts On File Inc., 2002. (pg. 12–13)
188:This time, Banghart was escorted back to prison by
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American criminal, burglar and prison escape artist
382:The Encyclopedia of Robberies, Heists, and Capers
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426:"AmericanMafia.com - Feature Articles 175"
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236:Involvement with the Factor kidnapping
343:Tuohy, John William (December 2001).
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347:. AmericanMafia.com. Archived from
271:federal draft law by not informing
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204:Banghart and the Roger Touhy gang
142:Basil Hugh "The Owl" Banghart Jr.
174:Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary
165:Basil Hugh Banghart was born in
35:FBI mugshot of Basil Banghart Jr
406:Federal Bureau of Investigation
253:Capture, trial and imprisonment
491:People acquitted of kidnapping
161:Early life and criminal career
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146:Jake "the Barber" Factor
287:Release and later years
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200:to shoot his way out.
172:Banghart escaped from
71:Los Angeles County, CA
466:American bank robbers
430:www.americanmafia.com
148:, a crime for which
131:99 years imprisonment
293:solitary confinement
45:Basil Hugh Banghart
167:Berville, Michigan
52:Berville, Michigan
48:September 11, 1901
471:American escapees
380:Newton, Michael.
273:Selective Service
266:Escape with Touhy
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301:public enemy
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65:(1982-04-05)
461:1982 deaths
456:1901 births
218:Frank Nitti
214:Prohibition
198:machine gun
190:US marshals
150:Roger Touhy
105:Mae Blacock
450:Categories
435:2021-07-10
411:2021-07-10
315:References
210:bootlegger
183:Pittsburgh
122:Kidnapping
86:Occupation
355:19 August
345:"The Owl"
307:memoirs.
156:Biography
297:Alcatraz
179:Montana
89:Burglar
81:The Owl
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102:Spouse
230:sedan
386:ISBN
357:2009
60:Died
41:Born
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