Edward Doll

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Edward Doll
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Born
Edward Doll

(1902-01-20)January 20, 1902
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedFebruary 28, 1967(1967-02-28) (aged 65)
Las Vegas, Nevada
Other namesEddie LaRue, Edward LaRue (or sometimes La Rue), Burlington Kid, Leonard E. Foley, Edward Leroux, Frank Lewis, J. E. Jackson[1]
Education7th grade[2]
OccupationGangster, kidnapper, bank robber, farmer
Spouse(s)
  • (list may not be complete & some marriage starts/ends unknown)
  • Naomi Doll (originally Naomi Whitten; marriage noted in 1923 and ended with her death in 1926)[3]
  • Elizabeth Doll (marriage noted in 1930)[4]
  • Doris Crane
    (m. 1932; div. 1943)
    [5]
  • Myrtle Doll (marriage date unknown, ended with Edward’s death in 1967)
Parent(s)Edward H. and Emma S. Doll[6]
Criminal chargeauto theft, bank robbery

Edward Doll (January 20, 1902 – February 28, 1967)[7] was an American gangster from Chicago, Illinois, active during the Prohibition era. Although he is remembered as a lesser figure in Prohibition outlawry, Doll was featured by name in two 1930s radio dramatizations, was mentioned in books and articles by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and played a leading role in several historic crimes, including the kidnapping of Howard Woolverton and the Lincoln National Bank robbery.

Early criminal history

Doll enlisted in the US Marine Corps in February 1920, but by June of that year had been convicted of an unspecified crime. However, he escaped while enroute from Parris Island to the Portsmouth Naval Prison in Kittery, Maine,[8] and by 1922 had changed his name to Edward LaRue and was running a downtown lunch counter in Burlington, Iowa. He was married to the former Naomi Whitten and had a son, Robert. Naomi died on October 11, 1924,[9] and two days after her death, on October 13, 2024, a local paper noted that Edward LaRue and Ben Barber were arrested in Jackson, Nebraska after they were found with a “50-gallon still, another large dismantled still, two barrels of mash and a quantity of the finished product.”[10] A jury acquitted both men the following February on charges of illegal possession of a still and equipment.[11]

Major crimes

In February 1930, Doll, still using the alias Eddie LaRue, was arrested in Galesburg, Iowa, and taken to Peoria, Illinois, where he was charged with stealing and transporting an automobile across state lines, a violation of the federal law popularly known as the Dyer Act. An article about the arrest published in The Hawk Eye said the cars, two Packards, had been stolen from a garage in Burlington and driven to Illinois (specifically, Bushnell, Illinois, per subsequent federal records[12]). According to the article, authorities also suspected LaRue (officials claimed that "Doll" was the alias) of leading a gang that had stolen from several area post offices. The article included an interview with a Burlington resident named Mrs. Elizabeth Doll, who claimed to be married to LaRue and said she was raising a son with him, named Robert.[13] Doll skipped bail and never showed up for trial.

Other criminal activities Doll confessed to in a week-long, 1934 interview with FBI officials included dealings with Chicago crime boss Al Capone, membership in the College Kidnappers gang, the 1930 Lincoln National Bank robbery, other bank robberies in Texas, Mississippi and Washington State, and the January 1932 kidnapping of Howard Woolverton.[14]

Federal arrest

Doll, using the alias Edward Foley, married Doris Barton (originally Doris Crane) on July 27, 1932,[15], and the two moved to a chicken farm near St. Petersburg, Florida in January 1934. On February 14, 1934, Doll and his wife were arrested at their farm by federal agents. While Doll was still a fugitive in the 1929 car theft, and news reports at the time suggested that might be the reason for the arrest, the FBI’s extensive file on the kidnapping of Edward Bremer indicates that they apprehended Doll chiefly to obtain information about the Bremer case.[16] Doll had no knowledge of the kidnapping, but confessed to many other crimes during interviews with the FBI over the next week, including the 1929 theft of the car in Burlington. Doris, meanwhile, threatened with a charge of harboring a fugitive, convinced the FBI she had no knowledge of her husband’s crimes and was released after a few days in custody. [17]

Convictions and sentencing

In March 1934, Doll was transported to Springfield, Illinois, where he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for the 1929 car theft. According to contemporary newspaper reports, federal officials described him at the time as “one of the nation’s most notorious criminals.”[18]

Doll began his sentence at the Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas, was moved to the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary a few years later, and moved back to Leavenworth in 1940. [19]

Immediately upon completing his term for car theft in 1940, Doll was transported to Massachusetts to stand trial for the 1933 robbery of the Crocker National Bank in Turners Falls. Doll received a sentence of 20 to 25 years for that crime. While he waited for the jury to decide his fate, Doll met with Doris, to whom he was still married.[20] Doris divorced Edward in 1943 and restored her maiden name, Doris Crane. [21]

In popular culture

Public mentions of Doll included a story of his 1934 arrest in St. Petersburg that aired on NBC radio October 12, 1935.[22] In January 1939, the Gang Busters radio program also featured an account of his crimes and arrest.[23] J. Edgar Hoover mentioned him in several 1937 American Magazine articles and Persons in Hiding, a 1938 book.

Death

Doll didn’t die in prison, nor did he die alone. He died in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 28, 1967, and was laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery in that city. Myrtle Doll, his last wife, was buried beside him when she died in 1976.[24][25]

References

  1. ↑ various federal and media sources; see for example “Suspect Caught Here.” Tampa Bay Times. February 16, 1934. p. 1.
  2. ↑ 1940 US Census record
  3. ↑ Hanson, Bob. “Around Burlington: Nationally wanted gangster’s weakness for fast cars landed him in prison cell.” Ames Tribune. May 18, 2020. Link: https://www.amestrib.com/story/news/local/2020/05/18/around-burlington-nationally-wanted-gangster/1188780007/
  4. ↑ ”LaRue Held for US Officials; Arrested for Transporting Stolen Auto; Believed to be Ringleader in Post Office Robberies.” Burlington Hawk-Eye Gazette. February 24, 1930. p. 1.
  5. ↑ ”Danville Wife of Burglar Released from Marital Tie: Doris Crane Foley Granted Divorce After Tragic Experience.” White River Valley Herald. December 23, 1943. p. 1.
  6. ↑ 1910 US Census record
  7. ↑ Social Security Death Index at https://www.fold3.com/record/42910164/edward-doll-social-security-death-index
  8. ↑ As detailed in notes compiled by the warden at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, where Doll was held for part of a 10-year sentence for car theft in the 1930s. See link at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/236735002
  9. ↑ Hanson, Bob. “Around Burlington: Nationally wanted gangster’s weakness for fast cars landed him in prison cell.” Ames Tribune. May 18, 2020. Link: https://www.amestrib.com/story/news/local/2020/05/18/around-burlington-nationally-wanted-gangster/1188780007/
  10. ↑ “Raid Farms in Dakota County: Five Arrested by County, Federal and State Officers.” Sioux City Journal. October 14, 1924. p. 8.
  11. ↑ ”State Loses Case at Dakota City.” Sioux City Journal. February 12, 1924. p. 14.
  12. ↑ FBI report dated February 23, 1934, based on interviews with Doll conducted February 14-21, 1934, in Tampa, Florida by FBI agents H. E. Anderson, R. A. Alt, R. L. Shivers and R. L. Main.
  13. ↑ ”LaRue Held for US Officials; Arrested for Transporting Stolen Auto; Believed to be Ringleader in Post Office Robberies.” Burlington Hawk-Eye Gazette. February 24, 1930. p. 1.
  14. ↑ FBI report dated February 23, 1934, based on interviews with Doll conducted February 14-21, 1934, in Tampa, Florida by FBI agents H. E. Anderson, R. A. Alt, R. L. Shivers and R. L. Main.
  15. ↑ FBI internal memorandum dated February 15, 1934, from Hugh Clegg to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover
  16. ↑ ”Agents Hurry to Florida in Bremer Case. 6 on Way from Washington to Question Suspects Held in Tampa; Couple Seized in S. Petersburg.” The Miami Herald. February 16, 1934. p. 1.
  17. ↑ FBI report dated February 23, 1934, based on interviews with Doll conducted February 14-21, 1934, in Tampa, Florida by FBI agents H. E. Anderson, R. A. Alt, R. L. Shivers and R. L. Main.
  18. ↑ see for example ”Edward Doll is on Way to Prison.” Daily Republican-Register. March 6, 1934. p. 1
  19. ↑ As detailed in notes compiled by the warden at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, where Doll was held for part of a 10-year sentence for car theft in the 1930s. See link at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/236735002
  20. ↑ ”Doll Sentenced 20 to 25 Years; Judge Allan Buttrick Imposes Heavy Penalty; Jury Finds Chicago Gangster Guilty After Four Hours Deliberation; Bentz Gets 5 to 6 years.” North Adams Transcript. November 21, 1940. p. 16.
  21. ↑ ”Danville Wife of Burglar Released from Marital Tie: Doris Crane Foley Granted Divorce After Tragic Experience.” White River Valley Herald. December 23, 1943. p. 1.
  22. ↑ ”Doll’s Capture Goes on Radio: Local Case in Which G men Figured Will Be Broadcast Tomorrow.” Tampa Bay Times. October 11, 1935. p. 3.
  23. ↑ https://www.genericradio.com/show/4K6Z86S9T8
  24. ↑ Find a Grave Index
  25. ↑ https://www.fold3.com/record/42910164/edward-doll-social-security-death-index

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