Who is dillinger

Afraid of being prosecuted, he joined the Navy but deserted a few months later. In he was arrested for assault and attempted robbery. On the advice of his father he pled guilty; not only did he receive a more severe sentence than his accomplice, who pled not guilty, but also the accomplice secured parole after 2 years, while Dillinger languished in prison. A difficult prisoner, Dillinger served much of his time in solitary confinement. As is frequently the case, Dillinger's confinement, instead of reforming and rehabilitating him, only trained him to be a criminal.

When he left prison in , he carried a map, supplied by inmates, of prospective robbery sites. Released during the worst of the Depression, as an exconvict it is unlikely that Dillinger could have secured legitimate employment. Shortly after his return, he married year-old Beryl Hovius. He was 21 at the time.

The marriage lasted a mere two years. Introduction to Crime Following the end of his marriage, Dillinger moved to Indianapolis and met Ed Singleton, a former convict, while working at a grocery store.

After fighting with the owner during the robbery and knocking him unconscious, Dillinger fled the scene, thinking the owner was dead. With no legal guidance, Dillinger pled guilty and received a year prison sentence. Singleton, also arrested, received just 5 years.

Dillinger used his time in jail to strategize and plan his revenge against the justice system. With one year taken off his sentence for good behavior, he was released on parole in , four years after the start of the Great Depression.

While in jail, Dillinger learned from seasoned bank robbers, preparing for a future in crime. Within a week of leaving prison he assembled a gang and began executing plans to send arms to his friends at Indiana State Prison for escape.

However, on the day of the planned prison break, September 22, , police, on a tip, raided the old house where Dillinger and his newly choreographed gang had set up residence. Dillinger was arrested again. Among the banks he robbed were:. The East Chicago robbery on January 15, is particularly noteworthy. It was at this heist that Dillinger shot a police officer, thereby adding murder to his growing list of charges. Jail Time Shortly after the East Chicago robbery, a fire broke out in the hotel where Dillinger and his friends were staying in Tucson, Arizona.

The elder Dillinger was a somber churchgoer who owned a neighborhood grocery store and some rental houses. He was an abusive force at times who would hit his son for perceived insubordination and then give him money for treats. Dillinger's mother died of a stroke when he was only three years old.

His sister, Audrey, who was significantly older, raised him until her own marriage a year later, with John Sr. Dillinger quit school at age 16, not due to any trouble, but because he was bored and wanted to make money on his own. He was said to have a talent for working with his hands and was a good employee at an Indianapolis machine shop.

In , hoping a change of venue would provide a more wholesome influence on his son, John Sr. Ever defiant, John Jr. Having been involved in illicit nighttime activity during his work trips, matters reached a head on July 21, , when a young Dillinger stole a sedan outside of a church, perhaps reacting to a failed romantic relationship.

He was later found roaming aimlessly through Indianapolis streets by two police officers, who, after questioning Dillinger and becoming suspicious of his vague explanations, placed him under arrest. Dillinger managed to slip loose from the officers, however, and ran.

Knowing that he couldn't go back home, he joined the United States Navy the next day. While Dillinger made it through basic training, he quickly realized that the regimented life of military service was not for him. While assigned to the U. Utah — the same U. Utah that was sunk at Pearl Harbor in — he jumped ship, ending his five-month military career. He was eventually dishonorably discharged. Upon his return to Mooresville in April , Dillinger met and married teenager Beryl Ethel Hovious in nearby Martinsville and attempted to settle down.

With no job or income, the newlyweds stayed both at the Dillinger farmhouse and the home of Hovious' parents. Dillinger eventually got a job in an upholstery shop. During the summer of , Dillinger played shortstop on the Martinsville baseball team, where he met and befriended Edgar Singleton. He told Dillinger about a local grocer who would be carrying his daily receipts on his way from work to the barbershop. The plan was that Dillinger could easily rob the elderly grocer for the cash he would be carrying while Singleton waited in a getaway car down the street.

Dillinger was allegedly armed with a. Dillinger is said to have come up behind the grocer and clubbed him with the bolt, but the grocer turned and grabbed his attacker and the gun, forcing it to discharge. Believing that he had shot the grocer, Dillinger took off running down the street toward Singleton's getaway car. Singleton wasn't there, however, and Dillinger was soon caught by police.

The local prosecutor convinced Dillinger's father that if his son pleaded guilty to the armed robbery charges, the court would be lenient. That was the extent of his legal assistance, however. Dillinger appeared in court without a lawyer and without his father, and the court threw the book at him: He was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison, even though it was his first conviction.

Singleton, who had a prison record, was also caught, but would serve less than two years of his two- to year sentence due to legal representation. Dillinger was imprisoned at the Indiana State Reformatory in Pendleton, playing on the institution's baseball team and doing seamster work. Dillinger's remarkable skill with his hands came into play just as it had during his time at the machine shop. He frequently completed twice his quota in the prison factory and secretly helped fill other men's quotas.

As a result, he gained an array of friends and allies, including Harry Pierpont and Homer Van Meter, two men who would eventually join Dillinger in his life of crime. Dillinger's wife and family initially visited him frequently. He often penned correspondences to Beryl full of romantic sentiment, with letters like: "Dearest, we will be so happy when I can come home to you and chase your sorrows away For sweetheart, I love you so all I want is to just be with you and make you happy She officially divorced Dillinger on June 20, , two days before his birthday.

He was distraught, later admitting that the split had left him crestfallen. That same year Dillinger was denied parole, becoming consumed by bitterness. In a letter he later wrote to his father in October , after several robberies, he confided, "I know I have been a big disappointment to you but I guess I did too much time, for where I went in a carefree boy, I came out bitter toward everything in general Dillinger told prison officials that he wanted to be transferred because the Michigan City prison had a better baseball team, but in actuality, he wanted to rejoin Pierpont and Van Meter, who'd been transferred there earlier.

Dillinger found prison life in Michigan City much more rigid, and his spirits became increasingly low. He didn't join the baseball team, but instead buried himself in shirt factory labor. It was during this time that Dillinger learned the ropes of crime from seasoned bank robbers.

In addition to reconnecting with Pierpont and Van Meter, he became friends with Walter Dietrich, who had worked with the notorious Herman Lamm. Previously part of the German military, Lamm had moved to America and was known for planning his bank robberies with a high degree of precision and strategic thought. Dietrich had studied the man's method well and instructed others on how to investigate the layout of a bank and surrounding establishments. John Dillinger 'Wanted' poster from June The court threw the book at him: 10 to 20 years in prison, even though it was his first conviction.

Singleton, who had a prison record, was also caught. He served less than two years of his two to four year sentence, thanks to having a lawyer. Dillinger was sent to the Indiana State Reformatory in Pendleton, where he played on the prison baseball team and worked in the shirt factory as a seamster. As a result, he made many friends within the prison population. It was at the state reformatory that Dillinger met Harry Pierpont and Homer Van Meter, two men who would someday join Dillinger in his life of crime.

She obtained a divorce on June 20, , two days before his birthday. He was devastated and later admitted the event had broken his heart. Dillinger was dealt a second blow when he was denied parole. He had not been an exemplary prisoner, after having tried to escape a few times. But not seeing he was much responsible for his circumstances, he felt bitter and angry about the denial for parole. Dillinger told prison officials it had a better baseball team, but the truth was he wanted to join friends Pierpont and Van Meter who had been transferred there earlier.

Dillinger found prison life much harsher and disciplined. He became depressed and withdrawn. It was during this time that Dillinger learned the ropes of crime from seasoned bank robbers. In addition to reconnecting with Pierpont and Van Meter, he became friends with Walter Dietrich who had worked with the notorious Herman Lamm. A former German army officer, Lamm had emigrated to the United States in the late s. He was famous for planning his bank robberies with the precision of a military tactician.

They had already begun planning bank heists for when they were out. Upon leaving prison, they would bribe a few key guards, get a few guns, and grab a place to lay low for awhile. But they would need money to finance their jail break.

Knowing that Dillinger would be freed sooner than they, Pierpont and is colleagues brought him in on their scheme and gave Dillinger a crash course in the art of robbery.

They gave him a list of stores and banks to hold up and contact information of the most reliable accomplices. They also provided him with guidance on where to fence stolen goods and money. In May of , the plan got an unexpected boost. Dillinger had been in the state pen for almost four years. He was notified by his family that his stepmother was near death. He was granted parole, but arrived home after she had died. With the aid of two female accomplices, Pearl Elliott and Mary Kinder, Dillinger put the escape plan in motion.

He arranged for several guns to be packed in a box of thread, and smuggled into the shirt factory. The prison break was set for September 27, Having some time on his hands, Dillinger decided to visit lady friend Mary Longnaker in Dayton, Ohio , whom he had met earlier that year. Unfortunately, the police had been stalking him through much of this time as he gathered the funds for the prison break.

He was on his way back to prison. Dillinger was incarcerated at the Lima, Ohio, jail under the care of Sheriff Jess Sarber and his wife, who lived at the jail building.

He realized that with some cash and a few guns he would be able to spring Dillinger. Armed with pistols, the three men approached the jail house just as Sheriff Sarber and his wife were finishing dinner. Pierpont knocked on the door and announced they were officers from the state penitentiary and needed to see Dillinger. When Sarber asked for their credentials, they showed him their guns. Sarber reached for a gun and Pierpont panicked and shot him twice.

Sarber gave them the jail keys and they sprang Dillinger. Sarber died a few hours later. This made all members of the gang accessories to murder. Once Dillinger was free, the gang headed to Chicago to put together one of the most organized and deadly bank robbing gangs in the country.

To pull many of the big jobs they had planned, Pierpont and Dillinger knew they needed heavy fire power, ammunition, and bullet-proof vests. To get the equipment, they headed to the police arsenal in Peru, Indiana. After casing the joint, Pierpont and Dillinger entered the arsenal, overpowered the three guards, and stole machine guns, sawed-off shotguns and ammunition.

After the bold prison escape, the killing of Sarber, the bank robberies, and the attack on the police arsenal, the Pierpont Gang was gaining substantial notoriety. Gang members were often described as shadowy figures, wearing dark overcoats with hat brims pulled down to hide their identities.

All the gang members were well aware of their publicity, particularity Dillinger, who read the stories and saved press clippings. While most men in this line of work possessed big egos, there seemed to be little struggle for leadership within the gang. Each man had a role to play and the planning of robberies was more egalitarian, with all members providing input. Nearly all members had girlfriends, some had wives, but the attachments were episodic.