Infamous America - BABY FACE NELSON Ep. 6 | “Public Enemy No. 1”

Episode Date: January 17, 2024

Shortly after the Little Bohemia shootout, the celebrity criminals of the 1930s start to experience a reckoning. They fall one by one: Bonnie and Clyde, then John Dillinger, then Pretty Boy Floyd. In ...the autumn of 1934, Lester Gillis, aka George “Baby Face” Nelson, becomes the third man to carry the title of Public Enemy No. 1. But his reign at the top of the criminal underworld is brief and ends in a hail of gunfire. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons and bonus episodes. Click the Black Barrel+ banner on Apple to get started with a 3-day free trial. On YouTube, subscribe to INFAMOUS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Hit “JOIN” on the Infamous America YouTube homepage.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm4V_wVD7N1gEB045t7-V0w/featured For more details, please visit www.blackbarrelmedia.com. Our social media pages are: @blackbarrelmedia on Facebook and Instagram, and @bbarrelmedia on Twitter. To purchase an ad on this show please reach out: blackbarrelmedia@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:14 The plan of ditching Chicago and getting some rest in the north woods of Wisconsin had not worked out well for Babyface Nelson, John Dillinger, and their gang. A man who owned a roadhouse that was a well-known haven for criminals had recommended the Little Bohemia Lodge as a place to relax. The secluded lodge was nestled in the woods beside a lake, and it should have been the perfect place to hide. But with Dillinger's face constantly in the newspapers, hiding was pretty hard. At first, the lodge's owner, Earl Winnatka, had been thrilled to see three cars with ten guests pull up to his establishment.
Starting point is 00:00:54 It was the third week of April, and still cold outside, and still five weeks before the summer season kicked off on Memorial Day weekend. But when the crew arrived, Nelson handed Wannotka a letter from the owner of the roadhouse. The letter, in essence, told Wannotka to accept the guests. Wannotka noticed that Nelson and the other men in the group were sporting shoulder holsters under their jackets. Wanatka's son, Earl Jr., commented on the heavy weight of their bags. Wannatka could only assume that the weight was the group's additional firepower. His suspicions and concerns were elevated to full-on fear when he saw Dillinger's picture on the front page of the Chicago Tribune newspaper. It was confirmed.
Starting point is 00:01:41 The most wanted man in America was a guest at Earl Wannotka's Lodge. Wanatka and his wife Nan first planned to simply ride out the long weekend. The group had arrived on Friday and planned to leave on Monday morning. The men were all very polite and they tipped well. Their female companions offered to help in the kitchen and cleared the dishes. But as the weekend dragged on, the Wannotka started to fear that the visit from the out-of-towners would end in a hail of gunfire. Nan Wanatka slipped a note to her brother-in-law,
Starting point is 00:02:17 who eventually got word to senior agent in charge of the FBI Chicago office, Melvin Purvis. On Sunday afternoon, every agent in the region was headed for Wisconsin. By 8 p.m., more than a dozen agents surrounded the Little Bohemia Lodge. But just as the plan for a relaxing weekend didn't work out well for the gangsters, The plan for a raid on the lodge didn't work out well for Melvin Purvis and the FBI. The agents accidentally fired on locals whom they mistook for members of the gang, leaving two men injured and one man dead. The raid turned into a wild, blazing shootout that accomplished none of its goals.
Starting point is 00:03:02 Somehow, all the gang members, John Dillinger, Homer Van Meter, Red Hamilton, and Babyface Nelson escaped into the woods. Nelson had been separated from the others. He was the only man who wasn't staying in the main lodge. He and his wife Helen had been given a small cabin next to the lodge, and he had escaped the ambush by running down to the edge of the lake and following the coastline to a nearby house. He took two sets of hostages before he was inadvertently cornered by two FBI agents and a local constable. The lawmen weren't tracking Nelson they were just rushing to the nearest house to use a phone, and they stumbled into the fleeing outlaw. Nelson opened fire, killing Agent Carter Bomb and Constable Carl Christensen, and wounding Agent Jay Newman.
Starting point is 00:03:54 Nelson stole their car and began the journey out of Wisconsin. The adventure to get home would be nearly as crazy as the adventure to get away from the Little Bohemia, and Dillinger and the others experienced similar chaos. And from that point forward, time was running short for all the celebrity outlaws of the early 1930s. A month after Little Bohemia, former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer and his posse would ambush Bonnie and Clyde. Six weeks later, the FBI would close in on John Dillinger. And then it would be Pretty Boy Floyd's turn. And after that, Lester Gillis, the short, blonde-haired young man from Chicago nicknamed Babyface Nelson,
Starting point is 00:04:37 would finally achieve the notoriety he always wanted. He would be the third of four men to hold the dubious title of the FBI's public enemy number one, and his reign would end exactly as expected. From Black Barrel Media, this is Infamous America. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer, and this season we're telling the story of Lester Gillis, better known as Babyface Nelson,
Starting point is 00:05:11 one of the wildest and most intriguing gangsters of the Depression era. This is episode six. Public Enemy Number 1 After killing an FBI agent in front of a lakeside home, Nelson had stolen the agent's car and sped away from the area of the Little Bohemia Lodge. But after just one hour of driving, the car blew a rod and stranded him on the side of U.S. Route 51. Nelson considered trying to commandeer a vehicle, but it was the dead of night, and there was a good chance that any car on the road would be filled with law enforcement.
Starting point is 00:05:55 So Nelson grabbed his weapons and set out into the woods. He hiked in the direction he hoped was south for nearly 12 hours. After covering about 20 miles, Nelson found a cabin on a Native American reservation. It belonged to Ollie and Maggie Catfish, and they lived there with their daughter and granddaughter. The family was shocked to find a well-dressed and well-armed man plodding through the forest. but Nelson was also well-mannered. He asked to buy a cup of coffee, and the family offered him a full breakfast.
Starting point is 00:06:31 Nelson paid them generously. Soon, he had made arrangements to stay with the family for a few days. The fact that the remote cabin had no phone and no electricity worked in his favor. The family knew nothing of the gunfight at the Little Bohemia and possibly had never heard the name Babyface Nelson. After a few nights with the family, Nelson asked Ali to lead him out of the woods to a main road.
Starting point is 00:07:01 At 8 p.m. on August 27th, five days after the shootout, Nelson and his guide came out of the woods onto Highway 47, near the banks of Fence Lake. The two found a group of men who were heading out for some night fishing. At gunpoint, Nelson demanded the keys to the group's car. He grilled the men about law enforcement in the area. They assured Nelson there were no nearby. roadblocks. Nelson left with Ali Catfish, who guided him through the reservation's back
Starting point is 00:07:32 roads. Once Nelson felt he was clear of the FBI search area, he let Ali go. Nelson hit Highway 41 and made haste for Louis Sernaki's roadhouse north of Chicago. Nelson needed someplace to lay low, and to his surprise, the FBI was not surveilling the roadhouse, which was a well-known haunt for criminals on the move. While Nelson regrouped, information about what had happened to the rest of the group began to trickle in. All the members of the gang had escaped. The women who had been traveling with them, including Helen, Nelson's wife, had been questioned
Starting point is 00:08:12 and then charged with aiding and abetting fugitives. Helen was now in jail. Nelson then found out that the authorities had nearly captured Dillinger, Red Hamilton, and Homer Van Meter, but they shot their way out. However, the gunfight had left Hamilton mortally wounded. He hung on for a few days, but Gangrene set in. Dillinger buried him in a quarry, 30 miles outside of Chicago. While Nelson debated who he should reach out to and when,
Starting point is 00:08:44 the FBI was in crisis mode. The total mismanagement of the Little Bohemia raid was a career jeopardizing failure for men. Melvin Purvis. The posse had killed a civilian and terrorized a small town worse than any outlaw had. A petition of local citizens demanded an investigation into the raid and the ouster of Melvin Purvis. Then there was the matter of Agent Carter Bomb. Pervis could handle the public criticism. After all, he worked for the blustery, unpredictable, J. Edgar Hoover for nearly years. But the cold-blooded murder of an agent on his watch weighed on Purvis. Though it was
Starting point is 00:09:26 Babyface Nelson who killed Baum, John Dillinger remained the name in the headlines and the primary focus of the FBI's manhunt. Agents scoured Chicago looking for Dillinger, who had been on the move since escaping the Little Bohemia. They were also trailing anyone known to associate with Dillinger. Nelson soon learned that many of his friends were under surveillance. In some instances, the FBI had tried to buy information. In others, agents had resorted to more intense forms of intimidation and interrogation. Nelson knew he had to stay out of Chicago, but he also needed to stay close.
Starting point is 00:10:07 He reconnected with an old friend to find a place to hide while he tried to figure out what was happening with the rest of the gang. My relentless sleep problems have always come from an overactive mind. I lay in bed at night with my mind racing from one thing to another, and then, of course, I have a brainstorm about something new. That lights the fire, and then I'm in real trouble. To calm my mind, the only things that have ever worked with any consistency are sleep gummies. Sleepy Time Advanced Gummies from Mood.com come in various combinations of THC, CBD, and CBN. So you can get something that's very low in THC, but higher in CBD, which helps turn off the
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Starting point is 00:11:23 In early May, 1934, Nelson met up with his old pal from Sausalito, California, John Paul Chase. The two had become close in the San Francisco area while running rum for bootleggar Joe Parenti. Nelson hadn't seen Chase in quite a while, but he was happy to have an old friend around. An associate in Chicago gave the two men the use of a cabin about 50 miles out of the car. the city, which also happened to be less than 10 miles from Louis Surnaki's roadhouse. At the roadhouse, Nelson caught up with Tommy Carroll, whom he hadn't seen since the last night at the Little Bohemia. Nelson found out that John Dillinger and Homer Van Meter were hiding in a small town nearby. The search for Dillinger was so intense that he could barely leave
Starting point is 00:12:14 the house. A few times a week, Nelson or Carol would make a run to deliver food and supplies to Dillinger. This secluded life was how the gang spent most of the month. Dillinger found himself replaced in the headlines for at least a few days when a posse of Louisiana lawmen and Texas Rangers finally caught up with Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. On May 23rd, a group of six lawmen ambushed the sweetheart outlaws on State Highway 154 in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Bonnie and Clyde were dead within seconds. and their legends were cemented just as fast. While in hiding, Dillinger underwent surgery to change his appearance.
Starting point is 00:13:02 Once he had recovered from the painful procedure, it was said he could roam the streets of Chicago unnoticed. Some stories report that Dillinger was so brazen, he would walk right into police stations and chat with the officers. By mid-June, Nelson had grown restless. When he learned his wife Helen had been released, but was being routinely followed, he began to think that he should give the West Coast another chance.
Starting point is 00:13:29 But that kind of move was going to require more cash that he had on hand. He floated the idea of an out-of-state bank robbery to Dillinger and Van Meter, and they agreed. But none of them seemed particularly enthusiastic about it. Nelson had spent the weeks since the Little Bohemia Fiasco, fuming at every reference in the newspapers to the search for the quote, second Dillinger gang. And while Nelson grew more aggravated,
Starting point is 00:13:58 the rest of the crew grew tired of his attitude and aggression. Tensions escalated when the gang gathered to put the final touches on the plan for the heist. Nelson resented Dillinger's cavalier attitude about going out in public, and if Nelson needed any more ammunition for his argument, he received it on June 22nd, 1934. The FBI officially crowned John Dillinger, Public Enemy Number One,
Starting point is 00:14:25 and put up a $10,000 reward for his capture. Even so, Dillinger dined out in downtown Chicago and went to the movies at crowded cinemas. Nelson's anger wasn't reserved exclusively for Dillinger. He was also mad at Homer Van Meter. While Nelson had wisely remained isolated from his wife and children, Van Meter was allegedly running. around with his old girlfriend. She had been arrested along with Nelson's wife, and no one in the
Starting point is 00:14:58 gang trusted her. But even with all the hostility in the gang, they went through with the hastily planned robbery of the Merchants National Bank in South Bend, Indiana. They got away with $28,000, but the job was anything but smooth. Several civilians were injured. Homer Van Meter shot and killed a police officer, and Van Meter himself was shot. The gang rushed back to Chicago to get him on the operating table. No one thought he would make it, but Van Meter toughed it out and survived. And Van Meter wasn't the only close call in the gang. During the melee outside the bank, Nelson was shot point-blank in the chest, but was saved by a bulletproof steel vest. He was grateful to be alive, but still furious with Dillinger and Van Meter, and the resentment was mutual. The South Bend job on June 30,
Starting point is 00:15:54 1934, was the last known heist that Nelson pulled with Dillinger. As June became July, Nelson was finally able to see Helen. They continued to plan to move west, and Nelson's pal, John Paul Chase, was eager to join them. But before they made the trip, Nelson wanted one more big score. He and Dillinger put aside their mutual contempt and discussed another job, a train robbery of all things. But it never happened, and by the end of the month, the first public enemy number one would be dead. On July 26, 1934, Babyface Nelson, his wife Helen, and John Paul Chase loaded into Nelson's car and left Chicago. They were followed by an old associate of Nelson's named Jack Perkins, In Perkins car were his wife and son and Joe Negri.
Starting point is 00:16:52 Negri had been part of the bootlegging team with Nelson and Chase when Nelson had first tested the waters of the West Coast. Negri had been working in Chicago, but he decided to join the group and head back to his hometown of San Francisco. While Negri was bound for San Francisco, Nelson and the rest of the group weren't sure where they were headed. Maybe Reno, Nevada, maybe Sausalito, California. Maybe San Francisco. The exact destination wasn't the priority. Getting out of Chicago was. The urgency began four days earlier,
Starting point is 00:17:27 around 10.30 at night on Lincoln Avenue in front of the biograph theater. John Dillinger, without fear of capture, had gone to the biograph to take in a new film called Manhattan Melodrama. The movie starred Clark Gable as Blackie Gallagher, a well-connected debonair gangster who seemed destined to be done in by his murderous deeds.
Starting point is 00:17:51 Dillinger attended the movie with two women, Polly Hamilton and Anna Campanis, and he was about to have a real-life experience like Clark Gables' character. Anna Campanis ran a brothel where she was known as Anna Sage. She had been threatened with deportation to her native Romania, so she made a deal with Melvin Purvis and the FBI to identify Dillinger after the movie. The feds would know her in the crowd by the color of her dress,
Starting point is 00:18:22 either red or orange depending on the account, and she would be clutching the arm of public enemy number one as they left the theater. Shortly after Polly, Anna, and Dillinger exited the venue, FBI agents closed in. Two agents, Charles Winstead and Ed Hollis, fired at Dillinger, hitting him four times. John Dillinger stumbled forward a few steps and fell dead in the alley beside the theater.
Starting point is 00:18:50 The coroner's cause of death read, Justifiable Homicide by officers of the federal government. And even while Jay Edgar Hoover, Melvin Purvis, and the entire Bureau celebrated their victory, Hoover announced Charles Pretty Boy Floyd was elevated to public enemy number one. Floyd, a bank robbing outlaw known to many as a Robin Hood of Oklahoma, was thought to be one of the assassins at Union Station in Kansas City
Starting point is 00:19:18 one year earlier. Several members of law enforcement, including an FBI agent, had been killed in a daylight gun battle. Agents around the country hunted for Floyd, but in the Chicago office, the priority was to tighten the grip on the city and track down the remaining members of the second Dillinger gang. It was the final push Nelson had needed to leave town and head west. The group that drove out on July 26, spent several weeks living a nomadic life across the western United States. They moved from tourist camp to tourist camp, taking careful precautions to keep a low profile. Finally, they reached Reno, Nevada. The last time Nelson was there, he was greeted like a returning hero. But things had changed. His rap sheet now contained more than home invasions, a couple
Starting point is 00:20:15 small bank robberies and a bloodless prison escape. He was now known as a trigger-happy gangster who had run with the most famous gang in the land. He had been involved in several high-profile robberies, and he was wanted for the murder of a federal agent. He was turned away by one of his old employers because he was too much of a risk. Connections closer to San Francisco refused to assure Nelson's safety in the city. The group was forced back to. onto the road, bouncing from town to town in Northern California. Along the way, Nelson's friend John Paul Chase met a girl named Sally Backman. Chase warned Backman that the group might run into trouble with the law, but she promised she was up for it. Nelson was against it from the start.
Starting point is 00:21:06 He'd already had enough drama, but against his better judgment, Nelson agreed that Sally could travel with him. He was frustrated with Chase, but then again, his list of trusted friends was getting shorter and shorter. The new travel companion proved to be a headache right from the start. Backman complained about their destinations and humble accommodations, and Nelson didn't know that Chase had revealed Nelson's true identity to his girlfriend. Tension rose in the group in the late summer of 1934, to the point where Nelson openly threatened violence against Backman
Starting point is 00:21:42 and nearly came to blows with Chase. They worked their way back to the Midwest, and outside Chicago, the group agreed it was time to split up. Nelson and his wife separated from everyone else. The rest of the group headed into Chicago, but the Nelson's turned around and made the long drive back to Reno, Nevada. For a brief time, John Paul Chase and Sally Backman enjoyed a good life in Chicago. But when Backman traveled to San Francisco, she was identified by FBI agents, and taken into custody. In return for a promise that no harm would come to her boyfriend,
Starting point is 00:22:21 Backman told the FBI everything she knew. Babyface Nelson was living in relative anonymity in a two-room cabin in Wally Hot Springs, Nevada. Like Dillinger at the Biograph Theater, Nelson had no idea the walls were closing in around him. Law enforcement missed Nelson in Nevada, and by the time he returned to the Midwest, a lot had changed. Officers in St. Paul, Minnesota had killed Homer Van Meter.
Starting point is 00:22:55 Nelson didn't exactly shed tears over Van Meter's death, but he was wary that it happened in St. Paul. The city had once been a safe harbor for criminals with the consent of the local cops. But if Van Meter wasn't safe there, Babyface Nelson knew he wouldn't be either. Whether he admitted it to himself or not, Nelson wasn't safe anywhere.
Starting point is 00:23:17 Agent Melvin Purvis, the man credited with catching Dillinger, and fellow agent Ed Hollis, one of the men credited with killing Dillinger, had tracked down Pretty Boy Floyd. They shot and killed Floyd while he ran through a field in Ohio. With Dillinger and Floyd dead, the first two men to wear the label of the FBI's public enemy number one, baby face Nelson moved up to the top spot. He was now the FBI's most wanted man in America, and he was the third public enemy number one. Law enforcement's focus on Nelson made it dangerous to stay in any one place too long. For weeks, Nelson and Helen moved around the Chicago area. They slept in their car almost every night as Nelson tried to rally new men
Starting point is 00:24:07 and plan a job. He was desperate for money, and in late November, just before Thanksgiving, he made plans to go up to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. He wanted to resurrect the idea of a train robbery that he and Dillinger had discussed. By 1934, train robberies were largely a thing of the past, but they weren't completely gone. The final old-school train robbery in America happened in 1937. But it was such a bumbling, comical attempt that it barely qualifies. It would have embarrassed the likes of Jesse James and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. But Babyface Nelson wanted to give it a shot. He had never intentionally involved his wife Helen in his crimes, but he had to bring her on the trip this time. If she was alone, he was scared she would be grabbed by the police.
Starting point is 00:24:59 John Paul Chase reunited with Nelson after Nelson's return to the Midwest. and Nelson was happy to hear that Chase hadn't seen Sally Backman. But just because Chase hadn't seen her didn't mean she was a thing of the past. Neither Chase nor Nelson knew that Sally had made a list for the FBI of all the places Nelson was known to visit, including places in and around Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The Bureau had taken Sally on a driving tour of the region to see if she recognized the names of landmarks that Nelson might have mentioned. She identified the Lake Como Inn as one of those places.
Starting point is 00:25:37 The owner of the inn quickly agreed to let agents set up and wait for Nelson, and they didn't have to wait long. Sally's information was right on the money. On the afternoon of November 27th, FBI agents spotted Nelson near the Lake Como Inn. They reported his license plate number to every agent in the Midwest. Two agents in Chicago took special notice. One was Ed Hollis, the man who helped bring down Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd. The other was Sam Cowley, who was leading the Nelson Manhunt.
Starting point is 00:26:11 They immediately armed up and sped toward Wisconsin. At the same time, two agents who were closer to the area spotted a car similar to the one Nelson was reported to be driving. It was headed south on Highway 12. The agents who were driving north pulled an aggressive U-turn and started following a car. the car. Their suspicion was correct. The car held public enemy number one, his wife, and his associate John Paul Chase. But the agent's blatant course correction caught Nelson's attention. Without warning, Helen or Chase, Nelson pulled hard on the steering wheel. He drove the car over the grassy median that separated the northbound lanes from the southbound lanes,
Starting point is 00:26:58 and then he did it again. He had been an impressive driver since he was young, and now he put all his skills to work. In a matter of seconds, he went from being the pursued to being the pursuer. He hit the gas and caught up to the agent's car. Nelson told Helen to drop down to the floorboards. He shouted at Chase to grab one of the machine guns in the back seat. Nelson gripped the wheel with one hand and maneuvered it alongside the agent's car. With his other hand, he held a 38 caliber pistol.
Starting point is 00:27:31 Nelson and Chase opened fire, and so did the agent. They swerved away from each other, each car barely staying on the road. The agent's car continued to speed down the highway, but when Nelson stomped on the gas pedal, nothing happened. The engine had been hit. When the agents realized they had disabled Nelson's car, they skidded to a stop on the side of the road. They jumped out and found cover. Limping down the road in his dying car, Nelson didn't know how bad his luck had become. By pure chance, agents Ed Hollis and Sam Cowley, who had been racing toward the Lake Geneva area, had passed the speeding gunfight.
Starting point is 00:28:13 They pulled a quick U-turn and quickly closed in on Nelson's car. Hollis and Cowley watched Nelson guide the car onto a dirt road near the entrance to a park in Barrington, Illinois, about 30 miles northwest of Chicago. The outlaw jumped out of his car with a machine gun. Ed Hollis may have been confident, considering he had helped take down two public enemies, but he had shot both of them in the back. Babyface Nelson was ready for a face-to-face gunfight. If this was Nelson's end, it would happen in the proverbial blaze of glory. The rules and regulations of the FBI had come a long way in a short time in the age of the Depression-era outlaws.
Starting point is 00:29:00 Gone were the rules that stated FBI agents needed local law enforcement to make an arrest. And gone were the restrictions on agents carrying firearms. Agent Hollis had a shotgun, and Agent Cowley had a Tommy gun as they stared down Babyface Nelson. The agents had stopped in the middle of the highway, about 150 feet from Nelson's position. Agent Cowley opened up with his Tommy gun. He hit Nelson nearly center mass with several rounds. The outlaw buckled, but gathered himself and returned fire. His gun roared as he struck Cowley in the stomach and chest. Agent Hollis blasted away with his shotgun. Pellets tore through Nelson's legs, but he kept his feet. He saw Cowley lying face down and looking lifeless, so he focused his fire on Hollis. Hollis retreated away from his car,
Starting point is 00:29:54 dropped his empty shotgun, and fired with his pistol. Nelson stepped out from cover and unloaded on Hollis. A round struck the agent in the head and knocked him to the ground. Nelson shuffled over to Hollis and stood over him, but didn't fire. At that point, Nelson started to realize how badly he was injured. Agent Cowley's first shots with the Tommy gun had hit Nelson in the stomach, and Agent Hollis's first rounds with the shotgun had hit Nelson in the legs. Nelson found the strength to slide into Hollis and Cowley's car. Helen and John Paul Chase climbed in with him.
Starting point is 00:30:36 Chase drove, Helen cried, and Nelson bled from nine gunshot wounds. They sped away from the little crossroads and the event that would be called the Battle of Barrington. Behind them, Hollis and Cowley were quickly transported to Barrington Central Hospital. Hollis died on the way to surgery. Cowley clung to life and remained conscious long enough to confirm for Agent Melancholy. Melvin Purvis that the shooter had been Babyface Nelson. Cowley went into surgery, but he didn't make it through the night. In the morning, the newspapers made Nelson the center of attention, which he probably would
Starting point is 00:31:15 have loved. A banner headline in the Chicago Tribune read, Enemy number one kills U.S. agents. FBI director Jay Edgar Hoover and senior agent Melvin Purvis were enraged. Nelson had now killed three agents and had escaped. once again. He was injured, but no one knew how badly. Pervis told reporters that he didn't care much if they took Nelson dead or alive. But by the time the newspapers hit the streets, with all those headlines that Nelson would have loved, the outlaw was too far gone to enjoy his ill-gotten fame. The initial shots that had torn Nelson's stomach apart were beyond repair.
Starting point is 00:32:01 By the time Chase got him to someone who could help, it was too late for even the best. surgeon in Chicago to save him. Nelson gripped Helen's hand and cried as he spoke of his mother, his sisters, and his children. Just before 8 a.m. on November 28, 1934, Nelson told his wife that the room was getting dark. Then Lester Gillis, famously known as George Babyface Nelson, slipped away. He was 25 years old. Chase and Helen wrapped Nelson's body in blankets and left in a ditch in Skokie, Illinois. It was later discovered by the FBI. Shortly afterward, Helen turned herself into federal agents. She identified John Paul Chase as the other shooter in Barrington, and Chase was caught just after Christmas. He was
Starting point is 00:32:53 convicted for his role in the deaths of agents Cowley and Hollis, and he was one of the first prisoners sent to the new federal prison on Alcatraz Island. Nelson's son served in the Navy during World War II, and his daughter gave him seven grandchildren he never met. His loyal wife, Helen, served a year in prison for harboring a wanted criminal. She lived a long life after that, dying at the age of 79 in the town of Fox Lake, Illinois, just a 20-minute drive from the sight of the Battle of Barrington. Helen and Lester Gillis are buried next to each other in a cemetery in Chicago's northwest suburbs. Next time on Infamous America, we'll go from the Depression era to the Vietnam era for the story of one of the craziest series of events of the time period.
Starting point is 00:33:50 It's the kidnapping of Patty Hurst and her controversial transformation from a wealthy college student to a wanted felon. That's next time on Infamous America. Members of our Black Barrel Plus program don't have to wait week to week for new episodes. They receive the entire season to binge all at once with no commercials. and they also receive exclusive bonus episodes. Sign up now through the link in the show notes or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. Memberships are just $5 per month.
Starting point is 00:34:27 This series was researched and written by Jamie Lyko, original music by Rob Valier. I'm your host and producer, Chris Wimmer. Find us at our website, blackbarrelmedia.com or on our social media channels, or Black Barrel Media on Facebook and Instagram, and B-Barrel Media on Twitter. And you can stream all our episodes on YouTube.
Starting point is 00:34:50 Just search for Infamous America podcast. Thanks for listening.

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