Editing Ma Barker (section)

==St. Paul and Wisconsin==
Arthur was released from prison in 1932 and joined Fred and Karpis, and the core gang was supplemented by other criminal associates. The gang moved to Chicago but decided to leave because Karpis did not want to work for [[Al Capone]]. Racketeer, Jack Peifer, suggested that they move to St. Paul, Minnesota, which had a reputation at the time as a haven for wanted criminals.<ref name="Pot" /> The Barker–Karpis Gang's most infamous crimes were committed after the move to St. Paul, during their residency in a string of rented houses. The gang operated under the protection of St. Paul's police chief [[Tom Brown (police chief)|Thomas "Big Tom" Brown]], and they went from being bank robbers to kidnappers under his guidance.<ref>Mahoney, Timothy, ''Secret Partners: Big Tom Brown and the Barker Gang'', Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2013, passim. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

Ma's common-law husband Arthur Dunlop was said to be loose-lipped when drunk, and he was not trusted by members of the gang; Karpis described him as a "pain in the ass".<ref name="Mac" /> While at one hideout, a resident identified the gang from photographs in ''[[True Detective (magazine)|True Detective]]'' magazine and told the police, but Chief Brown tipped them off and they escaped. The gang apparently believed that Dunlop's loose lips had given them away, and they murdered him while traveling. His naked body was found near Webster, Wisconsin with a single bullet wound to the head.<ref name="Mac" /> Chief Brown's involvement in the gang's escape could not be proven, but he was demoted to the rank of detective and was later dismissed from the police force altogether.<ref>{{cite book|title=Secret Partners - Big Tom Brown and the Barker Gang | author=Mahoney, Tim | publisher=Minnesota Historical Society Press | date = 2013 | isbn = 9780873519045}}</ref>

The gang relocated to [[Menomonie, Wisconsin]], and Fred Barker hid Ma in a variety of hotels and hideouts during their stay there. The purpose was to keep her from learning much about the gang's crimes, as well as to separate her from their girlfriends, with whom she did not get along. The FBI later claimed that she would try to break up any relationships, so that "other women in the gang" did their best to avoid her.<ref name="Mac" /> By 1933, most of the gang were back in St. Paul where they carried out two kidnappings of wealthy businessmen. They obtained $100,000 in ransom by abducting [[William Hamm Jr.]], then arranged the [[kidnapping of Edward Bremer]] which netted them a $200,000 ransom. The FBI first connected the gang to the William Hamm kidnapping by using a new method of [[latent fingerprint]] identification.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2003/september/hamm090803 |title=Latent Prints in the 1933 Hamm Kidnapping|work=Federal Bureau of Investigation|date=September 8, 2003|access-date=August 18, 2017}}</ref> The gang decided to leave St. Paul with the FBI on the case and without Tom Brown supplying information; they moved to the Chicago area, renting apartments for Ma while they tried to launder the ransom.<ref>{{cite book|title=Secret Partners - Big Tom Brown and the Barker Gang | author=Mahoney, Tim | publisher=Minnesota Historical Society Press | date = 2013 | isbn = 9780873519045}}</ref>