: 24ĭillinger was convicted of assault and battery with intent to rob, and conspiracy to commit a felony. Singleton pleaded not guilty, but after Dillinger's father (the local Mooresville Church deacon) discussed the matter with Morgan County prosecutor Omar O'Harrow, his father convinced Dillinger to confess to the crime and plead guilty without retaining a defense attorney. During the robbery, Dillinger had struck a victim on the head with a machine bolt wrapped in a cloth and had also carried a gun which, although it discharged, hit no one. : 26 While leaving the scene, the criminals were spotted by a minister who recognized the men and reported them to the police. The two robbed a local grocery store, stealing $50. Unable to find a job, he began planning a robbery with his friend Ed Singleton, : 22 who was an ex-convict. He attempted to settle down, but he had difficulty. : 18–20ĭillinger returned to Mooresville where he met Beryl Ethel Hovious. He was eventually dishonorably discharged some months later. In 1923, Dillinger's troubles led to him enlisting in the United States Navy, where he was a Petty officer third class Machinery Repairman assigned aboard the battleship USS Utah, but he deserted a few months later when his ship was docked in Boston. In 1922, he was arrested for auto theft, and his relationship with his father deteriorated. : 15 Dillinger's wild and rebellious behavior was unchanged, despite his new rural life. His father feared that the city was corrupting his son, prompting him to move the family to Mooresville, Indiana, in 1921. : 14 He quit school to work in an Indianapolis machine shop. Formative years and marriage Īs a teenager, Dillinger was frequently in trouble for fighting and petty theft he was also noted for his 'bewildering personality' and bullying of smaller children. She cared for her brother John for several years until their father remarried in 1912 to Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Fields (1878–1933). Īudrey married Emmett 'Fred' Hancock that year and had seven children. : 12 Dillinger's older sister, Audrey, was born in 1889 and the mother died in 1907 just before his fourth birthday. : 9 In an interview with reporters, Dillinger said that he was firm in his discipline and believed in the adage 'spare the rod and spoil the child'. Dillinger's father was a grocer by trade and, reportedly, a harsh man. John Dillinger's parents had married on August 23, 1887. John Dillinger was born on June 22, 1903, at 2053 Cooper Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, the youngest of two children born to John Wilson Dillinger (1864–1943) and Mary Ellen 'Mollie' Lancaster (1870–1907). 13 Shooting at the Biograph Theater and deathĮarly life Family and background.He was shot in the back the deadly shot was ruled justifiable homicide. When BOI agents moved to arrest Dillinger as he exited the theater, he tried to flee. On July 22, 1934, local and federal law-enforcement officers closed in on the Biograph Theater. He returned to Chicago in July 1934 and sought refuge in a brothel owned by Ana Cumpănaș, who later informed authorities of his whereabouts. Īfter evading police in four states for almost a year, Dillinger was wounded and went to his father's home to recover.

Edgar Hoover, director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), used Dillinger as a campaign platform to evolve the BOI into the Federal Bureau of Investigation, developing more sophisticated investigative techniques as weapons against organized crime. The media ran exaggerated accounts of his bravado and colorful personality, and cast him as a Robin Hood. He 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.ĭillinger courted publicity.

Dillinger was imprisoned several times and escaped twice. He led the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations. John Herbert Dillinger (J– July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. Bank robbery, murder, assault, assault of an officer, grand theft autoĮvelyn Frechette (common law relationship)

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