They called them Public Enemies — men who robbed banks by day and captured headlines by night.
But by the end of the 1930s, their hideouts had been replaced with cellblocks, and their getaway cars with wooden coffins.
This is The Last Withdrawal — the true story of America’s final outlaw generation and the gallows that waited for them inside the walls of Leavenworth.
The Great Depression gave birth to desperate men who became legends: John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, Machine Gun Kelly, and Alvin Karpis. They turned crime into rebellion — robbing banks that had already robbed the people. But when the FBI rose under J. Edgar Hoover, those headlines turned to obituaries.
Inside the stone walls of Leavenworth, the government perfected a quieter form of justice. No mobs, no gunfights — just the creak of the federal gallows. Among those condemned was Anthony Chebatoris, whose 1938 Michigan bank robbery gone wrong led to the only federal execution ever carried out in that state’s history.
Leavenworth became the final stop for the age of the outlaw — the place where rebellion met the rope.
Narrated and written by Becca, this episode of Deadly Truths takes you inside the last years of the Public Enemy era — where greed, fame, and desperation collided with a justice system learning how to kill by the book.
Follow Deadly Truths for new episodes every week — where history, horror, and humanity collide.
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📜 Next episode: The Last Call at Leavenworth — the tragic, smoky close of the Prohibition age, where the last toast ends with the drop of a rope.
This episode contains historical descriptions of crime, execution, and real events. It is intended for mature audiences and educational storytelling.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Archives (1930s Public Enemy Files)
Department of Justice – Federal Execution Records, Leavenworth Penitentiary
Midland Daily News (1938) – “Dentist Fires at Bank Robbers”
U.S. Marshals Service Historical Files
Leavenworth Historical Society, The Federal Gallows (1930–1939)
Public Enemies, Leavenworth Prison, Anthony Chebatoris, Bank Robbers, Great Depression, Machine Gun Kelly, John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, FBI History, True Crime Podcast, American History, Deadly Truths, Becca Clark, Leavenworth Gallows, Depression Era, 1930s Crime, Prohibition, Execution Stories, Historical Crime, Murder History
