Kimes-Terrill Gang
| Founded by | Matthew Kimes and Ray Terrill |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Oklahoma |
| Years active | 1926-1927 |
| Territory | Midwestern United States |
| Membership (est.) | 9 |
| Criminal activities | Bank robbery |
The Kimes-Terrill Gang was a bank robbing gang, led by Matthew Kimes and Ray Terrill, active in the Midwestern United States during the 1920s. The gang was known, not only for their high-profile robberies, but for their frequent escapes from prison. The members were alleged to have sworn a to free each other from jail, should they ever be captured, or die in the attempt.
Ray Terrill began working with the famed Central Park Gang based in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the early 1920s. Many future Depression-era outlaws came from this group, most prominently, Volney Davis and the Barker Gang. Then using the alias "G.R. Patton", he was arrested with Arthur Barker while burglarizing a bank in Muskogee, Oklahoma on January 15, 1921. He was convicted of second-degree burglary and sentenced to two years in prison. Upon his release on March 1, 1923, Terrill joined up with Al Spencer's gang and participated in the March 26 bank robbery in Mannford which left two people killed during the getaway and shootout. He was also part of Spencer's team, which included Frank Nash among others, that stole $20,000 in cash and bonds from the Katy Limited near Okesa on August 20, 1923. This was the last recorded train robbery in the state's history.
After Spencer was killed by police a month later, Terrill formed his own gang. Some of his earliest recruits were Herman Barker, Wilbur Underhill and Elmer H. Inman. His gang specialized in night burglaries of banks and stores with a unique method of raiding their targets. Using stolen trucks, they extracted the safes and drove them to Herman Barker's home at Radium Springs Health Resort near Salina, Oklahoma. Once there, the safes would be unlocked by safe crackers and emptied, then driven out to a nearby bridge at night where they would be dumped.
Terrill and his gang operated for three years until he and Inman were arrested for burglary in Ardmore in 1926. They were both convicted and sentenced to years each, but escaped from prison together on September 27, 1926. The two went their separate ways after escaping and Terrill set out to reform his gang.
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