Vivian Chase

Early Life

Born in Nebraska around the year 1905, Vivian Davis was the youngest child of Alfred and Sarah Davis. She had three sisters Hazel, Laura and Ella and she had three brothers Lewis, Frank, and Marshall. Soon after her birth her family moved to Greene County Missouri where her father worked as a moderately successful farmer. When she was sixteen years old she married George Chase on April 1, 1921. She had to lie about her age (stating that she was 19 at the time) in order to marry with out her parents consent. The circumstances of her marriage are unknown; however, George Chase by this time was considerably older (30) and had begun to make a name for himself as a thief.

Criminal Career

Vivian Chase first gained notice as George’s wife. On December 23, 1923, George Chase was arrested for an altercation during which he was shot by Ella Keller. Ms. Keller stated that George and his companions attacked her because she had reported them to the police and that she had to shoot George in self-defense. After arresting George, the police went to his home where they found Vivian wearing six diamond rings. Since she could not explain possessing the rings, Vivian was arrested for suspicion. She was released after three days when further evidence could not be found against her.

Vivian does not surface again for three years and when she does she is in the company of Charlie Mayes, also known as Pighead Hardman. On February 15, 1926, Vivian, Mayes, Lee Flournoy and Flournoy’s wife were arrested after a free for all fight in a rooming house in Wichita, KS. During the arrest Vivian refused to talk. The investigation led investigators to her brother in law Charles Chase and allegations of involvement with the Joe Bratton liquor gang. On June 9, 1926, following a “drunken party and joy ride”, Flournoy and Mayes were fatally shot in a Picher, OK gun battle. Vivian Chase was with them. The three of them had been under surveillance by Ottawa County Oklahoma officers for several days because the deputy sheriff informed the Sheriff of Montgomery County, KS that he had found the people who robbed the Cherryvale Bank on May 29, 1926. Vivian was placed in jail where she refused to talk to reporters. She was released on June 13, 1926, after insufficient evidence was found to charge her with a crime.

Once again the record goes silent on Vivian Chase. She resurfaces in June 1932. She is arrested with Jackie Forman and Enos Weeks for the robbery of the First National Bank in North Kansas City on April 9, 1932. She is held on $50,000 bond. It was a small robbery; no more than $1,500 was taken. Vivian was held at the Clay County Jail in Liberty, MO. She escaped after four months by sawing through the bars of her cell and lowering herself down with a rope made of bed sheets.

Luer Kidnapping

After her escape from the Liberty County Jail, Vivian fled to St. Louis, MO. She became involved with Walter (Irish) O’Malley. On July 10, 1933, Vivian participated in the Kidnapping of banker August Luer. Vivian, O’Malley, Percy ‘Dice Box’ Fitzgerald drove to Mr. Luer’s home in Alton, IL. Vivian accompanied by O’Malley rang the doorbell and requested to use the phone. When she was let in and shown the phone’s location she cut the line. O’Malley wrestled August Luer to the floor and gagged his mouth. Mr. Luer was taken to a farm where he was hidden in a damp underground cellar while his captives tried to ransom him. Mr. Luer was not a well man and fearing that he would die before they were able to receive any ransom his kidnappers released him after 123 hours. Both Vivian and O’Malley fled from Illinois back to Missouri after the bungled kidnapping. O’Malley managed to elude capture for two years until he was apprehended in Kansas City on May 23, 1935. Vivian eluded capture.

Death

In the early fall of 1935, Kansas City, MO experienced a series of drug store robberies. The robbers were described as a man and a woman. The woman was further described as approximately 5 ft. 6 in. tall, slender, with hennaed hair. When victims were shown a photograph they identified Vivian as one of the robbers. On November 3, 1935, Vivian’s body was found in a parked car at St. Lukes Hospital in Kansas City, MO. She had been shot in the neck with the bullet exiting through her chest.

Newspapers speculated that she had been double crossed by an accomplice and was shot before she could him. She had a .22 caliber pistol on her with .45 caliber bullets in her handbag. She was shot with a .45 caliber gun. When she was found the coroner estimated that she had only been dead 2 hours or less leading to speculation that her killer drove her to the hospital while she was still alive expecting her to be found before her death. She seemed destined for burial in a potter’s field. The owner of the funeral home she had been removed to received an anonymous call asking about the cost of providing her with a funeral. The next morning the funeral home received an envelope of money for the costs; also received were a blue dress and undergarments (her own) for Vivian to be buried in. Nine mourners outside of reporters and law officers attended her funeral. No one signed the guest book.