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08/07/2025

Charged with his latest bank heist, 'gentleman robber' says he is no John Dillinger

Pine Journal

FARGO — There is one difference between the rise of the American bank-robbing gangsters of the 1920s to present day serial bank robber Jay Douglas Barker, a self-proclaimed “gentleman robber.”

“I watched all those shows, but I don’t have the nerve to kill anyone. That sets me apart from Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger. Plus, the pen is mightier than the sword,” Barker recently told Forum News Service from the Cass County Jail interview room.

In the Great Depression days, when outlaws like Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow went on a spree of romanticized bank robberies, car thefts, and murders, banks didn’t have CCTV cameras. Some didn’t even have armed security.

Today’s security advances inside banks, however, never stopped Barker.

Separated by a pane of glass and speaking through a telephone, Barker described his life of crime. Since the 1980s, he has hit six banks for a total of about $65,000. He's spent 50 of his 66 years behind bars.

 

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