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Joseph P. Moran

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Doctor

The Resume

    (1895-July 1934)
    Born in Illinois
    Associated with the Chicago underworld and the Karpis-Barker Gang
    Disappeared in July, 1934
    A body that washed up on the shores of Lake Erie at Crystal Beach, Ontario (September 26, 1935), was identified as him through dental records

Why he might be annoying:

    His private practice collapsed after his heavy drinking drove away his patients.
    He became a ‘pin artist’ – a doctor performing illegal abortions.
    He was sentenced to ten years in prison after one of his patients died during an abortion (1930).
    He went back to prison for eleven months (1931-32) for violating his parole by continuing to perform illegal abortions.
    His attempts at altering the facial appearances of Alvin Karpis and Fred Barker were not particularly successful.
    He helped the Karpis-Barker Gang launder the $200,000 ransom they received for kidnapping banker Edward Bremer.
    Shortly before his disappearance, he boasted while drinking with the gang about having incriminating information against them, taunting ‘I have you guys in the palm of my hand.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    He served as a pilot in the Army Signal Corps during World War I.
    During his first stint in jail, he ran the prison hospital so well that Warden Henry C. Hill helped him obtain parole (1931) and secured the return of his medical license.
    As the unofficial emergency surgeon for the Chicago underworld, he removed five bullets from Dillinger associate Red Hamilton after a bank robbery.
    He was successful at removing Karpis’ fingerprints – so much so that decades later Karpis would have trouble proving his identity to Canadian authorities while applying for a passport.
    He was the inspiration for Dr. Herman Einstein, the alcoholic plastic surgeon in ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ who leaves Jonathan Brewster with Boris Karloff’s face.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying