John Herbert Dillinger was born June 28, 1903, in Indianapolis, his family owned a grocery store. John's mother died of serious injury when he was just 3 years old. The boy's father married a second time and, apparently, was not involved in raising the child. The stepmother also did not show much interest in raising her stepson, because John, left to himself, even at school began to show bad inclinations. His classmates thought he was a tough guy.
Already at the age of 9, the boy formed a gang of his peers, calling it "12 villains". The boys did not just play villains: after a while, John was caught stealing coal. But the juvenile delinquent found it possible to keep John in the family. And at the age of 13 he was arrested for participating in a gang rape.
1919 - John dropped out of school and got a job as a mechanic in a car repair shop. He really liked this job, but his father, having bought a small farm in Morrisville, later moved his entire family there. Hard peasant labor was not interesting to John, and his father often gave him a beating for shirking work.
1923 John Dillinger steals a car. The police soon detained the would-be hijacker. However, he was released on bail, but, fearing his father's anger, he never returned home. John fled into the army, but deserted at speed from the cruiser "Utah". He had no choice but to return home. Less than a few months later, Dillinger was arrested again, this time for stealing chickens, but the sentence was overturned.
A year later, the guy married a teenage girl. But time has shown that he was not created for quiet family happiness. And soon John Dillinger again gathered a small gang and robbed the local department store with his accomplices. He was detained and interrogated for a long time. One investigator was able to persuade Dillinger to confess everything frankly, promising that he would be punished for this. The young man believed and testified against himself. The court verdict stunned John - he was given 10 years. From that time on, he would never trust the police again and would always go against the law. In prison, he met Harry Pierpoint, who became his spiritual mentor.
For his exemplary behavior, Dillinger was released on parole in 1933. America has changed over the years in prison. The Great Depression covered society: millions of unemployed and homeless people, long lines at free canteens and shelters. But John clearly knew how he would earn his living. To begin with, he acquired a weapon and gathered a new gang from his former cellmates.
The gang made itself known as early as September 1933. From that moment on, reports of their daring raids did not leave the headlines, creating for John Dillinger the image of a modern Robin Hood - not with a quiver and a bow, but with a machine gun. An American man in the street read with delight the articles that described how, during one of the bank robberies, the gang leader easily jumped over a high bank rack in the manner of actor Douglas Fairbanks.
After 4 months, the police were able to arrest the impudent raider for the first time. From a small prison in Lima, Ohio, he was able to escape with the help of his accomplices. The bandits introduced themselves to the prison authorities as police officers and demanded a meeting with the prisoner. The local sheriff paid with his life for being suspicious. When he began to demand from the arriving "police" documents, Pierrepoint shot him. No one could even imagine how the gangsters found out about the arrest of their boss, which only the Sheriff of Bafton and several people from the FBI leadership knew about.
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Once free, Dillinger became the sovereign master of Indiana. In order to take possession of the weapon, the gang even attacked police stations. In 1933, Dillinger's gang committed 45 bank robberies, stealing more than $ 5 million in total. State police were mobilized to raid gangsters. But John masterly escaped the pursuit, hiding in Chicago. Distinguished by a good sense of humor, the bandit sent the Indiana Police Chief for the New Year a kind of gift: a book called "How to Become a Detective."
1934, January 15 - John Dillinger committed the largest of his robberies. When robbing the National Bank in East Chicago, the gang stole $ 264,000. All efforts made to arrest the gang were fruitless. While the FBI and the police were looking for gangsters for days, Dillinger's gang rested in Taxcock Congress Hotel.
On the night of January 26, 1934, a fire broke out there. Firefighter James Freeman pulled Dillinger, several of his friends, and a suitcase full of money from the fire. As a token of gratitude, the gangsters gave him $ 12, and after a while the firefighter called the police and for a very long time explained by phone that John Dillinger was now in a local hospital, drunk and burnt. Perpetrator # 1 was arrested and sent to Crown Point convict prison with extreme precautions.
Despite this, however, on February 14, 1934, John and his accomplice Harry Youngblood were able to escape by passing through the courtyard of the guard, got into the car in which the warden of the prison, Lillian Colley, drove, and fled before their escape was even discovered.
An incredible clamor was raised by the newspapers. Willy-nilly, the American government had the opportunity to engage in this incredible insolent crime. Just a few days later, the journalists were shown a dummy machine gun allegedly found at the site of the gangsters' escape. The authorities in such a ridiculous way tried to create the impression that the escape was carried out without assistance, thanks only to a cunning trick. According to the federals, Dillinger cut out a wooden machine gun from a stool in his cell, which he used to frighten the guards during his escape.
Many of the journalists openly began to accuse the government that “the authorities and the police, out of a simple instinct for self-preservation, cannot allow an open trial against the Dillinger gang. They are so deeply riddled with corruption that now they must save the gangsters at any cost."
Indirectly, these suspicions were confirmed by the actions of the Federal Attorney's Office in Washington. Without refuting anything, representatives of the FBI sought to shift all responsibility for what happened to the chief and staff of the convict prison in Crown Point.
Lillian Colley, guards and the prison staff who guarded Dillinger were arrested. However, no charges were ever brought against them. And the case never came to court. It was only a roundabout maneuver to calm public opinion.
1934, March 17 - An article was published in the Michigan News newspaper, which said: “… the FBI officers received a secret message that on March 16 Dillinger was to meet with Youngblood in the small town of Fort Huron. 200 FBI agents were immediately dispatched there. As soon as the criminal emerged from the crowd of people, the two police officers who had been watching him all the time began to shoot without further ado. Youngblood was wounded, but was able to escape into an alley. And from there he shot at the policemen pursuing him. As soon as Youngblood was alone near the shop window, the feds immediately, without hesitation, shot the criminal on the spot.
But in the central American newspapers they told about this incident differently: "In the town of Fort Huron in Michigan, Harry Youngblood, who fled with Dillinger, was identified on the street by agents of the criminal police and was killed in a shootout."
The conclusion is that Dillinger's high-ranking patrons were very interested in eliminating the only witness who could solve the mystery of the gang leader's escape from prison. By killing Youngblood, they got rid of the dangerous bystander.
1934, March 30 - The police once again failed an attempt to arrest the gangster. The hostess of the St. Paul guesthouse told the police that she had frequent visits from the Dillinger gang lately. St. Paul's attorney summoned a detachment of local police to capture the bandits.
As a result of the unsuccessful operation, 3 guests of the boarding house died, and John Dillinger himself managed to escape. It was covered with fire by Homer van Meter, who, together with two girls who belonged to the gang, were detained. By order of the FBI, Homer van Meter was held at Crown Point, from where he was released on May 19, 1934 by the Governor of Indiana on parole.
Unable to withstand the many hours of interrogation with partiality, the girls who were in the gang "split up". As a result, several members of Dillinger's gang were killed without trial or investigation. And in Hot Springs, Frankie Nash was seriously injured. The detainee was transported to the Kansas Prison Hospital by rail. At the central station of the city, Dillinger's bandits were already waiting for them. A shootout broke out between FBI officers and gangsters. As soon as the first shots rang out, one of the FBI officers shot and killed Frankie Nash lying on a stretcher.
The media criticized the situation more and more sharply. The President of America Thomas Roosevelt was forced to intervene in the matter personally. He instructed US Attorney General Cummings to take special measures to eliminate the Dillinger gang. Cummings convened a meeting in which, in addition to FBI Chief Hoover, took part the most famous prosecutors and forensic experts in the United States.
But the speech of the US Attorney General was more like a surrender to the underworld. In conclusion, he said: “Gentlemen, I would like the US and its police to stop being the object of ridicule for the whole world. I would like the gangsterism that found its diabolical incarnation in the Dillinger gang to be ended one way or another. I am waiting for your suggestions, gentlemen."
Edgar Hoover, acknowledging his shameful helplessness, delivered a speech in response: “We are no longer able to put things in order by the legal means. All we can - is, regardless of the law and government regulations, to act in the same way that the underworld brought us out of balance - uncompromising terror. " At this meeting, Dillinger was declared state criminal No. 1 and, along with his gang, was outlawed. All FBI and police agents were ordered to "hunt without mercy" on them.
A few months later, the police were again defeated. During an attempt to capture gangsters on Lake Michigan, John Hamilton, one of the bandits, was seriously wounded. John Dillinger took him to safety, but he died a few hours later. Himself, without outside help, Dillinger buried the body of a former accomplice, having previously disfigured his face and hands with sulfuric acid. For many months, FBI agents continued to hunt for the already deceased John Hamilton. 17 innocent American citizens were killed due to a distant resemblance to this famous criminal.
Since the last skirmish with the police, John has lived in Chicago at 2309 North Crawford Avenue with ex-gang member James Prohasco, paying $ 60 a day. For $ 10,000, two surgeons, Leser and Cassady, agreed to give the No. 1 criminal underwent plastic surgery. Dr. Leser, who was serving a sentence for drug speculation, had to change the shape of Dillinger's nose, expand his cheekbones and chin, while Cassady had to change the pattern of papillary lines.
During the operation, John nearly died. As it turned out, he could not stand ether anesthesia. Only a few hours later, the doctors managed to bring him out of the coma. While the surgical scars were healing, John Dillinger grew a beard and dyed his hair. Even gang members would not be able to recognize their boss now.
June 30, 1934 - Criminal # 1 robbed a bank in South Bentley, Indiana. The gang's loot was $ 90,000. But this time, luck changed John. The policeman at the checkpoint tried to resist, and one of the cashiers took advantage of the confusion and managed to sound the alarm. The gang managed to escape, but the police were able to determine by handwriting that Dillinger's gang was operating here.
1934 July 20 - Housekeeper Anna Sage appeared at the bureau of the chief of the Chicago branch of the Federal Criminal Police, Melvin Purvis, and said that on July 22 she would meet with John Dillinger at the Biograph cinema. “So that you can spot me in the crowd, I will wear a red dress,” she suggested to the police.
Before the operation began, Purvis had informed FBI Chief Hoover of the impending arrest of Criminal # 1. And then he received instructions that left him in complete confusion: "Dillinger must be killed on the spot." Purvis was beside himself and tried to argue: “But this is nonsense, we have two whole days. We can call in troops, we can cordon off the whole area. Now Dillinger will not leave us. " But Hoover continued to insist: "I'll send you by plane Holdis and Cowley - the best snipers in the FBI."
To this day, there is no reliable version explaining why Anna committed this betrayal. Some believed: she simply took revenge on her former lover for the fact that he got himself a new passion and demanded that Anna recognize her. According to another version, Anna Sage, a Hungarian by nationality, had an expired residence permit, and therefore she was threatened with deportation from the country. At the cost of betrayal, she tried to gain the right to live in America.
John loved cinema. And in those July days, there was a deadly heat in Chicago. The only air-conditioned cinema was the Biographer, located on Lincoln Avenue. 1934, July 22, evening - Dillinger, Polly Hamilton and Anna Sage went there. 16 FBI men arrived there, including Cowley and Kholdis.
After the show ended, the doors of the cinema opened, letting the crowd out into the street. Among the last to come out was John Dillinger and his two companions. Anna Sage in a bright red dress was immediately noticed by the FBI agents in the crowd. Then events began to develop rapidly. One of the agents blew his whistle. John started to run. At this time, the police opened targeted fire. Dillinger was shot on the spot.
An hour later, all the American media announced that State Criminal # 1 had been killed. Both FBI agents were summoned to Washington. Holdis and Cowley at the airport, accompanied by journalists, were met by FBI Chief Hoover himself. He shook hands with them and said with emotion: “Thank you on behalf of the American police. You were able to restore her honor. That same night, Chicago police chief Melvin Purvis wrote his resignation letter.
Dillinger's body was embalmed and displayed in a Chicago morgue for all to see. The authorities wanted American people to believe in the death of gangster No. 1. Although there was no definite proof that the murdered man was John Dillinger. Thus, the illegal "hunting without mercy" had unintended consequences and brought America's No. 1 gangster legendary fame, lifting him to an unattainable pedestal.
J. Batiy, V. Sklyarenko