Phillip Keywell
Sentenced in 1930 to life imprisonment in the Michigan state prison for the murder of Arthur Mixon, as an Associated Press item and a 1932 Bureau of Investigation letter both report.
- Aliases
- Philip Keywell (1930 newspaper)
- Family
- Purple Gang (Bureau of Investigation letter, 1932)
- Role
- among those "known to be ring leaders of the Purple Gang" (Bureau of Investigation, Detroit, 1932)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records and the filed newspaper pages state.
On the record
- 1930-10-22 — Bismarck Tribune (AP), 23 October 1930: "Philip Keywell," described as the first of Detroit's "notorious purple gang" to receive a major prison term in state court, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Arthur Mixon, a 19-year-old iceman.
- 1932-03-25 — Bureau of Investigation, Detroit: "Phillip Keywell, #27946, was sentenced sometime in 1930 to life imprisonment in the Michigan State Penitentiary on charges of murder." He is among those "known to be ring leaders of the Purple Gang."
The family and role lines quote the 1932 Bureau letter. The newspaper spells the first name Philip; the letter spells it Phillip. No court record of the state case is filed here.
Records
itemDetroit Bureau of Investigation letter sending Purple Gang photographs to New York (25 March 1932)A three-page Bureau of Investigation letter from Detroit, written during the Lindbergh kidnapping inquiry, lists thirteen Detroit police photographs and states that all the men pictured except Joe Tocco 'are known to be ring leaders of the Purple Gang'.
clippingBismarck Tribune, 23 October 1930, page 3: Life term given Detroit gangsterAn Associated Press item: Philip Keywell, described as the first of Detroit's 'notorious purple gang' to receive a major prison term in state court, was sentenced to life for the murder of Arthur Mixon, a 19-year-old iceman.