Fred “Killer” Burke
Encyclopedia
Fred "Killer" Burke was a Midwestern armed robber and contract killer responsible for many crimes during the Prohibition
era. He is considered a prime suspect in the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre
of 1929
. Teachers considered him as having above-average intelligence and he was a regular Sunday School attendee. Burke's first brush with the law came while still a teenager. At seventeen he was involved in a land fraud scheme with a traveling salesman. He fled the area to avoid prosecution and became involved with criminal enterprises around Kansas City, Missouri
. It was during this time he is believed to have changed his name from Thomas Camp to Fred Burke.
by 1915 where he became a member of the citys' top gang, Egan's Rats
. In these early years his crime activity was mostly devoid of the violence that so permeated his life in the 1920s and early 1930s. Burke, described as tall, well-built and honest-looking, acted as a "front man" for the Egan gang in various forgery and fraud schemes. In 1917 Fred Burke chose to enlist in the U.S. Army
after being indicted in St. Louis for forgery. America had recently entered World War I
, and Burke served as a tank sergeant in France. After his return from overseas duty and discharge, Fred Burke was soon arrested for land fraud in Michigan
and spent a year imprisoned there, followed by another year in the Missouri
state prison for the pre-war St. Louis charges.
By 1922, Burke was back with Egan's Rats and working with a crew of three fellow war vets in various robberies around the Gateway City, including a "take" of $80,000 dollars from a St. Louis distillery. However, things began to change in 1924 as the top bosses of the Egan gang were jailed. Fred Burke returned to Michigan with his crew where they became associates of the notorious Detroit
Purple Gang
. Burke, Gus Winkler
and the other Egan's Rats refugees, working on behalf of the Purple Gang, were the prime suspects in the March 1927 Milaflores Massacre
. However just a few months later a falling out with the Purple Gang led Burke and his associates to relocate to Chicago. Their reputation preceding them, Burk's crew were eagerly welcomed by Al Capone
, who referred to them his "American Boys". Working out of Chicago, Fred Burke and his cohorts were involved in a series of murders and armed robberies as far east at Brooklyn, New York
and Patterson, New Jersey and as far south as Louisville, Kentucky
. Among them was the murder of a police officer in Toledo, Ohio
following a bank robbery in 1928. It would not be Burke's last "cop killing".
and his Irish gang from Chicago's Northside. Fred Burke and his crew of killers were his problem-solver. Five members and two associates of the Moran gang were lured to a garage on Clark street in Chicago. Burke and company burst into the meeting, some dressed as police, and executed the Moran faction. The shocking event received international press attention and within a few weeks Fred Burke was named by Chicago police as a principal suspect in the murders. Witnesses placed Burke near the scene and guns seized from his home later in 1929 were matched to bullets from the crime. Years later, in 1935, Byron Bolton, a captured member of the Barker Gang, gave a detailed statement to the FBI implicating Fred Burke, members of his crew, and other Capone gang members as being responsible.
. When Patrolman Charles Skalay (sometimes mistakenly identified as Skelly) arrived at the wreck scene he was shot and killed by Burke. Now named America's most wanted man, Fred Burke fled to rural northern Missouri
to "lay low". A Michigan police bulletin offering a $1,000 dollar reward said in underscored type: This man is dangerous and will shoot to kill and every precaution should be used in making his arrest. Among the aliases listed for Burke were Fred Dean, Fred Campbell, and Theodore Cameron. Burke took on yet another alias back in Missouri, that of Richard F. White. In 1930 Burke married a woman from Sullivan County, Missouri
, Bonnie Porter, and took up residence near Green City
in Sullivan County. However, even while hiding from the law Burke could not give up his criminal ways. According to an eyewitness account in an article in The Chariton Collector
magazine, Burke resided in a Kirksville, Missouri
hotel for a few days prior to a local bank robbery. Later his wife would claim no knowledge of Burke's real identity or his criminal past and thought her husband was just a businessman who travelled a lot.
The long arm of the law finally caught Fred Burke on March 26, 1931 in a most unlikely manner. An amateur detective in the Green City area had read of Burke and seen his picture in True Detective
magazine, recognized him as Richard White, and notified authorities. Fred Burke was captured at the home of his father-in-law, surprisingly without a single gunshot being fired. Returned to Michigan, Burke was convicted of Officer Skalay's murder and given a life sentence at Marquette State Prison. Having been in failing health with diabetes and heart disease for several years, Fred Burke died of a massive heart attack while behind bars on July 10, 1940.
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
era. He is considered a prime suspect in the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre
St. Valentine's Day massacre
The Saint Valentine's Day massacre is the name given to the 1929 murder of 7 mob associates as part of a prohibition era conflict between two powerful criminal gangs in Chicago: the South Side Italian gang led by Al Capone and the North Side Irish gang led by Bugs Moran. Former members of the...
of 1929
Early life
Fred R. Burke was born Thomas A. Camp, one of eight children of Mr. and Mrs. Wall Camp of Mapleton, KansasMapleton, Kansas
Mapleton is a city in Bourbon County, Kansas, United States. The population was 98 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Mapleton is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
. Teachers considered him as having above-average intelligence and he was a regular Sunday School attendee. Burke's first brush with the law came while still a teenager. At seventeen he was involved in a land fraud scheme with a traveling salesman. He fled the area to avoid prosecution and became involved with criminal enterprises around Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. It was during this time he is believed to have changed his name from Thomas Camp to Fred Burke.
Criminal career
Fred Burke had migrated to St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
by 1915 where he became a member of the citys' top gang, Egan's Rats
Egan's Rats
Egan's Rats was an American organized crime group that exercised considerable power in St. Louis, Missouri from 1890 to 1924. Its 35 years of criminal activity included bootlegging, labor slugging, voter intimidation, armed robbery, and murder...
. In these early years his crime activity was mostly devoid of the violence that so permeated his life in the 1920s and early 1930s. Burke, described as tall, well-built and honest-looking, acted as a "front man" for the Egan gang in various forgery and fraud schemes. In 1917 Fred Burke chose to enlist in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
after being indicted in St. Louis for forgery. America had recently entered World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and Burke served as a tank sergeant in France. After his return from overseas duty and discharge, Fred Burke was soon arrested for land fraud in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and spent a year imprisoned there, followed by another year in the Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
state prison for the pre-war St. Louis charges.
By 1922, Burke was back with Egan's Rats and working with a crew of three fellow war vets in various robberies around the Gateway City, including a "take" of $80,000 dollars from a St. Louis distillery. However, things began to change in 1924 as the top bosses of the Egan gang were jailed. Fred Burke returned to Michigan with his crew where they became associates of the notorious Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
Purple Gang
The Purple Gang
The Purple Gang, also known as the Sugar House Gang, were a mob with predominantly Jewish members of bootleggers and hijackers in the 1920s, operating out of Detroit, Michigan, which was a major port for running alcohol products during Prohibition due to proximity to Canada.Many openly violent...
. Burke, Gus Winkler
Gus Winkler
Gus Winkler was a St. Louis mobster who, with Fred “Killer” Burke, was head of a criminal gang specializing in armed robbery and murder for hire....
and the other Egan's Rats refugees, working on behalf of the Purple Gang, were the prime suspects in the March 1927 Milaflores Massacre
Milaflores Massacre
The Milaflores Massacre is the name given to the shooting of three gangsters in retaliation for two murders and a kidnapping in the winter of 1927 in Detroit, Michigan...
. However just a few months later a falling out with the Purple Gang led Burke and his associates to relocate to Chicago. Their reputation preceding them, Burk's crew were eagerly welcomed by Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
, who referred to them his "American Boys". Working out of Chicago, Fred Burke and his cohorts were involved in a series of murders and armed robberies as far east at Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and Patterson, New Jersey and as far south as Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. Among them was the murder of a police officer in Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
following a bank robbery in 1928. It would not be Burke's last "cop killing".
St. Valentines Day Massacre
In 1928 and early 1929 Al Capone had a problem in the name of Bugs MoranBugs Moran
George Clarence Moran , better known by the alias "Bugs" Moran, was a Chicago Prohibition-era gangster born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Moran, of Irish and Polish descent, moved to the north side of Chicago when he was 19, where he became affiliated with several gangs...
and his Irish gang from Chicago's Northside. Fred Burke and his crew of killers were his problem-solver. Five members and two associates of the Moran gang were lured to a garage on Clark street in Chicago. Burke and company burst into the meeting, some dressed as police, and executed the Moran faction. The shocking event received international press attention and within a few weeks Fred Burke was named by Chicago police as a principal suspect in the murders. Witnesses placed Burke near the scene and guns seized from his home later in 1929 were matched to bullets from the crime. Years later, in 1935, Byron Bolton, a captured member of the Barker Gang, gave a detailed statement to the FBI implicating Fred Burke, members of his crew, and other Capone gang members as being responsible.
Downfall and death
Following the St. Valentines Day massacre, Fred Burke continued his pattern of armed robberies and the occasional murder. The beginning of the end happened however in December 1929. An intoxicated and paranoid Burke, using the alias Fred Dane, was involved in a minor traffic accident in St. Joseph, MichiganSt. Joseph, Michigan
St. Joseph is a city in the US state of Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8,789. It lies on the shore of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the St. Joseph River, about east-northeast of Chicago. It is the county...
. When Patrolman Charles Skalay (sometimes mistakenly identified as Skelly) arrived at the wreck scene he was shot and killed by Burke. Now named America's most wanted man, Fred Burke fled to rural northern Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
to "lay low". A Michigan police bulletin offering a $1,000 dollar reward said in underscored type: This man is dangerous and will shoot to kill and every precaution should be used in making his arrest. Among the aliases listed for Burke were Fred Dean, Fred Campbell, and Theodore Cameron. Burke took on yet another alias back in Missouri, that of Richard F. White. In 1930 Burke married a woman from Sullivan County, Missouri
Sullivan County, Missouri
Sullivan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. In 2010, the population was 6,714. Its county seat is Milan.-History:Sullivan County, Missouri encompasses of high glaciated prairie covered by steep rolling hills and numerous creeks and streams in north central Missouri...
, Bonnie Porter, and took up residence near Green City
Green City, Missouri
Green City is a city in Sullivan County, Missouri, United States. The population was 657 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
in Sullivan County. However, even while hiding from the law Burke could not give up his criminal ways. According to an eyewitness account in an article in The Chariton Collector
The Chariton Collector
The Chariton Collector was a local history and folklore magazine published biannually between 1980 and 1989 by students at Kirksville High School, Kirksville, Missouri...
magazine, Burke resided in a Kirksville, Missouri
Kirksville, Missouri
Kirksville is the county seat of Adair County, Missouri, United States. It is located in Benton Township. The population was 17,505 at the 2010 census. Kirksville also anchors a micropolitan area that comprises Adair and Schuyler counties. The city is perhaps best known as the location of Truman...
hotel for a few days prior to a local bank robbery. Later his wife would claim no knowledge of Burke's real identity or his criminal past and thought her husband was just a businessman who travelled a lot.
The long arm of the law finally caught Fred Burke on March 26, 1931 in a most unlikely manner. An amateur detective in the Green City area had read of Burke and seen his picture in True Detective
True Detective
True Detective has been the name of several different magazines.The first was an American true crime magazine featuring articles about crime and criminals, created by publisher Bernarr Macfadden in 1924; it's considered the first true crime magazine. Although generally lurid, True Detective did...
magazine, recognized him as Richard White, and notified authorities. Fred Burke was captured at the home of his father-in-law, surprisingly without a single gunshot being fired. Returned to Michigan, Burke was convicted of Officer Skalay's murder and given a life sentence at Marquette State Prison. Having been in failing health with diabetes and heart disease for several years, Fred Burke died of a massive heart attack while behind bars on July 10, 1940.
Further reading
- Waugh, Daniel. Egan's Rats: The Untold Story of the Gang that ruled Prohibition-era St. Louis Nashville: Cumberland House, 2007.
- Helmer, William and Arthur J. Bilek. The St. Valentine's Day Massacre: The Untold Story Of The Bloodbath That Brought Down Al Capone Nashville: Cumberland House, 2004.