John Dillinger

"Public Enemies," 2009

Based on the book Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI 1933-1934, by Bryan Burrough, the film Public Enemies (2009), directed by Michael Mann, is the legend of gangster John Dillinger and the FBI's unprecedented attempts to bring him down.

The film adaptation stars Johnny Depp as Dillinger and Christian Bale as Agent Melvin Purvis, the man appointed by J. Edgar Hoover to take on Dillinger and his gang. Based on a true story, Public Enemies traces John Dillinger's life, which has become practically mythological over the years.

From a broken childhood and bank robberies to murder and prison escapes, Dillinger's sheer audacity continues to intrigue the media and the public today. Perhaps the intrigue lies in the unknown. Despite the gathered details and newly sewn stories, much mystery remains: how did he pull everything off? How did he escape from jail twice? How did he evade the FBI for so long? And why did he do it all?

True skeptics remain uneasy. Some still maintain that Dillinger was never shot and that his death was in fact, staged, and then covered up by Hoover and his new FBI.

The Washington Post reviews Burrough's book as "a wild and amazing story..." but Burrough is not the first author to be enthralled by Dillinger's unique tale. Several books and movies have been released on Dillinger's life prior to Public Enemies, which surely will not be the last of its kind.

Early Life and Family

Born on June 22, 1903 in Indianapolis, Indiana, John Dillinger grew up in a middle-class neighborhood with his mother, father, and older sister. At the age of four, Dillinger's mother died, and shortly thereafter, his father moved the family to a small farm in Mooresville, Indiana; he soon remarried. His father had several children with his new wife, and it was Dillinger's sister that is credited for his upbringing. It is rumored that he was not fond of his stepmother and that his father was a very harsh parent who practiced physical punishment.

In 1923, Dillinger joined the Navy but grew tired of it quickly, ultimately deserting. He returned to Indiana and told friends and family that he had been discharged. Shortly after his return, he married 17-year-old Beryl Hovius. He was 21 at the time. The marriage lasted a mere two years.

Introduction to Crime

Following the end of his marriage, Dillinger moved to Indianapolis and met Ed Singleton, a former convict, while working at a grocery store. Young and impressionable, Dillinger was taken under Singleton's wing and, before long, committed his first heist with Singleton: a botched grocery store hold-up.

After getting into a fight with the owner during the robbery and knocking him unconscious, Dillinger fled the scene, thinking the owner dead. Upon hearing Dillinger's gun go off during the brawl, Singleton panicked and drove away with the getaway car, leaving Dillinger stranded.

Without having a lawyer present, Dillinger pled guilty and wound up with a 10-year prison sentence. Singleton was caught and received just 5 years. Dillinger used his time in jail to strategize and plan his revenge against the justice system. With one year taken off his sentence for good behavior, he was released on parole in 1933, four years after the start of the Great Depression.

While in jail, Dillinger learned from seasoned bank robbers, preparing for a future in crime. Within a week of leaving prison he assembled a gang and began following through on plans to send arms to his friends at Michigan State Penitentiary for a well-plotted escape. However, on the day of the planned prison break, September 22, 1933, police, on a tip, raided the old house where Dillinger and his newly choreographed gang had set up residence.

Dillinger was again arrested. He was immediately transferred to Allen County Jail in Lima, Ohio. But the arrest only proved Dillinger's loyalty to his friends, they were quick to return the favor. Dressed as police officers, Dillinger's cronies snuck into the jail and broke him out.

Bank Robberies

All told, Dillinger racked up more than $300,000 throughout his bank-robbing career. Among the banks he robbed were:

July 17, 1933 - Commercial Bank in Daleville, Indiana - $3,500

August 4, 1933 - Montpelier National Bank in Montpelier, Indiana - $6,700

August 14, 1933 - Bluffton Bank in Bluffton, Ohio - $6,000

September 6, 1933 - Massachusetts Avenue State Bank in Indianapolis, Indiana - $21,000

October, 23, 1933 - Central Nation Bank and Trust Co. in Greencastle, Indiana - $76,000

November 20, 1933 - American Bank and Trust Co. in Racine, Wisconsin - $28,000

December 13, 1933 - Unity Trust and Savings Bank in Chicago, Illinois - $8,700

January, 15, 1934 - First National Bank in East Chicago, Indiana - $20,000

March 6, 1934 - Securities National Bank and Trust Co. in Sioux Falls, South Dakota - $49,500

March 13, 1934 - First National Bank in Mason City, Iowa - $52,000

June 30, 1934 - Merchants National Bank in South Bend, Indiana - $29,890

The East Chicago robbery on January 15, 1934 is particularly noteworthy. It was at this heist that Dillinger shot a police officer, thereby adding murder to his growing list of charges.

Jail Time

Shortly after the East Chicago robbery, a fire broke out in the hotel where Dillinger and his friends were staying in Tucson, Arizona. Tipped off again, police found and arrested Dillinger. Allowing no room for error this round, the police had him carefully secured and sent to Indiana by aircraft, where he could be tried for murder (he was only guilty of theft in Arizona).

He arrived at Chicago's municipal airport on January 23, 1934, where he was greeted by throngs of reporters eager to spread word of the capture of the infamous criminal. At this point in time, Dillinger was already a public sensation, due, perhaps, to the media frenzy surrounding him.

Dillinger was placed under high security at the jail in Crown Point, Indiana and he was treated as though he had all due intent to try another escape. However, as things settled down, the armed patrol guards on the streets surrounding the prison were dismissed, and indoor guards became more lax.

Despite having six armed guards between his cell and the outside world, the leniency of prison regulations permitted Dillinger to spend hours in his cell carving a fake gun out of an old piece of washboard using just a few razorblades. A replica of his creation is on display in the museum.

Dillinger was able to use the gun to escape by taking one hostage and forcing him "at gunpoint" to lead him out of the prison. Dillinger then managed to hijack a car from a nearby alley, and before the prison knew what had happened, Dillinger was on the road again with two hostages in tow. It was then that Dillinger made the fatal mistake of crossing state borders in a stolen car, bringing his crimes under FBI jurisdiction.

Escape at Little Bohemia Lodge

At the time of Dillinger's escape, J. Edgar Hoover was working on implementing a more credible, reformed FBI and developing a new strategy of assigning "special agents" to cases. Hoover appointed a special squad, led by Agent Melvin Purvis, specifically to track down John Dillinger.

Constantly on the move after his escape, Dillinger drove across the Midwest trying to avoid the FBI. At this time, Dillinger also managed to team up with his old girlfriend, Billie Frechette. After several close calls with the cops, Dillinger eventually wound up without Billie in the quiet Little Bohemia Lodge, just outside the remote town of Mercer, Wisconsin, hiding out with a cadre of criminals, including "Babyface" Nelson, Homer Van Meter and Tommy Carroll.

Alerted by concerned residents and the inn's owners, the FBI swarmed the house, but again, Dillinger managed to slip away. At this point, Dillinger concluded that he had simply become too recognizable. Seeking a better disguise, he decided to undergo major plastic surgery. It was at this time that he was christened with the nickname "Snake Eyes." The surgery was able to change everything except his devious eyes.

Death

Following Dillinger's last staged bank robbery in South Bend, Indiana, where he killed another policeman, Hoover made the unprecedented step of placing a $10,000 reward on Dillinger's head. About a month after the announcement, a friend of Dillinger's, an illegal immigrant working at a brothel under the stage name Ana Sage, tipped off the police. She was under the impression that the FBI would not let her be deported if she helped them.

Sage told officials that Dillinger planned to attend a film at the Biograph Theater in Chicago. Armed agents waited outside of the theatre waiting for Ana's signal (a red dress). Upon exiting the theater, Dillinger sensed the set-up and sprinted into an alley where he was fatally shot.

Legends

Several inconsistencies that were discovered upon Dillinger's death have contributed to his legendary status:

Several witnesses claim that the man who was shot had brown eyes, as does the coroner's report. But Dillinger's eyes were distinctly gray.

The body had signs of rheumatic heart disease that Dillinger was never known to have had. The body might have also shown signs of a childhood illness that was not recorded in Dillinger's early medical files.

In 1963 The Indianapolis Star received a letter from a sender claiming to be John Dillinger. A similar letter was also sent to the Little Bohemia Lodge.

The gun on display for years at the FBI headquarters that was allegedly used by Dillinger against FBI agents outside of the Biograph Theater on the day of his death was not his and was recently proven to have been manufactured years after his death. The original gun has not been recovered.

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