A federal judge declared in 1954 that the kidnapping of Chicago mobster Jake “the Barber” Factor was a hoax, and that Basil “the Owl” Banghart had most likely been wrongly convicted due to the involvement of the Chicago Outfit and corrupt Chicago officials. Nearly 20 years after his conviction, that ruling exposed one of the most unusual cases of a criminal serving time for a crime that may have been staged by the very people who framed him. Basil Hugh Banghart was born in Burville, Michigan, on September 11, 1901. After one year of college, he dropped out to become a professional car thief, stealing more than 100 cars in the Detroit area before his arrest in 1926.
Around that time, he acquired the nickname “the Owl” because of his abnormally large eyes. Banghart’s talent for escape quickly became his defining trait. He escaped from Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary after serving only a few months of his sentence, jumping 25 feet from a window he was washing, then climbing over the prison wall and fleeing through the marsh on the other side. He was aided as far as Montana before being apprehended and returned to prison.
He escaped again a year later but was caught while attempting to steal a car in Pittsburgh in October 1928. While being escorted back to prison by U. S. Marshals, he was left alone in a federal building office for a few minutes.
Banghart called local police, claiming to be a federal agent who had been assaulted and overpowered by his prisoner. He described the marshal escorting him as a dangerous armed felon and a police imposter. When police arrived, they took the escort into custody, and Banghart fled in the confusion. Banghart was arrested again in February 1930 and returned to Leavenworth, but escaped once more in January 1932.
Arrested in Detroit for armed robbery, he was taken to the South Bend, Indiana jail, where he escaped by throwing pepper in a guard’s face and shooting his way out. He eventually made his way to Chicago and joined Roger Touhy’s organization. Touhy, a veteran bootlegger from the Prohibition era, was in the middle of a fierce rivalry with Frank Nitti over labor racketeering. Banghart became a major asset to Touhy and was an active participant in the war with the Chicago Outfit, though only one incident specifically documents his involvement.
On January 31, 1933, Nitti’s gunmen assassinated Jimmy O’Brien in front of the Garage nightclub. O’Brien was one of Touhy’s union men and the most recent victim of the feud. A week later, a man identified as Banghart returned to the nightclub, stepped out of a sedan, and tossed a bomb through the front doors. No one was hurt, but the club was severely damaged.
When the Chicago Outfit staged the kidnapping of Jake “the Barber” Factor in July 1933, the plan was to delay Factor’s extradition to Great Britain to stand trial for fraud, as well as to rid themselves of rival bootlegger Roger Touhy, who would be blamed for the kidnapping. Members of the British Consulate refused to believe the story and won an extradition order from the United States Supreme Court. In desperation, Factor and the Chicago mob attempted to legitimize the kidnapping by arranging a pickup with the alleged kidnappers. At this point, Banghart and his partner Charles Connors, also known as “Ice Wagon,” were brought into the plan.
They were hired as bagmen and told that all they had to do was pick up the money, make it look real, and they could keep the ransom money. On August 15, the two arrived at the scheduled drop on Mannheim Road just outside of Chicago. They were met by 300 Chicago police officers and FBI agents. To make matters worse, the ransom package contained only $500.
Despite the obvious double-cross, Banghart and Connors managed to escape after a wild shootout. Despite being set up, they chose to flee rather than seek vengeance against the Chicago Outfit. On November 15, 1933, they teamed with Ike Costner and Ludwig “Dutch” Schmidt to hijack a U. S.
mail truck of $105,000 in Charlotte, North Carolina. By the time the second trial for Factor’s kidnapping began on February 13, 1934, Banghart and Costner had been apprehended. Both men agreed to testify for the prosecution despite facing lengthy prison sentences for the Charlotte mail truck robbery. Although Costner was not involved in the ransom pickup, when Connors was found murdered on March 14, Costner took Connors’ place and falsely stated that Roger Touhy had hired himself and Banghart for the Factor kidnapping.
When Banghart took the stand, he denied these claims and attempted to explain that the kidnapping was staged. His testimony was largely disregarded. Touhy, Banghart, and two others were convicted and sentenced to 99 years in prison. Banghart and Touhy escaped Joliet with Edward Darlak, Mark Lake, Nelson William Stewart, St.
Clair McInerney, and James O’Connor on October 9, 1942, after years of unsuccessful appeals. The FBI quickly joined the manhunt. Banghart and Touhy were suspected of participating in a robbery in Melrose Park, Illinois, on December 19, which netted $20,000, but no charges were filed against them. McInerney and O’Connor were killed in a gun battle with federal agents less than two weeks after their escape, and the rest were apprehended on December 29, 1942.
J. Edgar Hoover observed the raid and took part in what would be his last personal arrest. The convicts were sentenced to even longer prison terms for their escape, and Banghart was returned to Stateville on January 2, 1943, where he was placed in solitary confinement. He was then transferred to Alcatraz, escorted by 18 federal marshals.
He spent the rest of his time in the prison kitchen, working in the bakery with former Public Enemy Alvin Karpis. Banghart and Karpis, dubbed the “Karpis Kitchen Crew” by inmates, allegedly learned to make wine and other alcoholic beverages in the kitchen from cherry pie juices and other ingredients. “The challenge was to keep from becoming an alcoholic,” Karpis later wrote in his memoirs. A federal judge ruled in 1954 that the Factor kidnapping was a hoax and that Banghart and Touhy were most likely wrongfully convicted in a case involving the Chicago Outfit and corrupt Chicago officials.
Banghart was transferred back to Stateville in 1959, and eventually his kidnapping conviction was overturned and the mail robbery charges were dropped for time served. He was released the following year when, at age 60, he was reunited with his longtime girlfriend Mae Lecock. His aunt had also left him a small inheritance 15 years before.
He retired to a small island in Puget Sound.