Happy & Merry! Today, let's talk about Santa, old St. Nick, Father Christmas, etc. Then a quick true crime story from the heyday of bank robberies - 1927. In Texas, 4 banks were robbed a week! So, recently pardoned by Ma Ferguson, robber Marshall Ratliff decides to join the fun. On December 23rd he enters a bank, dressed as Santa, what could possibly go wrong?
Happy & Merry! Today, let's talk about Santa, old St. Nick, Father Christmas, etc. Then a quick true crime story from the heyday of bank robberies - 1927. In Texas, 4 banks were robbed a week! So, recently pardoned by Ma Ferguson, robber Marshall Ratliff decides to join the fun. On December 23rd he enters a bank, dressed as Santa, what could possibly go wrong?
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11604398/george-emory-bedford
https://texashillcountry.com/santa-claus-bank-robbery-past/
Hi Friends! Our transcripts aren't perfect, but I wanted to make sure you had something - if you'd like an edited transcript, I'd be happy to prioritize one for you - please email doomedtofailpod@gmail.com - Thanks! - Taylor
Doomed to Fail is taking a two week break for the holidays
>> Taylor: In the matter of the people of the State of California vs. Orenthal James Simpson, case number BA09. And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Hello.
>> Farz: Let's try that again. Hello, Taylor. How are you?
>> Taylor: Oh, good. How are you? Are you naked? I can only see the top of your head. I just wanted to. Okay, great. You're not. Yeah, just wanted to make sure.
>> Farz: That'd be really strange after 15, years of friendship.
>> Taylor: yeah, no, it'd be. It wouldn't be great.
>> Farz: No, no, I think that'll be the end of the podcast, actually.
>> Taylor: hi. Welcome to Doomed to Fail. We are the podcast that brings you history's most epic disasters and notorious failures twice a week, every week. And I am Taylor, joined by the clothed fars.
>> Farz: Fully, fully clothed. should we announce that we're gonna take a two week break? For sure.
>> Taylor: We can do that now. Yeah, we're gonna take a break, for the holidays and we will be back then in the first week of January.
>> Farz: I think we deserve it. I think we deserve it. So.
>> Taylor: I think so too.
>> Farz: And Taylor and I are gonna put our heads together as part of this little break, come m up with some cool, fun ideas for the podcast going forward. And so I'm very, very excited for of that. but yeah, that's, that's kind of all I got.
>> Taylor: I did just. Oh, I just picked up a book on the from the library to read for what I want to do in January. And it's 14 hours long. That's what I'll be doing between now and then, but at double speed. It'll be seven hours. I'm listening to Wicked right now. It's pretty good, the book.
>> Farz: Nice, nice. shall we go ahead and hop in?
>> Taylor: Sure.
>> Farz: I think I'm going first, right?
>> Taylor: I think I am, but it doesn't really matter.
>> Farz: Okay, you go first. I'd rather you go first.
>> Taylor: Okay, great. I don't think anyone cares, so. No. Where did I even put my stuff?
I have been watching Christmas horror movies. One of the coolest genres
Okay, so as we head into the holidays, I did want to do this a little bit last year and I didn't get around to it because I think we just like, took a break break last year. But like, we didn't announce it. We just like, like, oh my God, we're tired. So this year we're announcing it. but I have been watching Christmas horror movies. Just wanted to bring that up.
>> Farz: Love, love, love the genre. One of the coolest genres.
>> Taylor: Oh, my God. So I watched some like, 80s slashers that are like, dumb, but like Black Christmas. Yeah, I just watched Black. Black Christmas. that's on my list. I was gonna tell you. I wrote obvs. Very good. I watched It's a Wonderful Knife, which was like, as new, was stupid, but, it was fine. Jonathan Long is in it. Do you know who that is?
>> Farz: No.
>> Taylor: He's like. He was in Jeepers Creepers. He's like a couple other things.
>> Farz: Oh, you mean Justin Long?
>> Taylor: Yes, Justin Long.
>> Farz: Okay. Yeah, I know.
>> Taylor: Sorry, America. I just think he's so annoying. And he's like. Plays annoying characters, but, like, he just like his face just like me.
>> Farz: I love him.
>> Taylor: Maybe he's like a really good actor and like, he plays annoying characters and then I get annoyed.
>> Farz: I also ran into him when I was in Hollywood. I was waiting for. I was at this one small diner across the Scientology, Celebrity center, you know, the big mansion. And I was waiting in that little deli they have there, and I. I was waiting for the bathroom, and he came out and I just, like, sat there and stared at him. And I didn't go in the bathroom. I was like. Did that just happen to just launch. Walk by me?
>> Taylor: Did you have to have to the bathroom?
>> Farz: Yeah, yeah. I wasn't stalking him. I was like, there. I was waiting for him to come out of the bathroom.
>> Taylor: that's funny. He, I've also watched some compilations which are just like, so bad, but, like, good. You know, the ones with like, bad actors doing like 10 minute little stories about Christmas. There's so many of them on. Shutter was just like 15 stories in one movie. You know what I mean?
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: So anyway, I was watching those. They're fun.
You said that I looked like I was dressed like Santa right now
and I wanted to talk about Santa for a little bit. And it's funny that you said. You said that I looked like I was dressed like Santa right now, because I kind of am. I.
>> Farz: So this was deliberate, I think.
>> Taylor: no, I actually did not think that this looked like a Santa sweatshirt, but I see that now.
>> Farz: Got it.
>> Taylor: And it's very obvious that it looks like I could be wearing a Santa shirt.
Father Christmas and St. Nick are not the same person, which I was surprised by
so I want to talk about Santa, and then I want to talk about a time when Santa robbed a bank.
>> Farz: This is going to be fun little.
>> Taylor: True crime with Santa. So here's some stuff I learned about Santa just today on Wikipedia. Father Christmas and St. Nick are not the same person, which I was surprised by. They've, like, turned into the same person. But they didn't start as the Same person. In the Middle Ages, et cetera, in Europe, Christmas tide was celebrated which was the 12 days between the December 25 and January 5. And who knew the 12 days of Christmas was, like, really a thing that had to do with religion?
>> Farz: Yeah, I didn't know that.
>> Taylor: So those are the. Those are the. I think it's Advent. Those are the 12 days of Christmas during that time. Jesus, birthday, merriment, etc. In 567, it was called the Advent. Oh. It turned into being called the Advent. Advent. Advent. Am I saying that right? Advent.
>> Farz: Advent. Wait, what? God turned into being the Advent?
>> Taylor: I'm actually Christmas time, like, the 12 days of Christmas. And Christmas time was also called the Advent during that time.
>> Farz: Oh, that's why. Okay, so the Advent calendar is based on this?
>> Taylor: I think so. But then I don't understand why my Advent calendar is all of December if the 12 days of Christmas are the 25th through the 5th. And I did not dig any deeper into that.
>> Farz: All good.
>> Taylor: Okay, but remember how we talked about calendars and, like, time and how we should talk about that eventually, as in episode. Because in 567, the Romans had to, like, do some stuff because people were becoming Christian and they had to be like, okay, we're gonna fit this into this. And kind moved around the holidays. So you give gifts at Christmas time because of the wise men giving gifts to Jesus and Father Christmas, which is, like, from the UK and Europe, is a personification of Christmas, which is, like, different than Santa. of course, the Puritans tried to ban Christmas in the 1600s, and they managed to do it for 15 years. At one point, they totally banned it. Why? Because Puritans are not fun.
>> Farz: And it was literally because it was not fun.
>> Taylor: Yeah, because it was like, you are having too much fun during this time when we're supposed to be thinking about Jesus. So cut it out. And I'm pretty sure that, like, when we talked about the William Bradford story a, long time ago, I think that they tried to do it in Plymouth, too, to get rid of Christmas because it was too much fun and they don't want people to be having any fun. So. But it came back in, obviously, the Victorian era. They loved it. They loved all, like, the decorations and having parties and all of that. And eventually it doesn't matter because Father Christmas and Santa Claus kind of merged together into, like, one myth. Person who brings gifts and is kind and is around during this time of year. The St. Nicholas. Who is St. Nicholas? That is the person who Santa Claus Is supposed to be from St Nicholas of Myra was born maybe on March 15, the year 270. He was of Greek descent and lived in Turkey.
>> Farz: What do you say? Maybe.
>> Taylor: Because who the fuck knows? All this is written, like, years after he died.
>> Farz: Oh, so he was a real person, though? M. Yes. Okay.
>> Taylor: Yes.
Santa Claus was started as St Nicholas, who was a real person
So I'm, kind of going. We did Father Christmas as a personification of Christmas. Now we're going to do Santa Claus. But Santa Claus was started as St Nicholas, who was a real person, and he's a saint. And he was a saint because they have all these stories of him, like, helping people, and then he probably, like, performed miracles and stuff. That's how you get to be a saint, which we've talked about. Some, of the things that he did. Well, he was called also Nicholas the Wonder Worker because he used to do stuff to help people. He is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, toymakers, unmarried people and students in various cities and countries around Europe.
>> Farz: I, I should know this, but does that mean that if you are one of those classifications, you should pray to him or that he, like, What does that mean?
>> Taylor: I think you should pray to him and, like, ask him for stuff because, like, God's busy.
>> Farz: Okay, please, someone write in. Okay, I'm positive that Taylor's representation of God is busy is probably not actually what it means.
>> Taylor: I mean, either that or he's just, like, not paying attention to anything.
>> Farz: We're just not paying attention. But if you know for sure, write in, please.
>> Taylor: If you were in charge of God's calendar, please let us know. So some stuff that the real St. Nicholas did, that's legend, but maybe true, I don't know, is he saved some girls from being, like, sold into sex slavery by putting sacks of gold through their window so their dad could have a dowry for them and then they could save them. There's a Renaissance painting about this. It's in the Vatican that you learn about if you go to art history school. At one point, they say he calmed a storm at sea. He resurrection, resurrected three children that were butchered to make into, like, meat pies because it was a time of famine. He brought the children back to life. And my favorite thing that he did is he chopped down a tree that was possessed by a demon.
>> Farz: That's pretty cool. What did the tree do?
>> Taylor: I don't know.
>> Farz: Interesting.
>> Taylor: And, like, maybe he's only person brave enough to try to chop it down, because that feels like that's, like, a Good solution.
>> Farz: This time period sounds like it would be kind of fun.
>> Taylor: I don't know what else you're supposed to do. so after St. Nicholas died, his bones were put in a church in Myra, where he's from. But later they were stolen during the Crusades and, like, moved around. So that's the St. Nicholas that eventually turns into, like, Santa Claus, because The Dutch called St Nicholas Sinterklaas because that's. I don't know, that's what they called him. And that sounds more delightful than St. Nicholas. Anyway, so in the Netherlands and up in that area, Sinterklaas is St. Nicholas who, like, brings you toys if you're good, all those things. And he has an assistant named Svarta Pete, which means Black Pete, who's essentially just like a helper in blackface. And they had to stop doing that.
>> Farz: I feel like I'm listening to Dwight Schrute describe his culture.
>> Taylor: So now Black Pete is a chimney sweep and has, like, a little bit of ash on his cheeks. And he is no longer a person in full black face.
>> Farz: That is more appropriate.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
The first time Sinterklaas from the north was called Santa
So now let's talk about. But Sinterklaas up in. In. In the Netherlands, he wears red, red robes. So our Santa Claus is essentially, like, from America. The first time Sinterklaas from the north was called Santa was in the US press in 1773. So that's when they. They turned Sinterklaas into Santa Claus in. During that time. And he still, like, already has, like, the. He, like, brings children things like oranges and pennies, you know, on Christmas.
>> Farz: Yep.
>> Taylor: There's a couple things that kind of, like, turn him into the Santa that we know today. he. In 1821, a poem first mentioned to slay eight the night. The night before. Before Christmas. Christmas. Twas the night before Christmas. That poem was written in 1823. That describes him as having that, that belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly. The first time you hear that, he's kind of. Kind of fat. And then in 1863, a Harper's Weekly magazine has him wearing an American flag and talking to the troops during the Civil War. You can buy a copy of that magazine for $750 on eBay.
>> Farz: Sorry. he's wearing the American flag.
>> Taylor: Yeah, it's kind of fun. It's kind of fun. L. Frank Baum, who wrote the wizard of Oz, wrote a book called the Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. And Santa also shows up in the book the Road to Oz as one of Queen Osmo's friends. When she like has all of her magical friends over, he's one of them. And of course the 1930s Coca Cola Santa that everybody knows of, they didn't invent the idea of using Santa for marketing, other, other things had done that before them. And he'd worn red and right before then, but that was like a really popular one. So. And then just kind of like morphs into the Santa that we know now where he's like in a million movies and everywhere and at the mall.
>> Farz: Sweet.
>> Taylor: One more aside, Rudolph was thought up in 1938 by a man named Robert L. May as a gimmick for the Montgomery Ward department store. So he wanted. They were giving away books to children at Christmas time and so they decided to make their own book. And he created this for. He said that he was Montgomery, Ward is from Chicago. He was in Chicago looking over Lake Michigan and it was really foggy and he was like trying to think of a story for this book. And he said, quote, a nose, a bright red nose that would shine through the fog, like spotlight. So that's when he got his like idea to have Rudolph have his nose. And then I have the most exciting news for you, Vars.
>> Farz: I can't wait.
>> Taylor: Our boy, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer will be in the public domain in 2034.
>> Farz: That is going to make some amazing horror.
>> Taylor: So hopefully we live until then because, that's going to be fucking amazing. And I can't wait.
>> Farz: So it seems like that's the secret to amazing fun horror movies is public domain access.
>> Taylor: Absolutely. So I cannot wait for the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Blood and honey flooding gifts. It's gonna be so good. plus just a little bit history, Santa, Father Christmas, all of that.
>> Farz: Real quick before you move on to the actual real story.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: Did you do any research on Krampus?
>> Taylor: No. And I know that I could have. I actually have like a scary Christmas book that I'm going to bring with me on our Christmas travels to read to my kids. Because I bought it because it's like scary folklore. But I didn't do any Krampus stuff. I should do that. I did watch some like, Krampus parades that are always really. Because it's really scary. People get really into it. Cool.
>> Farz: All good. Just curious. There was a, there's a Krampus, movie starring. I can't remember the name of the guy from Community. Community, the comedian. but anyways, there's a movie on Netflix called Krampus and it does look like it's on the rotation for Christmas War.
>> Taylor: I think I've seen it, but I need to bring that up. He was in. He was also in. Is it that Joe McHale?
>> Farz: McHale, yes, yes.
>> Taylor: He was also in. It's a wonderful knife.
>> Farz: Nice.
>> Taylor: So he's doing the rounds. It's very exciting for him. So.
It's 1927 and bank robberies are all the rage in Texas
All right, let me tell you a little true crime story of ours. We did Bonnie and Clyde a while ago and there's so much more to like the bank robbing, shoot em up gangsters. We should totally do that. We should do more of it. Like, Pretty Boy Floyd, all of those guys, they're so fun. So it's 1927 and bank robberies are all the rage. Everyone wants to rob a bank. It's easy money. You see people doing it in the papers, all these things. It's almost Christmas and it is December 23rd and we are in Cisco, Texas, right smack in the middle.
>> Farz: Have you been there, Briscoe or Cisco?
>> Taylor: Cisco. No, it's in the middle of Texas. Our main criminal, mastermind is named Marshall Ratliff. He was in prison for 18 years for another bank robbery that he had failed at, but he got pardoned by the governor at the time. Who was governor? M. Miriam M. A. Ferguson. And we've talked about M. A. Ferguson before, haven't we? Maybe with Bonnie and Clyde.
>> Farz: We either, I, I, I actually remember it mostly from last podcast, but.
>> Taylor: Maybe because I feel like she's fascinating because like she's a woman governor in the 1920s of Texas and she was super corrupt. So his pardon, R. Ratliff's pardon was one of 3,595 pardons that, Ma Ferguson granted. And most of them were bought, probably, which is super fun. So Ratliff immediately, when he gets pardoned for this bank robbery, decides that he.
>> Farz: Should rob a bank.
>> Taylor: Rob a bank. Exactly. So he gets his friends together. Harry, Harry and there's Harry Helms and Robert Hill. Then they have a dude who's good with safes named Lewis Davis. So the four of them decide to rob another bank asap. Ah, in Texas at this time, four banks are, robbed a day. So it is like a dangerous ass job to work at a bank or like be anywhere near a bank. If you killed a bank robber in today's money, the reward was $85,000. So like it was $5,000 in, $85,000 out. Not if you caught them or turned them in. If you killed them, you got that money.
>> Farz: Yeah, that doesn't really shock me. That kind of keeps in spirit with Texas.
>> Taylor: I know. I wonder if anyone ever actually got it, but still. So the crew is in Wichita Falls, which is about 50 miles from Cisco. And Marshall's like, Marshall Ratliff is like, I grew up in Cisco. I can't just like walk into this bank and rob it. They're going to know it's me. So he decides to dress like Santa. Santa. He borrows a costume from the woman who ran the boarding house that he was using. He certainly never returns it. And I guess she just had one around. Anyway, she doesn't wear it.
>> Farz: I like the un that with like. Of course he didn't return it. So yeah, I'm figuring this isn't going to go well not getting back.
>> Taylor: So they steal a car and drive to Cisco. They stash the getaway car. So the bank is like a one story brick building on like a street, you know, make of like a old west town. It's like one of those. So they're in an out. They stash the car behind the bank in an alley. And Ratliff, he puts on his Santa costume and starts like a block away and walks to the bank. And while he's there he gets surrounded by children. So he's on his way to rob a bank and he's like reminding children to be good and patting them on the head and like trying to get rid of them.
>> Farz: I love these stories.
>> Taylor: So he's like trying to get rid of the kids on the way to the bank. Finally he gets into the bank. The banker says, hey Santa. And there's more children in the bank. There's like people who have their children and they're like, oh my gosh. And the kids like want to talk to him, but the accomplices don't know this is happening. So they rush in and do the stick them up, hands up. So now they have hostages and some of them are children because they were excited to see Santa, obviously. So there's a woman named Mrs. B.P. blessingame. She was in there with her six year old daughter. They actually escaped out the back and ran to the police. The police station, which was only a block away. She's screaming the entire time, obviously. So she's screaming, gets to the station, she's screaming. So the police are there right away, you know, like they had no chance. They're surrounded almost immediately. The police chief is named GE Bit Bedford Bit was his like nickname. And he was like a big guy, a police officer for, for years he ran, he ran over with his gun. You know, everyone Else is called, everyone else is on their way. So they start. The robbers start trying to back up. And in the meantime, they did steal some money. And they're trying to back up into an alley to get out, and they end up finding two more people. So now they have eight hostages. Two of them are children. And they stuff them all into the car. which I think is fun because you know how, like, cars aren't very fast.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: In the 20s. So a lot of times, like, I don't know if Bonnie and Clyde did it, but, like, definitely some of the other ones would do it where you would have the hostages hold on to the side of the car because, you know, the cars had, like, that, like, step so that cops couldn't shoot at them, which is super smart because of course the cops are going to shoot at a car that has, like, human beings on the outside of it. But I guess they didn't.
During the bank heist, the sheriff dies and another deputy is wounded
>> Farz: I guess if you're the kidnapper, you also have to be holding on to them from the inside so they don't jump.
>> Taylor: It's true. Because. Not going very fast.
>> Farz: Yeah, yeah.
>> Taylor: I don't know. But either way, there's a shooting. Shooting happens. They end up losing six of the hostages, and they actually only end up leaving with the two girls, who leave with, like, two young girls, the four robbers. And while they are doing the shootout, the sheriff dies. So the sheriff dies and another deputy dies later. Six civilians are wounded. Like, why are there so many people in the middle of this gunfight? But I feel like they're probably trying to kill the bankers to get the money, you know?
>> Farz: Yeah. What a nightmare. If I was, like, the guy being like, yeah, I'll join you guys. This seems like it'll be a fun, fun little thing. And then it turns into this.
>> Taylor: Yeah, exactly. So the sheriff's grave. I found it on Find a Grave. and his name again is George Bit Bedford. But I'll put the link to his grave so you can see a picture of him in our show notes as well. So now they're on the run. And they're on the run. Two little girls, four robbers. A lot of them are bleeding. And they start throwing nails at the window like nails to, like, stop other cars. Which works until they realize that they're almost out of gas. So either, like, their gas tank was shot or they just didn't have enough gas in the first place. They're almost out of gas. Davis, the guy who was a safecracker, he is very injured. So they end up finding another car that's being driven by, like, a family. They kick the family out of the car. M. And they try to take that car. They move the money. They've stolen the very injured Davis into that car before they realize that they don't have the keys. Like the kid who was driving the car Took the keys with them and ran. So they can't take that car. So they go back into the car that didn't have that much gas left, but they leave Davis to kind of bleed out in the new car. So he's gone. Now, we got two girls, three robbers on the run. But so Davis dies on the 25th. He dies like the next day. This was his only known crime. Like, he was never in trouble for anything else. I think it's wild because I don't think he become a safe cracker for, like, good intentions.
>> Farz: Yeah, well, he just caught, probably.
>> Taylor: Yeah. but remember what else they brought into that second car with them besides their dying friend that I just told you about?
>> Farz: The girls?
>> Taylor: No, they brought all the money.
>> Farz: Oh, the money. Yeah.
>> Taylor: You know what they did? They left it there. Oh, so now they're on the run again and they don't even have any of the money that they stole.
>> Farz: I, wonder if they had any money at all.
>> Taylor: I know probably nothing. They. They stole $12,000 in cash and 150,000 in non negotiable securities. And it would have been the largest te bank heist to date, but they left all the money back with. With their dying friend in the other car. So they didn't even have money anyway after all that.
>> Farz: What a waste.
So now it's the biggest manhunt in Texas history to date
>> Taylor: So I wrote guys all in caps, like carriers together. That makes no sense. So now it's the biggest manhunt in Texas history to date. There's horses and posses and an airplane. And they. The girls must have been like, very scared and also very annoying. Like, they would have been like, crying the whole time, like, you know what I mean? And so it's Christmas day. So two days later, they get another. They steal another car. It's being driven by a young man named. Named Wiley. And Wiley's father sees this happen and he shoots at the car and shoots his own son. He's fine, but like, bumbling. Everyone's a bumbling idiot. And so Wiley didn't die, but he said once later, once, they like, let him go. He said that like they were doing terrible. So the three robbers were awful. Everyone was starving, Everyone was dirty. They were bleeding. Like, they were like, very, very injured. And they had food, they had oranges that's all they had to eat. And they didn't give them to the girls, which is really mean. And it's also freezing. It's icy and snowy, and they're in, like, the middle of nowhere Texas. Eventually, they end up in South Bend, Texas, which is 55 miles away from Cisco. They're in a shootout with more cops in an oil field. Ratliff, our leader, gets caught, so he gets shot and finally falls once they get him and, like, pick up a look at him. He has six gunshot wounds and six guns. When he gets captured, so like, he's just like, running for the fucking hills. And two of the police during that shootout were wounded by their own guns. A total of eight people wounded during that shootout. So just like, also, your gun's gonna explode in your face.
>> Farz: Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I was thinking, like, there's probably a lot of inaccuracy with firearms back then and, like, misfires. But also I was wondering, were they, like, running around in the aftermath of this wearing their Santa costumes? Because I feel like I'd take that off immediately.
>> Taylor: I think he got that off immediately, but I think it had, like, bullet holes in it, and it was probably bloody or maybe he used it as, like, a tourniquet because he's definitely bleeding this whole. This whole. For two whole days. So then now there's no so. And sometime during this time, the two little girls get. They escape. They get taken care of probably during that oil fields fight. So now we have the two guys that are left. They end up being found a week later in a place called Graham, Texas, which is another 10 miles away. And they just got caught because they were tired and, like, very suspicious because they're, like, covered blood, dried blood, and, like, limping. And once they were caught, you know, Frank Hammer, do you remember him? He's like the most famous Texas Ranger.
>> Farz: No.
>> Taylor: M. He's the one that led the, group that ended up killing Bonnie and Clyde. He was like the first Texas Ranger. Just like, exactly what you think a Texas Ranger would look like. He's, like, huge, has a hat, big mustache, on a horse. Exactly. So he said that part of this problem was the reward because people are looking for people to kill to get this money. And he said that they call it. He called it, quote, the banker's murder machine. So it's like a way to, like, kill people who are even being, like, a little bit suspicious in a bank, but also, like, I don't know, there's four bank robberies a day. What are you gonna do?
>> Farz: It's not. Yeah, Some of the worst idea in the world.
>> Taylor: So Ratliff, our leader, he gets life for the robbery. Then he goes back to Cisco and has another trial where he gets the death sentence for the sheriff and then another life sentence for, like, other Stu. So he's on death row, Helms gets death, and then Hill talks about being an orphan. So he's just like one of the other guys, and he talks about being an orphan and how hard his life was, and he gets life in prison. So Ratliff is on death row at, the same place that Helms is. And Ratliff gets a record player and plays, like, a hymn called when the role is. When the Role is called Up Yonder, which I Googled, and you can watch a bunch of white people sing in a choir if you want to on YouTube. It's like a church song. He would play it, and people pass the cell to die. But he didn't play it for Helms. Helms tried to pretend insanity so he wouldn't get, get executed, but it didn't work, and he died in the electric chair on September 6, 1929. So a little less than two years after the whole. Whole ordeal. So Ratliff is like, absolutely not. I do not want to be electric chaired. So he also tries to pretend insanity. His is even worse. He not, worse. He does a better job at it than Helms. People kind of believe him, so they kind of lower their guard. So he ends up escaping on, November 18, 1929.
>> Farz: That's exactly what I was thinking this whole time. I was like, this is prison in, like, the 19, early 1900s. Like, can't you just, like, walk out?
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: Can you just like, I'm m supposed.
>> Taylor: To be getting out of prison today, not in.
>> Farz: Carve, like, a fake gun out of, like, a thing of soap and just stick up your jailers. Like, it seems easy.
>> Taylor: I imagine drawing, like, a train, tunnel and then just going through it like a cartoon, you know? So he escapes, but he only got to, like, the lobby. He didn't get very far. They saw him in that time.
A mob lynches a Texas man who escaped from jail 100 years ago
He managed to kill a guard and then the other guard. There were two. Only two guards there. The other guard beat him unconscious and threw him back in the cell. So he didn't get very far, but he got out and managed to, like, take their guns and kill one of the guards. So now it's the next day. It's November 19, 1929. And the people of Texas are pissed they're like, this is ridiculous. This man should have been electric chaired a while ago. He pretended to be insane. We know that he's not. He just escaped and killed someone else. Like, he is very dangerous. So a thousand people form a mob, and they break into the jail, and they take him. So they. This mob takes Ratliff out of the jail. They try to hang him, but their rope breaks, so they get a better rope, and then they successfully hang him. So that's how he dies from, like, a mob lynching. And they never. No one ever is in trouble for it. Like, no one ever did it.
>> Farz: This is Texas justice. Like, yeah.
>> Taylor: His body was taken to a furniture store and put on display. And about several thousand people saw it on display, which is, like, a wild thing that they used to do all the time when someone died, you just, like, get to walk past their body for a long time, so.
>> Farz: Wasn't that long ago.
>> Taylor: I know. It's like, isn't that crazy? Like, 100 years ago? Yeah. And so eventually, Ratliff's mom got his body and he was buried in Fort Worth. So he ended up going back there. But he obviously was, like, gonna live life a crime until the very, very end. The last guy, Hill, he was the one who was an orphan when he was younger and had, like, a hard life. And eventually he does get let out from his life sentence. He only serves, like, 15 or so years of it. And then he gets married, and he is a model citizen. He dies in 1996. He never crime. Yeah.
>> Farz: Do we know what he did with his life?
>> Taylor: I think that he, like, worked in a factory because he got let out in, like, right before World War II, and they, like, needed people in factories, and they were like, fuck it, let's get him out. You know? And they let him out, and he just, like, was, like, a normal 50s working guy until he died in the 90s. He could have been your grandpa.
>> Farz: He probably got a lot of free drinks at the bar.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: Are you the Santa, heist guy?
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: I was. I was also thinking about Reindeer Games, which is also another really good, Christmas movie, which was all about Santa's robbing casino.
>> Taylor: I watched Die Hard too, the other day.
>> Farz: Nice. That's a good one, too.
>> Taylor: It is a good one. I like how much smoking cigarettes. Darn it.
>> Farz: Yeah. Yeah. Which, like, now at our age, I'm like, I know you. I know you feel different. You play feel different about it.
>> Taylor: I mean, I just can't imagine because also in Black Christmas, I think it's in Black Christmas. Like, oh no, he was another one of the 80s ones. whatever, whatever. I watched a movie where a police officer got woken up in the middle of the night by a phone call, you know, but he picks up his phone. Next to the phone is like an ashtray full of cigarettes. And I'm like, yeah, I know. Like having your bed smoke cigarettes doesn't sound great.
>> Farz: Do you remember when we were kids and we go to a restaurant and be like, smoking or non smoking section?
>> Farz: Is that crazy?
>> Taylor: When I was in high school, I was a waitress and there was smoking and non smoking sections and like a very small restaurant. Like, it was like very dumb to.
>> Farz: Have, like very stupid.
>> Taylor: You were like, oh, this person 10ft away from me smoking cigarette. Cool.
>> Farz: Yeah, smoking and non smoking just meant smoking.
>> Taylor: Yeah, yeah. yeah, I remember. Anyway, that's it.
Fun little story of a Santa robbing a bank. Very cool, very cool. We'll, uh, we'll use this as inspiration, uh
Fun little story of a Santa robbing a bank.
>> Farz: Very cool, very cool. and we learned a little bit about Santa himself. So good. We'll, we'll use this as inspiration, maybe for the next person who wants to go rob bank. Yeah, stupid idea though because kids are going to swarm you.
>> Taylor: Exactly. Like they're going to be excited. They're going to talk to you. Do you ever see the Santa Claus with Tim Allen?
>> Farz: I'm, positive I did, but I can't.
>> Taylor: So good. We've watched it, like, we've obviously watched it a bunch because I have kids. But as he's slowly like morphing into Santa, more and more kids just like follow him around. It's so funny.
>> Farz: That's right. That's right.
>> Taylor: He's like, trying not to do it. People are like, trying to sit on his lap.
>> Farz: Yeah, we went through like a phase with those movies all coming out at the same time. Like, I think Jingle all the Way came around at the same time. Yeah, fun.
>> Taylor: Yeah, super fun.
>> Farz: sweet. Well, thank you for sharing. Taylor, is anything you want to sign us off with?
>> Taylor: yes, of course. My friend Morgan, who has been to every single place we could possibly imagine, has drank from the Fountain of youth. It's in Florida.
>> Farz: It is in Florida. Okay, nice. Do we know specifically where or.
>> Taylor: I do. Let me check my texts. I might not be able to find it fast enough for this recording. It's gonna take a long time. but no, she showed me and it's incredible, of course. Oh, here you go. she said it is in St. Augustine and she's drank from it.
>> Farz: Nice. Did she feel any different? Do we know?
>> Taylor: I don't know. I don't know if I told you, but she's like 150 years old, so I think it went well.
>> Farz: Good.
>> Taylor: Good for her.
>> Farz: Congratulations, Morgan. Yeah, well, look, if anybody has anything. So one thing that I would ask is, like, I would love feedback from folks. Like, honest, like, feedback of like, hey, this is good. This sucks. This is what I want to hear. Like, whatever it is, like, you know, give us your honest perspective on things because we like doing this and we want to know where we are doing well and more. So we want to know what we're doing badly. and then can improve. So please write to us demondefellpodmail.com or post a message to one of our social accounts at demonfeldpod and let us know what you think so we can improve. Cool. Anything else, Taylor?
>> Taylor: No, that's it. Thank you.
>> Farz: Sweet. We'll go in and sign off.