The Barker-Karpis gang was, in its time, one of the most feared and deadly gangs of criminals in the United States of America. Between 1910 and 1935, they committed a number of robberies and were implicated in a dozen murders.
Ma Barker and her son Fred were shot to death by the FBI at a rented house in Lake Weir, Florida. Later evidence strongly suggests that Ma Barker, although often covering for her four son’s criminal endeavours, was not the criminal mastermind or teacher she has often been portrayed as. John Ford would understand why.