BBC - Great Crimes and Trials Series 3 Set 2 (1995) Part 12 Ma Barker and Other Public Enemies
Stabbings, shootings, genocide, torture, abduction, robbery, serial killing and mass suicide are just a few of the horrific crimes explored in Great Crimes and Trials. True stories carefully researched and reconstructed with actual archive footage. Cases which have become almost legendary in the annals of crime and detection. Serial killers, gangsters, assassins and war criminals - Great Crimes and Trials sheds light on crimes that shocked the world, bringing back memories of some of the most notorious cases of the twentieth century. The murders of John Lennon and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, the unsolved Zodiac murders and the treasonous crimes of Lord Haw-Haw are all covered here in exacting detail, alongside other shocking stories of murder and mayhem. From the violent mob rule of the thirties to the fairly recent phenomenon of the serial killer, the motives, behavior patterns and killing techniques of some of the world's most evil felons are explored. Their detection, capture and trials are examined to give a complete picture of how crine and justice have evolved through the twentieth century. Narrated by Robert Powell, Great Crimes and Trials combines new and archive interviews to reconstruct each story, analysing the individual and his motive, explaining how the crime was committed and showing breakthroughs in investigations alongside details of the trial. With its researchers gaining unprecedented access to picture libraries and over 250,000 hours of archive footage, these are the definitive accounts of these appalling murders.
Part 12 Ma Barker and Other Public Enemies
For more than twenty years Ma Barker and her 'boys' terrorised the mid-west of the US, robbing scores of banks and killing dozens of people. Together with Alvin Karpis, the Karpis-Barker gang became one of the most formidable criminal gangs of the 1930s. They did not hesitate to kill anyone who got in their way, even innocent bystanders. They robbed a number of banks, hijacked mail deliveries, and soon turned to the lucrative field of kidnapping. The kidnappings, however, would lead to the gang's end, as the FBI had by this time organized a group of highly skilled agents called the “flying squads” who specialized in hunting down the leading public enemies. The year 1934 alone saw the deaths of John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd and Lester “Baby Face Nelson” Gillis. In addition, others killed violently in the 1930s were Jack “Legs” Diamond, Dutch Schultz, and John Dillinger. The capture of Karpis essentially ended the age of the big-name depression-era criminals. The country had gradually started to recover from the Great Depression and economic times had improved, and law enforcement agencies had improved as well.
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Episode One Shown Here