John Dillinger Biography
John
Herbert Dillinger (June 22
1903–July 22, 1934) was a bank robber in the Midwestern United States
during the early 1930s. Some considered him a dangerous criminal, while
others idolized him as a modern-day Robin Hood. He was responsible for
the murder of several police officers, robbed at least two dozen banks,
robbed four police stations, and escaped from jail twice. He was
nicknamed "the Jackrabbit" for his graceful movements during heists,
such as leaping over counters and his many narrow getaways from
police.[citation needed] He and his gang's exploits, along with those
of other criminals of the Great Depression, such as Bonnie and Clyde
and Ma Barker, dominated the attention of the American press and its
readers during what is sometimes referred to as the public enemy era
(1931-1935), a period which led to the further development of the
modern and more sophisticated Federal Bureau of Investigation.
After spending nearly a year running
from police, and hiding out in Florida, Arizona, Michigan, and
Wisconsin, he was wounded in one escape from police and returned to his
father's home to heal. He soon returned to Chicago in July 1934, the
site of several of his highest profile crimes. He was discovered there
by police, who were informed of Dillinger's whereabouts by a
prostitute. On July 22, they closed in on a theater where he was
watching a movie, and moved to arrest him as he left the building. He
pulled a weapon and attempted to flee, but was shot three times, with a
bullet through his face killing him. His crimes were sensationalized
across the nation, and his numerous escapes and robberies fed many
urban legends in the United States.
Early life
Family and
background
John Herbert Dillinger was born June
22, 1903 in the Oak Hill section of Indianapolis, Indiana, the younger
of two children born to John Wilson Dillinger (July 2, 1864 -November
3, 1943) and Mary Ellen "Mollie" Lancaster (1860-1907), who had married
August 23, 1887 in Marion County, Indiana. Dillinger's father was a
grocer by trade and, reportedly, a harsh man. Dillinger's older sister,
Audrey, was born March 6, 1889. Dillinger's mother died in 1907 just
before his fourth birthday.
Audrey married in the same year as
her mother's death to Emmett "Fred" Hancock and had the first of their
seven children in 1908. Dillinger was cared for by his sister during
his early life until his father remarried on May 23, 1912 in Morgan
County to Elizabeth "Lizzie" Fields (1878-1933). Initially, Dillinger
was jealous and disliked his stepmother, but reportedly eventually came
to love her. Dillinger's father and stepmother had three children,
Hubert Dillinger, born c. 1913, Doris M. Dillinger, (December 12,
1917–March 14, 2001) (married surname Hockman) and Frances Dillinger
(born c. 1922).
Formative years
and marriage
Dillinger attended public school at
least through grade seven. He was frequently in trouble with the law
for fighting, petty theft, and was noted for his "bewildering
personality." He quit school to work in an Indianapolis machine shop.
Although he worked hard at his job, he would stay out all night at
parties. His father feared that the city was corrupting his son,
prompting him to move the family to Mooresville, Indiana about 1920.
Dillinger's wild and rebellious behavior was resilient despite his new
rural life. He was arrested in 1922 for auto theft and his relationship
with his father deteriorated. His troubles led him to enlist in the
U.S. Navy, but he deserted a few months later when his ship was docked
in Boston. He was eventually dishonorably discharged.
After he was discharged from the
Navy, Dillinger returned to Mooresville where he met Beryl Ethel
Hovious (born August 6, 1906), the daughter of Stephen Hovious and Cara
Vandeventer. The two were married in Martinsville on April 12, 1924. He
attempted to settle down, but he had difficulty holding a job and
preserving his marriage. The marriage ended in divorce on June 20,
1929. Beryl Dillinger remarried in July, 1929 to Harold McGowen, with
the pair divorcing in July, 1931. In 1932, she married a third time to
Charles Byrum and they had one child. Beryl Hovious Byrum died November
30, 1993 at Millers Merry Manor, Mooresville, Indiana and is buried at
Mt. Pleasent Cemetery, Hall, Indiana.
Dillinger remained unable to find a
job, and began planning a robbery with friend Ed Singleton. The two
robbed a local grocery store, but were soon captured by police.
Singleton pleaded not-guilty, but Dillinger's father convinced him to
confess to the crime and plead guilty. Dillinger was convicted of
assault and battery with intent to rob, and conspiracy to commit a
felony. He was sentenced to ten to twenty years in prison for his
crimes.
Criminal career
Prison time
Dillinger embraced the criminal
lifestyle behind bars in the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. He
became embittered against society because of his long prison sentence.
He befriended other criminals, and was educated by seasoned bank
robbers like Harry Pierpont of Muncie, Indiana and Russell "Boobie"
Clark of Terre Haute on how to more successfully commit crime. The men
planned heists that they would commit soon after they were released.
Dillinger was let out of prison once
to visit his sick step-mother, but she died before he arrived at her
home. He returned to prison and continued to serve until he was paroled
on May 10, 1933 after serving eight and a half years. He immediately
returned to crime, and on September 22 robbed a bank in Bluffton, Ohio.
Tracked by police from Dayton, he was captured and jailed in Lima.
After searching him before letting him into the prison, the police
discovered a document which appeared to be a prison escape plan. They
demanded Dillinger tell them what the document meant, but he refused.[1]
Dillinger had helped conceive a plan
for the escape of Pierpont, Clark and six others he had met while
previously in prison, most of whom worked in the prison laundry.
Dillinger had friends smuggle rifles into their prison cells which they
used to escape, killing two guards, four days after Dillinger's
capture. The group known as the "first Dillinger gang" included
Pierpont, Clark, Charles Makley, Edward W. Shouse, Jr., of Terre Haute,
Harry Copeland, "Oklahoma Jack" Clark, Walter Dietrich and John "Red"
Hamilton. Three of the escapees arrived in Lima on October 12 where
they impersonated Indiana State Police officers, claiming they had come
to extradite Dillinger to Indiana. When the Sheriff asked for their
credentials, they shot him and beat him unconscious, then released
Dillinger from his cell. The four men escaped back into Indiana where
they joined the rest of the gang.[1]
Bank robberies
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
was brought into the investigation to help identify the criminals,
although the men had not violated any federal law. It was one of the
first cases in which the FBI intervened in matters outside of their
jurisdiction. Using their superior fingerprint matching technology,
they successfully identified all of the suspects and issued national
bulletins offering rewards for their capture.
Dillinger and his gang, in the
meantime, began a streak of bank robberies across Indiana. Among
Dillinger's more celebrated exploits was his pretending to be a sales
representative for a company that sold bank alarm systems. He
reportedly entered a number of Indiana and Ohio banks and used this
ruse to assess security systems and bank vaults of prospective targets.
Another time, the gang pretended to be part of a film company that was
scouting locations for a "bank robbery" scene. Bystanders stood and
smiled as a real robbery ensued and Dillinger and friends rode off with
the loot. Stories such as this only served to increase Dillinger's
burgeoning legend. Dillinger was believed to have been associated with
gangs who robbed dozens of banks and accumulating a total of more than
$300,000. Banks allegedly robbed by John Dillinger and his associates
included the Commercial Bank, Daleville, Indiana of $3,500 on July 17,
1933; Montpelier National Bank, Montpelier, Indiana of $6,700 on August
4, 1933; Bluffton Bank, Bluffton, Ohio, of $6,000 on August 14, 1933;
Massachusetts Avenue State Bank, Indianapolis, Indiana, of $21,000 on
September 6, 1933; Central Nation Bank and Trust Co., Greencastle,
Indiana of $76,000 on October, 23, 1933; American Bank and Trust Co.,
Racine, Wisconsin of $28,000 on November 20, 1933; Unity Trust and
Savings Bank, Chicago, Illinois of $8,700 on December 13, 1933; First
National Bank, East Chicago, Indiana of $20,000 on January, 15, 1934;
Securities National Bank and Trust Co., Sioux Falls, South Dakota of
$49,500 on March 6, 1934; First National Bank, Mason City, Iowa of
$52,000 on March 13, 1934; and Merchants National Bank, South Bend,
Indiana of $29,890 on June 30, 1934.
To get more supplies, the gang
attacked the state police arsenals in Auburn and Peru, stealing machine
guns, rifles, revolvers, ammunition and bullet proof vests. They then
headed to Chicago to hide out. On December 14, one of the gang members
murdered a police detective. A month later Dillinger led the gang in
another bank robbery, holding up the First National Bank in East
Chicago and killing one police officer. As police began closing in
again, the men left Chicago to hide out in Florida, the Gardener Hotel
in El Paso, Texas, where a highly visible police presence dissuaded
Dillinger from trying to cross the border at the Santa Fe bridge in
Downtown El Paso/Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico and then Tucson,
Arizona.
On the run
A fire broke out at Hotel Congress in
Tucson where the men were staying. Forced to leave their luggage
behind, they were rescued through a window and down a fire truck
ladder. Charles Makley tipped a couple of firemen $12 to climb back up
and retrieve the luggage, affording the firefighters a good look at
several members of Dillinger's gang. The firemen later recognized
Makley and another member while thumbing through a copy of True
Detective and informed the police who promptly arrested five of the
gang members including Dillinger. They found them in possession of over
$25,000 in cash, three sub-machine guns, and five machine guns. Tucson
celebrates the historic arrest with the annual "Dillinger Days"
festival, the highlight of which is a reenactment.
The men were extradited to Indiana to
stand trial, where they were held in the Crown Point jail. Dillinger
was charged with the murder of a police officer in East Chicago. The
police boasted to area newspapers that the jail was escape-proof and
posted extra guards to make sure. Dillinger was able to secretly carve
a wooden gun in his cell. Using it, he was able to trick a guard into
opening his cell. He then took two men hostage, rounded up all the
guards in the jail, locked them into his cell, and fled. Dillinger
stole Sheriff Lillian Holley's new Ford car, embarrassing her and the
town, and traveled to Chicago. In so doing, he crossed the state line
in a stolen car, breaking the federal Motor Vehicle Theft Act. The
crime was under the jurisdiction of the FBI who immediately took over
the Dillinger case after the car was found abandoned in Chicago and
Dillinger was indicted by a local grand jury. The FBI organized a
nationwide manhunt for Dillinger.
In Chicago, Dillinger began living
with his girlfriend Evelyn Frechette. They proceeded to Saint Paul, MN
and met up with several members of his gang. The landlord of their
apartment became suspicious and on March 30, 1934, reported his
suspicions to a federal agent. The building was placed under
surveillance by FBI agents who soon determined Dillinger was in the
apartment. After questioning a gang member who was attempting to enter
the apartment, he opened fire on the agents before escaping behind a
closed door. The entire gang then opened fire on the agents and fled
out a back entrance before back-up could arrive. They commandeered a
truck and drove to another gang member's home. Dillinger was wounded in
the escape and required medical attention. Dillinger and his girlfriend
traveled to Dillinger's father's home in Mooresville where they
remained until the wound healed. Frechette returned to Chicago to visit
a friend where she was arrested; she refused to give up Dillinger's
location.
Dillinger returned to crime again.
With his one fellow gang member he robbed the police station in Warsaw,
Indiana, stealing guns and bulletproof vests. They then traveled to
upper-peninsula Michigan where they remained for a short time. He
received a tip that the FBI was headed to the town, leaving just days
before they arrived.
Final months
Little Bohemia
Lodge
In April, the gang settled at a lodge
hideout called Little Bohemia Lodge, owned by Emil Wanatka, in the
northern Wisconsin town of Manitowish Waters. The gang assured the
owners that they would give no trouble, but they monitored the owners
whenever they left or spoke on the phone. Emil's wife Nan and her
brother managed to evade Baby Face Nelson, who was tailing them, and
mailed a letter of warning to a U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago,
which later contacted the FBI. Days later, a score of FBI agents led by
Hugh Clegg and Melvin Purvis approached the lodge in the early morning
hours. Two barking watchdogs announced their arrival, but the gang was
so used to Nan Wanatka's dogs that they did not bother to inspect the
disturbance. It was only after the FBI mistakenly gunned down a local
resident and two innocent Civilian Conservation Corps workers as they
were about to drive away in a car that the Dillinger gang were alerted
to the presence of the FBI. Gunfire between the groups lasted only
momentarily, but the whole gang managed to escape in various ways
despite the FBI's efforts to surround and storm the lodge. Agent W.
Carter Baum was shot dead by "Baby Face" Nelson during the gun battle.
Barney G. Louis Boeding accompanied him during the robberies.
By the summer of 1934, Dillinger had
dropped completely out of sight and the FBI had no solid leads to
follow. He had, in fact, drifted into Chicago and went under the alias
of Jimmy Lawrence, who was a petty criminal from Wisconsin who bore a
close resemblance to the bank robber. Taking up a clerk job, he also
found a new girlfriend named Polly Hamilton, who was unaware of his
true identity. In a large metropolis like Chicago, Dillinger was able
to lead an anonymous existence for a while. What Dillinger didn't
realize was that the center of the FBI dragnet happened to be in
Chicago. When the authorities found Dillinger's bloodied getaway car on
a Chicago side street, they were positive that he was in the city.
Lady in Red
FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover created a
special task force headquartered in Chicago to locate Dillinger. On
July 21, Ana Cumpănaş, a prostitute from a brothel in Gary contacted
the police. She was a Romanian immigrant threatened with deportation
for "low moral character",[citation needed] and offered to the FBI
information on Dillinger in exchange for their help in preventing her
deportation. The FBI agreed to her requests. Cumpănaş told them that
Dillinger was spending his time with another prostitute, and that she
and the couple would be going to see a movie together on the following
day. She agreed to wear a red dress so that police could easily
identify her at the theater. She was unsure which theater they would be
attending, but told the FBI the name of the two in which they would
potentially be.
A team of both FBI agents and
officers from police forces outside Chicago was formed. Chicago police
officers were excluded because it was felt that the Chicago police had
been compromised and could not be trusted. Not chancing another
embarrassing escape, the police were split into two teams. On July 22,
one team was sent downtown to the other theater, while another team
surrounded the Biograph Theater. During the stakeout, the Biograph's
manager thought the agents were criminals that were setting up a
robbery. He called the Chicago police who dutifully responded and had
to be waved off by the FBI, who told them that they were on a stake out
for a much more important target.
Biograph Theater
Dillinger attended the film Manhattan
Melodrama at the Biograph Theater in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of
Chicago. Dillinger was with his girlfriend, Polly Hamilton, and Ana
Cumpănaş. Once they determined that Dillinger was in the theater, the
lead agent contacted J. Edgar Hoover for instructions, who recommended
that they wait outside rather than risk a gun battle in a crowded
theater. He also told the agents to not put themselves in any danger
and that any man could open fire on Dillinger at the first sign of
resistance. When the movie let out, the lead agent stood by the front
door and signaled Dillinger's exit by lighting a cigar. Both he and the
agents reported that Dillinger turned his head and looked directly at
the agent as he walked by, glanced across the street, then moved ahead
of his female companions, pulled a gun, and ran into a nearby alley.
Three agents opened fire, firing five shots. Dillinger was hit from
behind and he fell face first to the ground.] Two female bystanders
were slightly wounded in the legs and buttocks by flying bullet and
brick fragments. Dillinger was struck three times, twice in the chest,
one actually nicking his heart, and the fatal shot, which entered the
back of his neck and exited just under his right eye. An ambulance was
summoned, though it was clear that Dillinger had quickly died from his
gunshot wounds. According to the FBI, Dillinger died without saying a
word. At 10:50 p.m. on July 22, 1934, John Dillinger was pronounced
dead at Alexian Brothers Hospital. The body was then taken to the Cook
County morgue where the body was repeatedly photographed and death
masks were made by local morticians who inadvertently damaged his
facial skin. Throughout that night and most of the next day, a huge
throng of curiosity seekers paraded through the morgue to catch a
glimpse of Dillinger. The chief coroner finally complained that the mob
was interfering with work, and Cook County sheriff's deputies were
posted to keep the crowds at bay. There were also reports of people
dipping their handkerchiefs and skirts into the pools of blood that had
formed as Dillinger lay in the alley in order to secure keepsakes of
the entire affair.
Dillinger was buried at Crown Hill
Cemetery (Section: 44 Lot: 94) in Indianapolis. His gravestone was
often vandalized by people removing pieces as souvenirs. His fans
continue to observe "John Dillinger Day" (July 22) as a way to remember
the fabled bank robber. Members of the "John Dillinger Died for You
Society" traditionally gather at the Biograph Theater on the
anniversary of Dillinger's death and retrace his last walk to the alley
where he died, following a bagpiper playing "Amazing Grace"
Questions
There are some doubts whether
Dillinger actually died on July 22, 1934. Some researchers (chief among
them famed Chicago crime writer Jay Robert Nash) believe that the dead
man was in truth the petty criminal from Wisconsin named Jimmy
Lawrence, whose name Dillinger was using as a pseudonym, and who
resembled Dillinger. Some people who knew Dillinger said they did not
recognize the body. Dillinger's father had suddenly exclaimed when
first seeing his son's corpse, "That's not my son!" Adding to the
uncertainty, Dillinger had received some rather crude plastic surgery
some time before his death.
However, the body was positively
identified as John Dillinger by his sister Audrey, through a scar on
his leg received in childhood. The coroner recorded Dillinger to have
had a different eye color. The mistake concerning the corpse's eyes was
attributed to an error on the part of the coroner resulting from eye
discoloration caused by a traumatic head wound or decomposition in the
intense summer heat. The FBI took at least two sets of post-mortem
fingerprints of the dead man. Though scarred by corrosive acid, the
prints shared the same characteristics as those of John Dillinger.
A 2006 Discovery Channel documentary
titled The Dillinger Conspiracy examined the legends surrounding his
death. Several historians, detectives, and forensic scientists examined
the autopsy, the 1963 letter, and East Chicago Police Sergeant Martin
Zarkovich's gun to determine the true story behind his death.
Ultimately, the show suggested Zarkovich fired the final bullet which
did in fact kill Dillinger, and that the FBI was complicit in his death.
Legends
The "Lady in Red" story subsequently
became legend, and stemmed in part from a poem allegedly chalked on the
alley wall where Dillinger was shot:
"Stranger stop and wish me well,
Just say a prayer for my soul in hell.
I was a good fellow, most people said,
Betrayed by a woman dressed all in red"
After his death, it was reported that
Dillinger had deliberately taunted J. Edgar Hoover by making collect
phone calls to the FBI headquarters in Washington, DC, as well as
sending him Christmas cards. The acts caused Hoover to become
irrationally obsessed with apprehending Dillinger to the exclusion of
all other duties. At one time, Hoover had directed a third of the
entire budget of the FBI in 1934 be devoted to hunting down Dillinger.
Hoover was known to have referred to Dillinger by name in the majority
of his private correspondence to friends and family in the months
leading up to Dillinger's death. After Dillinger was gunned down,
Hoover maintained a macabre private museum of Dillinger artifacts
including the gun, hat, pocket change and eye glasses that were found
on the body that night in Chicago.
Another popular legend in the years
immediately following his death claimed that Dillinger wrote Henry Ford
letters on a few occasions, thanking him for the power and durability
of his vehicles, and claiming that whenever he stole a car he preferred
to steal a Ford. The letter was proven a hoax, possibly inspired by
Clyde Barrow's supposed letter of praise one month earlier.
Source: Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia
JOHN DILLINGER
Frank Lankas
Gardenville, N.Y. 1941
John Dillinger, Johnnie Dillinger
The G-Men will chop you down
Some of the things that you've done done
Have been makin' the government frown.
Your numbers up, the words gone round
You won't be goin back to jail
You'll be a bull's eye for the police
And they'll throw the lead like hail.
John Dillinger, Johnnie Dillinger
The finger will be laid on you
And the G-Man watchin' with his gun
Is goin to get you too.
When he stops you Johnnie
He's gonna stop you dead
And head you out for the golden gate
Packin a load of lead.
O Billy the Kid and the Dalton Boys
And others of their kin
Were bad gun men outside the law
But they were brave gun men within
Now you know the old time story
How Billy met his end
It's too late to change you now
So long, old friend.
