Frank Eppelsheimer
A defendant convicted in 1924 in the federal case over the 1923 Staunton, Illinois mail robbery and sentenced to 25 years and a $4,000 fine. He was held at Alcatraz as No. 309 from 1936 to 1938; his notebook page lists his codefendants.
- Born
- 1904-08-23
- Died
- 1948-08-03
- Aliases
- Cotton Eppelsheimer, Frank Epplesheimer (Alcatraz page)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal court records, Bureau of Prisons records and National Archives descriptions state; they are works of the United States government, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. Newspaper statements, from pages of 1930 or earlier, are labelled as such.
On the record
- 1923-05-26 — Indictment, September term 1924 (S.D. Ill., Case No. 25): "FRANK EPPELSHEIMER, alias "Cotton" Eppelsheimer" is charged with others with robbing George A. Roberts and Harry Kuehnan, custodians of a mail pouch, at Staunton, Macoupin County, Illinois. A charge.
- 1924-09-03 — Colbeck v. United States (7th Cir. 1925): the four-count indictment was returned on this date; trial began on 10 November 1924.
- 1924-11-15 — Alcatraz warden's notebook page: offense "Assaulting & Robbing Mail Custo.," date Nov. 15, 1924, sentence "25 years & $4000 fine," sentence began Nov. 16, 1924, district sentenced "S/Ill.- Quincy."
- 1925-12-08 — Colbeck v. United States, 10 F.2d 401: the Seventh Circuit affirms; he is among the eight plaintiffs in error "found guilty on all counts," and "Each was sentenced to the penitentiary for 25 years."
- 1936-05-30 — Alcatraz warden's notebook page: received at Alcatraz as No. 309 from Kooskia, Idaho; a line in red at the top reads "Transferred to USP Leavenworth, July 10, 1938."
- 1948-08-03 — The National Archives catalog note for the notebook page gives this death date, in St. Louis. The page itself does not.
The birth date is the one typed on the Alcatraz page (8/23/04). The page spells the surname Epplesheimer; the indictment, the transcript and the Seventh Circuit spell it Eppelsheimer. The page’s staff remarks on his conduct in custody are not repeated, and no role is recorded. No Leavenworth photograph of him has been found; the picture here is cropped from the Alcatraz page.
Records
itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Frank Epplesheimer, No. 309Bureau of Prisons notebook page for a defendant in the Staunton mail-robbery case, received at Alcatraz on 30 May 1936 and transferred back to Leavenworth on 10 July 1938. Its codefendants box names the other men convicted with him and gives the place of sentence as Quincy, Illinois. A copy is stored here.
itemUnited States v. William P. "Dinty" Colbeck et al., criminal case file No. 25 (S.D. Ill.)National Archives description of the Southern District of Illinois case file on the 26 May 1923 robbery of mail custodians at Staunton, Illinois. The archivist's note says the defendants "were members of a gang called Egan's Rats" led by William P. "Dinty" Colbeck.
itemIndictment and court papers, United States v. William P. Colbeck et al. (S.D. Ill., September term 1924)The digitized court papers of the Colbeck case. The indictment charges fourteen men, several under nicknames, with robbing two custodians of a mail pouch at Staunton, Macoupin County, Illinois, on 26 May 1923; the registered packages held $45,000, $5,000 and $4,134.
itemBill of exceptions and trial testimony, United States v. William P. Colbeck et al. (S.D. Ill., filed 2 February 1925)The digitized trial transcript in the Colbeck mail-robbery case, filed as a bill of exceptions on 2 February 1925. The title page lists the defendants and their counsel; the index lists the first witnesses, among them the two mail custodians named in the indictment.itemColbeck v. United States, 10 F.2d 401 (7th Cir. 1925): the Staunton mail-robbery appealSeventh Circuit opinion of 8 December 1925 affirming the convictions and 25-year sentences of William P. Colbeck and eight codefendants for robbing persons in charge of the mails. It upholds the use of a convict's testimony and the instructions on alibi and reasonable doubt.