14 Facts About Fred Barker

Frederick George Barker was an American criminal who, along with Alvin Karpis, co-founded the Barker-Karpis gang, which committed numerous robberies, murders and kidnappings during the 1930s.

Fred Barker was killed in a lengthy gunfight with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1935.

Fred Barker was born to George Elias and Arizona Donnie Clark "Ma" Barker in Aurora, Missouri on December 12,1901.

Fred Barker was first arrested and imprisoned in 1927 for burglary.

Unlike Karpis, Fred Barker was known for his personal charm.

Karpis and Fred Barker shot and killed Kelly, an act that forced them to flee the area.

DeVol killed policemen Ira Leon Evans and Leo Gorski during the escape, while Fred Barker murdered Oscar Erickson, a passing motorist.

Around this time Fred Barker started a relationship with Paula Harmon, widow of bank robber Charles Harmon.

The operations were so painful that Fred Barker asked one of his friends to shoot him to stop the pain, but his friend refused.

The most accepted version of the tale is that Karpis and Fred Barker took Moran on a boat ride on Lake Erie, during which they both murdered him.

Fred Barker was killed either for his botched surgery or for shooting his mouth off about the gang in a brothel.

Fred Barker left the bar with Karpis and Barker and was never seen again.

Fred Barker moved to Cuba with his brother, his mother, and Karpis.

Fred Barker's body was riddled with bullets, but Ma appeared to have died from a single bullet wound.