Leoj Flores Vidal
On December 23, 1927, Woodrow "Woody" Harris was driving his family in an Oldsmobile car in west Texas when he met a "Santa" who held a gun.
As Wood was stopping at the red light, "Santa Claus" and two other men used their guns to threaten them, ordered the Harris family to get out of the car, and quickly loaded the contents of a nearby Buick car onto the Oldsmobile.
The bitter end of Santa Claus robbed the bank Photo: Fort Worth Weekly
The man in Santa Claus is Marshall Ratliff, 24, who lives in Texas.
By Christmas Day 1927, the brothers decided to carry out another bank robbery in Cisco, Texas, a small town of about 7,000 people.
Marshall used to live at Cisco so he was afraid he would be recognized.
Marshall Ratliff recruited two men, Henry Helms, 31 and Robert Hill, 21, both ready to commit armed robbery.
To fill the gap, Ratliff invited a Helms relative, Louis Davis, 22, to join.
4 men drive more than 300 km from Wichita Falls to Cisco.
Ratliff walked down the street, waving to excited children approaching him.
Ratliff met his accomplices in the alley and bandits inside.
"Raise your hands!", Ratliff shouted, drawing a gun.
Ratcliff asked the tellers to pour money into the sack he carried.
National Bank No. 1 in Cisco, Texas in the 1920s Photo: Fort Worth Weekly
As Ratliff frantically filled the sack, Frances Blassengame and her mother entered the bank.
The mother and son Blassengame escaped through that way and went straight to the police station, notified the sheriff G.E.
In fact, the police are not the biggest worries of bandits.
Hill spotted a person staring inward from outside the window.
Outside, about 100 people gathered, many carrying guns.
To get to the parking lot, Ratliff asked 16 hostages to follow them to the back door to create a "living shield" in front of the angry crowd.
When they got to the car, the gang took two girls, 12-year-old Laverne Comer and Emma May Robertson, 10, as hostages.
The car punctured a tire by a bullet.
That's when Ratliff saw the Oldsmobile of the Harris family.
But when one of the group started the car, they realized Woody Harris had left without giving them the car key.
Henry Helms was executed in Texas in September 1929 Photo: Texas State Library and Archives Commission
They only ran a few kilometers before the Buick car ran out of gas and was forced to jog.
The three bandits temporarily cut off their pursuers, stealing a car the next morning and hiding in the woods outside Cisco.
A few days later, authorities discovered the three men near the Brazos River and gun fighting continued, leaving Ratliff injured.
Because they were captured alive and there were too many bounty hunters at the bank, it was impossible to determine who killed Davis.
When the three robbers appeared in court, Helms was determined to shoot Bedford police with Carmichael and sentenced to death.
The fate of Ratliff, the "Santa Claus" of bandits, is much more sensational.
Like Helms, Ratliff uses the reason for mental illness to appeal.
The people of Eastland were very indignant about Ratcliff's behavior.
They tied Ratliff's arms and legs, dragged him out of the cell, and hung him on an electric pole.
Today, National Bank Number One is still active, despite its name change and relocation.
