Age:  37
Served:  9 years
1926 to August 16, 1935

A former Cincinnati streetcar conductor and most recently a Lockland, Ohio, resident, 49-year old George W. Barrett had been tried on murder charges in Kentucky, but was acquitted "because of lack of witnesses."  The victims were his 73-year-old mother, a sister, and a cousin.  He was well known in Hamilton, often staying with a brother who resided in the city. Hamilton police had labeled Barrett the "Diamond King" because he occasionally "carried with him a handful of diamonds" while in the city.

Agent Klein, born in New Jersey, was a veteran of WWI.  He joined the agency in 1926 when it was the “Bureau of Investigation”.  During August 1935, Agent Klein, working out of the Cincinnati office of the FBI, searched for Barrett who was wanted for stealing and transporting automobiles to other states.  Agent Klein telephoned the chief of police of Hamilton, Ohio, where Barrett had once resided and advised him that the suspect was wanted by the FBI.  From some unknown source, Barrett got word that the agents were closing in on him, and he holed up at his brother’s farm near College Corner, Indiana. 

On August 16, 1935, Agents Klein and Donald McGovern drove to the farm, spotted Barrett near the house, identified themselves, and called on the suspect to surrender.  Ignoring the demand, Barrett scampered behind a garage and opened fire from about 22 feet.  Agents Klein and McGovern returned fire with their revolvers.  When the firing ceased, both Agent Klein and Barrett were down with multiple bullet wounds.  They were both rushed to an area hospital. 

Agent Klein died a few hours after arriving at the hospital, becoming the seventh FBI agent "killed in the line duty as the direct result of an adversarial action."  He was the fourth agent killed in the last two years. 

Agent Klein left a wife, Catherine (37), and three children, Nelson, Jr. (8), Richard C. (6), and Barbara Ann.  He was buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Southgate, Kentucky.  Nelson Jr. would later join the FBI and died in a car crash in 1969.  Barbara also joined the FBI in a civilian capacity.

Barrett was treated at Fort Hamilton Hospital and released as a paraplegic (due to the bullet wounds) on August 21, 1935.  After several weeks of recuperating, Barrett was taken by automobile to Indianapolis to stand trial for Agent Klein’s murder.  During the first week of December 1935, a jury returned a guilty verdict.  On December 14, 1935, Barrett was wheeled before the bar of Judge Robert C. Baltzell and sentenced to be hanged.  Barrett became the first person to receive the death penalty under a recent federal law that made it a capital offense to kill an FBI agent.  On March 24, 1936, at 12:01 a.m., seven months after the murder, Barrett was carried into the yard of the Marion County (Indianapolis) jail and hanged – the first official execution in the county in 49 years.

After the Cincinnati Office Special Agent in Charge found Agent Klein’s monument toppled and broken during the summer 2008, the marker was restored through the generosity and efforts of the Cincinnati Chapter of Former Special Agents and the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum. After determining no other family members were buried in the plot, a new inscription was etched into the stone marking the heroic ultimate sacrifice of Special Agent Klein.  Retired and active local and federal law enforcement officers, Greater Cincinnati Police Museum volunteers, and surviving members of Agent Klein’s family rededicated the monument on the 73rd anniversary of his death, August 16, 2008, with a short ceremony and cognac toast. 

During 2011, a new headquarters for the Cincinnati Office of the FBI was being completed and may be named for Special Agent Klein. 

If you have further information, artifacts, or pictures of this officer, please contact the Museum Director at Director@GCPHS.com.