Fred Barker

Fred Barker
mugshots of Fred Barker
Born	(1901-12-12)December 12, 1901 Aurora, Missouri, U.S.
Died	January 16, 1935(1935-01-16) (aged 33) Ocklawaha, Florida
Resting place	Olivet Memorial Park, Colma, California
Criminal status	Deceased
Parent(s)	George Elias and Arizona "Ma" Barker
Conviction(s)	Robbery

Frederick George Barker (1901–1935) was one of the founders of the Barker-Karpis gang, which committed numerous robberies, murders and kidnappings during the 1930s. He was the youngest son of Ma Barker, all of whose children were criminals. He was killed in a lengthy gunfight with the FBI in 1935.

Fred was born to George Elias and Arizona Donnie Clark "Ma" Barker in Aurora, Missouri December 12 1901. The family moved to Tulsa in 1912. His older brothers Herman, Lloyd and Arthur"Doc" were committing crimes throughout his childhood. The Barker brothers were members of a gang of local youths called the Central Park Gang. They met in the park to plan crimes and stash their stolen goods. There Fred met future members of the Barker Gang including Volney Davis. Fred was first arrested and imprisoned in 1927 for burglary. While in prison he met Alvin Karpis. According to Karpis, Fred was a dominant figure in jail who was able to obtain marijuana and other perks. Karpis also said he was a "natural born killer" who "never hesitated". Unlike Karpis (nicknamed "Creepy Karpis") he was known for his personal charm. He was released in 1930.

After their release, Fred and Karpis joined up to commit a string of burglaries in Kansas, often collaborating with other local criminals. Several notable gangsters joined the Barkers in various crimes, including Harvey Bailey, Harry Campbell, Frank Nash, Fred Goetz ("Shotgun" George Ziegler), Charles Fitzgerald, and Dr. Joseph Patrick Moran.

Around this time Fred started a relationship with Paula Harmon, widow of bank robber Charles Harmon. Karpis did not approve of Paula, considering her to be a "drunk" and a "rotten choice, though you couldn't tell that to Freddie".

The gang became nationally notorious in 1933-4 when they organized the kidnappings of local businessmen William Hamm and Edward Bremer. The crimes were orchestrated by racketeers Jack Peifer and Harry Sawyer with inside-information about police activity being provided by corrupt police officer Tom Brown, who ran the "Kidnap Squad". Arthur Barker carried out the kidnappings with a different accomplice each time. During the Bremer kidnapping, Fred nearly shot dead the victim when the ransom was not paid promptly. They netted $100,000 for the first victim and twice that for the second.

With the FBI in pursuit, Fred and Karpis attempted to get plastic surgery to alter their appearance and remove their fingerprints. The procedure was carried out by underworld doctor Joseph P. Moran. The operations were so painful that Fred asked one of his friends to shoot him to stop the pain, but his friend refused. Moran disappeared shortly thereafter. A badly decomposed body was discovered a year later washed up from Lake Erie on Crystal Beach, Ontario. Police identified it as Moran. In 1971, Alvin Karpis wrote in his autobiography that the identification was mistaken; he claimed that Moran had been murdered by Arthur and Fred Barker and then buried in a lime pit in Michigan. The most accepted version of the tale is that Karpis and Fred took Moran on a boat ride on Lake Erie, during which they both murdered him. He was killed either for his botched surgery or for shooting his mouth off about the gang in a brothel. The last time Moran was seen alive was at a brothel in which he drunkenly bragged "I have you guys in the palm of my hand". He left the bar with Karpis and Barker and was never seen again.