On this date in 1933, the bound and mutilated body of outlaw Verne Miller was found just outside Detroit, MI. Miller, the chief suspect in the Kansas City Massacre, was a decorated World War I veteran and former lawman. After a short stint as sheriff of Beadle County, SD, Miller turned to a life of crime. He started out in bootlegging, then moved on to robbery. Eventually he wound up as a trigger man for organized crime. The list of people with motives to kill him was long, but Miller’s murder was never solved.
Further reading:
Wikipedia: Vernon C. Miller
FBI Famous Cases – Kansas City Massacre /”Pretty Boy” Floyd
Vern Miller—Sheriff, Moonshiner, Hit-man
Lawman to Outlaw: Verne Miller and the Kansas City Massacre, by Brad Smith
Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34, by Bryan Burrough
John D.:
I read the WIKI on Miller, and I have ot say that when he went off the rails…he went WAY off.
But, his gang was fairly successful.
It’s when he got caught up with the MOB that things turned chronically “south” for him.
The remains of his body were nothing to look at if you just ate, that’s for sure.
Good story.
Stay safe out there.
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