Hello.......I'm new at this, so am sorry if I do something incorrectly! Feel free to correct anything I am doing wrong....and all help appreciated!
I am looking for any info anyone might have on Edna "The Kissing Bandit" Murray.
I am compiling all the facts that I can find and am hoping that this group has some real goodies for me!
Thanks,
SapulpaGal

Hi,

Glad you came aboard! I would suggest you get a couple of books on the subject matter. One would be "Public Enemies" by Bryan Burrough, "Don't Call Us Molls" by Ellen Poulsen and lastly "John Dillinger Slept Here" by Paul Maccabee. All three books have info on "The Kissing Bandit" and some photo's. Also the Missouri State Historical Society and/or Missouri Department of Corrections would be a place to write for information on here prison time in that state. Hope this helps you.

Mike Koch

Thanks,MKoch,
How did you know that Edna Murray was written about in these books? Have you researched her story? I ran across some info on a tour and show that they do in St.Paul, Mn., and they have a gal that plays the part of Edna Murray in their play. I was a little surprised to hear that. I had no idea that she was that famous.. notorious...whatever. She is actually a relative of mine.....I've heard her tell some of her stories, and have known her since I was born.......But I never really thought about other people even caring or remembering anything about her. I just wanted to document some history for my daughter and grandson before I forgot any more than I've already forgotten. GBG!
I actually just typed in her name and up came this site and several other ones.......and I was sort of flabbergasted! Once upon a time, on this site, a member, Maddog (or maybe Rick Mattix) was inquiring about her. I think it was the end of 2003 and Jan. of 2004. Does anyone know if he is still active on this site? Some of the info he gave was accurate...some, I know for a fact, was not. I would like to hear from him.
Sorry if I have been too windy. I would really appreciate anyone chiming in here that has any info on Edna Murray "The Kissing Bandit".
Thanks so much,
SapulpaGal

Edna Murray was paroled from the Women's Prison at Jefferson City, Missouri on December 20, 1940. In prison she was a close chum of Blanche Barrow. Edna was serving a 27-year sentence (25 for highway robbery, with two additional years for escape) but Justice Dept. apparently put in a good word for her for cooperating in the prosecution of members of the Barker-Karpis gang in the Bremer and Hamm kidnapping trials. She died in San Francisco in 1966 and is buried there. Her sister Doris O'Connor was reportedly alive at the time but whatever became of her I have no idea at this time.

Ellen Poulsen's Don't Call Us Molls is an excellent book. So is Maccabee's, which has a lot on the Barker-Karpis gang. Burrough's Public Enemies is good too but has a lot of inaccuracies.

Thanks, Maddog......where'd you get that name?
I appreciate your answering my post, and I have ordered the books. What are the inaccuracies in Public Enemies in regard to?

Maddog, I forgot to mention that I found this site because of your posts back in 2003 and 2004. See.....you never know long it will take to be appreciated. :>
In your Jan. 3, '04 post, you said that Edna's teenage son was Preston Patton. His name was Preston Paden. I am positive of that!
Do you know how long he was in prison, and which prison he was in?

Yeah, I've seen Preston's name both ways but I think Paden is right. The FBI reports often give his name as Patton but I think that's just the way they heard it, as they never seem to identify his father other than calling him "a man named Patton" that Edna was once married to. I believe Preston Paden went to the State Prison at Lansing, Kansas but haven't followed up on this yet. Might try there or the Hutchinson Reformatory.

On Burrough's book, it's really mostly little things, which can be expected in a book of that magnitude (he tries to cover all the Depression gangs in detail). Some of the glaring errors that come immediately to mind: he has Karpis growing up in Wichita, Kansas instead of Topeka; has Hamm and Bremer being held in the same house in Bensenville, Illinois instead of two different houses; gets a lot of Chicago addresses wrong; mentions a Baby Face Nelson robbery in "suburban" Danville, Illinois (which is at least fifty miles south of Chicago and not a suburb of anything); gives wrong date for the Wilbur Underhill shooting; has Lloyd Barker being murdered by his wife only two years after his release from prison; reports Thomas McDade as the last member of the FBI's "Dillinger Squad" to die (Thomas O'Connor, who was in the Biograph stakeout, died over a year after McDade), etc....

There is a lot of good info in Burrough's book but also way too much dialogue to suit me and I regard his introduction on Karpis in Spain as largely fiction.

Hi,

To add to all the items recently sent in and discussed on "The Kissing Bandit" I would like to also say that John Neal Phillips book "My Life with Bonnie & Clyde," published in 10/04, has some references to her and I think some photo's while they were in the Missouri State Penitentiary.

Also check out Debbie Moss's website at www.dazzled.com/blanche/index.html

Debbie is a third-cousin to Blanche Barrow and has many interesting photos and info other than what appears in John Neal Phillips' great book, in fact is writing one of her own. The photos include other prison pics of Blanche with Edna and some of the other gals.

Hi,

That's right, she has a lot to offer on Blanche Barrow and some items and photo's of the kissing bandit, which I had remeber seeing some time back.

Sapulpagal

Preston Leroy Paden was convicted of killing a night marshal at Lyons, Kansas in fall of 1936. He was at the Kansas State Industrial Reformatory at Hutchinson. I believe he received a life sentence as the jury was reluctant to require the death penalty.