Pausing only to release some other pris-
oners, the husky gunman gained the outside
and fled in the doctor’s car.

Lacking funds, desperate in the knowl
edge of his deed, Johnson halted his car and
stuck up a bank on the same afternoon. It
was on Westlake Avenue, Seattle, near the
outskirts of the city. A patrolman named
Larson saw the big man come out of the
bank in a rush and quickly commandeered
another car and pursued the fugitive.

DESPERADO FOUND IN A WOODSHED

At an intersection, the chase ended
abruptly. Johnson crashed into a bakery
wagon, jumping clear of the wreckage, he
fled over a lawn, around a house and was
found by Larson hiding in a woodshed. He
was returned to King County gaol. Next
day word came that extradition had been
granted and, heavily shackled, the boastful
bandit was returned to Nanaimo for trial.

Investigations showed that seven men, at
least, were implicated in the robbery. Three
known criminals with long records were
viewed with deep suspicion by Seattle detec-
tives. Officers searched a boarding house
rented by one, Harry Stone, and found
$4748 in Canadian currency. He was
arrested as he entered the house and sur-
rendered without making a move.

All legal endeavours to retard extradition
were removed by March, 1925, and Bagley,
Stone and Johnson were brought back to
Vancouver to face separate trials.

In the case of Shively, it was felt that
there was lack of sufficient evidence, and
extradition was not pressed. The yacht
owner, as though to forestall such procedure,
promptly pleaded guilty to a Federal offence
and was sentenced to two years on Mac-
Neill’s Island.

With interest mounting in the case,
another bombshell was thrown by American
detectives, when, at the request of Inspector
Cruickshanks, they arrested James Burns,
alias J. Gambertoli, in Seattle. Then came
the arrest of two other recognized public
enemies, Peter Farrington, alias O'Donnell
and Alfred Castro, alias Moresco.

While lodged in the Seattle jail, Burns,
by a daring move, made good his escape.

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In British Columbia, matters were simpli-
fied when Stone, Johnson, Farrington and
Castro pleaded guilty before Magistrate
Beevor-Potts.

FRIGHTENED BY THE LASH

As a stern warning to criminals of their
type, they were given eight years in the
penitentiary, plus 20 lashes. Although the
sentence had no effect on these hardened
criminals, they paled at the mention of the
dreaded lash.

Was this Canadian justice, they enquired?
Tt was. It was justice meted out to vicious,
underworld dogs and merciless killers.

“Big Johnson,” Nanaimo bank robber,
now serving forty years at Walla Walla

The so-called brains behind the gang,
William Bagley, hoping to frustrate this
justice, made elaborate plans and pleaded
not guilty, calling on his erstwhile pals for
support in the form of an alibi. His case
was woefully weak and when the trial came
to its conclusion, he received an additional
two years plus the lash.

“I am here representing Canadian jus-
tice,” said the presiding judge, “and I think
Canadian justice has a message for criminals
in Canada who come here from foreign
places.

“The people of Canada are determined

VICTORIA

that their country shall not become a happy
hunting ground for criminals. They have
proven that in fields far more important than
the hunting down of cowardly bandits and
would-be murderers.

“When a conviction takes place after a
fair trial the courts of British Columbia in-
tend to deal drastically with would-be killers,
not that we seek vengeance, but that we
intend to demonstrate that here in Canada
law is respected.

“Canadians are not allowed to carry guns.
With a view to deterring this sort of thing,
which I regret to say is becoming common,
namely: organized bands of criminals who
come here from the United States to per-
petrate crimes of violence—anything up to
murder, I hereby sentence you to ten years
in the penitentiary and 20 lashes.”

Ross Watson, the former Seattle detective,
was granted a second trial, after a jury dis-
agreement in the first and was eventually
acquitted.

Thus, with only one known member of
the gang still at large, the Nanaimo case was
considered nearly closed. But the British
Columbia law enforcers were determined to
find Burns before writing finis to the sensa-
tional robbery.

Last BANpiT LEFT as STOWAWAY

Burns, or Gambertoli, was an ex-sailor,
and all Pacific ports were notified. Word
came back that a stowaway had been
reported on a China-bound steamer, the
Yokohama Maru, in a message received from
Superintendent James Mitchell of the Syd-
ney, New South Wales Police. Circulars
were forwarded to New York, Barbados,
Shanghai and other large port cities, Scot-
land Yard was also notified.

The Yokohama Maru entered the port of
Seattle and Captain Shibutami was inter-
viewed by Sergeant Owens, now Inspector
of “A” Division. The Captain said he had
carried a stowaway to Shanghai where he
had been released in the custody of the
American consul. A picture of the bandit
Burns, was shown to the Captain, who
identified it as being his stowaway.

Years passed, but British Columbia never
gave up hope of clearing up the stupendous
bank robbery.

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Page Thirty-Five