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On Jan. 17, 1934, the infamous Ma Barker Gang kidnapped wealthy banker Edward Bremer, a heist planned while they lived on Robert Street in West St. Paul.
Local angle: In the early 1930s, Ma Barker and her gang hid out in West St. Paul. For a few months they rented 1031 South Robert Street, an unsuspecting little house where they planned the kidnapping of Edward G. Bremer, a wealthy Twin Cities banker.
The gang: The criminal organization consisted of Kate “Ma” Barker, her sons Arthur “Doc” Barker and Fred Barker as well as Alvin “Creepy” Karpis. Ma Barker and her gang terrorized the Midwest for years and were responsible for numerous robberies, deaths, and multiple abductions of prominent local figures.
Controversy: While FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover claimed Ma Barker was “the most vicious, dangerous, and resourceful criminal brain of the last decade,” others disputed that claim. Karpis denied Barker was even a criminal and said her main role was misdirection: “When we traveled together, we moved as a mother and her sons. What could look more innocent?”
Nosy neighbors: “We lived two doors away from them on South Robert Street and noticed the boys coming in late at night with their violin cases. They claimed they were playing at lake resorts around the Twin Cities, but of course, they were robbing banks,” said local resident Rhea McBride, according to West St. Paul Centennial (an account reposted on the City of West St. Paul Facebook page in 2015).
Aftermath: They rented the house for months, but after local business owner Nick Hannegraf recognized one of the sons in a detective magazine, the Ma Barker Gang fled the area. Ma Barker and her son Fred died shortly after in a shootout with the FBI while Aurthur Barker and Karpis were later charged with the kidnapping of Bremer.
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