John_Dillinger

John Dillinger and Gang Members By Richard D Davidson A Paper Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for CJAD 421 Organized Crime July 2009 8420 Downe Drive White Settlement, TX 76108 RDDUSMC@sbcglobal.net Instructor: Malcolm Cole Abstract The purpose of this research paper is to examine the life of John Herbert Dillinger and his associates during the Great Depression. This paper will cover Dillinger from his humble beginnings in Indianapolis, Indiana until his death at the hands of the FBI in 1934. This paper will also discuss the crimes that he and his associates committed during the Great Depression to include his time in prison. Table of Contents 1. Introduction page 1 2. Family background and formative years page 1-3 3. Prison time page 3-5 4. Bank robberies page 5-6 5. On the run and the end of his life page 6-7 6. Conclusion page 8 7. References page 9 Introduction Dillinger and his gang’s exploit’s, along with those of other criminals of the Great Depression Era, such as Bonnie and Clyde of Texas, and Ma Barker of Missouri held the attention of the American press and its readers during what is sometimes referred to as the public enemy era from 1931 to 1935, a period that led to the development of the modern and more sophisticated Federal Bureau of Investigation. John Herbert Dillinger (aka John Dillinger) was born on June 22 1903 in Indianapolis, Indiana and died on July 23 1934 in Chicago, Illinois at the age of thirty four. John Dillinger was a bank robber in the Midwestern United States during the early 1930’s. He is considered by some to be a dangerous criminal, while others have 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 earned the nickname “the jackrabbit” for his graceful movements during bank heists or other robberies, his leaping over counters and the many narrow getaways from law enforcement officials. (www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/dillinger/dillinger/htm) Dillinger was born the Oak Hill section of Indianapolis, the younger of two children born to John Wilson Dillinger and Mary Ellen Lancaster they were married on August 23, 1887 in Marion County Indiana. Dillinger’s older sister Audrey was born on March 6, 1889. Dillinger’s father was a grocer by trade and was reportedly a very harsh man. Dillinger’s mother would die in 1907, before his fourth birthday. Dillinger was cared for by his sister during his early life until his father remarried on May 12, 1912 to Elizabeth Fields. In the beginning Dillinger was jealous and disliked his stepmother, but eventually came to love her according to local lore. Dillinger’s father and stepmother would have three children together Hubert Dillinger born 1913, Doris Dillinger born 1917, and Frances Dillinger born 1922. Dillinger attended public school until the seventh grade. He was frequently in trouble with law enforcement officials for fighting, petty theft, and was noted for his “bewildering personality”. Dillinger quit school and worked at an Indianapolis machine shop, although a hard worker he would stay out all night at parties. Dillinger’s father feared that the city was corrupting his son, prompting him to move the family to Mooresville around 1920. Dillinger’s wild and rebellious behavior would continue despite his new rural settings. In 1922 Dillinger was arrested for auto theft and the relationship with his father would deteriorate. His continued troubles would lead him to enlist in the United States Navy however he would desert a few months later when his ship docked in Boston. This and other transgressions would lead to his being dishonorably discharged from the Navy. After his discharge Dillinger returned to Mooresville where he met Beryl Ethel Hovious and the two would marry in 1924. Dillinger attempted to settle down, he had difficulty holding a job and preserving his marriage. Dillinger and Beryl Ethel would divorce on June 20, 1929. (www.johndillinger.com) Unable to find a job, Dillinger and his friend Ed Singleton began planning a robbery. The two robbed a local grocery store both were soon captured by law enforcement officials. Singleton would plead not guilty, Dillinger’s father convinced him to confess to the crime and plead guilty. He was convicted of assault and battery with the intent to rob, and conspiracy to commit a felony. He was sentenced to ten to twenty years in prison for his crimes. Dillinger would serve his prison time in the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana. While incarcerated Dillinger would embrace the criminal lifestyle behind bars, he became embittered against society because of his long prison sentence. He was befriended by other criminals and was educated by seasoned bank robbers like Harry Pierpont of Muncie, Indiana and Russell “Bobbie” Clark of Terre Haute, Indiana on how to be more successful a committing crimes. The men planned robberies that they would commit soon after they were released. Dillinger was let out of prison once to visit his sick stepmother she would die before he arrived at her bedside. Dillinger would return to prison and continue to serve his sentence. On May 10, 1933 Dillinger was paroled after serving eight and a half years. He immediately returned to crime robbing a bank in Bluffton, Ohio on September 22, 1933. Tracked by law enforcement officials from Dayton, he was captured and jailed in Lima, Ohio. Upon being searched before reentering prison police would discover a document believed to be an escape plan. Authorities demanded that Dillinger tell them what the document meant, but he refused to tell them. Dillinger had helped conceive a plan for the escape of Pierpont, Clark, and six other inmates he had meet while previously in prison, most of whom worked in the prison laundry. Dillinger had friends smuggle rifles into their cells which they used to escape, killing two guards, and four days after Dillinger’s capture. This group became 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 to Indiana where they joined the rest of the gang. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was brought into the investigation to help identify the criminals, although the men had not violated any federal laws. 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 indentified all of the suspects and issued national bulletins offering rewards for their capture. (www.fbi.gov/libef/famcases/dillinger/dillinger.htm) In the meantime Dillinger and his gang committed several 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 as Dillinger and friends rode off with the banks money. Stories such as this only added to Dillinger’s growing legend. They also plundered the police arsenals at Auburn and Peru Indiana, stealing several machine guns, rifles, and revolvers, a large cache of ammunition, and several bulletproof vests. On December 14th John Hamilton, a Dillinger gang member shot and killed a police detective in Chicago. One month later Dillinger’s gang killed a police officer during the robbery of the first National Bank of East Chicago Indiana from there they made their way to Florida, then onto Tucson, Arizona. Dillinger and Harry Pierpont were arrested in Tucson after the hotel they were staying at caught fire local firefighters recognized the men including Clark and Makley. All four were arrested. Dillinger was sequestered at the county jail in Crown Point, Indiana awaiting trial for the murder of the East Chicago police officer. Local Authorities boosted of that the jail was escape proof. On March 3, 1934 Dillinger fooled the guards with a gun he had whittled from wood. He forced them to unlock his cell; he then locked up the guards and several trustees, grabbed two machine guns and fled. (Dillinger’s Wild ride, Elliot J Gordon, Oxford University Press 2009) It was then that Dillinger made the mistake that would cost him his life. He stole the sheriff’s car and drove across the Indiana-Illinois state line. By doing this he violated the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act which made it a Federal offense. A federal complaint was sworn charging Dillinger with the theft and interstate transportation of the sheriff’s car. After the grand jury returned an indictment, the FBI became actively involved in the nationwide search for Dillinger. On July 22, 1934 with FBI agents staking out the Biograph Theater in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, Dillinger and his girlfriend, along with Polly Hamilton and Ana Cumpanas were attending the movie Manhattan Melodrama. Once it was determined that Dillinger was in the theater, the lead agent contacted J. Edgar Hoover for instructions, who recommended they wait outside rather than risk a gun ballet in a crowded theater. The agents were also told not to 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 standing by the front door lit his cigar signaling that Dillinger had exited the theater. 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 moved ahead of his female companions, pulled his gun and ran into a nearby alley. Three agents opened fire, firing five shots. Dillinger was hit from behind and fell face first to the ground. Dillinger was struck three times, twice in the chest, one nicking his heart and the fatal shot which entered the back of his neck and exited just under his right eye. At 10:50 pm on July 22, 1934 John Herbert Dillinger was pronounced dead at Alexian Brothers Hospital. (www.chicagotribune.com/topics/art-culture/john-dillinger) John Herbert Dillinger is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana Section 44, lot 94. (www.indystar.com/keywords=john+dillinger) Conclusion This research paper has covered John Dillinger and Associates. This paper has covered the short life John Herbert Dillinger and his associates in crime. I have covered his birth to early years progressing to the start of his crime years and those persons associated with him until his death at the hands of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1934. John Herbert Dillinger lived a short but fast paced lifestyle during the Great Depression. His exploits during this time frame made him legendary in the eyes of many citizens and his myth lives on today. References 1. Organized Crime 4th edition Michael D Lyman, Gary W Potter Pearson, Prentice Hall 2007 2. Dillinger’s Wild Ride Elliott J Gordon Oxford University Press 2009 3. www.fbi.gov/libef/famcases/dillinger/dillinger.htm 4. www.indystar.com/keywords=john+dillinger 5. www.johndillinger.com 6. www.chicagotribune.com/topics/art-culture/john-dillinger