Marion Hedgepeth

Marion Hedgepeth (April 14, 1856–December 31, 1909) – also known as the Handsome Bandit, the Debonair Bandit, the Derby Kid and the Montana Bandit – was a famous Wild West outlaw.

History

Hedgepeth was born in Prairie Home, Missouri on April 14, 1856. Running away from home at the age of 15, he was an outlaw by the time he was 20, having killed in Colorado and Wyoming, as well as robbing trains.

In November, 1883, Hedgepeth was sentenced to serve a term of seven years in the Missouri penitentiary^[which?] on the charge of larceny and jail breaking. He was discharged on February 16, 1889.

Hedgepeth lived for awhile in a lawless region of Kansas City, Missouri, known as "Seldom Seen" because the police were seldom seen there. He became a member of the "famous Slye-Wilson gang of safe blowers and highwaymen".^[1]

On November 30, 1891 Hedgepeth and the other members of Slye-Wilson gang (Adelbert Slye, "Jim" Francis and "Dink" Wilson) robbed a train of $40,000 in Glendale, Missouri near St. Louis, Missouri personally escaping with some $10,000. The gang fled to Salt Lake city and disbanded. After being relentlessly pursued by the Pinkertons, he was finally arrested on February 10, 1892 in San Francisco, along with Slye, and brought back to Missouri for trial. Convicted, he was sentenced in 1893 to twenty-five years in the Missouri State Penitentiary. Hedgepath informed on a former cell-mate, whom he knew as "H.M. Howard" but was really H H Holmes, which eventually resulted in the notorious killer's unmasking, conviction and execution in 1896. For this Hedgepeth was pardoned by Missouri state governor Joseph W. Folk 14 years into his 25-year term.

He was arrested in 1907 in Omaha, for the burglary of a storage house at Council Bluffs, Iowa. He was convicted and sent to an Iowa state prison^[which?] in March, 1908, and was released after serving one year.

He was shot and killed by Edward Jaburek, a police officer on December 31, 1909 during a botched Chicago saloon robbery at 18th and Avers Avenue. He died at St. Anthony's Hospital and was buried in the Cook County Cemetery on the grounds of the Cook County Poor Farm at Dunning. ^[1][2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "HEDGEPETH DIED A ROBBER. The End of the Missouri Bandit in a Chicago Saloon Holdup." Kansas City Times, January 4, 1910
2. ^ list of Wild West outlaws

External links

• Marion Hedgepeth jailbreak attempt foiled NY Times, December 17, 1893, Wednesday. Full story
• Bookrags entry for Marion Hedgepeth

• Marion Hedgepeth at Find a Grave

Persondata
Name	Hedgepeth, Marion
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1856
Place of birth
Date of death	1910
Place of death