Sept. 18, 1933: Jack Keating, 30, and John Melvin Early, 35, had a plan to rob the Girlesque Theater at 510 S. Main St., but when the shooting was over, Keating was dead and Early and two men who helped plan the robbery were in jail.

The robbery began shortly after the midnight show, when Keating and Early drew guns and forced  Girlesque employees Robert Winslow and his wife, Mildred, to escort them to the theater office, where manager John R. Ward and C.C. Hurst were present.

Another employee, Edward Sweeney, seeing the Winslows with two strangers, sensed that something was wrong, slipped out of the theater through a side door and found Officers H.W. Tash and S.D. Moore at 5th Street and Main.

In the meantime, Ward told the gunmen: “If this is a holdup, here is all the money I have,” throwing two $5 bills and 11 $1 bills ($377.35 USD 2013) on the floor, The Times said.

The officers arrived at the theater as Early and Keating were tying up the victims with wire, and the robbers began shooting. The police killed Keating, but were badly wounded by  Early, who surrendered when he ran out of bullets.

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