Robbery of the Calvert City Bank
Written by Justin Lamb
On the afternoon of August 30, 1946, three men entered the Calvert City Bank as Kathleen O’Dell, assistant cashier, was busy counting deposits. One of the men approached the cashier’s window, flashed a gun, and demanded money. Frightened, O’Dell frantically filled the robber’s bag with cash before the second man came to the door of the cashier’s cage and forced O’Dell into the bank vault where they locked her up.
About that time, Lud Bowman, a regular bank customer, entered the bank to retrieve his checkbook he left earlier in the day and he was unexpectedly overtaken by the third robber who was on lookout at the door. Bowman was shoved into the vault with O’Dell as the robbers made their getaway with $6,500 of bank money.
Harry Harrell, who owned a store next to the bank, heard the commotion and came out of his store front just in time to witness the three men speed away in a 1939 Buick. Harrell and his wife went to the bank and noticed O’Dell not behind the cashier’s window. O’Dell and Bowman were soon freed from the vault as the Calvert City Police were called to the scene. Mr. and Mrs. Harrell gave a description of the robbers to the police and soon the Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified.
The next morning the FBI arrived and the car used in the hold-up was found abandoned at the Oakland Presbyterian Church in Sharpe. It was determined that the car was stolen a few days prior at Third and Washington Streets in Paducah.
As the FBI continued their investigation into September, a lead was picked up in Detroit when two men were seen flashing around large amounts of cash and bragging about a robbery. An arrest was soon made and the suspects, W. Huspeth, R. Wyatt, and W. Dawes were brought back to Kentucky to await trial.
The trial began in May 1947 in Paducah before Federal Judge Roy M. Shelbourne and after only a day, the jury found the suspects guilty. Judge Shelbourn sentenced all three men to 15 years in the federal penitentiary in Atlanta.