Lawrence DeVol was an American criminal, bank robber, prison escapee and Depression-era outlaw.
21 Facts About Lawrence DeVol
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Lawrence DeVol was connected to several Midwestern gangs during the 1920s and 1930s, most often with the Barker-Alvin Karpis and Holden-Keating Gangs, and was a former partner of Harvey Bailey early in his criminal career.
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Lawrence DeVol was born in Belpre, Ohio on 17 November 1903 to parents Helem and Emma DeVol.
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Lawrence DeVol moved with his parents and brother Albert to Oklahoma as a child, being raised in the Tulsa area.
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Lawrence DeVol's mother would later marry a second time, to William Keener, but it is unclear whether it was a circumstance of divorce or being widowed.
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On 20 May 1914 Lawrence DeVol was sentenced to the Oklahoma State Training School for White Boys as an incorrigible youth.
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Lawrence DeVol participated in his first bank robbery on 19 August 1927, when he joined Eddie Fitzgerald, Harry Morris and Harvey Bailey in stealing $70,000 from a bank in Vinton, Iowa.
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Lawrence DeVol joined the group in a second robbery, which included Al Johnson, stealing $225,000 from a bank in Washington Court House, Ohio on 6 February 1928.
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Lawrence DeVol was convicted that same year in connection with a bank robbery in Kansas and sent to the state reformatory in Hutchinson.
10.
In spite of his escape attempt, Lawrence DeVol was paroled by the end of the year and rejoined his old partner in a string of robberies throughout Kansas and Oklahoma.
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Lawrence DeVol did so, with a gun in each hand and opened fire.
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Lawrence DeVol's first known robbery with the gang was on 29 March 1932, when he joined Fred Barker, Alvin Karpis, Thomas Holden and Bernard Phillips in stealing $226,500 in cash and securities from a bank in Minneapolis.
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Lawrence DeVol's accomplices were Doyle, Karpis and Fred and Arthur Barker.
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The robbery turned violent as Lawrence DeVol killed Patrolmen Ira Evans and Leo Gorski outside the bank.
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Lawrence DeVol was arrested in St Paul days after the robbery, either on 18 or 21 December 1932.
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Lawrence DeVol had been behaving in a drunk and disorderly manner.
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Lawrence DeVol was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
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Lawrence DeVol was first sent to the state prison in Stillwater, Minnesota but later transferred to the St Peter Hospital for the Criminally Insane.
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Lawrence DeVol escaped from there in a mass breakout, along with fifteen other inmates on 6 June 1936.
20.
On 8 July 1936, Lawrence DeVol robbed a bank with Don Reeder, a fellow escapee from St Peter Hospital, in Turon, Kansas.
21.
Lawrence DeVol fled the tavern on foot and jumped on the running board of a passing vehicle two blocks later, telling the driver he was a Deputy Sheriff.