Wednesday, March 8, 2023
  • Crime, The Law & Your Rights
No Result
View All Result
Crime Traveller
 
  • Home
  • Research

    How Your Brainwaves Could Be Used In Criminal Trials

    R. Kelly: Aided By A Network of Complicity Enabling His Crimes

    How Social Media Turns Online Arguments Between Teens Into Real-World Violence

    Kathleen Folbigg’s Children Likely Died Of Natural Causes, Not Murder. Here’s The Evidence My Team Found

    Do criminals freely decide to commit offences? How the courts decide

    We might not be able to understand free will with science. Here’s why

    Trending Tags

    • Neuroscience
    • Mental Health
    • Criminal Brain
    • Juvenile Crime
  • Psychology
    Image: Shutterstock

    Psychopaths – Born Or Made?

    The Question of Why: Did Ted Bundy have Dissociative Identity Disorder?

    Teenage psychopathy

    What Should We Do With Teenage Psychopaths?

    A Criminal Disorder? Advances in Neurocriminology Are Leading The Way

    Mark Safarik

    An Interview With Former FBI Profiler Mark Safarik on Violent Offending and Criminal Behavioral Analysis

    The Criminal Mind: An Interview With Forensic Psychologist and Author Katherine Ramsland

    Trending Tags

    • Narcissism
    • Psychopathy
    • Profiling
    • Mental Health
    • Psychology
  • Family Violence

    Reckless Speculation about Jeffrey MacDonald

    O. J. Simpson Trial: 26 Years Later

    O. J. Simpson: Murder in the First Degree

    Reasonable Doubt: The Hendricks Family Murders

    Melanie McGuire

    A Convicted Killer, Two Criminologists, and One Podcast: Direct Appeal Investigates ‘Suitcase Killer’ Melanie McGuire Case

    Family Annihilation: The Crimes and Psychology of Familicide

    Trending Tags

    • True Crime
      Chandler Halderson and his parents

      Double Murder, Dismemberment, and Lies: The Twisted Web of Chandler Halderson

      Jean Claude Romand: From Fake Doctor to Family Annihilator

      Fate Is Not Kind: The True Crime Case of David Lamson

      Who killed Marilyn Sheppard cover image

      Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part Two]

      Who killed Marilyn Sheppard?

      Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part One]

      The JFK Assassination … Case Still Closed

      Trending Tags

      • Unsolved
      • Serial Murder
      • Documentaries
      • Guest Posts
    • Book Reviews
      Strangled book review cover

      Strangled: A Courageous Fight Against The Darkest Corners of Humanity

      The Girl I Never Knew - Who Killed Melissa Witt?

      The Girl I Never Knew: Melissa Ann Witt Deserves Justice

      Befriending A Serial Killer: An Interview With Mark Austin

      The Husband Poisoner: Lethal Ladies and Dangerously Tasty Recipes

      Details are Unprintable: Wayne Lonergan and the Sensational Café Society Murder

      Operation Jacknap: A True Story of Kidnapping, Extortion, Ransom and Rescue

      Trending Tags

      • Interviews
      • Historical Crime Books
    • Crime Spotlight
      • All
      • Crime, The Law & Your Rights
      Medical Malpractice

      When Does Medical Malpractice Become a Criminal Case?

      Picture: Richard Bell, Upsplash

      Can A Crime Turn Into A Personal Injury Lawsuit?

      Korean Zodiac Killer case

      A Tale of Two Zodiacs

      5 Tell-Tale Signs Of An Abusive Person

      6 Pros And Cons Of Hiring A Private Criminal Lawyer

      There Were Two Killers in 10 Rillington Place: An Interview With Peter Thorley

      • Crime, The Law & Your Rights
    No Result
    View All Result
    Crime Traveller
    • Home
    • Research

      How Your Brainwaves Could Be Used In Criminal Trials

      R. Kelly: Aided By A Network of Complicity Enabling His Crimes

      How Social Media Turns Online Arguments Between Teens Into Real-World Violence

      Kathleen Folbigg’s Children Likely Died Of Natural Causes, Not Murder. Here’s The Evidence My Team Found

      Do criminals freely decide to commit offences? How the courts decide

      We might not be able to understand free will with science. Here’s why

      Trending Tags

      • Neuroscience
      • Mental Health
      • Criminal Brain
      • Juvenile Crime
    • Psychology
      Image: Shutterstock

      Psychopaths – Born Or Made?

      The Question of Why: Did Ted Bundy have Dissociative Identity Disorder?

      Teenage psychopathy

      What Should We Do With Teenage Psychopaths?

      A Criminal Disorder? Advances in Neurocriminology Are Leading The Way

      Mark Safarik

      An Interview With Former FBI Profiler Mark Safarik on Violent Offending and Criminal Behavioral Analysis

      The Criminal Mind: An Interview With Forensic Psychologist and Author Katherine Ramsland

      Trending Tags

      • Narcissism
      • Psychopathy
      • Profiling
      • Mental Health
      • Psychology
    • Family Violence

      Reckless Speculation about Jeffrey MacDonald

      O. J. Simpson Trial: 26 Years Later

      O. J. Simpson: Murder in the First Degree

      Reasonable Doubt: The Hendricks Family Murders

      Melanie McGuire

      A Convicted Killer, Two Criminologists, and One Podcast: Direct Appeal Investigates ‘Suitcase Killer’ Melanie McGuire Case

      Family Annihilation: The Crimes and Psychology of Familicide

      Trending Tags

      • True Crime
        Chandler Halderson and his parents

        Double Murder, Dismemberment, and Lies: The Twisted Web of Chandler Halderson

        Jean Claude Romand: From Fake Doctor to Family Annihilator

        Fate Is Not Kind: The True Crime Case of David Lamson

        Who killed Marilyn Sheppard cover image

        Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part Two]

        Who killed Marilyn Sheppard?

        Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part One]

        The JFK Assassination … Case Still Closed

        Trending Tags

        • Unsolved
        • Serial Murder
        • Documentaries
        • Guest Posts
      • Book Reviews
        Strangled book review cover

        Strangled: A Courageous Fight Against The Darkest Corners of Humanity

        The Girl I Never Knew - Who Killed Melissa Witt?

        The Girl I Never Knew: Melissa Ann Witt Deserves Justice

        Befriending A Serial Killer: An Interview With Mark Austin

        The Husband Poisoner: Lethal Ladies and Dangerously Tasty Recipes

        Details are Unprintable: Wayne Lonergan and the Sensational Café Society Murder

        Operation Jacknap: A True Story of Kidnapping, Extortion, Ransom and Rescue

        Trending Tags

        • Interviews
        • Historical Crime Books
      • Crime Spotlight
        • All
        • Crime, The Law & Your Rights
        Medical Malpractice

        When Does Medical Malpractice Become a Criminal Case?

        Picture: Richard Bell, Upsplash

        Can A Crime Turn Into A Personal Injury Lawsuit?

        Korean Zodiac Killer case

        A Tale of Two Zodiacs

        5 Tell-Tale Signs Of An Abusive Person

        6 Pros And Cons Of Hiring A Private Criminal Lawyer

        There Were Two Killers in 10 Rillington Place: An Interview With Peter Thorley

        • Crime, The Law & Your Rights
      Crime Traveller
      No Result
      View All Result
      • Home
      • Research
      • Psychology
      • Family Violence
      • True Crime
      • Book Reviews
      • Crime Spotlight

      Home » True Crime & Justice » The Baby Bandits of San Francisco

      The Baby Bandits of San Francisco

      William Daly, Frank Crone and Ernest Pla are names remembered in San Francisco for all the wrong reasons.

      by Guest Author
      19 August, 2020
      in True Crime & Justice
      Reading Time: 4 mins read
      A A
      Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare
      In 1936 a series of holdups escalated into armed robbery and eventually murder, all carried out by a trio of teens that the Californian newspapers dubbed the ‘Baby Bandits’.  “Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse,” is a maxim rarely quoted by high school commencement speakers. But for some, who attended Preston High School, a different kind of learning institution took this adage seriously, with fatal results.

      On November 23rd two young bandits, about 18-years-old, robbed three bars in the early hours of the morning.  One of the robbers was stocky, the other average size. Two days later two places in San Francisco’s North Beach were robbed, this time by the same robbers with a third man acting as their leader. Their young age caused the newspapers to call them the “Baby Bandits.”  But their actions showed sophistication and planning. They would steal a car from a garage, use the car in holdups and then abandon it the same night.

      In their second crime spree, the holdup men used sawed-off shotguns stolen from a hardware store on Mason Street in North Beach.  Police assumed that the gang were from this neighborhood and circulated photographs of local criminals but none of the victims recognized the photos.  Police Captain Dullea was still convinced there was a connection, so he called in John Dooling, the North Beach beat cop, and asked him to canvas the neighborhood.

      For the next three days, nothing happened.  Then, on Thanksgiving, November 26th, Mike’s Saloon on 14th Street was robbed.  Dan O’Connell, a customer, was shot in the stomach when he moved too slowly.  Later that evening O’Connell died. The “Baby Bandits” had graduated to murder.

      The next day Officer Dooling came in with his first lead.  Frank Crone, a recent graduate of The Preston School of Industry, was not working, yet he had been seen sporting a fancy new wardrobe. Preston, a legendary reform school, opened in 1894 and counted such notables as a rapist and writer Carryl Chessman, serial killer Gerald Gallegos, Beat Generation icon Neal Cassidy, and musician Merle Haggard among its graduates.  Further digging revealed that Crone had been hanging out with Ernest Pla and William Daly, two other recent Preston School graduates.   Photographs of the three men were positively identified by the victims of the gang’s latest holdups.

       William Daly, Frank Crone & Ernest Pla
      William Daly, Frank Crone & Ernest Pla

      Preston was considered the rookie league of crime.  Just as minor league baseball players in the 1930s dreamed of being Lou Gehrig, young criminals dreamed of being John Dillinger. Though he was a hardcore bank robber and a killer, John Dillinger was a folk hero to many whose homes had been foreclosed on by the banks.

      Police, assuming that the bandits had left town had put an all points bulletin for the state of California. “Use every precaution in apprehending these men.  They are dangerous killers.”

      The bandits split up. Ernest Pla hid out with relatives in Merced.

      Crone and Daly kidnapped a young couple and forced them to drive to Sacramento, where they let them go. Crone and Daly drove onto Merced, apparently to hook up with Pla. Hungry after their long ride they stopped to eat at the Square Deal Café. There they were observed by a young friend of Pla’s who hurried to notify Merced Police Chief Fred Zunker. Zunker and police officer James Turner questioned Crone who gave them an International Seaman’s Union card. When Daly was questioned, he pulled out a gun and ran. Turner fired a warning shot and then squeezed off two shots at Daly, who was hit but kept on running.

      Crone, who was unarmed, lunged at Chief Zunker, who pulled his gun out. “I could haven’t killed him,” Zunker later said, “but I don’t shoot kids.”  Instead, Zunker clubbed Crone over the head with the barrel of the gun. Turner returned to the cafe to find Chief Zunker in a life and death struggle with Crone.  Turner clubbed Crone over the head with his nightstick, knocking him unconscious.

      Other police followed the trail of Daly’s blood from for four blocks until they reached the First Baptist Church.  Then they heard a shot. Crawling under the church they found Daly dead of a self-inflicted bullet wound.

      At about the same time, Ernest Pla, convinced by his mother,  surrendered peacefully to police.  Pla and Crone were reunited in the Merced jail and shared the same cell.  Crone awoke in jail on his birthday. “I’m twenty-one. I suppose I’ll get the rope before I’m twenty-two,” he said. Crone described Daly as the leader of the gang and said their ambition was to be as famous as John Dillinger.

      Earnest Pla 1937 mugshot. Source: HistorySmith.com (left). Pla sentenced to life, Berkeley Daily Gazette, 6 March 1937. Source: NewspaperArchive.com (right).

      Both Pla and Crone blamed Daly for the murder of O’Connell.  But O’Connell’s dying statement described  Crone as his killer.  Later that night Crone made his prediction come true by hanging himself with Pla’s suspenders. “That dirty bastard. Now he’s left me hiding the bag alone,” Pla complained bitterly “and I’ve got no suspenders to wear to court.”

      Ernest Pla pled guilty to murder in 1937 and was sentenced to life.  He was paroled in 1949 and died in 1984.


      About the Author: Paul Drexler has been a crime historian since 1984 and founded Crooks Tours of San Francisco with former SFPD Deputy Police Chief Kevin Mullen. His column, “Notorious Crooks” has appeared numerous times in the San Francisco Examiner and other publications. He has appeared on the Discovery ID Network show Deadly Women as an expert on San Francisco murderesses. In 2017 he received the Oscar Lewis Award from the San Francisco History Association. His book, San Francisco Notorious will be published by R.J. Parker Publications in 2019. His website is www.crookstour.com.

      Read more from Paul Drexler:

      1. California’s Queen of Grudges, Isabella J Martin
      2. The Real-Life American Raskolnikov
      3. The Hair-Raising True Tale of John “Chicken” Devine
      4. Frank McManus: King of the Irish Hill
      Tags: Guest PostsJuvenile Crime
      Share40Tweet21Pin8
      Previous Post

      How It Really Happened Examines Ted Bundy: The Murder Trials and Death Row Confessions

      Next Post

      A Victorian Murder Mystery: The Lady In The Cellar

      Related Posts

      Double Murder, Dismemberment, and Lies: The Twisted Web of Chandler Halderson

      27 January, 2023
      Chandler Halderson and his parents

      At 23 years old he was staring down the barrel of a lifetime behind bars. Dark, twisted thoughts he turned into horrifying actions can never...

      Read more

      Jean Claude Romand: From Fake Doctor to Family Annihilator

      25 November, 2022

      To some, Jean Claude Romand’s story is inspiring. To the friends and family of the people whose lives Romand has destroyed, the story is horrifying.

      Read more

      Fate Is Not Kind: The True Crime Case of David Lamson

      11 October, 2022

      Fate is not kind. Just ask David Lamson. A horrific event saw Lamson face death voted for by his peers. But that was not the...

      Read more
      Load More
      Next Post

      A Victorian Murder Mystery: The Lady In The Cellar

      The intriguing case of French serial killer Henri Désiré Landru

      France’s Lonely Hearts Serial Killer and the Strange Case of the Missing Notebook

      I am D.B. Cooper

      I am D.B. Cooper: Startling Confessions Examined in ‘Getting The Truth’

      What's New?

      Strangled book review cover
      Book Reviews

      Strangled: A Courageous Fight Against The Darkest Corners of Humanity

      15 December, 2022
      True Crime & Justice

      Jean Claude Romand: From Fake Doctor to Family Annihilator

      25 November, 2022
      True Crime & Justice

      Fate Is Not Kind: The True Crime Case of David Lamson

      11 October, 2022
      Load More

      Stay Connected

      Search

      No Result
      View All Result

      Categories

      You Might Also Like

      True Crime & Justice

      New A&E Documentary Examines 11 Unsolved Murders of Texas Teenagers

      7 July, 2018
      True Crime & Justice

      Get Rich or Die Hard! The FBI Manhunt for Houston’s Northside “Sniper” [PART 1]

      10 October, 2022
      Book Reviews

      Clutches of Madness: The Real Faces of Serial Killers

      5 July, 2018
      True Crime & Justice

      Armed Attack On The Gardaí: The Murder of Sergeant James Woods

      7 July, 2018

      RECENT

      Chandler Halderson and his parents

      Double Murder, Dismemberment, and Lies: The Twisted Web of Chandler Halderson

      27 January, 2023

      Strangled: A Courageous Fight Against The Darkest Corners of Humanity

      15 December, 2022

      Jean Claude Romand: From Fake Doctor to Family Annihilator

      25 November, 2022

      POPULAR

      New A&E Documentary Examines 11 Unsolved Murders of Texas Teenagers

      Get Rich or Die Hard! The FBI Manhunt for Houston’s Northside “Sniper” [PART 1]

      Clutches of Madness: The Real Faces of Serial Killers

      Armed Attack On The Gardaí: The Murder of Sergeant James Woods

      Site Links

      • About Crime Traveller
      • Contact Page
      • True Crime & Justice
      • Crime Research
      • Family Violence & Homicide
      • Psychology of Murder
      No Result
      View All Result
      • Terms
      • Privacy
      • Disclaimers
      • Cookies
      • DMCA
      • Newsletter

      Copyright © 2016 - 2023 Crime Traveller, a website owned and operated by Alythium | All Rights Reserved.

      No Result
      View All Result
      • Home
      • About
      • Contact
      • Crime Research
      • Psychology of Murder
      • Family Violence & Homicide
      • True Crime & Justice
      • Crime Spotlight
      • Book Reviews
      • Request A Book Review
      • Newsletter

      Copyright © 2016 - 2023 Crime Traveller, a website owned and operated by Alythium | All Rights Reserved.

      error: Content is protected !!
      This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.