He shot a gangster, carried brass knuckles and a blackjack – and never spoke of it

Eddie Adams was a bad, bad man.

In the early 1920s, he killed seven people; robbed stores, banks and a Santa Fe express train; was involved in bootlegging liquor, and escaped from custody twice.

He was 34 when his life ended, shot by Wichita Police Detective D.C. “Dorsey” Stuckey.

It was Nov. 23, 1921. On that day, three Wichita detectives were sent to a garage at 1220 S. Washington.

Adams fatally wounded Detective Charles Hoffman, who pulled the gunman to the ground. Officer Charles Bowman was also fatally hit by gunfire. And Stuckey, who was hiding behind a pillar, shot Adams three times, killing him.

The Eagle reported Adams “died with an empty revolver gripped in his right hand, died in the style of the western desperado days ‘with his boots on.’ ”

Now, nearly a century after the notorious gangster was gunned down in Wichita, the gun from the Wichita police detective who killed him and other items the officer carried daily have been donated to the Wichita/Sedgwick County Historical Museum. They are destined to be seen by the public for the first time in a new acquisitions exhibit opening by the end of June.

Legendary crime

The shootout with Adams is one of the most legendary crimes in Wichita history, according to Jami Frazier Tracy, curator of collections at the Wichita/Sedgwick County Historical Museum.

In 1921, newspapers around the world ran stories of the incident and begged for interviews and details of the shootout.

Stuckey never said a word.

Now, 95 years after the shootout, a few clues about the man who stopped the killer are beginning to emerge.

Stuckey worked for the Wichita Police Department from 1918 to 1926, Frazier Tracy said. He carried a Smith and Wesson .38 revolver that had been manufactured in 1917 or 1918. It was a five-shot “Safety Hammer-less.” The gun was supposed to be safer when carried in pockets – with no hammer, it wouldn’t snag on clothing or allow the gun to become easily cocked, she said.

A year ago, descendants of Stuckey’s contacted the museum. The donor was William Carter, Stuckey’s grandson, who now lives in Leavenworth.

Carter donated several items, including the police detective’s blackjack, brass knuckles, key ring and mug shot booklet.

“This is the kind of material we have wanted for so long,” Frazier Tracy said. “He carried these things on his person. We are thrilled to get it.”

One of the items is a booklet called “Detecting Made Easy.” In the days before computers, the booklet contained hundreds of photos of known criminals and information regarding their “height, weight, peculiarities and other traits,” Frazier Tracy said, so officers could quickly check out people they might consider suspicious.

In 1926, Stuckey left the police department to work for Sedgwick County running a road grader, Frazier Tracy said.

“His grandson said he never talked about the (shooting) incident,” Frazier Tracy said. “He never gave an interview.

“He said newspapers all over the world wanted to do interviews, and he always refused. I don’t know if that was because it was a traumatic experience, if he didn’t want to relive it, I don’t know.”

The shootout

Adams was born on a farm in Hutchinson in 1887.

By the turn of the 20th century, he was involved in bootlegging alcohol. He had a list of petty robberies and car thefts. He formed the Eddie Adams Gang and committed bank and train robberies throughout Kansas, Missouri and Iowa.

Adams was sentenced to life in prison in February 1921 but escaped by jumping off a train bound for the Missouri State Prison. He soon was caught after he robbed a bank in Culison, near Pratt.

This time, he was sent to Lansing State Prison, but Adams escaped again by scaling a prison wall along with a few other inmates. He and his gang robbed banks in Rose Hill and Haysville and 11 stores in Muscotah in northeast Kansas before making their way to Wichita in November 1921.

According to Frazier Tracy, on the evening of Nov. 20, Adams, a man named Frank Foster, a local madam named Nellie Miles, a bootlegger named George J. McFarland and two prostitutes were joyriding around Wichita. Two motorcycle officers tried to pull them over.

A gun was fired from the car, and patrol officer Robert Fitzpatrick was killed. The car sped away, the women were eventually dropped off, and the car was later reported in Cowley County – out of gas. Adams attempted to steal another vehicle, and when farmer George Oldham tried to stop him, Adams shot and killed him.

The next day, Adams and Foster were back in Wichita.

On Nov. 23, 1921, Adams attempted to rent a car in Wichita but was recognized. Police were alerted, and when they arrived at the business, Adams killed Hoffman and Bowman.

Stuckey took careful aim – and killed Adams.

As was the custom of the day, Adams’ body was publicly displayed at the City Undertaking Parlor, where it was viewed by more than 9,000 people. During his 14-month crime spree, Adam took the lives of seven people, including three Wichita police officers. He wounded a dozen more people.

Stuckey died in 1978 at age 86. He is buried at the Wichita Park Cemetery near 21st and Hillside.

This story was originally published June 15, 2016 at 3:39 PM with the headline "He shot a gangster, carried brass knuckles and a blackjack – and never spoke of it."