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From Noizr and Airship, I'm Lindsey Graham and this is History. Daily history is made every day on this podcast. Every day we tell the True stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is October 22nd, 1934. The death of Pretty Boy Floyd. It's November 1930. On board a train traveling through Ohio. Five years after the Kroger office robbery, 26 year old Charles Pretty Boy Floyd walks slowly through the train car as it rocks along the rails. He glances into each compartment he passes until he finally spots one that's empty. He enters quietly, closes the door behind him and eases open the window. It's been almost two years since Charles was released from prison for his part in the robbery at the Kroger office. But prison failed to rehabilitate him. Charles immediately returned to a life of crime. And six months ago he was arrested again and charged with armed robbery and murder. At his trial, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. But he had no intention of serving any more time behind bars. While being transported to prison by train, he snuck away from his guards during a bathroom break. Now Charles peers through the window at the ground speeding by beneath him. If he wants to stay out of jail, he's got no choice but to jump. Gathering all his courage, he clambers up onto the windowsill. He waits a moment until the ground beside the tracks looks clear. Then he leaves. He lands hard and tumbles over the ground before eventually coming to a stop in the undergrowth at the side of the tracks. Slowly he gets up. He's bruised and his hands and face are cut, but otherwise he's in good shape and finally free. Over the next few days, Charles makes his way home to Missouri. He sleeps outside at night and hitches rides during the day. But when he gets back to St. Louis, he's still a fugitive from the law and can't live out in the open. So Charles has no choice but to return to the criminal underworld. And there, Charles picks up right where he left off. He raids several banks across the Midwest. He's named as a suspect in the murder of two liquor smugglers. And when some lawmen get too close to capturing him, he guns them down. Over the next two years, Charles kills a patrolman in Ohio, a federal agent in Missouri, and a sheriff in Oklahoma. But the newspaper reporters that write about Charles crimes don't portray him as a ruthless killer. Instead, they transform Charles into something more romantic. They make up stories about him giving away money to the poor, destroying mortgage records to help poverty stricken farmers avoid debt, and throwing coins into the street as he flees the scene of his crimes. But not everyone views Charles as an attractive antihero to law enforcement. He's nothing more than a cop killer, and officers fear it's only a matter of time before he strikes again. It's the morning of June 17, 1933 at Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri. Three years after Charles Pretty Boy Floyd escaped a prison sentence by leaping out a train window. Agent Frank Smith escorts another prisoner along the train platform towards the exit. His suspect is handcuffed to him, but Agent Smith isn't taking any chances. Two other agents walk in front and behind him, clearing a path through the station and keeping a sharp lookout. Agent Smith's prisoner is the notorious bank robber Frank Nash. After a two decade criminal career, he's one of the most well wanted men in America. But yesterday he was arrested in Arkansas and put on a train to Kansas City, where he faces a long prison sentence. As steam blows down the platform from the locomotive, a local police officer steps forward and asks Agent Smith to follow him. The small group leaves the station and then heads across the parking lot towards a car. Agent Smith climbs into the back seat and Nash awkwardly follows, his wrists still cuffed to Agent Smith's. But as Agent Smith and Nash struggle to get comfortable, a burst of gunfire rings out across the parking lot. The officers outside the car return fire, but they're quickly overwhelmed. Agent Smith is wondering what to do when the window next to him shatters. Miraculously, he's unharmed. But when he looks to his side, he sees that Frank Nash is not. Nash is slumped in his seat with a bullet hole in the side of his head. After a few seconds, the gunfire stops. All the law enforcement officers around the car are down, handcuffed to the dead Frank Nash. Agent Smith is defenseless and he can hear footsteps approaching. So he makes a split second decision. He flops forward and plays dead. He holds his breath as the footsteps crunch on broken glass near the car. And just as he thinks he can't hold his breath any longer, another burst of gunfire in the parking lot causes the gunman to turn tail and run. When Agent Smith finally frees himself from the car, he'll discover that Frank Nash's death was an accident. The men who attacked the police officers were trying to free him, not kill him. But Frank isn't the only fatality of the shootout. Four law enforcement officers are dead too. And soon a manhunt will begin for the criminals responsible. And the authorities search will quickly narrow in on one man they're certain was involved. Cop killer Charles Pretty Boy Floyd. History Daily is sponsored by Indeed. I was pulling down some Halloween decorations from the attic this weekend and I was halfway down the ladder when I realized I need some help. And if you run a business, this predicament might be familiar. Because it's right when you're in the most inconvenient situation that you realize I need some help. So when it comes to hiring, you can't sit around halfway down the ladder waiting for paper resumes to filter in. You need to find quality candidates right now. 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