Last Updated on October 6, 2025 by Matt Staff
The Great Depression wasn’t only about bank robbers and Tommy guns. These mugshots also capture swindlers in sharp suits, lonely-hearts predators, and small-town faces pulled into very big stories.
Each of these portraits freezes that split second before the cell door clicks. These mugshots trace a harder truth about the 1930s with its ordinary people, extraordinary troubles, and a camera that didn’t look away.
1. Victor Lustig
Lustig was the suave con artist who “sold” the Eiffel Tower. He was finally arrested by U.S. agents in 1935.
2. Winnie Ruth Judd
Judd was a Phoenix medical secretary. Her 1931 “trunk murders” case turned her into a national headline. She was arrested, and then she slipped in and out of custody for years.
3. Violette Nozière
Nozière was a Paris teen with a double life. In 1933, she was arrested for poisoning her parents. The case shocked France, yet her sentence was later reduced.
4. Charlotte Bryant
She was a farmer’s wife in Dorset. In 1935, she was arrested for poisoning her husband. her quiet village suddenly felt very large.
5. Eva Coo
Coo ean a roadhouse in upstate New York. In 1934, she was arrested for a murder-for-money scheme. Her booking photo read equal parts arrogance and worry.
6. Albert Fish
Fish was a drifter with a dark history. In 1934, New York police arrested him after a long investigation.
7. Bruno Richard Hauptmann
He was a Bronx carpenter, and in 1934, he was arrested in the Lindbergh kidnapping case. The courtroom became a stage, and the world watched.
8. Abe Reles
Reles was a Murder Inc. hitman, and then he flipped; in the late ’30s, he was under arrest and talking. The canary could sing, and the mob took notice.
9. Waxey Gordon
Gordon was a Prohibition earner who pivoted to rackets. In 1933, he was arrested on tax charges. The math, not the guns, brought him down.
10. Harvey Bailey
Bailey was a polished bank robber. In 1933, a few arrests tied him to kidnappers in a messy blame game. He kept insisting the link was wrong, but the cell door still shut.
11. Wilbur Underhill Jr.
Underhill was the “Tri-State Terror”. After a string of robberies, he was cornered and captured in 1933. The legend lasted longer than the getaway car.
12. Lester “Baby Face” Nelson
Nelson looked boyish, but he was John Dillinger’s hard-charging partner. His 1931-34 spree ended in a shootout.
13. Francis “Two Gun” Crowley
He was a New York stick-up kid who fought like the movies. In 1931, the police dragged him out after a rooftop siege.
14. Arthur Gooch
Goosh was a small-time kidnapper under the new Lindbergh Law, and he was arrested in 1934. This was the first federal execution for kidnapping.
15. Frank “Jelly” Nash
Nash was a seasoned safecracker. In 1933, he was seized by federal agents. The attempted transfer in Kansas City turned deadly, and history got a new massacre.
16. Harmon Waley
Waley was part of the Weyerhaeuser kidnapping in 1935. He was arrested with ransom clues still fresh. He later cooperated, and the sentence reflected it.
17. William Dainard
Dainard was Waley’s partner in the same Northwest kidnap plot. He was arrested soon after. The case proved that ransom notes don’t keep secrets for long.
18. Helen Gillis
Gillis was “Baby Face” Nelson’s wife. In 1934, she was arrested for harboring a fugitive. Her mugshot shows steel where most expected fear.
19. Mickey Cohen
Cohen started as a 1930s muscle-and-runner. Some early arrests put his name in small columns. Then, Los Angeles got bigger, and so did he.
20. Henry (Harry) Powers
Powers posed as a suitor through lonely-hearts ads. In 1931, the West Virginia police arrested him. The quiet boarding house suddenly had crowds at the fence.
Explore more historical content:
If this dive into Depression-era crime hit that noir nerve, keep the mood going with these 20 Photos of Prohibition Era Sheriffs or these 20 Lesser-Known Tales About Criminals from the 1990s. You can also check these 20 Infamous Tales About Criminals from the Early 2000s.
