Vernon C. "Verne" Miller (August 25, 1896 – November 29, 1933) was a freelance
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
hitman
Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...
,
bootlegger, bank robber and the disgraced former sheriff of
Beadle County, South Dakota
Beadle County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,149, making it the List of counties in South Dakota, 11th most populous county in South ...
. Most infamously, Miller, as the only identified gunman in the
Kansas City massacre, was found beaten and strangled to death shortly after the incident.
Early life
Born into a family of
Scotch-Irish descent in
Kimball, South Dakota
Kimball is a city in Brule County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 572 at the 2020 census.
History
Kimball was first known as Stake 48 on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad line going west out of Mitchell. In 1880, ...
, Miller moved 35 miles northeast to
Huron
Huron may refer to:
Native American ethnography
* Huron people, who have been called Wyandotte, Wyandot, Wendat and Quendat
* Huron language, an Iroquoian language
* Huron-Wendat Nation, or Huron-Wendat First Nation, or Nation Huronne-Wendat
* N ...
in 1914 and began working as an auto mechanic. Two years later Miller enlisted in the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
, seeing action with the
Pancho Villa Expedition
The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition, but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, US Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the para ...
into
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, launched after the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...
repeatedly spilled across the border. After
American entry into World War I
The United States entered into World War I on 6 April 1917, more than two and a half years after the war began in Europe. Apart from an Anglophile element urging early support for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British and an a ...
, Miller served in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
with the
18th Infantry Regiment,
1st Brigade Combat Team,
1st U.S. Infantry Division,
American Expeditionary Forces
The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...
(AEF). Decorated with the
Croix de Guerre
The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...
by the Government of the
Third French Republic
The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France duri ...
for courage under enemy fire, Miller rose to the rank of
color sergeant by the 1918 Armistice.
After being discharged from the military, Miller returned to Huron and joined the city's police force as a patrolman. Resigning from the Huron Police Department in May 1920, he ran for Sheriff of
Beadle County
Beadle County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,149, making it the 11th most populous county in South Dakota. Its county seat is Huron. The county was created in 1879 and organized in ...
, eventually winning the election in November. Within two years, however, Miller reportedly tired of the job and fled the area in early 1922 after stealing $2,600 in county funds. Within a year, Miller was tracked down by investigators and convicted of
embezzlement
Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...
on April 4, 1923.
While imprisoned at the
South Dakota State Penitentiary
The South Dakota State Penitentiary is a state prison located in South Dakota's largest city, Sioux Falls. The building's industry shop makes several things for the state, including woodwork and license plates. The State Penitentiary also houses ...
, Miller became the warden's personal chauffeur. He was granted parole in November 1924.
Prohibition
By the time of Miller's release,
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
was in full effect in the country and Miller readily entered the lucrative, although at times dangerous, occupational field of bootlegging. He was fined $200 for bootlegging by a
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...
, court in October 1925, but had a clear record for several years thereafter.
During the late 1920s, after years of heavy drug abuse and suffering from advanced syphilis, Miller became increasingly unstable, and he was often given to unpredictable bursts of violence. He was indicted on February 3, 1928 for the wounding of two
Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
police officers, but the case against him was dropped owing to lack of evidence.
From Prohibition gun for hire to Depression-era outlaw
As the end of the decade approached, Miller was widely known as a freelance gunman for Midwest bootleggers and racketeers. Due to Verne Miller's excellent marksmanship, allegedly there was a joke among the gangsters that Miller can "sign" his name with a
Thompson submachine gun
The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy gun", "Chicago typewriter", or "trench broom") is a blowback-operated, selective-fire submachine gun, invented and developed by Brigadier General John T. Thompson, a United States Arm ...
.
According to declassified FBI files, Miller carried out
contract killing
Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...
s for both
Jewish- and
Italian-American organized crime
The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian-American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian-American criminal society and organized crime group. The terms Italian Mafia and Italian Mob apply t ...
; including
Lepke Buchalter of
Murder, Inc., the
Purple Gang of
Detroit
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
, and the
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or the Organization, is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family based in Chicago, I ...
of
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...
.
On May 31, 1930, after the brother of a friend of Miller's, Eugene "Red" McLaughlin, was killed by members of
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...
's
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or the Organization, is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family based in Chicago, I ...
, (McLaughlin's body was found in a Chicago Canal) Miller tracked down three of the suspects to a resort hotel in
Fox Lake, Illinois
Fox Lake is a village in Lake County, Illinois and Burton Township, McHenry County, Illinois, United States. Fox Lake is a northwestern Chicago suburb. The population was 10,978 at the 2020 census. It is located 50 miles north of Chicago.
H ...
and gunned them down on June 1. Later known as the
Fox Lake Massacre, this event was first attributed to members of
George Moran's
North Side Gang
The North Side Gang, also known as the North Side Mob, was a primarily Irish-American criminal organization within Chicago during the Prohibition era from the early 1920s to the mid-1930s. It was the principal rival of the South Side Gang, also ...
.
With the end of Prohibition approaching, Miller teamed up with
Harvey Bailey,
George "Machine Gun" Kelly and three others in a daylight raid resulting in the theft of $70,000 from a bank in
Willmar, Minnesota
Willmar ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Kandiyohi County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 21,015 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.
History
Agricultural expansion and the establishment of Willmar as a division ...
, on July 15, 1930.
On August 13, in an argument over a "
double-cross" from the bank robbery, Miller killed Frank "Weinie" Coleman,
Mike Rusick and
"Jew" Sammy Stein and dumped their bodies at
White Bear Lake.
The murders did not seem to affect Miller's relationship with his accomplices as he again participated with Bailey, Holden, Keating, Kelly and
Lawrence De Vol in robbing a bank in
Ottumwa, Iowa
Ottumwa ( ) is a List of cities in Iowa, city in and the county seat of Wapello County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,529 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. Located in the state's southeastern section, th ...
, for $40,000 on September 9, 1930.
Again with Bailey, Kelly,
Frank "Jelly" Nash
Frank Nash (February 6, 1887 – June 17, 1933) was an American bank robber, and has been called "the most successful bank robber in U.S. history." He is most noted for his violent death in the Kansas City Massacre. Nash spent part of his child ...
and several others, Miller stole another $40,000 from a bank in
Sherman, Texas
Sherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's population in 2020 was 43,645. It is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan area, Sherman–Denison metropolitan statist ...
, on April 8, 1931.
On December 16, 1932, during a bank robbery in Minneapolis, two policemen were killed by the Miller gang.
Kansas City Massacre
Following the Sherman bank robbery, Miller retired from
armed robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...
in favor of
murder for hire
Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...
, although he continued to keep in contact with his former partners. It was through these contacts, specifically Chicago mobster Louis Stacci, that Miller was hired to free former partner Frank Nash from federal custody while he was being transported to
Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary.
On June 17, 1933, Miller and several other unidentified gunmen ambushed federal agents as they arrived at
Union Station
A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...
in
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...
. After a brief yet violent gunfight—resulting in the deaths of Nash and four law enforcement officers, as well as the wounding of two others—Miller and the other gunmen fled the scene.
Although FBI Director
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American attorney and law enforcement administrator who served as the fifth and final director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) and the first director of the Federal Bureau o ...
named
Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd and
Adam Richetti as participants in the event, the remaining gunmen were never identified.
In a subsequent conversation, Miller's former employer,
Murder, Inc. leader
Lepke Buchalter, told FBI agents, "No one will have anything to do with Miller now. If he shows up, you will know about it." When an FBI agent asked whether Miller was at risk of being, "bumped off", Buchalter, "responded with a knowing look", but said only, "I will have to look into that."
Final days
After the
Kansas City Massacre, Miller fled to the east coast, staying with
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
mobster
Abner "Longy" Zwillman in
Orange, New Jersey
The City of Orange (known simply as Orange) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 34,447, an increase o ...
until Miller killed a Zwillman gunman in an argument. Leaving for Chicago on October 23, 1933, Miller posed as a salesman for an optical supply house while living with girlfriend Vi Mathias until Federal agents raided her apartment on the morning of November 1. Shooting his way out, however, Miller was able to escape from federal agents.
A month later, on November 29, a motorist discovered Miller's body dumped in a roadside ditch outside
Detroit
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
,
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
. He had been severely tortured by partial
strangulation
Strangling or strangulation is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain by restricting the flow of oxygen through the trachea. Fatal strangulation typically occurs ...
with a clothesline and beaten thirteen times with a
claw hammer
A claw hammer is a hammer primarily used in carpentry for driving nail (fastener), nails into or pulling them from wood. Historically, a claw hammer has been associated with woodworking, but is also used in general applications. It is not sui ...
.
Miller appeared to have been the victim of a
contract killing
Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...
by the
National Crime Syndicate
The National Crime Syndicate was a multi-ethnic, closely connected, American confederation of several criminal organizations. It mostly consisted of and was led by the closely interconnected Italian American Mafia and Jewish Mob. It also involv ...
. Although the motive for Miller's grisly murder remains unclear, probable causes include retaliation for the murder of Zwillman's gang member one month earlier, punishment for the Kansas City Massacre, retribution for the Fox Lake Massacre, or all of the above and then some.
While being interrogated following his own arrest, former associate
Machine Gun Kelly expressed a belief that the hitmen must have been people whom Miller knew and trusted, "Miller never went anyplace without being armed and never let anyone he did not know real well get close to him on account of there being any number of people who would have taken him... The ones who did get him were real close to him."
FBI agent Werner Hanni told reporters, "We wanted Miller badly, but whoever killed him probably saved us from having to do it."
FBI agent
Melvin Purvis later wrote in his memoirs, "The underworld never forgave Miller for the Kansas City raid. Crime is a business and Verne Miller had become a debit; they wiped him off the ledger and the photograph of his mangled body, which I later saw, told a gruesome story of a cold and bloody murder."
Despite his lengthy criminal record, Verne Miller was buried with an honor guard from the
American Legion
The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...
and with
full military honors in
White Lake, South Dakota.
Portrayal in movies
Miller's life is the subject of a 1987 movie directed by Rod Hewitt and released under the title ''The Verne Miller Story'' or ''Gangland: The Verne Miller Story'' in which Miller is portrayed by actor
Scott Glenn
Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26 between 1938 and 1942) is an American actor. His roles have included Bill Lester in '' She Came to the Valley'' (1979), Pfc Glenn Kelly in ''Nashville'' (1975), Wes Hightower in '' Urban Cowboy'' (1980), as ...
.
See also
*
List of unsolved murders
References
Books
*Newton, Michael. ''Encyclopedia of Robbers, Heists, and Capers''. New York: Facts On File Inc., 2002.
* Merle Clayton Union Station Massacre 1975 BM Bobbs Merrill
External links
Wayward Soldier: Verne Miller and the Kansas City Massacre – Radio documentary, listen online.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Vernon C.
1896 births
1933 deaths
American bank robbers
American gangsters
American gangsters of Irish descent
American municipal police officers
American police officers convicted of crimes
Chicago Outfit mobsters
Contract killers
American gangsters of the interwar period
Fugitives
Law enforcement officials from Minneapolis
Mafia hitmen
Military personnel from South Dakota
Murder, Inc.
Murdered American gangsters
Murdered American gangsters of Irish descent
Murdered Chicago Outfit members
Murdered Murder, Inc. members
Murdered The Purple Gang members
People from Brule County, South Dakota
People from Huron, South Dakota
People murdered by Jewish-American organized crime
The Purple Gang
South Dakota sheriffs
United States Army personnel of World War I
Unsolved murders in the United States
20th-century South Dakota politicians