Mugshots revolutionized crime investigation by giving police a visual record of everyone they arrested. Starting in the mid-1800s, police photographed suspects’ faces to replace hand-drawn wanted posters, and researchers even studied the images to look for physical traits linked to criminal behavior. The Nebraska State Penitentiary began photographing its most notorious inmates in 1867, and the Omaha Police Court followed with its own collection. Together, these photographs offer a direct look at the lives of real people — innocent and guilty alike — from more than 130 years ago.
James Whitewater murdered two men. During his imprisonment from 1872 to 1889, he became a Christian. Nebraska passed an act in 1889 that allowed the governor to pardon two inmates who had served more than 10 years in prison or whose behavior while incarcerated merited such mercy.
He arrived at Nebraska State Prison sporting an impressive handlebar mustache. Johnson was sentenced to one year and six months in prison for grand larceny. Johnson’s head and facial hair were shaved as part of prison policy to reduce lice.
In Victorian-era photographs, smiling faces are rare, making George H. Ray’s grin in a prison mugshot truly unusual. In the late 1890s, Ray served ten years in prison for manslaughter.
On May 12, 1897, James Collins was arrested for burglary in Omaha. Collins’s head is bandaged in his mugshot. A police record indicates that Collins escaped and was re-arrested. He was sent to the Nebraska State Prison on March 19, 1898, to serve a five-year sentence.
When Goldie Williams was photographed for her Omaha Police Court mugshot, she crossed her arms defiantly. She was arrested for vagrancy on Jan. 29, 1898. She stood only five feet tall and weighed 110 pounds. She listed her home as Chicago. Her left index finger was broken, and she had a cut below her right wrist, according to her arrest description. Williams wears a hat with satin ribbons and feathers. She also wears large hoop earrings.
On the night of Feb. 15, 1898, three burglars blew up a safe in a bank vault in Sheridan, Missouri. They got away with about $2,400. To track down the burglars, the bank’s insurance company hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency and Assistant Superintendent F.H. Tollotson. Eventually, Tollotson found one of the wanted men in the Sheridan Hotel in Omaha after tracking him through Missouri and Council Bluffs. After a brief struggle, Tollotson apprehended a gun-wielding fugitive with the help of Omaha police. Several letters addressed to Charles Davis were found on the alleged bank robber, Charles Martin. Some detectives told newspaper reporters that Martin might be the notorious safe blower and bank robber Sam Welsh. His share of the Missouri bank robbery included a gold watch and $565 in cash at the time of his arrest. Martin was taken to the police court, where he was measured, photographed, and locked up while he awaited his transfer to Missouri.
On June 3, 1898, Omaha police arrested Jim Ling for operating an opium joint. He is listed as a thief on the back of his mugshot. He was described as five feet, six inches tall, 104 pounds, with black hair and hazel eyes.
Herbert Cockran is held in a headlock by an unidentified Omaha police officer during his mugshot. Cockran was arrested on Nov. 24, 1899, for burglary. According to the police description, Cockran was a tailor from Fairmont, Nebraska, with a slightly stooped build and a fair complexion.
The small town of Odessa, Buffalo County, was rocked by a double murder on Dec. 4, 1899. Lillian Dinsmore was found dead in the kitchen of the house where she and her husband lived. The boarding house owner, Fred Laue, was shot in his bedroom. The Dinsmores had been married only a year. Fred Laue’s wife claimed that Mr. Dinsmore became obsessed with her and seduced her. Dinsmore allegedly plotted to kill his young wife and Laue because he was unhappy in his marriage. Lillian Dinsmore’s brothers accused Dinsmore of hypnotizing their sister after she was murdered. Mrs. Laue also claimed to have been hypnotized by Dinsmore after hearing the accusation. Newspapers became fascinated with the Dinsmore case. He denied all the charges, but was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. Governor Dietrich later commuted Dinsmore’s sentence to life in prison after his lawyers appealed. He wore a white cotton shirt, a sack jacket, and striped pants issued to prisoners at the Nebraska State Prison for his mugshot.
Mrs. Adams was arrested in Omaha for blackmail. Her residence was listed as Palisade, Nebraska, and her occupation as prostitute. She is described as five feet, one inch tall, medium build, and sallow-skinned in the police record.
Bert Martin was sentenced for stealing a horse from Keya Paha County. Bert worked in the broom factory at the prison. One day, Bert’s cellmate of 11 months revealed a secret: Bert was really a woman named Lena Martin. Lena’s masculine appearance had allowed her to find work as a cowboy in sparsely populated Keya Paha County. On Sept. 22, 1901, Martin was transferred to the women’s division. During Martin’s sentencing, a woman believed to be his wife stood beside him. Martin was sentenced to two years. The Governor of Nebraska, Ezra P. Savage, said of her: “a sexual monstrosity, unfit for association with men or women even in a penal institution, and on the solemn promise of its aging mother to care for it and guard it, and because prison morals imperatively demanded its removal, the sentence was commuted to one year, six months, February 3, 1902.”
Known as “Red Nora,” Nora Courier was arrested by Omaha police on March 31, 1901, for stealing a horse. She was 22 years old and stood five feet, three inches tall, according to police records. She had slate blue eyes and a scar on the center of her forehead.
On Nov. 21, 1901, Robinson paid for a glass of beer with a Mexican dollar in a lower Douglas Street saloon. The beer cost only a nickel, so Robinson received 95 cents of American money in change. Foreign currencies looked almost identical to American currencies at the time but were worth only about 45 cents. The clever money scam left Robinson 50 cents and a glass of lager ahead until he was arrested.
On Dec. 23, 1901, George Leonard, an Omaha bookkeeper, was arrested for burglary. He wears a stiff collared shirt with a large silk bowtie that sits slightly askew.
Minnie Bradley refuses to look at the camera in her Omaha Police Court mugshot. Minnie, a 27-year-old Omaha woman, was arrested for larceny from a person.
Bertha Liebbeke gained a reputation as one of the Midwest’s most notorious pickpockets. She would look for a well-dressed man with a diamond lapel pin. She would then “accidentally” stumble into the victim, pretending to faint. As bystanders tried to help her, Bertha would strip the man of his valuables or wallet. She earned the nickname “Fainting Bertha.” Authorities from Illinois, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska knew her tricks. The mugshot of Bertha Siegel in the Omaha Police Court listed her aliases as Bertha Liebke, Jennie Jennings, Bertha Nixon, J. Armstrong, Carrie Jones, Bessie Milles, Menni Swilson, and Bertha Siegel.
Eli Feasel went missing from his farm southwest of Bostwick, Nebraska, about 15 miles east of Red Cloud, on Nov. 1, 1903. His housekeeper, Nannie Hutchinson, said he had visited his son in Kansas City. Eli Feasel’s brother, Thomas, became suspicious when he could not locate Eli. Charles, 21 years old, and his mother, the housekeeper, were arrested after the investigation was conducted. The two were released after their hearing because little evidence was found that a crime had been committed. Charles Hutchinson was believed to have been seen by Mr. Stanley plowing the field where the grave was later discovered. Charles began to act suspiciously. He rented a buggy on May 6. He said he would help take the rig to Starke Ranch at Amboy, about five miles east. In the morning, Charles returned the rig to Red Cloud and paid the usual fee. The horses used by Charles had traveled a longer distance than a trip to Amboy would require. There was also a terrible stench coming from the rented buggy and cushions. Authorities paid little attention to it until Mr. Stanley discovered an open grave on Eli Feasel’s property. Charles and Nannie were quickly rearrested when authorities became aware of the new evidence. According to authorities, Charles and his mother returned to the site where they had hidden Feasel’s body on the night they rented the buggy, in order to move the remains. They had left behind telltale clues: footprints matching the shoe sizes of a man and a woman. The Hutchinsons were found guilty of second-degree murder at trial.
The African American members of Troop B, Tenth United States Cavalry Regiment, and the town of Crawford, Nebraska, engaged in a violent confrontation on May 13, 1906. Crawford Marshal Arthur Moss and Sergeant John Reid of Troop B had nearly fought after a horse race a year before. The animosity between the two men continued. On the evening of May 13, Moss was sent to break up a soldier’s beer party near the city park on the west edge of town. Moss ordered the party to quiet down or disperse. An altercation broke out between Moss, Reid, and Pvt. Jordan Taylor, also from Troop B. During the brief scuffle, Reid shot Moss with a .38-caliber revolver. Reid and Taylor fled into town and took refuge at the home of Edna Ewing, an elderly Black resident. Several civilians fired upon the soldiers as they made their escape. Art Moss died shortly after being shot. Taylor bolted from the Ewing house as a crowd gathered and ran toward Fort Robinson. Before getting very far, he was fatally wounded. Reid was captured and taken under guard to the city jail. Crawford was filled with rumors that Fort Robinson soldiers had threatened to storm the jail and free Reid. Prison officials feared the prisoner would be lynched by a civilian mob, so they decided to move Reid to the Chadron jail for safety. Several men and rifles from Troop B went missing before he could be transported from the fort. Colonel Augur quickly sent Troops I and K into town to prevent further violence. Soldier guards surrounded the jail. The tensions continued into the next day. Seven men reported absent from the B Troop barracks were placed in the post guardhouse, and 14 rifles were found in town. Reid was transferred to the Chadron jail. In the end, he was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to seven years in Nebraska State Prison for the death of Arthur Moss.
In February 1914, Alberto Interciago was sentenced to one to 20 years in Nebraska State Prison for “assault to wound.” During the Mexican Revolution, 1910–1920, rebel leaders Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa popularized thick mustaches. In the second set of mugshots, Interciago’s hair and mustache have been shaved.
Jennie Lester strikes a defiant pose in her mugshot. In March 1914, Lester was arrested for enticing illicit intercourse in Phelps County. She was sentenced to one to three years in the Nebraska State Prison.
Known as “The Professor” by his clients, Thomas Whitney advertised extensively as a clairvoyant, palmist, and astrologer in Omaha newspapers. Whitney claimed he had no equal in giving advice on love, law, deeds, wills, mining, divorce, changes, investments, patents, and all other business of a financial nature. Gentlemen paid $1 and ladies paid $0.50 for readings. During December 1915, The Professor was arrested for obtaining money under false pretenses from one of his customers.
Shock was sentenced to two years in the Nebraska State Prison in November 1916 for grand larceny. After his release from prison in February 1918, he enlisted in the United States Army to serve in World War I.
Mattie Brown spent one year in the Nebraska State Prison for larceny from a Douglas County resident. “Larceny of a person” was often the legal term for the crime of pickpocketing.
On May 1, 1917, Nebraska’s prohibition law went into effect, banning the manufacture and sale of liquor. After that, Nebraska jails began to fill with people violating liquor laws. In December 1919, William H. Lee was sentenced to six months to two years in the Nebraska State Prison for bootlegging in Hitchcock County. Bootlegging is the illegal transportation of alcoholic beverages. Lee was granted a furlough by prison authorities to visit his terminally ill wife. He returned to prison and was released on July 4, 1921.
The mugshot of Lola Lopez taken at Nebraska State Prison shows her wearing a large gold locket. On Jan. 9, 1922, her companion Cicerio Estrada clubbed, strangled, and robbed Stephen Pann in the Null Rooming House in Sidney, Nebraska. Estrada and Lopez fled hours before the murder was discovered. They were captured in Greeley, Colorado, and returned to Sidney for trial. Lopez, who was Mexican-born, pleaded not guilty but admitted knowledge of the murder through an interpreter. She served two years, two months, and 22 days in prison.
Mary Shannon was sentenced to two years in the Nebraska State Prison for mayhem in May 1925. Her records offer no explanation for the charge. Legally, mayhem is the act of disabling, disfiguring, or cutting off or rendering useless one of another person’s limbs or organs — such as a leg, arm, hand, foot, or eye — either intentionally or during a fight. Mayhem is classified as an aggravated assault in most states because of the serious nature of the injury.
Frank Carter, also known as the Omaha Sniper, terrorized Omaha in February 1926. He shot people at random, sometimes using a silencer on his pistol. According to Omaha newspapers, people were shot as they stood at their lighted windows. Carter brought Omaha to a standstill, with empty streets, for over a week. He was captured on Feb. 26 and tried for murdering two people, but he claimed he had killed 43. Despite his lawyers’ attempts to plead insanity, he was found guilty and electrocuted in June 1927. Reports state that Carter’s last words were “let the juice flow.”
Jake Vohland attempted to steal chickens from Mr. and Mrs. Stubblefield. To protect their large chicken farm in Gibbon, the Stubblefields developed an ingenious homemade burglar alarm. They placed a mousetrap near the chicken barn door that rang bells in their living room and bedroom. On a dark night in March 1931, Vohland unknowingly triggered the burglar alarm. He ran out of the chicken house and refused to stop when Mr. Stubblefield called out for him to halt. While fleeing, he dropped part of his haul and managed to escape with only 10 chickens worth over $5. In his haste, the burglar did not stop for his car and made his getaway on foot. Mr. Stubblefield notified the sheriff after locating the abandoned car. The sheriff quickly determined the car belonged to Vohland and went to his home. Vohland claimed the car had been stolen for the chicken house raid, but he was arrested anyway. The jury did not believe Vohland’s story. Nebraska State Prison sentenced him to one year in prison for theft.
James Pappas’s mugshot card reads: “This man operated a General Store in Deweese, Nebraska, upon which he carried heavy insurance. A young man who worked for him was incited to set fire to the store in order to collect the insurance.”
Alv Lytle, pictured here with a shaved head, was convicted of bank robbery in Kearney County, Nebraska, and sentenced to 12 to 15 years in the Nebraska State Prison. The state paid Lytle $2,500 for false imprisonment after another man confessed to the crime. He served two years and seven days in prison for a crime he did not commit.
Ruby Fox and Myrtle Hetrick met while incarcerated at the State Reformatory for Women in York, Nebraska. Ruby was serving time for breaking and entering, and Myrtle for vagrancy. Unhappy with their treatment, Ruby and Myrtle devised an escape plan. The two women fled Nebraska in an automobile with the help of an unidentified man. The fugitives were captured in Casper, Wyoming. When they returned to Nebraska, Ruby and Myrtle requested to go to the Nebraska State Prison instead of the York reformatory. Their escape resulted in a one-year sentence at the Nebraska State Prison.
Myrtle Hetrick met Ruby Fox while incarcerated at the State Reformatory for Women in York, Nebraska. Ruby was serving time for breaking and entering, and Myrtle for vagrancy. Unhappy with their treatment, Ruby and Myrtle devised an escape plan. The two women fled Nebraska in an automobile with the help of an unidentified man. The fugitives were captured in Casper, Wyoming. When they returned to Nebraska, Ruby and Myrtle requested to go to the Nebraska State Prison instead of the York reformatory. Their escape resulted in a one-year sentence at the Nebraska State Prison.
Amos Holloman was a repeat offender. Each time he entered the prison system, he was given a new number.
