The Fleagle Gang was a group of four guys who robbed the First National Bank in Lamar Colorado on may 23, 1930. The leader of the gang's name was Ralph Fleagle, and he was accompanied by his brother and two other friends. They were caught by fingerprint which was the first time the FBI used a single fingerprint to ever solve a crime. When they were caught, most sentenced to hang and died in a two week period in July 1930, but Jake Fleagle was killed in a shootout (The Fleagle Gang).
Ralph Fleagle, his brother Jake, Howard “Heavy” Royston, and George J. Abshier, a.k.a. Bill Messick came to Lamar in order to rob the First National Bank. Before the day actually came to rob the bank, they had prepared for all possible outcomes.They had license
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While making their escape, they ran into the sheriff. They disabled his car by shooting out the radiator. As they got back to their house they no longer need a hostage so they shot and killed Everett (Kansas).
Since Heavy Royston was shot in the face, they needed a doctor to treat him. They tricked Dr. W.W. Weinenger, by telling him that a small boy’s leg was crushed by a tractor. Once the doctor realized what had happened and treated him, they took the doctor and shot him in the head with a shotgun. As the shotgun splattered blood everywhere, it got on their hands. While they loaded the doctor's body into his car and pushed it into the river, one of their handprints were left on the car with the blood. The police were able to identify the fingerprint and track everyone down even though they had spread into different areas of the county. They were tried in Colorado and sentenced to hang in a two week period (Outlaw). The Fleagle gang seems to be forgotten in the world, even though it was the first crime solved by fingerprint. Fingerprint recognition has and will continue to help us solve many crimes in the world (The Fleagle