The One Eyed Bandit - John Ashley

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Stephen Carr, Lecturer

The John Ashley Story in a nutshell

In Thursday’s Neighborhood News there was a small segment on the Ashley Gang. Coincidentally, Katie had invited me to the Lantana Historical Society’s meeting that night to hear a lecture on, you guessed it, The Ashley Gang.

Stephen Carr, a Lake Worth High School alumnus and former Lake Worth firefighter/paramedic, gave the lecture. He has a love for history and is an amateur archeologist. Having lived in PB County off and on forever, for some strange reason I had no knowledge of the Ashley Gang and wanted to learn more about some of our notorious history. It was an interesting 1.5 hours.

John Ashley, whose one eye was shot out by a foe, along with his girlfriend, Laura, were sort of like the pre Bonnie and Clyde of their day based in the southern half of Florida. John began his career in Pompano cutting wood for the railroad. Soon tired of that, he became a trapper of otters in the Florida Everglades where he met his friend DeSoto Tiger, the son of a former Seminole Chief who became his partner in the otter skin trade. Ashley ended up murdering him on a boat trip to Miami to sell the skins and dumped the body. This is what started his life of crime.

His tentacles reached out all over the State. He was a prolific bank robber and train robber extraordinaire. He and his family were well known. John and his gang stole an estimated $1 million between 1915 and 1924. Robbery, murder mayhem, rum running and moonshine stills were his way of life. He was in and out of jails as well as in Raiford twice where he escaped both times.

In the end, he was betrayed by his lover and murdered while handcuffed by the PB County Sheriff. Stephen Carr said it was his bawdy girlfriend, Laura that turned him in because she thought he was running out on her with their last stash estimated at around $250,000. His crime spree lasted for approximately ten years; John Ashley was only 32 when he was shot to death. Laura ended up taking her own life a few years later by drinking a can of Lysol. The stash was never found and people search for it to this day.