Crime and Sin
Henry Lee Lucas, an American serial killer, once advised, “Once I’ve done a crime, I just forget it. I go from crime to crime.” The 1930s was a rough time for America; one thing that contributed were the crimes that were being repeated over and over again. For example, Bonnie and Clyde, The Germond Family Homicide, and Baby Face Nelson destroyed people’s lives. And, because of their existence, the 1930s was a time period filled with sorrow.
To commence, Bonnie Eli Parker and Clyde Commish Barrow also known as Bonnie and Clyde the famous criminal duo, traveled all around central America bringing havoc to the people who stood in their way. Bonnie and Clyde met in January 1930 while in Texas. Bonnie was married to an incarcerated murderer and Clyde was unwed (FBI 6). That was the start of their famous criminal life together. Bonnie helped Clyde escape jail by smuggling a gun in for him. Although he was caught and put back in jail after. Soon after he was let out with parole and they started their crimes again. “At the time they were killed in 1934, they were believed to have committed 13 murders and several robberies and burglaries. Barrow, for example, was suspected of murdering two police officers at Joplin, Missouri and kidnapping a man and a woman in rural Louisiana” (FBI 7). Although on May 23, 1934, police officers from Louisiana and Texas ambushed Bonnie and Clyde early in the morning on the highway. The famous duo attempted to drive away but the police opened fire and they were killed instantly. They had a good and long criminal run but they had to be stopped someday.
The Germond Family Homicide (Death on Dairy Farm) was a homicide that occurred in the November of 1930 close to Thanksgiving. “All four members of the Germond family were found stabbed to death on their New York dairy farm, with investigators putting the time of death on the eve of Thanksgiving.” (Hudson 1). “Looks like nobody’s home. The house is dark,” as`Bernice commented, a bit perplexed. She then made her way to the farm as the bus pulled away. It was the last time she was seen alive” (Farmer 2). A family of four murdered out of nowhere, all stabbed and slaughtered with just one butcher knife. A father, son, mother, and daughter found on the day after Thanksgiving supposedly murdered on the eve of Thanksgiving. Father and son (James and Raymond) were found in the inside their shed, wife (Mabel) was found on the kitchen floor near the stove, and the daughter (Bernice) was found under the kitchen tabler near her mother's body. Quite odd as research shows that the family had no apparent enemies (Husdon 2). What else was weird? Well the Mr. Germond (the father) had cashed a $150 check on the same day that the murder happened. This lead the investigators to believe that the murder was in fact related to a robbery.
This homicide was so big that even the President at the time (Franklin D. Roosevelt) was involved. Three years after the police charged a suspect with murder. It just so happened to be their neighbor and his name was Arthur Curry. “To investigators, it seemed suspicious that a man with a history of losing his temper and getting violent, would come to the Germond farm looking for money on the day of the murder, and having Mr. Germond’s wallet found empty a mile from the crime scene” (Hudson 4). Investigators also found Mr. Germonds wallet a mile away from the crime scene. Although Arthur’s charges were dropped, there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him and the evidence they had was sparse. No one knew who did it or what their motive was. There were no serious suspects and not enough evidence to convict anyone. The shocking part is that almost 90 years later still no one knows who committed the homicide of The Germond Family.
Lester Joseph Gillis was a notorious bank robber and killer. His more famous and recognized name was Baby Face Nelson. He was born on December 6, 1908 in Chicago Illinois. He started his life of crime at the age of 13. He was sent to jail in 1931 for bank robbery but soon escaped and started his crimes again. He associated with people like John Dillinger. Baby Face Nelson had a wife and two kids. After Dillinger's death, J. Edgar Hoover announced that, “Nelson was now "Public Enemy No. 1” (Biography 2). In 1934 Baby Face Nelson was in a shootout with the police and was hit 17 times, he soon died later near a cemetery.
To conclude, the 1930s was a rough time for America; one thing that contributed were the crimes that were being repeated over and over again. The infamous Bonnie and Clyde robbers and killers to the end. Death on Dairy Farm, the homicide that took the lives of four family members on the eve of Thanksgiving. Baby Face Nelson like Bonnie and Clyde a notorious killer and rober. Itś true, crime will possibly never end but one can hope that crimes like the ones that occured in the 1930s never recur.