John Dillinger

1. John Dillinger

2. Background • John Herbert Dillinger was born on June 22, 1903, in the Oak Hill section of Indianapolis, Indiana • As a teenager, he was frequently in trouble with the police for petty theft and fighting • Was also noted for his “bewildering personality” and bullying of smaller children • His father feared that the city was corrupting his son, so they moved to Mooresville, Indiana in about 1920 • He was arrested in 1922 for auto theft and joined the Navy; however, he deserted the ship when it was docked in Boston and he was eventually dishonorably discharged

3. Background con’t • Unable to find a job in Mooresville, he started to plan a robbery with his friend, Ed Singleton • They robbed a grocery store for $50, but were caught by a local minister and arrested the next day • He was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison • While in prison, he became acquainted with other criminals such as Harry "Pete" Pierpont, Charles Makley, Russell Clark, and Homer Van Meter, who taught him how to be a successful criminal • He was paroled after just 9 ½ years in prison

4. Crimes • On June 21, 1933, he robbed his first bank, taking $10,000 from the New Carlisle National Bank • On August 14, Dillinger robbed a bank in Bluffton, Ohio and was tracked by police and captured then transferred to the Allen County jail in Lima to be indicted (a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime) • While searching him before letting him into the prison, the police discovered a document which appeared to be a prison escape plan and demanded Dillinger tell them what the document meant, but he refused • The plan was to get some of his former prison friends (Pete Pierpont, Russell Clark, Charles Makley, Ed Shouse, Harry Copeland, and John "Red" Hamilton) out by smuggling guns into their cells and breaking out • They then went to Lima and impersonated police officers to get Dillinger outWhen the sheriff, Jess Sarber, asked for their credentials, Pierpont shot him dead, then released Dillinger from his cell • Sarber was the gang’s first police killing of an estimated 13 lawmen

5. List of confirmed banks Dillinger robbed • Before Lima • New Carlisle National Bank, New Carlisle, Ohio, of $10,000 on June 21, 1933 • The Commercial Bank, Daleville, Indiana, of $3,500 on July 17, 1933 • Montpelier National Bank, Montpelier, Indiana, of $6,700 on August 4, 1933 • Bluffton Bank, Bluffton, Ohio, of $6,000 on August 14, 1933 • Massachusetts Avenue State Bank, Indianapolis, Indiana, of $21,000 on September 6, 1933 • After Dillinger was broken out of Lima • After Dillinger was broken out of Lima Central National Bank And Trust Co., Greencastle, Indiana, of $74,000 on October 23, 1933 • American Bank And Trust Co., Racine, Wisconsin, of $28,000 on November 20, 1933 • First National Bank, East Chicago, Indiana, of $20,000 on January 15, 1934 • After escaping Crown Point • After escaping Crown Point Securities National Bank And Trust Co., Sioux Falls, South Dakota, of $49,500 on March 6, 1934 • First National Bank, Mason City, Iowa, of $52,000 on March 13, 1934 • First National Bank, Fostoria, Ohio, of $17,000 on May 3, 1934 • Merchants National Bank, South Bend, Indiana, of $29,890 on June 30, 1934

6. Last Crimes • In April of 1934, the Dillinger gang settled at a lodge hideout called Little Bohemia Lodge, owned by Emil Wanatka • They assured the owners that they wouldn’t cause any trouble, but had them monitored whenever they left or made phone calls • Emil’s wife, Nan, managed to evade her pursuers and mailed a letter to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago • Federal agents showed up, but were undetected by Dillinger’s gang until the agents accidentally shot a local resident and two innocent Civilian Conservation Corps workers • Gunfire between the two groups lasted only momentarily, but the whole gang was able to escape in various ways

7. Last Crimes • On June 30, Dillinger, Van Meter, Nelson, and an unidentified "fat man" robbed the Merchants National Bank in South Bend, Indiana • Evidence this was Dillinger and his gang: • The unidentified “fat man” was believed to be Pretty Boy Floyd, a known associate of Dillinger’s • There was a shootout between his gang members and the police • Van Meter shot and killed police officer Howard Wagner as he walked towards the bank from a nearby intersection

8. Death • Division of Investigations chief J. Edgar Hoover created a special task force headquartered in Chicago to locate Dillinger • Ana Cumpănaş, also known as Anna Sage, contacted the police • She was a Romanian immigrant threatened with deportation for "low moral character" and offered the federal agency information on Dillinger in exchange for their help in preventing her deportation • She told them that herself, Dillinger, and a friend were going to the movies and she would wear a red dress to help identify Dillinger • She was unsure of what theater they would be at, so federal agents, with the help of a few police officers, staked out both theaters

9. Death con’t • Dillinger attended the film Manhattan Melodrama at the Biograph Theater in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood with Polly Hamilton and Ana Cumpănaş • When the film let out, an agent stood by the front door and signaled Dillinger's exit by lighting a cigar • Both he and the other agents reported that Dillinger turned his head and looked directly at the agent as he walked by, glanced across the street, then moved ahead of his female companions, reached into his pocket but failed to extract his gun, and ran into a nearby alley • Other accounts state Dillinger ignored a command to surrender, whipped out his gun, then headed for the alley • Three men fired the fatal shots: Clarence Hurt fired twice, Charles Winstead fired three times, and Herman Hollis fired once • Dillinger was struck three (or four, according to some historians) times, with two bullets entering the chest, one of them nicking his heart, and the fatal shot - which entered Dillinger through the back of his neck, severed his spinal cord and tore through his brain before exiting out the front of his head just under his right eye • At 10:50 p.m. on July 22, 1934, John Dillinger was pronounced dead at Alexian Brothers Hospital

10. Sociological theory I believe that the Sociological theory that best describes John Dillinger is the Anomie Theory. This theory is defined as when norms are either absent or conflicting. There is a strain between culturally defined goals and “legitimate” opportunities to reach them. There are five ways that an individual adapts to these goals, and I believe Dillinger falls under the innovation section. He falls into this category because he turned to crime instead of lawful means. John Dillinger didn’t have much growing up and had to resort to petty theft to survive. After he couldn’t find a job when he was discharged from the Navy, he started to plan out a bank robbery. However, he was arrested shortly after the crime was carried out. While in jail, he learned how to refine his techniques. When he got out, he went back to bank robbery. He organized a gang, known as the Dillinger Gang, to help him rob banks. His wealth was acquired through illegal methods, but to him, it was worth committing a crime. Instead of finding an actual “legitimate” job, he turned to organized crime to provide for a lifestyle that he wanted.

11. Rehabilitated I think, if John Dillinger was still alive, that he should be rehabilitated. He had gone to jail previously, but that was where he learned how to rob banks. I think he should be rehabilitated and taught a new skill that he could use to find a legitimate job. He had to have been clever and smart enough to be able to pull off a bank robbery, so there could be a job out there that would suit him. He would also have to have some psychiatric help so that he wouldn’t turn to crime again.