John Herbert Dillinger was an American gangster during the Great Depression.
66 Facts About John Dillinger
2.
John Dillinger led the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations.
3.
John Dillinger was charged with but not convicted of the murder of an East Chicago, Indiana, police officer, who shot Dillinger in his bullet-proof vest during a shootout; it was the only time Dillinger was charged with homicide.
4.
John Dillinger returned to Chicago in July 1934 and sought refuge in a brothel owned by Ana Cumpanas, who later informed authorities of his whereabouts.
5.
John Dillinger was shot in the back; the deadly shot was ruled justifiable homicide.
6.
John Dillinger was born on June 22,1903, at 2053 Cooper Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, the younger of two children born to John Wilson Dillinger and Mary Ellen "Mollie" Lancaster.
7.
John Dillinger's father was a grocer by trade and, reportedly, a harsh man.
8.
John Dillinger's older sister, Audrey, was born in 1889 and the mother died in 1907 just before his fourth birthday.
9.
John Dillinger cared for her brother John for several years until their father remarried in 1912 to Elizabeth "Lizzie" Fields.
10.
John Dillinger quit school to work in an Indianapolis machine shop.
11.
John Dillinger's father feared that the city was corrupting his son, prompting him to move the family to Mooresville, Indiana, in 1921.
12.
John Dillinger returned to Mooresville where he met Beryl Ethel Hovious.
13.
John Dillinger attempted to settle down, but he had difficulty.
14.
John Dillinger was convicted of assault and battery with intent to rob, and conspiracy to commit a felony.
15.
John Dillinger expected a lenient probation sentence as a result of his father's discussion with O'Harrow but instead was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison for his crimes.
16.
John Dillinger's father told reporters he regretted his advice and was appalled by the sentence.
17.
John Dillinger pleaded with the judge to shorten the sentence, but with no success.
18.
En route to Mooresville to testify against Singleton, John Dillinger briefly escaped his captors but was apprehended within a few minutes.
19.
John Dillinger became embittered against society because of his long prison sentence and befriended other criminals, including seasoned bank robbers Harry "Pete" Pierpont, Charles Makley, Russell Clark, and Homer Van Meter, who taught Dillinger how to be a successful criminal.
20.
John Dillinger studied Herman Lamm's meticulous bank-robbing system and used it extensively throughout his criminal career.
21.
John Dillinger's father launched a campaign to have him released and was able to obtain 188 signatures on a petition.
22.
John Dillinger had friends smuggle guns into their cells which they used to escape four days after John Dillinger's capture.
23.
John Dillinger is known to have participated with the John Dillinger Gang in 12 separate bank robberies, between June 21,1933, and June 30,1934.
24.
John Dillinger was extradited to Indiana and escorted back by Matt Leach, the Chief of the Indiana State Police.
25.
John Dillinger was taken to the Lake County Jail in Crown Point, Indiana and imprisoned to face charges for the murder of a policeman who was killed during a John Dillinger gang bank robbery in East Chicago, Indiana, on January 15,1934.
26.
However, on Saturday, March 3,1934, John Dillinger was able to escape during morning exercises with 15 other immates, John Dillinger produced a pistol, catching deputies and guards by surprise, and he was able to leave the premises without firing a shot.
27.
Almost immediately afterwards conjecture began whether the gun John Dillinger displayed was real or not.
28.
FBI files, on the other hand, indicate that John Dillinger used a carved fake pistol.
29.
Sam Cahoon, a trustee who John Dillinger took hostage in the jail, believed John Dillinger had carved the gun, using a razor and some shelving in his cell.
30.
An Indiana newspaper reported that Youngblood later retracted the story and said he did not know where John Dillinger was at that time, as he had parted with him soon after their escape.
31.
John Dillinger was indicted by a grand jury, and the Bureau of Investigation organized a nationwide manhunt for him.
32.
Just hours after his escape from the Lake County Jail, John Dillinger reunited with his girlfriend, Evelyn "Billie" Frechette.
33.
Three days after John Dillinger's escape from Crown Point, the second Gang robbed a bank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
34.
Daisy Coffey, the landlord, testified at Frechette's trial she spent most evenings during John Dillinger's stay observing what was happening.
35.
John Dillinger parked, first on Lincoln Avenue, then on the west side of Lexington Avenue, at the northwest corner of Lexington and Lincoln, and remained in his car while watching Coulter and St Paul Police detective Henry Cummings, pull up, park, and enter the building.
36.
John Dillinger said she was not dressed and to come back.
37.
John Dillinger quickly returned to Cummings, and the two of them waited for Frechette to open the door.
38.
John Dillinger then stepped out and fired another burst at Cummings.
39.
John Dillinger hit Dillinger in the left calf with one of his five shots.
40.
John Dillinger was later seen, but not recognized, by Donegan and Geraghty.
41.
John Dillinger was promptly arrested by agents, but refused to reveal Dillinger's whereabouts.
42.
John Dillinger was waiting in his car outside the tavern and then drove off unnoticed.
43.
John Dillinger had, in fact, drifted into Chicago where he went under the alias of Jimmy Lawrence, a petty criminal from Wisconsin who bore a close resemblance to Dillinger.
44.
John Dillinger was sentenced to three years at Leavenworth, but was paroled early on December 7,1932, with Piquett's help.
45.
John Dillinger later testified that he performed facial surgery on himself and obliterated the fingerprint impressions on the tips of his fingers by the application of a caustic soda preparation.
46.
Piquett said John Dillinger would have to pay $5,000 for the plastic surgery: $4,400 split between Piquett, Loeser and O'Leary, and $600 to Dr Harold Cassidy, who would administer the anaesthetic.
47.
John Dillinger wanted two warts removed on the right lower forehead between the eyes and one at the left angle, outer angle of the left eye; wanted a depression of the nose filled in; a scar; a large one to the left of the median line of the upper lip excised, wanted his dimples removed and wanted the angle of the mouth drawn up.
48.
Loeser removed several moles on John Dillinger's forehead, made an incision in his nose and an incision in his chin and tied back both cheeks.
49.
John Dillinger came in with a drum of machine gun bullets under his arm, threw them on the bed or the couch in the bedroom, and started to talk to Van Meter.
50.
O'Leary stated that John Dillinger expressed dissatisfaction with the facial work that Loeser had performed on him.
51.
John Dillinger had remained friends with Sage and was sharing living space with Sage and Sage's 24-year-old son, Steve, at 2858 Clark Street.
52.
John Dillinger introduced himself as Jimmy Lawrence and said he was a clerk at the Board of Trade.
53.
John Dillinger was a Romanian immigrant threatened with deportation for "low moral character" and offered agents information on Dillinger in exchange for their help in preventing her deportation.
54.
Cumpanas revealed that John Dillinger was spending his time with another prostitute, Polly Hamilton, and that she and the couple were going to see a movie together on the following day.
55.
John Dillinger agreed to wear an orange dress, so police could easily identify her.
56.
John Dillinger was unsure which of two theaters they would attend, the Biograph or the Marbro.
57.
John Dillinger asked him what show was he going to see, and he said he would 'like to see the theater around the corner,' meaning the Biograph Theater.
58.
John Dillinger stated she was unable to leave the house to inform Purvis or Martin about Dillinger's plans to attend the Biograph, but as they were going to have fried chicken for the evening meal, she told Polly she had nothing in which to fry the chicken and was going to the store to get some butter; that while at the store she called Mr Purvis and informed him of Dillinger's plans to attend the Biograph that evening, at the same time obtaining the butter.
59.
John Dillinger then returned to the house so Polly would not be suspicious that she went out to call anyone.
60.
John Dillinger called the Chicago police, who dutifully responded and had to be waved off by the federal agents, who told them that they were on a stakeout for an important target.
61.
John Dillinger was hit from behind and fell face first to the ground.
62.
John Dillinger was struck four times, with two bullets grazing him and one causing a superficial wound to the right side.
63.
An ambulance was summoned, although it was apparent John Dillinger had died from the gunshot wounds; he was officially pronounced dead at Alexian Brothers Hospital.
64.
John Dillinger's death came only two months after the deaths of fellow notorious criminals Bonnie and Clyde.
65.
John Dillinger's body was available for public display at the Cook County morgue.
66.
John Dillinger's gravestone has been replaced several times because of vandalism by people chipping off pieces as souvenirs.