Salt Lake Telegram | 1934-07-25 | Page 18 | Criminal at Early Age, Dillinger History Shows

Criminal at ai Early Age Dillinger History Shows I Editors Editor's Note Following is the first of a series of articles on n the tho lire lifo of John Dillinger It will attempt to discover the reason SOn for lor the vicious bandit I By MARTIN KANE KANES S United Pr Press s Staff Correspondent CorrespondentS S Copyright 1934 No single factor could account for tor John Dillinger But that hat records there are of his dimly remembered boyhood environment and even more misty heredity supply ample reason for the of or his violent end good policeman his bewildered Quaker father lather father once said There was marked physical res resemblance resemblance em blance between John Dillinger and Dave Lancaster his maternal uncle fearless brawny foe toe of or crime crim the most respected policeman on the Indianapolis police force orce of the DOs when vice flourished nourished openly under the Tom Torn Taggart regime The exploits of Lancaster in fightIng lightIng fightIng fight fight- Ing the underworld had a bloody parallel in Dillinger's vicious war against society Subsequently Lancaster became a detective sergeant s so powerful he heas was as known as the i invisible chief of police olice Invisibility also atco was a a characteristic char char- of Dillinger until federal bullets riddled his body Lancaster's father w was a black- black smith mith The son stood 6 C feet 2 inches tall all weighed pounds pound He lie and Dillinger illinger had bad the same facial char- char Both had jutting jaws wide vide ide mouths beetling brows and hi high h foreheads Doubtless Dillinger's rugged gard ard for his own life is a throwback to o some rome common ancestor in the Lancaster Lancaster Lan- Lan caster aster line and the fine line courage that was the Indianapolis policeman's beame became became be- be came ame tainted and misdirected misdirected per per per- haps aps through a fluke luke of environment The stern hand of the bandits bandit's deeply religious father his father his mother died led when he was 3 was 3 was too much for or the livel lively John who disliked school work and all aU forms of plIn line pline The rod was was was' not spared but the he child was most certainly spoiled He played hookey gambled finally Quit uit school His favorite haunt was vas Mooresville's pool parlor His first brush rush with the law occurred when he hest st stOle tole le an automobile to take a girl to toa toa toa a dance A lenient justice of the peace changed the charge to disorderly disorderly dis orderly conduct and John went unpunished un un- punished 5 Then Mooresville had its first crime wave Stores were looted of petty articles houses were entered and money stolen It was years later ater that townsfolk thought to at tribute these breaks to Dillinger Dilling At A. the he time he was was known as j just st a wild kid One of ot Johns John's favorite pranks as at a boy was to steal the village constables constable's constables constable's con con- stables stable's revolver and take it into th the woods for target practice with I i cronies who oS a surrounded u r r o 0 u un n d e d him charmed by his daring When Dillinger was Wa arrested by bj hick c cops ps at Tucson n Ariz Aniz a deputy sheriff sheri asked him when he robbed ii h his first bank Ten years ago ago ago nger replied and then clapped a hand over hi his mouth That was 10 years ago ago- but bu Involved merely the brutal beating beatin and robbing of an old man Questioned Mooresville residents then recalled that 10 years ago several several sev sev- eral cral county banks had been robbed robbe by a lone bandit Bank jobs credited credited credited cred cred- to Dillinger did not occur until until late in 1933 1033 It be began an to appear that even as a gangling country boy John Dillinger was vas a desper desperate te criminal