13 March : Arthur Doc is the first of Ma Barker’s family gang to be captured

Diminutive in stature, tight-lipped and modest, Melvin Purvis was the star of J Edgar Hoover’s FBI, who on this day arrested Arthur ‘Doc’ Barker, marking the beginning of the end for one of America’s most ruthless criminal gangs, “Ma’s Boys”.

Composed primarily of four brothers - the offspring of Kate ‘Ma’ Barker - the gang had committed an impressively long and lucrative list of high profile crimes, and split a great deal of blood by the time of Purvis’s arrest... Read the full Ma Barker Crime File