Peter Neidermeyer and the Chicago Car Barn Bandits
Overview
Peter Neidermeyer, whose surname also appeared in historical records as Niedermeier, Niedermeyer, Neidemeyer and Neidermyer, was a member of the violent criminal gang known as the Chicago Car Barn Bandits. Alongside Gustave Marx, Harvey Van Dine and Emil Roeski, Neidermeyer participated in a series of armed robberies and shootings that terrorized Chicago during 1903. The young bandits targeted saloons, railroad facilities and a streetcar company office, frequently firing at victims with little or no warning.
Neidermeyer is sometimes described as a serial killer, although the gang’s crimes more closely resembled a concentrated robbery-and-murder spree. The killings were committed during separate criminal episodes over several months, and different combinations of gang members took part in different attacks. Contemporary accounts attributed approximately eight deaths to the gang as a whole. Neidermeyer was directly implicated in several of the robberies and was identified as the gunman who fatally wounded Chicago police detective Joseph Driscoll during the gang’s final flight from authorities.
Formation of the Gang
Neidermeyer and his companions were young men from Chicago who had become involved in theft and other criminal activity before escalating to armed robbery. Neidermeyer, Marx and Van Dine reportedly served short sentences at the Chicago House of Correction after stealing lead pipe from a school in 1901. Instead of abandoning crime after their release, they acquired firearms and began planning robberies in which intimidation and sudden violence were central to their methods.
The gang was sometimes called the “Automatic Trio” because its members carried semiautomatic pistols, weapons that were comparatively unusual and intimidating at the time. Emil Roeski participated in some of the crimes, expanding the group to four men, although all four were not necessarily present during every offense. Their willingness to shoot witnesses and employees transformed relatively small robberies into multiple homicides.
The Murder of Otto Bauder
On the night of July 9, 1903, armed robbers entered a saloon operated by Ernest Spires at 1820 North Ashland Avenue in Chicago. Nineteen-year-old Otto Bauder was inside the establishment. During the robbery, Bauder was shot and critically wounded. He was taken to Alexian Brothers Hospital, where he died from his injuries.
The killing demonstrated the gang’s disregard for human life. The amount of money taken was small, yet the robbers had opened fire and left a young man mortally wounded. Historical records later connected members of the Car Barn Bandits to the crime. Emil Roeski was separately tried in connection with Bauder’s death, but uncertainty over who fired the fatal shot contributed to his receiving life imprisonment rather than execution.
The North Avenue Saloon Murders
During the night of August 1 into the early morning of August 2, 1903, armed members of the gang entered a saloon at 2120 West North Avenue. The proprietor was identified in contemporary records as B. C. LaGross, with variations of his name appearing as Bohumil LeGros or La Gross. Twenty-one-year-old Adolph Jensen was also present.
The bandits shot both men. LaGross was killed at the saloon, while Jensen was taken to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and died from his wounds. As in the Bauder killing, the violence was committed during a robbery that produced relatively little money. The deaths of LaGross and Jensen strengthened the pattern of armed attacks in which victims were shot to eliminate resistance or prevent identification.
The Chicago City Railway Car Barn Robbery
The gang’s most notorious Chicago crime occurred during the early morning of August 30, 1903, at the Chicago City Railway Company’s car barn near 61st and State streets. The bandits entered the facility while employees were working and demanded access to company money. During the robbery, they shot several workers and escaped with approximately $2,250.
James B. Johnson, a clerk, and Francis W. Stewart, a motorman, were killed. Other employees were wounded. The attackers reportedly fired rapidly and without giving the workers a meaningful opportunity to surrender. The brutality of the killings, combined with the public nature of the streetcar facility, created widespread fear and made the hunt for the bandits a major priority for Chicago authorities.
The Killing of Officer John Quinn
The gang began to unravel in November 1903. On November 21, Chicago police officers John Quinn and William Blaul attempted to arrest Gustave Marx inside a saloon. Marx opened fire, fatally wounding Quinn. Blaul returned fire and wounded Marx before taking him into custody.
Officer Quinn’s death was attributed directly to Marx rather than Neidermeyer, but it was part of the same criminal campaign. Once Marx was arrested, investigators questioned him about the series of robberies and murders. His statements identified Neidermeyer, Van Dine and Roeski as accomplices and gave police the information needed to intensify their search for the remaining fugitives.
The Flight into Indiana
After learning that Marx had been captured, Neidermeyer, Van Dine and Roeski fled Chicago. Their attempt to escape took them into northwestern Indiana. Police officers, detectives and railroad personnel searched for the fugitives, who remained heavily armed and prepared to shoot anyone attempting to stop them.
On November 27, 1903, railroad brakeman John Sovea encountered the fugitives near Tolleston, which later became part of Gary, Indiana. Sovea was shot and killed during the bandits’ flight. The killing further demonstrated that the men were prepared to murder strangers simply to avoid capture.
The Shooting of Detective Joseph Driscoll
Later on November 27, Chicago police detective Joseph Driscoll participated in an attempt to capture the gang near Miller Station, Indiana. During the confrontation, Neidermeyer fired the shot that mortally wounded Driscoll. The detective was transported to Mercy Hospital in Chicago but died from his injuries shortly afterward.
The shooting of Driscoll was among the clearest instances in which Neidermeyer was personally identified as the killer. After the confrontation, a large force of police officers surrounded the fugitives among the sand dunes and abandoned structures near the Indiana shoreline. A prolonged gun battle followed before Neidermeyer, Van Dine and Roeski were finally captured.
Victims Associated with the Car Barn Bandits
Otto Bauder, age 19 — July 9, 1903 — 1820 North Ashland Avenue, Chicago, Illinois: Shot during the robbery of Ernest Spires’s saloon and later died at Alexian Brothers Hospital.
B. C. LaGross, also identified as Bohumil LeGros — August 2, 1903 — 2120 West North Avenue, Chicago, Illinois: The saloon proprietor was shot and killed during an armed robbery.
Adolph Jensen, age 21 — August 2, 1903 — 2120 West North Avenue, Chicago, Illinois: Shot during the same saloon robbery that killed LaGross. Jensen died at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.
James B. Johnson — August 30, 1903 — Chicago City Railway car barn near 61st and State streets, Chicago, Illinois: A railway clerk who was shot and killed during the car barn robbery.
Francis W. Stewart — August 30, 1903 — Chicago City Railway car barn near 61st and State streets, Chicago, Illinois: A motorman who was shot and killed during the same robbery.
Chicago Police Officer John Quinn — November 21, 1903 — Chicago, Illinois: Shot and mortally wounded by Gustave Marx while attempting to arrest him. Quinn’s killing was part of the events that exposed the gang.
John Sovea, railroad brakeman — November 27, 1903 — near Tolleston in Lake County, Indiana: Shot and killed while the fugitives were attempting to escape from authorities.
Chicago Police Detective Joseph Driscoll — late November 1903 — wounded near Miller Station, Indiana, and died in Chicago, Illinois: Fatally shot by Peter Neidermeyer during an attempt to capture the fugitives.
Capture and Interrogation
The final confrontation attracted national attention. Neidermeyer and his companions exchanged gunfire with a large police force and attempted to hold their pursuers back from a makeshift defensive position. Their ammunition eventually diminished, and all three surviving fugitives were taken into custody. The arrests ended one of the most violent criminal episodes in Chicago’s early twentieth-century history.
Investigators connected the prisoners to the saloon robberies, the car barn massacre and the killings committed during their escape. Testimony, confessions and evidence gathered after the arrests established the roles of the various gang members. Because different combinations of men had participated in the crimes, historical accounts sometimes disagree about which individual fired a particular shot. Neidermeyer’s responsibility for shooting Detective Driscoll, however, was specifically recorded by investigators.
Trial and Death Sentences
Neidermeyer, Marx and Van Dine were prosecuted for murder in Cook County. The proceedings drew enormous public attention because of the number of deaths and the gang’s reputation for indiscriminate violence. On March 26, 1904, the three men were sentenced to death by hanging. Emil Roeski, who was younger and whose precise role in the fatal shootings was disputed, ultimately received a sentence of life imprisonment.
While confined in the Cook County Jail, Neidermeyer displayed erratic and self-destructive behavior. He attempted suicide by setting fire to materials inside his cell and suffered serious burns. He survived the attempt and remained under guard until the date fixed for his execution.
Execution
Peter Neidermeyer was hanged at the Cook County Jail on April 22, 1904. Gustave Marx and Harvey Van Dine were executed on the same day. Neidermeyer was approximately twenty-three years old, although some historical execution records listed his age as twenty-one because of conflicting information about his year of birth.
The executions brought a formal end to the careers of three members of the Car Barn Bandits. The gang’s crimes had lasted only a matter of months, but they left eight people dead and several others wounded. Their total financial gain was small compared with the human devastation they caused.
Legacy
Peter Neidermeyer remains associated with one of Chicago’s most notorious early crime sprees. He and his accomplices were not calculating long-term serial murderers in the modern sense. Their primary objective was robbery, but they repeatedly used lethal violence during separate attacks and killed witnesses, workers and law-enforcement officers who stood in their way.
The Car Barn Bandits became symbols of a new kind of urban criminal violence involving young offenders, rapid-firing pistols and attacks on public businesses. Neidermeyer’s personal role in Detective Driscoll’s death, his participation in the gang’s armed robberies and his violent resistance to arrest secured his place among the most feared criminals in Chicago history.
