Friday, December 23, 1927 in Cisco, Texas began like any other day in the Eastland County town. People were going about their business and finishing their Christmas shopping when around noon, four bandits stepped into the First National Bank of Cisco and announced that there was a robbery. The next day, an eye witness named Marion Olson gave his account as reported in the December 24, 1927 issue of the Fort Worth Record Telegram. Marion was a recent graduate of University of Texas at Austin and was home to visit his family during a Christmas break from a semester of Harvard Law School.
Marion said that he had just come to the bank to make a deposit. Cashier Alex Spears called him in for a chat. They were speaking when a man dressed in a Santa Claus suit entered the bank followed by four or five little girls. He recalled that Spears called out “Hello, Santa Claus.” and the costumed man responded. About that same time, another man approached Spears’ desk and yelled out “Stick ’em up!”
Marion added that he thought it was a joke at first, but Spears raised his hands and Marion joined him after hesitating briefly until he realized it was not a prank. The second man carried two guns. “Santa Claus” pulled his own weapon and began to herd the customers to the back of the bank building. Two more men came in from the rear of the room, having entered from a back side door. The men rifled through the open vault. Marion said that he was being led to a waiting car outside a rear entrance when shots rang out. He took a bullet to his leg. One of the robbers put him in a car but Olson told him that he was wounded and needed to get to a hospital. The robber with two guns held them on him and told him to stay put, but Olson said he was leaving. In the confusion while the other three bandits were leading people out and around to the car, Olson managed to escape by slipping out back to a gap between the bank and the next building.
Another eye witness, Mrs. B. T. Blasengame, called the heroine of the day, had come in to the bank after her six year old daughter who had followed “Santa Claus” into the building. Though the bandits held guns on her, she managed to slip away to the police station just down the block and alert them to the situation. Cisco Chief of Police, G. E. “Bit” Bedford arrived quickly on the scene but was soon shot down, as was officer George Carmichael who took a bullet to the head and fell behind the bank.
Twelve year old Laverne Comer was the daughter of Oscar Comer, proprietor of the Manhattan Cafe. When questioned, Laverne said she had dropped by the bank to see how much money she had in her name before she bought her Christmas presents. She had gone once to the bank but returned home to get a check. She was in the process of writing out her check when the robbery began. “Santa Claus” trained his gun on her and a little friend named Emma May Robinson, the daughter or stepdaughter of another Cisco officer. The girls complied as they were ordered to lie on the floor before they too were ushered out to one of the vehicles outside, likely to prevent local individuals from firing on them as they escaped.
They made it to Fourteenth Street and Main before the car they were in failed due to its flat tire. They quickly exited the stalled vehicle and took possession of another one, an Oldsmobile. They had been transferred along with the stolen cash to the replacement car as police and citizens caught up with them and resumed shooting. Laverne told that one of the bandits had been wounded, so they just dumped him out of the car onto the pavement, leaving him behind. She added that they took them out into the country before stopping the car again. They told the girls to hunker down in the back seat, stay still and quiet or they would kill them. She remembered that one of the men asked the other if they had all the stolen cash. He replied that they had some of it, which they were carrying in a “tow sack.” The bandits took off, leaving a car door open, and the girls remained in place as ordered until two men, a Mr. Nossick and Mr. Keyes, came upon them. After finding them, the men brought them back to town.
Another wounded officer was Sheriff Abernathy of Palo Pinto County. The sheriff had set out in pursuit, but was reported to have accidentally discharged his weapon, injuring his hand and leg. Some of those in the chase stopped to take the sheriff back to Cisco for treatment. It was also noted that in the confusion, part of the posse had been following the sheriff’s car thinking it was one of the ones they were looking for. Elsewhere a blood stained overcoat was found three miles south of Cisco. The right and left sleeves and back showed bullet holes and blood, affirming that at least one of the individuals had been badly wounded.
Texas Rangers and other law enforcement agencies were called in. The suspects were identified as Marshall Ratliff (married, 24 years old, father of two) who was dressed as Santa Claus, Robert Hill (age unknown), Louis Davis (32) and his brother in law Henry Helms (30 years old, married, father of six) who was the husband of Davis’ sister Nettie. They had managed to get away with cash of just under $12,500 and an estimated $150,000 in non-negotiable bonds. It is believed that most of the takings from the robbery was left behind as the suspects fled.
Each of the suspects were said to have been wounded in some way. The worst injured was identified as Louis Elmore Davis. Davis was 45 years old and had been a resident of Wichita Falls. He was the one who was said to be abandoned near the scene by his cohorts. Davis was taken to the Tarrant County jail where he died the night of Christmas Eve. Davis was survived by his wife and three children and is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Wichita Falls.
Chief George Emory “Bit” Bedford was a veteran West Texas piece officer who had previously served at Desdemona during the wild days of the oil boom. His obituary noted that he was known for handling difficult circumstances. It added that he had once captured two bank robbing brothers after they had held up a bank in Valera, Texas and that he had once arrested a man who had stolen a trainload of cattle. Chief Bedford died at the scene and was said to have been shot as many as five times. He was survived by his wife, three children and their families. He was 59 a the time of his death and is interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Cisco.
Cisco policeman George W. Carmichael received a head wound to which he succumbed after two weeks in a local hospital. He was 60 at the time of his death. Officer Carmichael was survived by his wife and is also buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Cisco.
The remaining three suspects were apprehended after an eight day manhunt. Hill pled guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in the Texas State Penitentiary. Helms was also injured but stood trial and was convicted with Ratliff of bank robbery and murder for the death of Cisco Police Chief Bedford.
Helms was executed on September 6, 1929. Ratliff’s counsel was able to have him transferred back to Eastland County pending a sanity hearing. The prisoner was moved to the county jail on October 24, 1929. Ratliff escaped a few weeks later from an unlocked jail cell, retrieved a loaded .38 pistol from the sheriff’s desk and murdered jailer Thomas Jones. Deputy Jones (married and father of two) was a 55 year old former peace officer who was volunteering at the jail. Ratliff’s cell had been unlocked while meals were being served. Ratliff was quickly recaptured and placed back in the jail. The following day, November 19, 1929, Ratliff was removed from the jail and hanged on the Court House lawn by a mob. Robert Hill served a number of years of a 99 year sentence. He is thought to have changed his name and peacefully lived out the remainder of his life.
Marion Olson recovered from his wounds and completed law school. He went on to have a long career in San Antonio. His obituary refers to the Cisco robbery.
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