08 February 2020

ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE CONNECTION TO SOUTHWESTERN MICHIGAN

BUNGALOW RESIDENCE IN STEVENSVILLE


Bungalow residence in Stevensville, Michigan, thought to be that of Fred Dane, however on December 14, 1929, after St. Joseph Police Officer Charles Skelly was gunned down, it was learned that Fred Dane was actually Fred "Killer" Burke. Residence is located on Red Arrow Highway south of Glenlord Road on the east side of road. Structure is still standing, however has been converted over to the business of Coldwell Banker Real Estate.

 WEAPONS CACHE


When Deputies made entry into the residence of Fred "Killer" Burke, they forced open a locked upstairs closet and found:
Two Thompson machine guns w/ Nine ammunition drums - One gun was assembled, loaded and ready for instant use while the other was in a black suitcase
Five 100-shot .45 caliber drums loaded, many other smaller drums
Three 20-shot clips
Two high powered rifles, one was Winchester .350 automatic, other was Savage .303
One sawed off shotgun with pistol grip
Two bags of ammunition estimated at 5,000 shells
½ dozen fruit jars and tin cans filled with misc. ammunition, including smokeless shotgun shells, shells loaded with iron slugs and small shot.
½ dozen tear gas bombs
In addition to the arsenal, deputies found trap doors, several disguises, well-thumbed detective novels and $390,000 worth of stolen bonds from a Jefferson, Wisconsin Bank.

Sheriff Fred Bryant and Deputy Charles Andrews pose wearing bulletproof vests from the Burke residence and brandishing two weapons also confiscated, including one of the Tommy Guns.
WANTED MAN

Wanted Poster put out by the Michigan State Police for Fred "Killer" Burke in 1929.
FORENSIC INNOVATIONS

Colonel Calvin H. Goddard, first Director of privately funded scientific crime detection laboratory which later became the Chicago Police Department Crime Lab as a result
of St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
Calvin Goddard examining a weapon

HISTORY TODAY

Berrien County Sheriff's Office Historian and 911 Quality Assurance Supervisor Chriss Lyon holding one of two Thompson Sub-Machine Guns seized from the Stevensville
residence of Fred "Killer" Burke on December 14, 1929. 
Photo by John Madill, The Herald-Palladium, October, 2006.

Fred "Killer" Burke house in 2008, now home of Coldwell Banker.
 Photo by Chriss Lyon, 2008
One of the Thompson sub-machine guns, bulletproof vest and drum magazine, 2019.


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