Dillinger's Charisma
A consummate charmer
What made the prolific bank robber different from his peers was his charisma and wit. As seen above, he poses with a prospective prosecutor but moments later, he would take this opportunity to signal to his gang of a forthcoming escape.
Timeline
Sept. 6, 1933 (Wednesday)
Robs Massachusetts Avenue State Bank in Indianapolis with Copeland and Crouch.
BANDIT CAR: Desoto
TAKE: $24,000
Sept. 15, 1933
Has his 1933 Essex Terraplane repaired at 3034 Lawrence Avenue, Chicago.
Sept. 22, 1933 (Friday)
Captured in Dayton, Ohio, at the home of Mary Longnaker. He gives up without a struggle.
Sept. 23, 1933 (Saturday)
Transferred to Allen County Jail, Lima, Ohio.
Sept. 26, 1933 at 1:30 p.m. (Tuesday)
Indiana State Prison at Michigan City Jailbreak.
ESCAPEES: Harry Pierpont, Charles Makley, Russell Clark, Edward Shouse, Walter Dietrich, John Burns, James Jenkins, Joseph Fox, John Hamilton, James Clark
*On the same day Machine Gun Kelly is apprehended in Memphis.
Sept. 29, 1933 (Friday)
Michigan City escapee James Clark arrested in Hammond, Indiana. Dillinger writes a letter to his father from the Lima jail.
Saturday, Sept. 30, 1933
Michigan City escapee James Jenkins shot and killed in Beanblossom, Indiana, by townspeople. Local resident Herbert McDonald wounded in the arm.
Oct. 8, 1933
Sunday
Giants beat the Senators four games to one in the World Series; Dillinger bets on Giants.
Oct. 12, 1933
Thursday
Pierpont, Makley and Clark enter the Lima jail to free Dillinger; Pierpont kills Sheriff Jesse Sarber in the process. Clark and Makley are with Pierpont when Sheriff is killed. Copeland, Hamilton and Shouse stand guard outside. After freeing Dillinger, the gang travels to Hamilton, Ohio and then to Leipsic,Ohio,Pierpont's home, celebrates Pierpont's birthday the following day.
Oct. 14, 1933
Saturday
Robs the Auburn, Indiana, police station arsenal with Pierpont and Walter Dietrich.
TAKE: One Thompson, two .38 revolvers, one .30-caliber Springfield rifle, one shotgun, one Colt .45, one .44 Smith & Wesson, a Spanish .45, one German Luger, three bulletproof vests, and 1,245 rounds of ammunition.
Oct. 21, 1933
Saturday
Robs the Peru, Indiana, police station arsenal with Pierpont and Dietrich.
TAKE: Two Thompsons, six bulletproof vests, two sawed-off shotguns, four .38 police specials, two .30.30 Winchesters.
October 23, 1933
Monday
Robs Central National Bank of Greencastle, Indiana, with Pierpont, Makley, Clark, Copeland, Hamilton, and either Hilton Crouch or Leslie Homer
BANDIT CAR: Black Studebaker
TAKE: $75,000.00 to $78,000.00
*On the same day, Baby Face Nelson robs the First National Bank of Brainerd, Minnesota, of $32,000 with Tommy Carroll, Homer Van Meter, John Paul Chase, and Charles Fisher. Homer van meter not liked by Pierpont. This would be a prominent factor in later East Chicago Bank Robbery according to Pierpont's girlfriend Mary Kinder.
Oct. 26, 1933
Thursday
The governor of Indiana calls up the National Guard; armored cars with mounted machine guns on 24-hour duty in Indianapolis.
Late Oct. 1933
Johnnie meets Evelyn Frechette in North Side Chicago nightclub. According to Mary Kinder and Evelyn, John does not find out Evelyn is still married until Christmas of 1933.
Nov. 11, 1933
Saturday
Police attempt to arrest Tommy Carroll in Minneapolis on suspicion of participating in the Brainerd holdup. Escaping barefooted, he leaves behind $1,600 in cash, a rifle, a machine gun, and a shotgun
Nov. 15, 1933
Wednesday
After contracting ringworm at the Lima jail, Dillinger seeks treatment from Dr. Charles Eye in Chicago. Informant Arthur McGinnis notifies police, but Dillinger and Frechette escape trap
Nov. 19, 1933
Sunday
Harry Copeland arrested at Harlem and North avenues, Chicago, and returned to prison
Nov. 20, 1933
Monday
3p.m.
Robs American Bank and Trust Company in Racine, Wisconsin, with Pierpont, Makley, Clark, Hamilton, and Leslie Homer
BANDIT CAR: Black Buick
WOUNDED: Sgt. Wilbur Hansen
H.J. Graham, cashier (arm)
TAKE: $27,000
Nov. 24, 1933
Friday
Leslie Homer arrested at LaSalle and Ohio streets in Chicago
Nov. 30, 1933
Thursday
Baby Face Nelson and his wife, Helen Gillis, enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner with Homer Van Meter and Marie Comforti at the home of H.S. Lebman in San Antonio, Texas. The Nelsons leave for San Francisco on Dec. 11
*Nude body of Verne Miller found in Detroit; back of his skull crushed in
May 2, 1934
Wednesday
Bloodstained getaway car found abandoned at 3333 North Leavitt, Chicago
*In St. Paul, Billie Frechette pleads not guilty to having harbored Dillinger. Bond set at $60,000.
May 5, 1934
Saturday
Beth Green sentenced to 15 months for harboring Dillinger
May 15, 1934
Tuesday
Trial of Billie Frechette, Dr. Clayton May, and Augusta Salt begins in St. Paul. Judge Gunnar H. Nordbye presides
May 16, 1934
Wednesday
Baby Face Nelson pays a visit to Al Van De Houten, proprietor of Van Dee's Cafe and Bar, located at 152-154 South Crawford Avenue, Chicago. This establishment is now being closely watched by agents of the Chicago office.
May 23, 1934
Wednesday
Frechette and May found guilty of conspiring to harbor Dillinger. Nurse Salt acquitted. Frechette sentenced to two years at the federal prison in Milan, Michigan; Dr. May sentenced to two years at Leavenworth
*Bonnie and Clyde killed in ambush near Gibsland, Louisiana
May 24, 1934
Thusday
11:15 p.m.
Officers Martin O'Brien and Lloyd Mulvihill of he East Chicago police are killed by Van Meter in East Chicago. Van Meter fires machine-gun blasts at them from the back of a truck
May 27, 1934
Sunday
Dillinger moves into 2509 Crawford Avenue, Chicago, home of James Probasco
May 28, 1934
Monday evening
Drs. Wilhelm Loeser and Harold Cassidy arrive at the Probasco home to begin plastic surgery on Dillinger
Late May 1934
Loeser attempts to remove Dillinger's fingerprints with acids
May 31, 1934
Thursday evening
O'Leary calls on Dillinger at Probasco's. The bandages had been removed earlier in the day