Charles Arthur Floyd
Named with Richetti and Miller in a federal conspiracy indictment concerning Frank Nash, and identified by the FBI as one of the Union Station gunmen; the FBI says he was shot by agents and local officers near East Liverpool, Ohio, on 22 October 1934. Whether he fired was an FBI finding not tested in court.
- Died
- 1934-10-22
- Aliases
- Pretty Boy Floyd, Charles Floyd
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.
On the record
- 1933 — W.D. Mo. indictment No. 12777 names "Charles Arthur Floyd, alias 'Pretty Boy' Floyd" with Richetti and Miller (National Archives item 24734664; scan read). A charge.
- 17 June 1933 — The FBI says Floyd was about 29 at the time and "escaped enroute to the penitentiary and was a fugitive when he became involved in the Kansas City Massacre" (FBI History essay).
- 20 June 1933 — A Bureau memorandum for the Director says an Identification Order was being prepared on, among others, "Pretty Boy Floyd" (FBI Vault, Kansas City Massacre Part 02, viewer p. 23).
- 22 October 1934 — The FBI says Floyd was shot by FBI agents and East Liverpool police on a farm near Clarkson, Ohio, and "died about 15 minutes after he was shot" (FBI History essay). The Bureau's display page says he was killed "while resisting arrest."
- 29 September 1950 — Former Jackson County sheriff Thomas B. Bash named "the Union Station massacre" among the cases he faced in office (Kefauver Part 4, p. 152).
The photograph is the FBI display page at page 2 of the Vault file, a federal work; its captions are the Bureau’s words and are quoted, not endorsed. The FBI’s essay says Floyd was a fugitive when he became involved in the Kansas City Massacre; the page does not say more about the attribution than “identified by the FBI.” Bureau language such as “killer” is the Bureau’s. No role or family is entered.
Records
itemFBI Vault: Charles Arthur (Pretty Boy) Floyd, Part 01 (Final)The Vault's single part for Floyd (17 viewer pages): a placard-style page with his photograph and a caption, a criminal-record summary, and a 29 May 1940 memorandum transmitting an 'Interesting Case Write-Up concerning the Kansas City Massacre Case.'
itemFBI Vault: Kansas City Massacre, Part 02 (June 1933)The second part (130 viewer pages) of the FBI's Kansas City Massacre file: a 20 June 1933 memorandum on identification orders that names Pretty Boy Floyd among the subjects, a 22 June memorandum on latent fingerprints resembling those of Frank Nash, and condolence correspondence.
itemUnited States v. Adam Richetti (W.D. Mo.), criminal case file SS101: indictment No. 12777The first page of the 29-page W.D. Mo. case file is an indictment charging Adam Richetti, Charles Arthur Floyd alias 'Pretty Boy' Floyd, and Vernon C. Miller alias Verne Mason alias Verne Moore with conspiring to violate federal law concerning the custody of Frank Nash, an escaped Leavenworth prisoner.itemKansas City Massacre and "Pretty Boy" Floyd (FBI history page)The FBI's history essay on the June 17, 1933 shooting in front of Union Station, Kansas City, Missouri, in which four officers and their prisoner Frank Nash were killed. It places the car directly in front of the station's east entrance.itemKefauver Part 4: testimony of Thomas B. Bash, former Jackson County sheriff (29 September 1950)The former sheriff lists the cases that confronted him, including 'the Union Station massacre,' and says juries and witnesses were intimidated; Senator Kefauver places an FBI report on Charles Gargotta (1919 to 1947; 39 charges in Missouri) in the record as Exhibit 12. Pp. 147-152.
itemIdentification Order No. 1194: Charles Arthur Floyd (22 June 1933)Bureau of Investigation wanted notice for Charles Arthur Floyd, aliases Frank Mitchell and "Pretty Boy Smith," issued five days after the Kansas City Union Station shooting. Fingerprints, photographs, description and criminal record. A copy is stored here.
itemPretty Boy Floyd's death mask (FBI artifact)Mask of Charles Arthur Floyd's face made after his death on 22 October 1934, held by the FBI, with the Bureau's short account of the Kansas City shooting and of Floyd's death in Ohio. A copy of the FBI's photograph is stored here.
itemCharles "Pretty Boy" Floyd Summary (FBI Vault, Part 01, Final)A 17-page FBI summary file on Charles Arthur Floyd: a cover, a letter to the Director setting out his criminal record from a 1925 highway-robbery arrest, and a later "case write-up" on the Kansas City Massacre. A copy of the cover is stored here.
itemKansas City Massacre, FBI file 62-28915 (FBI Vault, 93 parts)The FBI Vault's file on the 17 June 1933 shooting at Union Station, Kansas City, file 62-28915, released in 93 parts. Section 1's cover names the subject as Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, Kansas City Massacre. A copy of that cover is stored here.
itemUnited States v. Adam Richetti and Charles Floyd (W.D. Mo.), criminal case file SS99: praecipe for alias capias, No. 12697A 16-page National Archives case file whose first page is a praecipe for alias capias in 'The United States vs. Adam Richetti,' number 12697, reciting an indictment exhibited and filed on 22 October 1934, dated 1 December 1934 and signed by U.S. Attorney Maurice M. Milligan.itemState v. Richetti, 119 S.W.2d 330, 342 Mo. 1015 (Mo. 1938)Missouri Supreme Court opinion affirming Adam Richetti's conviction and death sentence for killing Kansas City police officer Frank Hermanson in what the court calls the "Union Station Massacre" of 17 June 1933.