Mugshots and the Stories Behind the Faces.
These images are of mugshots from the John Edward Lawler Papers. Presented here are 12 individuals out of a total of 33 mugshot cards in the collection. The images are listed as "Crime Survey Photographs of Criminals" in the collection. Each black and white photograph is about 3 x 5 inches.On the reverse of each mugshot card is typed information about the person, including their name and known crimes. Lawler acquired a large amount of FBI files while head of the Richmond FBI Field Office to use for training purposes and these mugshot cards are part of those materials. Information presented below about these individuals was taken from the reverse of each card, from other FBI files in the Lawler Papers, and newspaper accounts.
Click on each image for a larger view.
Raymond E. O'Connor Raymond E. Conner [as he was referred to in newspaper accounts, the name differs from his mugshot] was arrested in 1936 for the hold-up of Richmond’s Lakeview Dairy. Charges were placed against Conner after he had been arrested in Baltimore with his bride of twenty-four hours, Bertha Cecil, sixteen, of 1408 East Main Street. Cecil was charged with aiding and abetting her husband in the hold-up after police discovered she had waited in a taxicab while Conner robbed the dairy.
Edward W. Thorpe Conner was additionally charged with burglarizing three Broad Street stores with his accomplice, Edward W. Thorpe. Conner and Thorpe’s burglaries yielded loot worth about $1,500 from the A. Reeves Company, 319 West Broad Street; the Baker Shoe Company, 419 East Broad Street, and the Rosebud shop, 307 East Broad Street
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Ethan B. Adams Ethan B. Adams: This man held up a small loan office on Grace Street. He was spotted by a clerk while dancing at the Wigwam, a roadhouse on Washington Highway. Was sentenced to 25 years for similar offense in Kansas City, Mo.
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Travis W. Mabry - “Houdini of the Bastille” Pictured here in 1945, Travis W. Mabry had gained a reputation in the 1920s as the “Houdini of the Bastille” for repeatedly escaping Richmond jails and the State Penitentiary. When plotting an escape, Mabry would typically wait for an event to be held within the prison, usually a religious service, and then take advantage of the commotion to saw through the bars of his cell and abscond. Mabry’s tools had been smuggled in but authorities were unable to identify their source with certainty.
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John Allen John Allen alias Grey Head alias Grey Mule : Jewel burglar — Dealer in narcotics.
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Austin Lee Joyce - Richmond's "Polite Bandit" Richmond’s “polite bandit,” Austin Lee Joyce, thirty-one, of 2129 Park Ave. was convicted in 1936 on three charges of highway robbery and given twenty-four years in the State Penitentiary. Joyce, referred to as both “Raffles” and “the polite bandit,” attained the latter title when his victims reported to the police that they had been robbed at gunpoint by a well-spoken man who apologized profusely for his rudeness. Operating primarily within the vicinity of Richmond's Fan District, Joyce targeted motorists for his stick ups. He would brandish a pistol (which turned out to be a toy), enter the vehicle, and have the motorist drive for a while before taking both their money and car.
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Hazel Mahahn alias Mrs. Gordon Magann Crime not described.
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Raymond L. Cauthon alias Carl L. Von Barkoff This individual is described as a jewel thief and had operated in Norfolk, Virginia where he was sentenced to a long term in the Virginia Penitentiary. After he was paroled, he operated in Chesterfield and Henrico Counties just outside the City of Richmond lines stealing jewelry.
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Robert Holt alias Curly Holt Dope fiend and peddler—Safe man.
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Thad W. Faison alias Doc Faison The back of this mugshot of Faison describes him as a man who at one time was a medical student. He operated a service station in the east end of the city and was a known fence for all kinds of stolen goods. He directed several boxcar robberies during the 1930s.
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Morris Caudle Safeman, suspected of fingering several jobs in the Richmond area.
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Fred Jackett While no crime is indicated on the back of his mug shot card, he received a physical description as follows: “Tattoo: Upper left arm two hearts and arrow with ‘Dad’ and ‘Mom,’ also name ‘Ruth.’ Scar 1” corner left eye.”
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The Boyd Gang In a 1945 Crime Survey by the local F.B.I., Lawler identified the Boyd Gang as “the most dangerous gang of criminals operating in the Richmond area at the present time.” Under the leadership of Mark Hanna Boyd, the notorious gang engaged extensively in the hijacking of liquor shipments, subsequent bootlegging, black market dealings and gambling. Maintaining ties to similar organizations along the east coast, the Boyd Gang was able to conduct illegal activities within the City of Richmond due to connections with corrupt officers within the Richmond Police Department. According to Lawler’s assessment, the gang included, among others, a Notary Public, a police officer, the Complaint Clerk of the Richmond Police Department, and a criminal attorney.
Mark Hanna Boyd According to the files of the F.B.I., Boyd ’s criminal record began in 1929 when he was received by the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia to serve five years following conviction as a narcotics dealer. The picture shown here dates to his intake at that penitentiary at the age of thirty-seven. In 1934, Boyd was received at the Virginia State Penitentiary to serve twelve years for highway robbery. It was likely during this period of incarceration that the Boyd Gang formed. Lawler’s 1945 Crime Report on Richmond warned, “Boyd is known to carry firearms and he is believed to be a dangerous individual.”
Fay Olon Green Fay Green , an “old time burglar and safe cracker,” according to Lawler’s files, had been a member of the Boyd Gang and was convicted, along with Mark Boyd, for hijacking a cigarette truck. Although he later left the gang and claimed to have gone straight, Green was distrusted by the Richmond Police Department due to his criminal record and notoriety as “one of the best burglars and safe crackers in the Richmond area.”
George W. Messer Pictured here in 1930 at the age of twenty-two, George W. Messer was a member of the Boyd Gang who sold “hot” merchandise in a shop disguised as a haberdashery (men's clothing store). It is most likely that Messer first encountered Boyd when the two were inmates at the Virginia State Penitentiary. Messer had been incarcerated in 1930 for first degree murder and sentenced to forty-five years. According to Lawler’s research, Penitentiary records indicated that Messer’s father had been killed, but it was not clear whether the father was the victim of a murder or not. Messer was conditionally pardoned on January 10, 1938.
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