Show 4 THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE SUNDAY MORNING AUGUST 5 1934 How Crown Point Was Dillinger’s Waterloo on Act vtmm'fmm'iftmimMtmm S ““ 'TM IP Dyer Following Escape From Indiana Prison Brings Down Upon His Head the Fateful Sword of Federal Justice — Govern- Slip-U- p f had undergone a-operation and had dyed his hair ?ney had minute descriptioh of his changed fea’ face-liftin- g 4 tures They learned at 4 o'clock on the afternoon of July 22 that Dillinger planned to see a movie It has been publicized that this information came from a woman — and the government will not this assertion nor confirm it To disclose hen icrehtity’ would be Jlo put her "on the spot” The informant —call her the "woman In red” if you will— was not sure which She theater Dillinger would attend thought it likely he would go to the Biograph theater where a crime picture Was showing Federal Inspector Rowley and Purvis flashed the news to Director Hoover at' Washington “Cover every theater in thi neighborhood” Hoover told his men "Use your own judgment on detailed plans - Take' no unnecessary risks Good luck to all die-put- ment Agents Stalk Quarry Night and Day Until July 22 When Their Final Bullets Catch LJp With Him in Front or a Chicago derworld -- converged on Chicago and tmo t spectat "Ditirngbr "'’trM'tntiotj'rfTzed sriitad" Harold Nalharv imperturbable assist-- ’ ant director of the division assumed the job of field marshal in this war on an elusive dangerous public enemy —“No I the newspapers rated him Other headquarters appeared unheralded in the middle west Hugh Clegg and Samuel Cowley other assistants to Hoover went to the "front CnwlevJaler was to be headquarters representative at the successful ambush ouU side Chicago's north side Blogruph theater Inspector Rorer captor of "Machine Gun" Kelly joined the group of crack investigators organized for the ' hunt In Chicago center of most of the activities a slim young man from’ South Carolina found himself saddled with He was major share of responsibility Melvin Purvis agent in of charge important Chicago field offices of the division Almost boyish in appearance Purvis would pass for $ clerk but hardly a detective Appearances however are deceptive Th Touhv mob underrated him and went to' prison fVerqf Sarikey reckoned without him and was captured later to commit suicide Purvis dropped - virtually everything else to concentrate on Dillinger Night and day he worked on the case — some- t times without sleep for hour at a grind Before' the search was over he was to meet many disheartening the’ worst of them at the little Bohemia inn He was to be subjected to bitter criticism from police and citizens and press but Hoover convinced of the unfairness of the attacks stood by him through it all Loyalty to his chief prompted Purvis at the height of the fire — when a petition was being circulated demanding his removal — to olfer to step out “to avoid any embarrassment to the department” Hoover picked up the long distance telephone taunted Purvis in mock serious-- " ness with being "afraid of a little criticism” and ended by telling the agent he Quid not Quit until he got Hillinger Purvis reassured by the director's exback pression of confidence plunged into tha hunt and had the satisfaction of redeeming himself in the eyes of his severest critics and of justifying the trust placed in him by his chief in Washing- i r 1 agent-in-charg- e Bio-grs- vXjpjyjVj r The field offices became alive with It was not activity of the sort to attract public attention for Hoover’s action men prefer to stay out of the fimeiight The nature of their work demands- - Systematic investigation of a scope surpassing anything in the past ’soon was under way— from coast to coast and from border to border Reports that Dillinger had fled to’ Canada to Europe to Mexico and to other places were discredited but investigated as a matter of course “The Safest place for him to hide is Hoover argued "He would be foolish to venture far out of territory with which he is familiar The best place for a crook to lose himself is in a large city Dillinger has friends fa Chicago St" Paul and otijer midwestern cities He can take a room or a small apartment there and avoid detection for a long time" With that theory in min’d expert "shadow" men and other agents with’ special qualifications slipped out of their offices on mysterious missions the nature of which was known only to a select few Underworld dives unwittingly opened their doors to new customers not in quest of entertainment Gambling houses'were frequented by strangers who joined in the games but were play- ing for higher stakes than those about them realized A bum appeared daily -- ton - The story of the Dillinger chase is a melodrama packed with thrills jsuspense courheartbreaking disappointments It ageous ‘feats a spectacular climax was a drama enlivened bytthe whitie of sirens the trackle of machine guns the shouts of hunted men and their the laughter of underworld wo- men the groans of seriously wounded or dying agents and gangsters “Get Diljingerl" Director Edgar Hoover of the justice department's division of investigation received that order direct from Attorney General Cummings Immediately he relayed the message long-awaite-d pur-sue- rs e -o- f-the-- ''At: A J f- half-bree- " She’ was to give the federal men J- - that sort nerve-rackin- e federal men s f - 'I v-- - - " A" V d did- not-- tf rrauc ENEMY £9 i NO MOKE i v te believe that Dillinger was In none of these raids— although members of his gang undoubtedly participated in some ' of the forays Director J Edgar Hoover end his special agents of the United State division of investigation greatly intensified their search as a result of the’ slaying nfAgehTCarler’Baum’at LittleBnhemla’ Baum had been shot down without a chance to defend himself Dillinger's mobster Nelson was the layer but Dillinger also must answer During those tense weeks that followed the Wisconsin b'attle the government operatives settled down to relentLittle less undercover Investigation credence was put in the constantly recurring reports about further Dillinger exploits Slowly but surely by dogged perseverance the government and police reduced the sphere of possible refuge for their quarry At a certain farm which Diilinger had frequented in the past a special agent1 secreted himself for many days in a haystack leaving his observation post only gt night to report to his “kill-crazy- ” superiors Leaving Mooreslille April 7 Dillinger wrecked his big sedan at Noblesville s Agents assigned to underworld brought word of widely circulated reports that Dillinger was dead Grime' "grapevine'for disseminating news hinted that the gangster had received fatal wounds at the Little Bohemia inn and had been buried by his comrades during their flight Other rumors were that h hid died of- iixfweSon fotB- w bullet— wound received earlier that he wgs ill that he was incapaci- of Chicago April o The gangster raided the Warsaw Ind police station April 13 'and fled with vests and two three bullet-proo- f Then he drove about revolvers 200 miles southward and crossed the bot’der into Louisville Ky whyre he sought medical treatment Three days later April 17 he bobbed up in Sault Ste Marie Mich at the home o I a sister of John Hamilton one of his pals Durlhr'ffie “nexf few ‘dayrDmiHIer planned organized and effected 'a convention Of his gang members and their women at an' obscure- roadhouse in the wooded fastnesses of northern Wisconsin That stage was being set for the now famous bailie of Little Bohemia On the night of April 22 when Dillinger from the Little and his Bohemia inn situated 50 miles north of Rhinelander This was the battle in which one innocent CCC worker was killed ahd two others wounded by the federal agent and a government man was killed by “Baby Face" Nelson and two others wounded After his escape from the federal siege of the Little Bohemia inn Dillinger “holed” himself in He did not cross the path of the government agents again until exactly three months laler — when lie paid for it with his life During those three months the elusive gangster was ‘‘recognized’’ by police and He citizens- in a multitude of places r was rreditedw blamed for kank robberies and other crimos From the best information now available however there is good reason to Eventually it became fairly welr es- tablished that Dillinger was in Chicago -Vjust where in that big city could not be learned at first The justice agents sought no cooperation from tlie Chicago police with whom they had broken as the result of a number of controversies growing out of the Factor kidnaping as well as the Dillinger case They dijl however accept an offer of cooperation' Irom "officials “o! tlie little police force of East Chicago Ind whose members were bent on avenging the slayjng by Dillinger of Patrolman Bill fl'Mallpy during a bank robbery at East Chicago Sergeant Earkovitch of (he East ChiThe cago force was a pal of O'Malley sergeant had a- wide acquaintance- in gangland where he was not only feared but generally respected He was known ” a “regular guy” as a He shed his uniform and went to work on underworld friends' The department of justice will not “divulge just who it was who gave the final fateful tip that trapped Dillinger Officials while declining to comment gave'Zarko-vitcon reports that an infurfhation which led federal men to the "woman in red" are profuse in their commendation uf thecooperalion of Zarkovitch and his superior Captain ‘r Timothy O’Neil That Dillinger was living somewhere was known iii Ihc north side o the' government operatives for more fhan a week before the trap was sprung They kpew that the gang chieftain hang-©ut- -- a ticket for himself and went inside "I was afraid Dillinger might have spotted us in the car and I hoped to locate him in the theater to make sure he had not gone down the aisle and slipped out an emergency exit” Purvis “But it was too dark to acc explained faces and the theater was packed 1 - eame-ottt- -” — — — There were nearly a score of agents augmented by O’Neil and Zarkovitch of the East Chicago police They tried to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible to disguise themselves as ordinary loiterers as sidewalk “ "flirts" as men waiting to keep ap- to the to show or see ipect pointments somebody after the show was ovrl It was impossible to avefa arousing suspicion of passersbx'heighbors and theater attaches fter two hours of this Persons began to collect to suspense ask one tywfher what was “up” A large window across woman in a second-storthe street never took her- eyes off Pur-'vi- s and his men "Every time I looked up at that woman her eyes were boring right through me” Purvis said afterward He feared she would call police She did not have to— the manager of the theater saved her the- trouble — 'Before a squad from the Sheffield police station had arrived to investigate the manager’s report that a “holdup" was being planned the show was over and the audience began to come out of - - — -v- -- - of game that only his luck and ' machine guns saved him— but he never learned how near he was to' falling into carefully arranged government traps on avveral other occasions Fbr months it was Dillinger who got all the breaks Repeatedly the special Dillinger squad uf the justice- department's division of investigation saw its secretly set snares ruined by blundering titizens' curious newspaper reporters or “other unofficial oir bfUciMTnlr'uders On the night of April 8 an attractive young woman sat with a fidgety man in Four a cheap beer parlor in 'Chicago or or five olher men lounged at tables ' stood at the bar The others were regular' habitue the place— a resort well known “to gangland a a safe hangout Tht is all but one of the others were regular cusHe had been coming in fretomers quently for several days and had struck bar-- " up a clubby acquaintance with the tender Apparently he was nothing but floater in quest of cona vivial companionship This man seemed “to have no particular 'interest in anyone in the room— except that he glanced covertly once or twice Jn the direction of the girl with the rough customer at the table Finally h yawned streethed his arms and sauntered to tile door where he expectorated a mouthful of tobacco juice Almost before nc had turned back into the room several strangers rushed into the ptac with drawn guns"It’s a stickup” somebody veiled Hands of all including the tobscco- down-and-o- g his-wa- y Dillinger knew the federal men were ii't vain-bbl- e information to guide them in their manhunt— and Purvis agehriir charge of the Chicago office of the division of investigation eventually was to set the trap that sealed Dillinger's doom After his spectacular escape from a St Paul apartment house on March 31 John Dillinger drew the federal men game of into an exciting hide and seek through half a dozen states Several hours after he had machine-gunneout of the apartment the crime chieftain received medical treatment" for a leg wound from a St Paul physician Four days iater with the ”G” men getting closer and closer to his hideout Dillinger and Evelyn Frechette drove to Moorosville Ind and boldly ate a chicken dinner at the Dillinger larm At that time the farm was not under close surveillance because its topographical layout made the task appear almost imLater methods were devised possible to keep the homestead under constant well-know- t 1 thin-bodie- -- X -- - m&mm chewing moil went up but the invader centered attention on the girl anil her companion "It's all right— we're government leader agents” the youthful of the armed" men announced to the bartender The voting man was Melvin Purvis Inand his prisoners were the dian sweetheart of Dillinger Evelyn Frechette and an underworld friend The Frechette girl had 'been widely sought as the woman who had escaped St Paul half-shu- - h - drinking hi beer ahd doling in a t corner His eyes were nnt asleep however and his ears were alert to catch any reference to a certain outlaw A "salesman” rented a room across from a suspected underworld joint and spent rriost of his working hours peering through a' window from behind a curv'' tain In a rural' community which Dillinger had visited in the past a filling station owner hired a new “attendant” who addition to proved to be a his staff He was always looking foe customers— well one customer anyway The department declined with thanks all offers of assistance from amateur sleuths There were a number of gangland "tipsters’ who dropped hint out of the ides of their mouths that they “knew something” and would be willing to talk worth their white tf Unde Sam made it were there Generally stool pigeons rats of the underworld whOiSe' word couia'ynot be trusted and whose racket was getting “expense money11 in advance and failing to wide-awak- g underUpper left J Edgar Hoover who heads the government’s At the upper right Atcover agency and who organized the hunt for Dillinger Is shown H Purvis who torney General Homer C'utnmings congratulating Melvin was directly in charge of the search and who gave the signal for the final closing F in on the bandit Lower lert Samuel Cowley formerly of Salt Lake City who was among the group of government agents who wrote finis on Dillinger’s escashows a scene in Mooresville Indiana DUlin-gerpades The photo at the lower right home town s far-flun- shabby-loofcin- called conferences to key men of his organization in the field by telephone to more than two dozen lie)d officers by teletype He followed up the initial order with the further instruction: "Act lirst— talk afterward" ' Inspectors and other aces of the department's criminological "brain trust” boarded planes for the scene of the manhunt ready to set up a front line board ef strategy Veteran agents skilled in sharpshooting end trained in the ways of the un- - ' v set-biic- break came When Dillinger cowed his Crown Point Jailers with a wooden pistol stole an automobile from a nearby garage and drove out of Indiana'- lfc loosed the bonds of legal red tape' that had held the federal men powerless Attorney General Homer Cummings hortly thereafter gave the word that electrified into action the nation-widforces of the division of Investigation Hoover waa on the long distance telephone snapping orders to Chicago St Paul St Louis Kansas City and other cities of the midwest where field offices J 'r so-h- forty-eigh- - ' Purvis thooght the Biograph held the greatest promise assigned himself to that station If he had been certain was to a Diilinger going particular theater Purvis would have laid his trap the gangster a the- theater That would have been preferable to attempting to take him after the show when crowds would be emerging Tie youthful took one gent with him and the pair parked their car near the entrance to the playhouse From his seat in the car Purvis saw Dillinger buy a ticket and enter the show at 8:40 p m The other agent immediately went to a telephone called off the watch at thg other theaters ahd relayed Purvis's instructions that reinforcements be dispatched to the scene The orders were to bring pistols but no machine guns Purvis got out' of his car as soon si Dillinger went (into the theater bought exeetit-tves-fron- v d law Finally' tha Agent-In-Charg- e heater 1 By REX C OLLIER (Copyright 1934 hv the ‘North Ameu-ra- n Newspaper Alliance nr WASHINGTON— When John Dilhn-gecommandeered 30 autnmnhi'r belonging to someone else and from Crown Point Inrl earlv last March bevnarred his record of "perfect crimes" with a small but fatal blunder Crown Point jvas Dillinger's victory nd his Waterloo It His triumph was a hnljow one it gave him temporary freedom hul lifted over his head the fateful 'sword Of federal justice It precipitated the most relentless efficiently organised and carefully executed manhunt sinre the department of justice weot after and got — Martin Duikif eight sears ago It is curious concdence Inal the tw o criminals for w hom the government laid down its greatest dragnets s'ipped Up on the ‘same minor criminal statute — the Dyer act making it a ted- ral offense to transport a stolen car from one state to- another Dillinger always had a wh&lesnmc reaped’ for the "G” men— those rollege-brespecial agents marshaled by J Edgar Hoover into the governments far Dung undercover agency He had found it a relatively simple natter to handle many of the local law enforcement organizations If a policeman could not be bought he could be outwitted or left behind at a state boundary Dillinger reasoned The "federate " however were not open to “propositkmi" they used brains M Well as brawn and slate lines meant nothing to them Most important of ail they never gave up In a chase Time and again the late Indiana desperado showed his contempt for city and atat£ law authorities He posed as a magazine writer induced gullible pn- lice to 'display their arsenal and then robbed- them of tha very guns with which they had bragged they would "get Dillinger Brazenly he entered towns where his ‘‘wanted’’ notices plastered public walls and raided banks be had inspected previously in the role of customer or vault salesman The government agents could only Tfinar by TielpTiesTjF’wniTrimirajlFOTra bis gunmert raurdered policemen who dared to face1 them end citizens who ought to protect their property They waited Impatiently for Dillinger figuratively to knock the chip off their shoulder by violating some federal -- " crowd-escape- ith--n- ' i bipod-poisonin- - “square-shooter- h Dillinger with two woman ’companions was among the first to emerge plenty of light ija frontjof tha theater and Purvis quickly spotted hiz Almost simultaneously Dillinger man gaze at the federal directed agent Purvis shifted his eyes "I don't know whether Dillinger recognized me or nol" 'Purvis later fold lloovef “If he’ did his face did not betray the discovery” The lo()by and sidewalk now were overrun with people largely women and children The gangster jznd his womea were walking down the sidewalk Purvis moved- along with them He made It was a casual matiorf with his hands the signal to close in Just as' the government men starUd to converge from all directions into constricting ring Dillinger sensed trouble His furtive eyes may have caught Pun’te'' nonchalant gesture and divined its meaning He ipay have wondered at the unusually large number of men that lined his path — some of them with hands in their pockets Apparently he had an intuition of impending danger for he suddenly jerked his head and looked backward for an ingrim-face- d stant His one quick look over his left shoulder must have confirmed his suspicions of a trap Instinctively his hand darted into his trousers pocket— he wore no autocoat nor holster— and a matic came out By that act he led his own execution Three federal agents beat him to the di aw Four shots blazed from three government pistols The government' hart caught tip Wltk its No 1 public enemy aig-ti- n a |