Sawyer v. United States, 89 F.2d 139 (8th Cir. 1937)

Companion case to McDonald: the Eighth Circuit's affirmance of the conviction of Harry Sawyer, charged as one of the original conspirators in the kidnaping, transport and detention of Edward George Bremer.

Date: 1937-03-06
Kind: court-opinion
Source: CourtListener
Retrieved: 2026-10-12
Docket: 10618
Rights: Opinion of a federal court. A United States government work; judicial opinions are not subject to copyright (17 U.S.C. § 105). The text is served by CourtListener.

The Eighth Circuit decided Harry Sawyer’s appeal the same day as McDonald’s. It explains that “the instant case differs from the McDonald Case only in the fact that the indictment charged, and the evidence adduced tended to show, that appellant herein was one of the original conspirators and had an active part in the kidnaping, transporting, and detention for ransom of said Edward George Bremer.” The court found that “the evidence conclusively proved the guilt of appellant” and ordered “that the case be affirmed.”

Sawyer is listed among Arthur Barker’s partners on Barker’s Alcatraz notebook page. The National Archives holds Sawyer’s own Alcatraz notebook record (No. 297, NAID 236735160), which was not filed here.

itemMcDonald v. United States, 89 F.2d 128 (8th Cir. 1937)The Eighth Circuit's affirmance of the conviction of Cassius McDonald for conspiracy in the Bremer kidnaping, based on his exchange of some $92,000 of marked ransom money at Miami and Havana in September 1934. Sentence fifteen years.itemVolney Davis v. United States, 226 F.2d 834 (8th Cir. 1955)The Eighth Circuit's opinion on Volney Davis's motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 attacking the life sentence imposed on 7 June 1935 after his guilty plea to conspiring to kidnap Edward George Bremer. The order denying relief was affirmed.

itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Arthur "Doc" Barker, No. 268Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Arthur Barker, No. 268, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 26 October 1935 under a life sentence from the District of Minnesota. A red header records his death in the institutional hospital on 13 January 1939. A copy is stored here.