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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 ...
Nelson's body was found the next day, wrapped in a blanket, stripped naked, and dumped in a ditch in Skokie. The media always played up Purvis and relegated Cowley to a minor role. The official FBI accounts play up Cowley and minimize Purvis. Both men played critically important parts in ending the Midwest crime spree started by the Dillinger gang.
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
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]
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 ...
On the afternoon of April 20, 1934, Baby Face Nelson, John Dillinger, Homer Van Meter, Tommy Carroll, John Hamilton, and gang associate (errand-runner) Pat Reilly, accompanied by Nelson's wife Helen and three girlfriends of the other men, arrived at the secluded Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, for a weekend of rest. [2]
Herman Edward Hollis (January 27, 1903 – November 27, 1934) was an American law-enforcement officer who worked as special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. [1] [2] As an FBI special agent in the 1930s, Hollis worked with agents Melvin Purvis, Samuel P. Cowley and others fighting bank robbers, gangsters and organized crime in the Chicago area during the Great Depression.