John Dillinger Public Enemy No I: GREAT CRIMES AND TRIALS

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Discover the story behind a man who turned to crime out of boredom but then found it too addictive to give up. John Dillinger blazed a trail of crime across the States, robbing banks with a violent and authoritative ease.

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John Dillinger
born: 22-06-1903
birth place: Indiana, USA
died: 22-07-1934

In 1923 Dillinger enlisted in the Navy, but possibly not being the kind of guy to take orders went AWOL. He was later dishonourably discharged. At 20 years of age he met and married a local girl, sixteen-year-old Beryl Hovious, with the intention of settling down. But the pressures of trying to hold down a job and keeping a young marriage together led to volatile arguments and the union eventually disintegrated.

Early Crimes
On September 6th, 1924, Dillinger was with an older friend, Edgar Singleton, who allegedly introduced the young would-be gangster into a life of felony. Singleton, being more experienced and with considerable influence coerced the younger man into robbing a local grocer, Frank Morgan. Returning home with the week’s takings, the two men assaulted him. Dillinger hit Morgan with a cloth-wrapped iron bolt and the victim fell to the ground. Both men were arrested and ironically, despite Dillinger being the younger of the two and with no criminal record, found himself facing a stiffer penalty when he was sentenced to between 10 and 15 years in prison.

The canny Singleton, despite actually having a criminal record, engaged the services of a lawyer and received a lesser 2 to 14 years behind bars. While in prison the young Dillinger wrote a remorseful letter to his father.

“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... if I had gotten off more leniently when I made my first mistake this would never have happened.”

Although the letter demonstrated some regret at the way he treated his father, it also indicated that he was now a bitter man with an axe to grind. Inside the Indiana State Reformatory he kept his head down and showed that he could be an industrious prisoner in the shirt factory working as a seamster. So industrious that he not only completed his own quota twice over but also did other prisoners’ work too.

Perhaps the crafty Dillinger knew what he was doing; ingratiating himself with powerful fellow cons such as Harry Pierpont and Homer Van Meter who quickly struck up a friendship with him.

Despite being estranged from his wife, Beryl and his family visited him frequently. He also wrote warm tender letters to his wife, signing himself as ‘Hubby’ but little knowing that Beryl was contemplating a divorce. Even though she received a letter asking to send pictures of herself and telling her how much he’d care for her when he got out, Beryl filed for divorce on June 20th, 1929. Dillinger was devastated. It wasn’t to be the only blow, for a month later he discovered that his case for parole had been rejected.

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Links relating to this biography:
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