Posted on 01/02/2003 10:06:16 AM PST by Maedhros
It was the Christmas season of 1927 in the small, but busy town of Cisco, Texas. Everyone doing their last minute shopping for what they knew would not be a "white Christmas". Very seldom do the people ever see such an event in this area. They also would never imagine seeing the events which were about to unfold in such a peaceful small community.
It was December 23 and the main street of Cisco was crowded with people going about their daily activities. The town had the normal decorations for the season. Everyone was in the Christmas spirit. No one suspected a thing when Santa came walking down main street. Mrs. B.P. Blasengame and her 6 year old Frances, also did not suspect a thing. She would lead her daughter over to meet with Santa, so she could talk with him.
Santa entered the First National Bank closely followed by three men with pistols drawn. One of the men announced " Stick em up". The bank was soon filled with a flurry of action. The people in the bank shocked with the feelings of disbelief.
Mrs. Blasengame charged her way with her daughter to the bookkeeping office of the bank, announcing "They are robbing the bank." She saw the door that led out the bookkeeping office into the alley. She dashed for the door only to find it locked. Quickly she unlocked the door and thrust her young daughter out into the alley, yelling to her to run. Mrs. Blasengame herself found freedom into the alley and ran the one block to City Hall which housed the Police Department. She ran in and announced ,"They are robbing the First National Bank."
The Chief of Police, G.E. Bedford, grabbed a riot gun and instructed officers R.T. Redies and George Carmichael to cover the back door of the bank. He would take the front. As the robbers were gaining entrance into the vault of the bank, the three Officers were preparing for the gun battle that would take place.
As shots began to ring out from inside and outside the bank, citizens also took up arms against the robbers. Several men assisted the police. They also found that they needed to protect their own citizens and property and, without hesitation, joined in the gun battle. The Assistant Postmaster and the Postmaster were two of the citizens that took up arms against the robbers.
The robbers knew if they did not escape they would be facing the electric chair, which was the punishment for such a crime in Texas.
They had a car in the alley for their escape, but with the amount of gunfire they were receiving from outside the bank escape seemed impossible. The robbers decided to use hostages as shields and ordered the hand full of people to "get in the car".
Santa and another robber made their way to the car with hostages. Back in the bank, one of the robbers suggested that they should surrender, and hope for a life sentence. That was quickly dismissed by the other robber.
Back in the alley, Police Officer George Carmichael found himself reeling from a bullet that had been fired from one of the robbers' guns. Officer Redies, who had witnessed his partner being shot, went to him to assist in any way he could.
The gunfire from the robbers turned on him. The robbers all made their way to the getaway car and, at the head of the alley, Police Chief G.E. Bedford stood in their way. In the exchange of fire, Chief Badford, who had been a Peace Officer in the area for some 25 years,was gunned down. Chief Bedford was shot five times.
As the car with the hostages and robbers sped off, one of the many citizens managed to shoot out a rear tire on the car. The robber's blue sedan left the bank heading South and would soon be followed by citizens enraged from the events at the bank.
Officer Redies ran to the police station and retrieved a rifle and began to pursue the robbers on foot. He was soon picked up and continued the pursuit with a citizen.
At the edge of Cisco, the robbers, nearly out of gas and on a flat tire, seized a vehicle to continue their escape. The robbers unloaded their hostages and climbed in to the new getaway car. The robbers loaded the money and found that the owners of the car had removed the keys.
Escaping in the car could not be done. The posse of citizens soon arrived and another gunfight erupted. The robbers only remaining alternative was to continue their escape in their own vehicle. Hastily they transferred everything back to their own car.
The robbers left one of their own at the scene of the of the attempted car theft. The robbers abandoned Louis Davis, one of their own. He was a last minute replacement for the group. This was Davis' only crime in his lifetime. He was taken to a Ft. Worth hospital after his capture, but efforts to save his life failed. He died from bullet wounds he received in the gunbattle at the bank.
The robbers made their way to a county road south of town and turned east. The robbers began throwing out roofing nails in an effort to stop the posse that was on their trail. The remaining three robbers soon discovered that in their haste getting back into their own car, they had left the money from the bank in the other car.
In the gunbattle that had taken place six citizens had been shot, eleven total injuries counting the peace officers and robbers. The robbers were captured in the days following the robbery. Peace officers from the surrounding area gathered along with at least hundred citizens in efforts to catch the criminals that had terrorized the small West Texas town that had once been named Red Gap.
The first of the remaining three that had been captured was identified as Marshall Ratliff. He was the man in the Santa suit. Ratliff was shot in the jaw. In all, Ratliff had six bullet wounds. Ratliff had been convicted of robbing a bank in Valera, but had been pardoned.
The remaining two bandits were captured close to Graham. Henry Helms was found to have seven bullet wounds. The other robber, Robert Hill was injured but not badly. All three robbers were taken back to Eastland and were housed in the County Jail.
Ratliff was the first to stand trial. He was convicted and received a 99 year sentence. Later he was tried for the death of the Cisco Police Chief. He was also convicted and received the sentence of death in the electric chair.
Helms was next to stand trial . For his part, he was also given the electric chair. Hill was last and was sentenced to life in prison. On September 6, 1929, Helms was executed for his crime in Huntsville, Texas. It is said that he had cabbage, sausage, tomatoes, coffee, and pie for his last meal.
As fate would have it Ratliff , was bench warranted back to Eastland County to stand trial again. He was again housed in the County Jail . On November 18, 1929, Ratliff attempted an escape from the jail. He freed himself from the cell in which he was housed and stole a "six shooter" from the desk in an office. He was discovered by Tom A. Jones and "Pack" Kilborn who were both working at the jail. Jones was shot by Ratliff and was killed. Kilborn managed, after a struggle, to subdue Ratliff and take him back into custody.
Hearing about the events at the jail, a crowd gathered outside the jail. By nightfall on the next day, around 2,000 people were standing outside the jail. fifteen to twenty men entered the jail and removed Ratliff. They carried him close to the theater where the play "the Noose" was being presented. There they threw a rope over a guy wire running between two telephone poles and placed it around Ratliff's neck; he was pulled into the air. In the day of the hanging, if a criminal was "strung" up and the rope broke, he was given a reprieve. Not in this case. The rope broke and Ratliff was not allowed to go free. The angry group found a stronger rope and placed it around his neck. The gave him a chance to say some last words, which were, "Forgive me, boys." He was hoisted some 15 feet in the air and the rope held strong. Ratliff remained there for 20 minutes before being removed. Ratliff was buried in a small service in Ft. Worth, putting an end to the Santa Claus Bank Robbery.
In final thoughts about the robbery, many citizens risked their life to bring these four men to justice, two respected men lost their lives in a job they each knew could be and was dangerous. Thanks to each and every person that risks their live every day in the Great State of Texas and these United States of America.
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Multiple Santa is a bank robber who steals a Santa suit to elude the police; during the chase, though, he's thrown into a neon sign and fried. Instead of killing him, though, the electricity makes clones of him appear and they go on a rampage. Multiple Santa is absolutely hilarious; and after the original hooks himself up to the Hydroelectric plant at the City Dam, we get one of my favorite Tickisms; "It's a Yule Tide!!!" Appearances: The Tick Loves Santa! Multiple Santa was voiced by Jim Cummings |
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