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Lester Joseph Gillis (December 6, 1908 – November 27, 1934), [1] also known as George Nelson and Baby Face Nelson, was an American bank robber who became a criminal partner of John Dillinger, when he helped Dillinger escape from prison, in Crown Point, Indiana. Later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that Nelson and the ...
In the Michael Mann film Public Enemies (2009), Homer Van Meter is portrayed by actor Stephen Dorff. He is portrayed as being shot to death along with Baby Face Nelson by Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) after a car chase from Little Bohemia, when in reality, Van Meter escaped unharmed with Dillinger, Tommy Carroll, and Hamilton. The film also ...
In the film, Homer Van Meter and Baby Face Nelson are shot to death by Purvis after a vehicular pursuit from the Little Bohemia Lodge. Van Meter was actually killed by St. Paul police a few weeks after Dillinger's death. Nelson was killed on November 27, 1934 in a gunfight with Cowley. [citation needed]
With the death of John Dillinger in July 1934, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, known at the time as the Division of Investigation, focused on eliminating what remained of the notorious Dillinger Gang. Lester "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis, whom newspapers of the era dubbed "Dillinger's aid", had managed to elude the federal dragnet.
Gillis was the wife of mobster Baby Face Nelson, and assisted with many of his crimes. Alongside her husband, she was labeled public enemy number one. She was caught by the police soon after evading them while fleeing the scene of her husband's death. [2] [9] Fred "Shotgun" George Ziegler Goetz: No image available: 1896–1934
On November 27, 1934, Lester "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis, at that time the Public Enemy No. 1, was mortally wounded in a gun battle with the FBI and died later that night. The next day, Alvin Karpis was declared Public Enemy No. 1, which brought the full force of the FBI down on the Barker–Karpis Gang. [4] [5]
The gang had assured the owners that they would give no trouble, but they monitored the owners whenever they left or spoke on the phone. Emil's wife Nan and her brother managed to evade Baby Face Nelson, who was tailing them, and mailed a letter of warning to a U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago, which later contacted the Division of Investigation.
Hollis was killed instantly when a bullet hit him in the face, but Cowley survived long enough to identify Nelson and his companions to Purvis. He died at 2:00 AM, about ten hours after the shootout. Nelson's body was found the next day, wrapped in a blanket, stripped naked, and dumped in a ditch in Skokie .