True Crime Chronicles: Three robbers, one killing, and an execution defined a 1923 Craig County bank heist

In the sweltering heat of an Oklahoma summer day, the quiet town of Ketchum in Craig County became the scene of a botched bank robbery that claimed the life of a beloved local cashier and ignited a chain of events involving mob justice, high-stakes trials, and even political scandal.

On August 9, 1923, three men, Richard Adolphus Birkes, Allison "Dick" Ivey, and Raymond Thomas, stormed the First State Bank. They forever altered the lives of the town's residents and their own fates.

What began as a desperate grab for cash ended in murder, with one perpetrator meeting his end in the state's electric chair just over a year later

Ketchum, a small farming and railroad community in northeastern Oklahoma, was no stranger to the hardships of the post-World War I era. The First State Bank served as a lifeline for locals. It held deposits from ranchers, merchants, and families scraping by in the Dust Bowl precursor years.

Frank Pitts Sr., a 31-year-old cashier, was a fixture there. He was a dedicated family man who had graduated from banking school and lived with his wife, Myrtle, and their young children in nearby Big Cabin.

Pitts was known for his steady demeanor, but on that Thursday afternoon, it would cost him his life.

The robbers arrived in a stolen automobile, a detail that would later become key evidence in court. Birkes, 26, and Ivey, 28, entered the bank around midday with masks down and guns drawn. Thomas, 25, waited outside as the getaway driver.

According to trial testimony, Birkes leveled a loaded pistol at Pitts and barked orders for him to raise his hands and open the vault. When Pitts hesitated, perhaps in shock or defiance, Birkes fired a single shot into his chest.

Pitts collapsed, mortally wounded, and died shortly after in a pool of his own blood on the bank floor.Chaos ensued. Ivey turned his weapon on the bank's bookkeeper, Herbert Ray, firing two shots that went wide and embedded in the walls but spared Ray's life.

The robbers, realizing their plan had unraveled without securing any money, fled empty-handed. They sped off in the stolen car and abandoned it soon after as alarms raised the town. Pitts' death was instantaneous in its impact. The community mourned a husband, father, and upstanding citizen whose funeral drew crowds from across the county.

Word of the robbery spread like wildfire through Ketchum's dusty streets. An enraged mob quickly formed, fueled by grief and outrage. They demanded vigilante justice. The suspects did not get far. Birkes and Ivey were apprehended within hours, but Thomas evaded initial capture.

.He walked straight into a trap the next day. As detailed in contemporary newspaper reports, including The Oklahoman's August 10, 1923 edition, Thomas was spotted on a rural road near Ketchum. Officers, posing as civilians, questioned him and lured him into their car under the guise of offering a ride.

During the interrogation, Thomas betrayed himself with inconsistencies. Sensing the noose tightening, literally, as the mob's lynching threats loomed, he confessed his role as the driver. He implicated Birkes as the shooter and Ivey as the second gunman. He hoped his cooperation would spare him from the crowd's wrath.

Authorities rushed Thomas to the county jail in Vinita, about 20 miles away, to prevent a lynching. Officials described a tense standoff. They maneuvered through back roads to evade the mob that had gathered at Ketchum. Birkes and Ivey were similarly secured, though Birkes reportedly showed no remorse. He maintained a stoic demeanor that would perist through his trial.

The three men, all in their mid-20s and with World War I draft records indicating prior ordinary lives (Ivey as a farmer, Thomas as a laborer, and Birkes with a checkered past), faced charges of murder in the first degree. The charges were tied to the felony of attempted robbery under Oklahoma's laws at the time.

The cases moved rapidly through the Craig County District Court. This reflected the era's no-nonsense approach to violent crime in rural America. Birkes and Ivey were tried jointly in late 1923, with Thomas facing a separate proceeding.

Prosecutors painted a vivid picture of the heist. They emphasized the stolen car as evidence of premeditation and the cold-blooded nature of Pitts' killing

.Key testimony came from eyewitnesses like bookkeeper Herbert Ray, who identified the assailants, and from Thomas' confession, which corroborated details.

Defense attorneys argued lack of intent to kill, but the jury was not swayed. Birkes was convicted as the primary shooter and sentenced to death by electrocution. Oklahoma had adopted electrocution in 1913 as a "humane" alternative to hanging. I

vey, deemed less directly responsible, received life imprisonment.

Birkes appealed to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals in 1924. He challenged the admission of evidence about the stolen car, arguing it prejudiced the jury by suggesting additional crimes. He also contested jury instructions on reasonable doubt. In Birkes v. State, the court affirmed the conviction.

It ruled the car evidence was relevant to the robbery's context and that the instructions, while imperfect, adequately protected the defendant's rights. The appeal failed, sealing Birkes' fate.Thomas, benefiting from his confession and cooperation, avoided the death penalty.

Historical records from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections indicate he was sentenced to a lengthy prison term, though exact details are sparse. He served time at the state penitentiary in McAlester and emerged years later into obscurity.

On September 5, 1924, Richard Birkes met his end at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Newspaper accounts described him as calm. He chewed the stump of a cigar as he walked to the electric chair. Strapped in at 12:05 p.m., he proclaimed his innocence one last time before the current was applied.

His body was later buried in an unmarked grave, a quiet end to a man who had unleashed such violence

.Ivey served his life sentence, eventually earning parole after decades behind bars.