Article of the Week - John Dillinger

John Dillinger
Public enemy number one was pursued for
several years by the FBI's Melvin Purvis

John Herbert Dillinger, Jr. (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster and bank-robber in the Depression-era United States. He was charged, but never convicted, with the murder of an East Chicago police officer. Although this was the only kill that is documented to have been by Dillinger's hand, during his bank heists a dozen victims — prison officers, police, federal agents, gangsters and civilians — were killed. His gang robbed two dozen banks and four police stations. Dillinger escaped from jail twice.

In 1933-34, among criminals like Lester Gillis (Baby Face Nelson), Pretty Boy Floyd, and Bonnie and Clyde, Dillinger was the most notorious of all. Media reports were spiced with exaggerated accounts of his bravado and daring. The government demanded federal action and J. Edgar Hoover developed a more sophisticated Federal Bureau of Investigation as a weapon against organized crime and would use Dillinger and his gang as his campaign platform to launch this FBI .

After evading police in four states for almost a year, Dillinger was wounded and returned to his father's home to recover. He returned to Chicago in July 1934 and met his end at the hands of police and federal agents who were informed of his whereabouts by Ana Cumpanas (the owner of the lodge where Dillinger sought refuge at the time). On July 22, the police and Division of Investigation closed in on the Biograph Theater. Federal agents, led by Melvin Purvis, moved to arrest him as he left the theater. He pulled a weapon and attempted to flee but was shot three times and killed.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "John Dillinger"