Back جون ديلينجر Arabic Джон Дилинджър Bulgarian জন ডিলিঞ্জার Bengali/Bangla John Dillinger Breton John Dillinger Catalan جۆن دیلێنجەر CKB John Dillinger Czech John Dillinger Welsh John Dillinger German Τζον Ντίλιντζερ Greek
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John Dillinger | |
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| Born | John Herbert Dillinger June 22, 1903 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | July 22, 1934 (aged 31) |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wounds |
| Criminal charge(s) | desertion from US Navy; Bank robbery, assault, assault of an officer, grand theft auto |
| Criminal penalty | Imprisonment from 1924 to 1933 |
| Spouse(s) | Beryl Hovious (divorced), Evelyn Frechette (common law relationship), Polly Hamilton (common law relationship) |
John Herbert Dillinger (/ˈdɪlɪndʒər/; June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He commanded the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing twenty-four banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprisoned several times and escaped twice. 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.
Dillinger courted publicity. The media printed exaggerated accounts of his bravado and colorful personality, and described him as a Robin Hood-type figure.[1][2][3] In response, J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), used Dillinger as justification to evolve the BOI into the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), developing more sophisticated investigative techniques as weapons against organized crime.[1]
After evading police in four states for almost a year, Dillinger was wounded in a gunfight and went to his father's home to recover. He returned to Chicago in July 1934 and sought refuge in a brothel owned by Ana Cumpănaș, who later informed authorities of his whereabouts. On July 22, 1934, local and federal law-enforcement officers closed in on the Biograph Theater.[4] When BOI agents moved to arrest Dillinger as he exited the theater, he attempted to flee, but was fatally shot; the lethal use of force by the agents would eventually be ruled justifiable homicide.[5][6]
- ^ a b Elliott J. Gorn, Dillinger's Wild Ride: The Year That Made America's Public Enemy Number One (2009), p 101.
- ^ Reynolds, Dean (June 21, 2009). "On the trail of John Dillinger". CBS News. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
Dillinger's robberies netted more than $300,000 (equal to $4 million today). To many, though, he was more Robin Hood than robber. 'Middle Americans were so angry at the bankers and businessmen who had taken their money, their home, their jobs, hundreds of thousands of Middle Americans especially were cheering on Dillinger,' said Burrough.
- ^ Goodwin, Christopher (June 28, 2009). "America's own Robin Hood The Dillinger legend". The Sunday Times. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
Dillinger's audacious string of robberies and prison escapes in the early 1930s turned him into an American folk hero, a Depression-era Robin Hood. His gang robbed more than a dozen banks between May 1933 and July 1934, stealing over $300,000. He also destroyed thousands of mortgage records during the robberies, helping many poor people escape payments to banks.
- ^ "A Byte Out of History – How The FBI Got Its Name". Federal Bureau of Investigation. March 24, 2006. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
- ^ J. J. Kearns's autopsy report
- ^ "Kill Dillinger here". Chicago Daily Tribune. July 23, 1934. p. 1. Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2017.