Audio Transcript

Mollie Halpern: It’s the anniversary of an FBI case that takes us back to a time of gangsters and the G-Men with Tommy guns who sought to bring them to justice.

I’m Mollie Halpern of the FBI, and this is Gotcha.

Alvin “Creepy” Karpis was wanted for the kidnapping of a prominent brewer from St. Paul, Minnesota. 

Dr. John Fox: This is the end of the gangster era; Karpis was the last of them.

Halpern: FBI Historian Dr. John Fox says agents tracked down Karpis to an apartment on Canal Street in New Orleans in 1936…

Fox: Karpis we found because of a combination of detective work and informant work.

Halpern: FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover traveled to New Orleans to take Karpis into custody. But…

Fox: When Hoover told Karpis he was under arrest, he asked the agents with him for handcuffs and nobody has brought handcuffs. And so one of the agents offered his necktie and they tie up Karpis’ hands behind his back.

Halpern: Karpis pled guilty to kidnapping and was sentenced to life in prison. He served some of his time in Alcatraz. This has been the FBI’s closed case of the week.