On May 23rd 1934 Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were shot and killed by law enforcement officers during an ambush in Bienville, Louisiana. The Gangster Files s1e3: Bonnie & Clyde: Myth & Reality, comment
Clyde Barrow, born in 1909, was a habitual criminal. For a living he cracked safes, robbed stores, and stole cars. Clyde Barrow met 19-year-old Bonnie Parker in January of 1930 and they became lovers. ibid.
Myths surrounding Bonnie and Clyde began to eclipse the reality. ibid.
20 family and friend stood trial for harbouring the couple. ibid.
The Barrow Gang were not master-criminals. They were often short of money. ibid.
They lived together in this horrible confined space in a car. ibid.
In reality they were small-scale operators. ibid.
There were five people living in a car … A life of abject misery. ibid.
George Kelly Barnes is better know by his pseudonym, Machine Gun Kelly. He was an American gangster born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1900. Machine Gun Kelly was active as a criminal during the prohibition era. The Gangster Files s1e4: Machine Gun Kelly: Muth & Reality, comment
His fame has been elevated to such an extent that for millions around the world, he has become an American folklore hero. ibid.
He ended up in Alcatraz prison. ibid.
Machine Gun Kelly and his crimes became a favourite subject of the film noir movement. ibid.
He was a rather inept and cowardly windbag who was propelled by unanticipated stardom by his wife.
Machine Gun Kelly, 1958. A double feature with 1958’s The Bonnie Parker Story. ibid.
There was a few people killed in the robberies I was in. They claimed when I was arrested they accused me of killing 14. The Gangster Files s1e5: Alvin Karpis: Myth & Reality
The gang was founded by Fred Barker and Alvin Karpis. ibid. comment
Although the Barker-Karpis Gang were not as notorious as their contemporaries, such as the Dillinger Gang or the Barrow Gang, the Barker-Karpis gang was in fact much more ruthless.
The Barker-Karpis Gang is renowned for its long-running myth that the activities of the gang were actually run and controlled by the Barker brothers’ mother, Kate. ibid.
The life and death of Arizona Barker, better known to posterity as Ma Barker, has widely captured the imagination of popular society in America for nearly a century. The Gangster Files s1e6: Ma Barker: Myth & Reality, comment
We know for certain that from 1931 to 1935 Ma Barker was an enabler and an accomplice of the notorious Barker-Karpis Gang, one of the most infamous criminal gangs operating in the Midwestern United States. ibid.
Ma Barker was depicted as a very evil crime boss. Hoover in particular depicted her as one of America’s most notorious gangsters who was controlling and building crimes. ibid.
Those who knew Ma Barker personally insisted she had no criminal role. ibid.
Gangs rule their territories through ruthless enterprises, fear and a strict code. Deviate from this code or challenge their power and retribution soon follows, epecially for the violent and powerful Gambino crime family. Gangland Chronicles s1e1: The Gambino Family: The Gotti Years, History 2024
The new boss’s celebrity status shines a light on the Gambino family’s operations. ibid.
The Gambino crime family is the largest, wealthiest and most brutal among them. ibid.
Castellano wants a bigger and bigger take. ibid.
Breaking Omerta: Sammy the Bull Gravano takes the stand during John Gotti’s trial.
Teflon’s Gone. ibid. Daily News headline 1992
The world’s first ever narcoterrorists, the ultra-violent Medellin Cartel. Gangland Chronicles s1e3: The Medellin Cartel
First, the Medellin cartel buys a piece of land to create a billion-dollar global drug operation. Next, the Cartel goes to with the Colombian government. ibid.
The certel will rise to dominate the world’s cocaine market. ibid.
The Medellin cartel finds new routes and new partners. ibid.
The country comes after him and the cartel. ibid.
The most dangerous biker in America – the Hell’s Angels. Ruled by a ruthless president, Sonny Barger’s Hell’s Angels creates the bloodstained blueprint for all outlaw bikers clubs that follow. Gangland Chronicles s1e4: Hell’s Angels
One fateful weekend when the Hell’s Angeles are caught in the national spotlight – Altamont Free Concert, 1969. ibid.
1979 Rico case: The Hell’s Angels enter into a new criminal era. ibid.
By the late 1970s the Oakland meth operation is raking in $160,000 a day in street sales. ibid.
The Mongols Motorcycle Club. Here are three stories that forge the reputation of this vicious gang. First, the Mongols wage a brutal war over California with the Hell’s Angels. Next, an ATF agent risks his life to infiltrate the gang and bring it down. And finally, years of bad blood with their oldest rivals reaches a boiling point inside a crowded casino. Gangland Chronicles s1e5: The Mongols MC
‘They kept books that showed their criminal activities.’ ibid. undercover rozzr
May 19th 2000: Shortly after dawn, 700 agents raid locations across Southern California. ibid.
Boston: Where the streets are ruled by the Winter Hill Gang. Rising from a scrappy neighbourhood crew, the gang becomes the kings of the city’s criminal underworld. Until one secret dismantles the entire organisation. Gangland Chronicles s1e6: The Winter Hill Gang
A string of arrests leave Whitey Bulger the last boss standing in Boston. ibid.
Boston, 1972: After a decade of turf wars with rival neighbourhood Irish gangs, one crew emerges as the most powerful. ibid.
Unholy Alliance, 1984: The FBI has taken down the Boston boss of the New England Mafia with great fanfare. But they seem less interested in pursuing the city’s new top criminal organisation, the Winter Hill Gang. ibid.
Al Capone’s Chicago Outfit: From its petty crime beginnings on the Windy City’s South Side to the meteoric rise of Al Capone, here are three stories that define this vicious Chicago organisation. First, a ruthless Capo kills his boss to build a bootleg empire. Next, the Outfit orchestrates the most infamous mob massacre in history. And last, the US government finds an unexpected clue that will take down the Outfit’s kingpin. Gangland Chronicles: The Chicago Outfit s1e7: The Capone Years, History 2025
The Chicago Outift is the most profitable of them all, eventually raking in over $100 million a year, more than $1.7 billion today. ibid.
The deadliest prison gang in America, the Aryan Brotherhood. From its beginnings in the California prison system in the early 1960s to jails all over the country today, here are three stories that build the Brotherhood’s terrifying reputation. First, one of its most feared members takes on the national leader of a rival gang. Next, the Brotherhood breaks its own code and takes revenge on one of their former members. Finally, the gang’s leadership uses a secret message to launch an attack on their biggest rival. Gangland Chronicles s1e8: The Aryan Brotherhood