Public Enemy Number One: The Outlaw Life of Baby Face Nelson
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July 22nd, 1934. John Dillinger is dead, gunned down in an alley outside the Biograph Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. America's most wanted criminal died of four gunshot wounds, fired by three federal officers. At the time, it marked the greatest victory against organized crime for J. Edgar Hoover's soon-to-be FBI.

Back then, common criminals called them "government men" or "the G-men." The nickname came from a famous Dillinger associate, George Kelly Barnes, better known as Machine Gun Kelly. While surrendering to federal agents, he allegedly shouted, "Don't shoot, G-men!" The name stuck in gangland USA. The 1930s saw a violent crime wave wash over the United States.

downtrodden men turned to bootlegging and gambling when the Great Depression stole their legal livelihoods. It gave rise to figures like John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde, and Pretty Boy Floyd. They had faster cars and more connections than J. Edgar Hoover could hope for. They had this aura of flash and glitz and glamour that impressionable kids wanted to emulate.

but they also left a trail of death and destruction wherever they went. And nobody was more cruel and violent than Lester Joseph Gillis, better known as Babyface Nelson. He doesn't get the same recognition as Capone or Dillinger, but even they admitted that Babyface was too unhinged for their liking. Al Capone even fired him for being too violent, and that's coming from the guy who ordered the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

American gangsters were dropping like flies in the mid-1930s. Babyface nearly outlived them all. Even though he died just short of his 26th birthday, Nelson had already left his bloody fingerprint on the Depression era. Since 1925, only 92 FBI agents have died on the job. 21 passed due to exposure to toxic air during 9/11 recovery efforts. Only a handful have been killed in the line of duty.

And of them, Babyface Nelson holds the record with three. What sort of world breeds such a ruthless killer? How did he manage to slip away time and time again? And what made him so brutal that people like Capone hardly wanted anything to do with him? Part one, Chasing Trouble. Babyface Nelson was born Lester Joseph Gillis on December 6th, 1908. His mother, Mary, was a Belgian immigrant and one of eight children.

She was a petite girl who loved language and books. Her family gave her the best education money could buy. She moved to America at 20 years old with dreams of becoming a teacher. But Mary was a tiny girl in a strange place. She settled in Chicago with thousands of other hopeful immigrants. Luckily, she ran into Joe Gillis, a young boy from her hometown in Belgium. He'd been in America for a few years and made decent money as a leather tanner.

They were married three months later. Joe Gillis was a hardworking man. Friends described him as gentle and kind-hearted. But alcohol had a hold on him, as it did many men in late 19th century America. Joe was among the finest tanners in the country. He made enough so that Mary didn't have to continue school.

She gave up her dreams of being a teacher to focus on birthing children and raising a family, as did many women in late 19th century America. The Gillises lost their first child in infancy. Then they were blessed with two daughters, Amy and Jenny.

Three more children came over the next 10 years. Their third daughter, Juliet, was born in 1896, their first son, Edmund, in 1898, and their final daughter, Leona, in 1902. By then, the family lived in a three-story brick building on North California Avenue in Chicago. Joe built it himself, and Mary delivered most of her children in the upstairs bedroom.

They were a respected family, a hard-working family, a good Christian family with a moral compass that always pointed in the right direction. Then, everything changed a few weeks before Christmas in 1908. Their final child, Lester, was born. Mary always said that Lester was the most beautiful of all her children. He had blonde hair, rosy cheeks, and big gray-blue eyes. School teachers had high hopes for the overly curious boy.

He was active, smart, and charming for a kid. His sisters fawned over him 24/7. Joe received a big promotion on Lester's second birthday. He built a bigger home next door to their current lot. They had a large backyard that was perfect for pets. Lester formed a nasty habit of bringing home stray animals. One day, he showed up with a stray terrier that he claimed saved him from an angry bulldog. Joe assumed Lester cooked up the lie so he could keep the dog.

Mary was more naive. Her baby boy would never tell a lie. She let him keep the dog. In fact, despite his future life of crime, Mary believed that Lester always told her the truth. Tragedy struck the Gillis family in 1918. 25-year-old Jenny fell victim to the influenza pandemic that swept across America after World War I. She was sick for eight grueling days and eventually passed away.

A memorial service was held at the Gillis home. Mary recalls finding little Lester trembling in his room. He didn't want to see his dead sister. Mary insisted, forcing the boy downstairs. Ironically, Lester would tremble in fear whenever they drove past a cemetery. School-aged babyface had problems with staying in school. His parents sent him away to a Catholic boarding school with his older sister, Leona.

It was about 50 miles south of Chicago, in the small city of Moments, Illinois. One rainy afternoon, Lester showed up in his father's workshop. When Joe demanded an explanation, Lester said he couldn't stand the confinement of boarding school. They sent him back, but Lester kept running away. Soon, the Sisters of Mercy kicked him out. Public school couldn't contain him either, and his parents' discipline wasn't working.

By 11 years old, Lester had already fallen in with a rough crowd. He began hanging around an area called the Patch, which was an amalgamation of European immigrants. It was like a patchwork quilt of culture, with each nationality living amongst themselves. Lester earned the respect of a local youth gang. Even though he was smaller, younger, and well-groomed, he was street smart and cunning.

"He was the toughest kid I ever met," one said. "Tougher than rat shit. He never backed down from a fight, no matter how big, old, or ugly the other kid was." The gang was headed by a pair of Italian teenagers called the Two Tonys. Their favorite scam was called ringing registers. While the Tonys caused a distraction, Lester would run behind the register and hit the no sale button. The cash drawer would pop open and Lester would sweep it clean.

The actual mafia hired the teenage gang to harass people who owed them money. The Tonys would lead the boys to someone's home or business and hurl bricks through the windows. Lester was always bold, willing to do whatever it took to get the job done. But he was more of a follower and never displayed any real leadership qualities. His boyish looks disarmed many business owners. He'd scout locations before the gang came in and robbed the place clean.

They began calling him Babyface. The name stuck for the rest of his short life.

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It's believed that Mary deliberately ignored Lester's activity. He was still her perfect little boy.

If he could just get back to school, maybe he'd amount to something. Eventually, education authorities stepped in and placed Lester in a boarding school for wayward boys. He was surrounded by orphans, runaways, troubled teens, and unwanted children. Even though Lester came from a privileged background, he fit right in. Things were looking up until July 4th, 1921.

Lester was playing in his friend's garage when he stumbled upon a loaded revolver in the family's car. Lester's father hated guns. He didn't even let his son play with toy pistols. You could say the prohibition piqued Lester's interest even more. You know how it goes. Tell a kid not to do something, and it's all they want to do. It was the 4th of July, and fireworks were blaring in the streets. Lester and his friend figured they could shoot the gun without anyone noticing.

They strolled into an alley where another group of boys was playing. Lester drew the pistol like a gunslinger and fired into the crowd. One of the bullets shattered on a fence post. The fragments struck a boy in the jaw. Lester was arrested and sent to reform school for 12 to 15 months.

For boys like Lester, reform school usually makes things worse. By the time he got out, the two Tonys had fallen in with a more serious gang in Chicago. They were led by Claude Maddox and Vinnie Gabbardi. Vinnie was better known as Machine Gun Jack McGurn.

By the end of the 1920s, he was credited with killing over two dozen people. He was complicit in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre ordered by Al Capone and slit the throat of comedian Joe Louis. Young Lester Gillis was M.G. Jack's biggest fan. At the time, alcohol prohibition was in full swing. Most of these Chicago gangsters made their money selling bootlegged booze and running speakeasies.

Lester wanted in on the action, but he was still a scrawny 13-year-old kid with a baby face and no car. So, Lester bootlegged from the bootleggers. He tapped into a beer line outside a local speakeasy. He and his buddies collected the beer in pails and sold it to local construction workers.

When the speakeasy owner caught them, Lester hit him with a cold glare and said, "You gonna call the cops? I'll call them for you." The owner figured a few pails of beer was cheaper than bribing the police. By 14, Lester had graduated from stealing beer to stealing cars. He was fascinated by them, but was too young to buy one himself. According to his neighbors, Lester and the boys would steal their cars and go for joyrides.

They always returned the cars undamaged, but the gas tanks were usually empty. By then, his family was falling apart. Lester's parents invested in a restaurant that bled all their money. Joe hit the bottle hard. His drinking worsened every time Lester got arrested. On Christmas Eve, 1924, Joe came home drunk and killed himself by inhaling gas. Lester always felt guilty about his father's death.

Watching him tailspin into alcoholism is why many believe Lester abstained from drinking as an adult. By 1925, Chicago was predominantly run by the mafia. Gangsters like Al Capone ruled the streets with an iron fist. Turf wars between rival gangs claimed over 500 lives. One New York reporter wrote, "The secret to survival in Chicago was to maim and kill with more expert precision than one's neighbor."

Lester looked up to Capone and his lieutenants. By then, Machine Gun Jack was Capone's most trusted enforcer. Babyface Nelson wanted to be like them, but he was too clumsy and too reckless. He kept getting caught stealing cars and shipped off to one reform school after the other. He was released once more around his 18th birthday. The judge gave him a stark warning. "One more time and you'll be tried as an adult."

Lester tried to stay on the straight and narrow, but the underworld kept calling. He was caught stripping cars and stealing tires a few months later. Mary, widowed and destitute, managed to scrape enough money together to keep Lester out of adult prison. It was around this time that stories emerged about Lester killing people and robbing banks. Some believe he worked as an enforcer for Al Capone. Others say he ran his own independent bootlegging ring.

By most accounts, Lester understood the value of neutrality. He knew that aligning with one gang made him an enemy of the others. Besides, he had other priorities. Babyface was in love. Her name was Helen Wozniak, the 15-year-old daughter of Polish immigrants. She matured quickly after the deaths of her mother and one of her older sisters. Her father and other siblings relied on Helen to prepare meals and keep the home clean.

Lester was 19 when they met. By the summer of 1928, Helen was pregnant with their first child. They fled to Indiana and got married at a courthouse. They both lied about their ages. He said he was 21. She claimed to be 19. They moved in with Lester's older sister, Amy, after his mother was forced to sell the family home.

It was a cramped six-room apartment, now home to Lester, Ellen, his mother, Amy, her husband, and their four kids. Meanwhile, Lester towed the line between his family and his criminal crew. While most people only read about these gangsters in the paper, Lester knew them on a first-name basis. They'd hang out at hotspots like the Pioneer Tavern or the HiHo Club. It's unclear how much of his income was legal and illegal,

At the time, Lester worked for the Standard Oil Company at a gas station on North Sacramento Road. It was a local hangout for a gang of tire thieves known as "Strippers." They used the station to provide car services to other Chicago gangsters. Think of it like Uber for the Mafia. Even though Lester was making good money, it wasn't enough to support his family. Helen was pregnant again, and he needed cash as quickly as possible.

He fell in with Harry Powell and John Randall, two career criminals in a similar situation. Randall was a stocky 43-year-old with a vicious temper. He was coming off a 12-year prison stint in Ohio for murder. Powell was like Lester, born into a respectable family but pulled into a life of crime.

The trio cooked up plans for a big-time heist. They were tired of risking years in prison for chump change. Why should people like Capone be making all the money? Meanwhile, the September 1929 stock market crash sent the global economy into a full-blown depression. Crime soared as many men had nothing left to lose. Poor and middle-class Americans bore the brunt while the wealthy skirted by. The banks didn't have any money.

Lester and his buddies set their sights on a new kind of target: the wealthy American who wisely invested in jewelry instead of stocks. Part 2: The Big Leagues It was January 6th, 1930. Chicago magazine magnate Charles Richter was cozy inside his million-dollar mansion at 1418 Lakeshore Drive. He and his wife were preparing for dinner when there was a rat-a-tat-tat at the door.

Two men lunged forward when Charles answered. One pressed his pistol into the millionaire's belly. The barrel was cold from being outside in the bitter Chicago air. Five armed robbers ransacked their home. They were gone in 20 minutes, making off with $25,000 worth of jewelry, equal to nearly $450,000 today. The robbery made headlines in Chicago's exclusive Gold Coast. The area was among the safest places in the city.

It was also the wealthiest. Two perks that usually go hand in hand. The gang struck again two weeks later. This time, they targeted a wealthy attorney named Stuart Templeton in his Lake Forest home. His 18-year-old maid answered the door to three young, well-dressed men claiming to be interior designers. They said they were hired to perform estimates on the house. She let them in and quickly felt a revolver pressing into her ribs.

This time, they only made off with $5,000 worth of jewelry. Chicago's upper echelon was furious. They demanded swift action from the police, but these jewel thieves left no leads. They were well-organized and prepared. Witnesses could only describe them as young and polite.

The gang struck again on March 31st. This time, they posed as census takers at the Von Bulow Mansion in Chicago's Northside lakefront community. They barged in and tied up those inside, including Lottie Brenner, the millionaire widow of a manufacturer and politician. They made off with $70,000 worth of pearl necklaces and diamond jewelry,

This brought their total haul from the three robberies to $100,000, or about $1.8 million today. Lottie said one of the intruders was slim, blonde, and boyishly handsome, a fitting description of Babyface Nelson. By then, Lester Gillis had assumed the alias of George Nelson. He and Helen had moved into their own apartment, likely paid for with stolen jewelry.

They had a little boy, and she was close to giving birth to their second child. Friends and family questioned how Lester, now George Nelson, could afford his flashy new lifestyle. His only legal income came from the few shifts he still worked at Standard Oil. He dressed like a gangster and rolled around town in a brand new Chrysler. When people asked where the money came from, he said Helen's father had loaned it to them. They spent lavishly on clothes, cars, and alcohol.

Even though Babyface didn't drink, he never hesitated to buy rounds for his friends. He was a generous tipper and the sober life of the party. But soon enough, the gang's cash reserves began to dwindle. Some of the Von Bulow jewelry was too hot to sell. So, Babyface, Pal, and Randall decided to change gears and focus on stealing cold hard cash.

On October 3rd, 1930, Nelson and Powell walked into the Itasca State Bank on the outer limits of Chicago. It was 9:00 AM and employees had just opened the doors for business. Nelson waited by the door while Powell approached the teller. He asked to purchase a cashier's check. The teller bent down to grab the ledger. When they came back up, they saw a pistol pointed in their face. "This is a stick-up," Powell said.

Nelson stood guard while Powell raided the cages and cash drawers. They broke into the vault and picked it dry. They were gone as quickly as they'd come, speeding away in a waiting car. Nelson, Powell, and their driver split the haul three ways, each taking home $4,600, which was four times the average income in 1930.

One of the bank tellers told the police, "He had blonde hair and the bluest eyes I've ever seen. I wondered how someone so innocent looking could be robbing us." About a month later, the trio arrived at a bank in Plainfield, Illinois, about 30 miles outside of Chicago. The plan was to recreate the Itasca robbery, but this one didn't go so smoothly.

The bank had already been robbed twice in one year, so they took extra precautions. Fitting the cages with bulletproof glass, a cashier was working with two female customers when Nelson and John Randall entered. Nelson demanded they open the cage, but the cashier knew they were safe. Angry, Nelson fired into the bulletproof glass. The bullet ricocheted, hardly leaving a scratch.

This only made them angrier. Nelson and Randall fired a volley of bullets into the glass. Each bounced off like rocks on rubber. One ricochet struck a female customer above the right eye. Nelson and Randall made a break for it. The cashier chased them out with a shotgun and watched the getaway car peel away. The botched robbery left a bitter taste in their mouths. The trio struck again two weeks later in the suburb of Hillside, about 15 miles west of Chicago.

This time, they walked into the Hillside State Bank, guns blazing. They fired shots into the ceiling and ordered the staff to the floor. When one cashier lunged for the alarm, Nelson put his gun on him and said, "Do it and you're dead." The trio stole $4,100 and two bank pistols.

They'd hit three banks in two months. Police knew the same gang was responsible for all three robberies. Nelson's gang was linked to another botched robbery in Summit, Illinois, a suburb on the Chicago outskirts. A gunfight broke out, three people were killed, and another three were wounded. Later that week, the gang hit a tavern on Waukegan Road. It's at this tavern that historians believe Nelson committed his first murder.

When another gunfight broke out, Nelson fatally shot a stockbroker named Edwin R. Thompson. Babyface was never charged with this murder. The police were searching for a good-looking bank robber with dark hair and a babyface. Six weeks after the Hillside job, a tip fitting the description came into the Chicago PD.

The tipster said a local gangster named George Nelson was hitting banks with a hand-picked crew. They said some underworld veterans resented this Nelson kid and his youthful look. They called him Babyface, which struck a chord with local police. Witnesses from the bank jobs and the Von Bulow robbery all described their attacker as being boy-looking or having a baby's face. One by one, Chicago PD arrested Nelson's gang.

Nelson was captured last after the cops broke down his door and ordered him to the station. The police paraded over 60 witnesses past the gangster. Most of them positively identified Nelson as the baby-faced man who robbed them at gunpoint. Powell flipped on Nelson and Randall in exchange for a lesser sentence. He received one year probation for his role in the robberies. Randall pleaded guilty to the Hillside robbery. He was sentenced to 10 years in Illinois State Prison.

Nelson fought his case to the bitter end. He was sentenced to one year to life in prison. But prison bars weren't about to hold one of America's greatest gangsters. On February 17th, 1932, Nelson was transferred from Joliet Prison to stand trial for the Itasca robbery. He was found guilty and sentenced to another life term.

Nelson was frisked and then handcuffed by the wrist to R.M. Martin, a Burleigh Corrections officer in charge of bringing him back to Juliet. But while in a cab on their way to prison, Nelson produced a .45 caliber pistol. He ordered the driver to keep going toward Chicago, while Martin unlocked the cuffs. Once they were far enough, Nelson stole Martin's wallet and ordered him and the driver out of the cab.

Nelson slid into the driver's seat and sped off toward the city. To this day, it's unclear how Nelson obtained the gun. Life would never be the same for Nelson. He was among the most wanted men in America. He could never go home. He could never lead a normal life. So he went on the run. Part 3: Life on the Run. Babyface fled west to Reno, Nevada and Sausalito, California, where he made several new criminal friends.

Among them was a bootlegger named John Paul Chase. J. Edgar Hoover called Chase "a rat with a patriotic sounding name." He was born on December 26, 1901, and lived most of his life in California. He dropped out of school in the fifth grade and spent some time working on a ranch near San Rafael. Like many Depression-era criminals, Chase learned there was more money in a dishonest living.

He joined a liquor smuggling crew and established solid underworld connections. Among them was Babyface Nelson. They became close, so close that Chase would introduce Nelson as his half-brother. Nevada, especially Reno, was the place to be in the early 1930s. Gambling was legalized in 1931 and, despite the Depression, people came from all over to try their luck at the tables.

Trains from California arrived jam-packed with people attracted to the idea of poker and prostitution. Nevada also offered the quickest legal pathway to divorce in the country. Meanwhile, Las Vegas was about 15 years away from mounting any real competition. Nelson and Chase fell in with William Graham, a crime boss with stakes in every Reno casino. Put it this way, Graham took a dime from every dollar made in Reno.

Graham sent the duo to San Francisco, where their talents were better utilized as bootleggers. Nelson worked as an armed guard while Chase drove the liquor truck. The gang wasn't worried about the FBI as much as they were rival bootleggers. Nelson and Chase proved to be valuable additions.

They met other big-time Bay Area criminals like Fatso Negri and Joe Parente, aka the King of the Pacific Coast Rum Runners. To maintain a low profile, Nelson went by the alias Jimmy Johnson. Very few people knew about his past life in Chicago. Nelson, aka Jimmy, worked his way up the ladder, earning about $300 per week. That'd be like making a $300,000 salary today.

He disappeared for a week after buying a new car. When he came back, he had Helen and their son with him. Their youngest stayed behind with Nelson's mother in Chicago. By then, Nelson was an expert driver. One night, while he and Negri were driving behind Chase on a smuggling run, a suspicious car pulled up behind them. Nelson made a sharp U-turn and got behind the suspicious vehicle.

He pulled alongside them and forced them off the road. They crashed into a fence, and Nelson sped away. The next day, Negri read a story in the paper about a car full of federal agents being run off the road by suspected bootleggers. The only people who knew Nelson was an escaped convict were Chase and a man named Hans Strittmatter, one of his boss's closest rum-running associates.

On the one hand, having a wanted man in the gang wasn't good for business. On the other, Nelson was a valuable asset. They felt keeping his past a secret was better for everybody. Then, one day, an issue of True Detective Lineup hit the shelves with a picture of Lester Gillis, aka Babyface Nelson, aka Jimmy Johnson. The headline read, Escaped Convict, Notorious Bank Robber.

Others in the Bay Area saw the image and quickly called the police. A crooked cop tipped the gang off, but Nelson was already gone. He and Helen packed up and fled back to Reno. Luckily, Graham welcomed him with open arms. He assured Nelson that nobody goes to the slam around here unless I say so. Part 4. Public Enemy

The last time anybody in the United States was considered a public enemy was during the age of Al Capone, John Dillinger, and Babyface Nelson. By the time Nelson fled to Reno in 1932, he was rubbing shoulders with another soon-to-be public enemy number one,

Alvin Karpis, also known as Creepy Karpis for his sinister smile, was a notorious bank robber and murderer. He was the brains behind the Barker Karpis gang, which had a reputation for killing anybody who stood in their way. Karpis is the only person to achieve the Public Enemy #1 title and be taken alive.

The other three, Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Babyface Nelson, were killed during their last encounter with police. Karpis is also the longest tenured inmate in Alcatraz history. He was sent to the island in August 1936 and stayed until Alcatraz was closed in 1962. Karpis liked Babyface. He introduced Nelson to another Midwestern bank robber named Eddie Bentz.

According to crime historians, Bents executed over 150 robberies across the U.S. without ever being identified. That's because Bents planned everything down to the finest detail. His meticulous nature helped him pull off a $2.8 million bank robbery in Lincoln, Nebraska in September 1930. That'd be like making off with $50 million today.

When he met Babyface Nelson, Bents was planning a massive heist of the People's Savings Bank in Grand Haven, Michigan. He'd spent hours in libraries, combing through public records to determine which small-town bank would be easiest to hit. Once he narrowed his list, he'd visit the banks, posing as a businessman. In reality, he was taking careful notes about the bank's layout, weak points, and security measures.

He landed on the People's Savings Bank, and the heist was slated for August 18th, 1933. Around 2:55 PM, two sharp-dressed men entered the bank with a simple request. They need a change for a $10 bill. As soon as the teller began counting the change, one man drew a pistol and pointed it at the teller's head. "Keep still," the robber said, not knowing the teller had already tripped the silent alarm.

The alarm alerted the local police, the sheriff's department, and, for some reason, the furniture store next door. The owner of that furniture store, Edward Kinkama, grabbed his shotgun and marched outside. Meanwhile, Babyface's crew raided the registers and ordered bank workers to open the vault.

Back outside, their getaway driver saw Edward approaching with his shotgun. He panicked and fled, leaving Nelson, Bents, and the crew to fend for themselves. But Edward wasn't the only one making a stand against Depression-era bank robbers. Outside the bank, a militia of armed locals gathered to meet the robbers in the street. Babyface and the boys decided that hostages were the only way they'd make it out alive.

Each took a frightened bank worker, using them as a human shield as they faced the crowd. Tensions boiled over, and a firefight ensued. Babyface's crew shot and wounded five people, including a police officer. Thankfully, none of the wounds were fatal. The crowd managed to subdue one of the robbers while the others escaped in a stolen car. Nelson and the boys stole two more vehicles while escaping across the Indiana border.

They only made off with $2,300. They lost several bags of cash, bonds, and silver during the firefight and escape. Crossing state lines was their ticket to freedom. At the time, bank robbery was only considered a state-level crime. Then, in 1934, Congress passed the National Bank Robbery Act, making it a federal crime. Hoover and the FBI could pursue people like Nelson across the country if they wanted to.

And that's exactly what they did. Even though the Grand Haven robbery didn't go as planned, it convinced Nelson that he was ready to lead his own gang. He reconnected with John Paul Chase at the end of 1933. They, along with several other misfits, robbed banks from coast to coast. Locals recall Nelson wildly spraying machine gun fire as he exited each bank. The term "innocent bystander" didn't mean anything to him. You were either in the way or out of the way.

The robbery spree brought the gang down to San Antonio, Texas, where Nelson bought his famous automatic pistol. The gun became his calling card until the FBI confiscated it. Nelson lost it during the Little Bohemia shootout, one of the bloodiest FBI blunders of all time. Part 5: Little Bohemia On January 25th, 1934, John Dillinger and his gang were arrested in Tucson, Arizona.

He was extradited to Indiana to face charges for murder and bank robbery. Local police boasted about finally catching America's most wanted man, but they wouldn't hold him for long. On March 3rd, Dillinger staged a daring escape with a fake wooden pistol. According to the FBI, he carved it using razors and supplies from his cell. He used the pistol to hold a prisoner trustee hostage and escaped with 15 other inmates.

The exact details of Dillinger's escape are up for debate. Some believe Nelson's new crew financed the operation. They were flush with cash after several successful robberies. In their minds, if they could get Dillinger on their side, they would be unstoppable. Helping public enemy number one escape from jail likely made an excellent first impression.

Nelson and Dillinger grew close, so close that they vacationed together at Little Bohemia, which was a resort lodge in northern Wisconsin. The main lodge was a two-story wooden building. It offered dancing, fine dining, and an all-around good time. Vacationers could swim in the lake behind the property. Then, they'd retreat to one of many smaller cabins for privacy.

The property itself was deep in the woods and far from civilization. It was an ideal vacation spot for people like Nelson, who wanted to avoid attention while still enjoying themselves. The new Nelson-Dillinger gang, Helen, and three other girlfriends arrived on April 20th, 1934. Historians believe that Dillinger's lawyer, Louis Piquet, was their connection to Little Bohemia.

Lewis knew the owner, Emil Wanatka, who claims he had no idea that America's most wanted men were staying on his property. At least, not at first. As the story goes, Emil was playing poker with the gangsters when Dillinger won a sizable pot. When he reached forward to gather his chips, Emil noticed the butt of a pistol tucked into Dillinger's coat.

He studied Nelson and the other gangsters and realized they were all wearing shoulder holsters. Whispers spread that the Dillinger gang was staying at Little Bohemia. Eventually, someone tipped off the FBI. Agents from St. Paul and Chicago flew in that night. It was a chilly evening in the dense Wisconsin forest.

FBI agents could hardly see the vacation lodge through the pine trees. They proceeded like church mice down the road. But as they approached the lodge, several dogs began barking. The agents were rightfully worried. Those dogs likely tipped off everyone inside that something wasn't right. That's when three men stumbled out of the lodge and climbed into a car. They turned up the radio and began driving away.

The FBI agents ordered the car to stop, assuming it was Dillinger making a run for it. The men never saw or heard them. Because they drove toward the agents in what felt like a threatening manner, the FBI opened fire. The driver was killed instantly. It turns out he was a civilian conservation corps worker. The gunfire undoubtedly alerted Babyface, Dillinger, and the rest.

They began firing from the top floor while FBI agents ducked for cover. The gang knew they were outnumbered. So, as the FBI gathered itself, Nelson and the rest fled out the back. Dillinger and his boys went one way, Nelson went another. The women were left behind. Nelson emerged from the woods about a mile away from Little Bohemia. He barged into the first home he saw and ordered its inhabitants to drive him away.

but their car was too slow for Nelson's liking. He forced them to pull over in front of a brightly lit house. Coincidentally, that home was owned by a switchboard operator who'd heard about the Little Bohemia shootout through his setup. The operator called the local police to report a strange car outside his home. Nelson barged in shortly after and ordered the man to drive him away. As they got in the car, an FBI vehicle pulled up

Inside were federal agents Carter Baum and Jay Newman, along with a local police officer. It was dark. The men didn't recognize Nelson when he approached the vehicle. Without warning, he opened fire with his automatic pistol, killing Baum and wounding the others. Nelson stole the FBI vehicle and fled into the night. Back at Little Bohemia, the women were arrested for harboring a wanted felon. They were released on parole a few days later.

The Little Bohemia raid was so disastrous that the public called for J. Edgar Hoover's resignation. A federal agent and an innocent bystander were dead. Four more were severely wounded, including two other civilians. All they had to show for it were meaningless harboring charges against Helen and the gang members' girlfriends. Nelson and Dillinger may have won the battle, but the FBI would win the war on crime. Both men were living on borrowed time,

Dillinger had about three months left to live. Nelson would only make it another seven. Part six, the beginning of the end.

Until the Little Bohemia raid, the FBI didn't know that Babyface was working with the new Dillinger gang. They never would have known had Nelson not dropped his automatic pistol. The FBI tracked the serial number to an arms dealer in Texas who sold Nelson the gun. It turns out that 30-year-old Hyman Lebman had a habit of selling modded pistols to outlaws.

Legally, Hyman owned a saddle shop and a used gun store. Behind the scenes, he specialized in converting Colt 38s and 45s into fully automatic machine guns. A standard Colt semi-auto typically has a 7-round magazine and fires one bullet per trigger pull. Hyman fitted his guns with a 22-round clip and modded the receiver to fire full-auto.

To help with recoil, Hyman installed a foregrip on the barrel. Hyman was basically selling pocket-sized Tommy guns to anybody with cash. He didn't ask any questions, and he didn't keep any records. Under intense questioning, Hyman admitted to selling the automatic pistol to Nelson, whom he knew as Jimmy. The FBI believed he knew more than he was letting on.

in a report to Director Hoover. One of the agents called Hyman Lebman, "the biggest liar and most unprincipled human I've ever talked to." According to Hyman's son, his father thought his outlaw customers were charming oil men who were interested in guns. Hyman was never charged with any crimes related to selling modded weapons. Nelson caught up with Dillinger on May 1st, 1934.

He helped bury one of the gang members, who was struck during a shootout with police at a roadblock in Hastings, Minnesota. You could say the gang peaked when they escaped from Little Bohemia. It was all downhill from there. Police killed another gang member in Waterloo, Iowa. His death forced Nelson and Helen into hiding. A few weeks later, another Little Bohemia fugitive was arrested in St. Paul, Minnesota.

On June 30th, Nelson, Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and another gangster robbed the Merchants National Bank in South Bend, Indiana. One police officer was killed when the robbery began. Meanwhile, Nelson exchanged fire with a citizen turned vigilante. They shot Nelson in the chest, only to learn that Babyface was wearing a bulletproof vest.

Nelson kept spraying to keep people away from the bank while Dillinger and Pretty Boy robbed it. They emerged with three hostages and about $28,000 in cash. Despite the hostages, three police officers fired on the gang members. Two hostages were wounded and one of the gangsters suffered a graze to the head. It was the last robbery the full gang would ever commit.

Babyface and Helen fled to California with John Chase. Dillinger went to Chicago, where he'd die about a month later. On July 22nd, 1934, FBI agents ambushed Dillinger outside the Biograph Theater in Lincoln Park, Chicago. He fled into a dead-end alley and was killed during a shootout with police. By late August, Babyface Nelson was the last surviving member of the new Dillinger gang.

He was also public enemy number one after the deaths of Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd. He, Helen, and John Chase bounced from city to city. They stole cars and lived off what little money they had left from the merchant's bank robbery. Back in Chicago, FBI agent Samuel Cowley headed the search for Nelson.

He received word on November 27th, 1934, that Nelson had stolen a car and was heading toward Wisconsin. Nelson, Helen, and Chase were driving on US 12 when they spotted a car full of federal agents approaching from the opposite direction. Nelson and the agents locked eyes, each immediately recognizing the other. Both cars made several U-turns, trying to get behind the other. Eventually, Nelson wound up pursuing the agent's car.

His souped-up Ford quickly caught up, and Chase opened fire. The agents returned fire. One of their bullets ruptured the radiator on Nelson's Ford. Another FBI vehicle entered the Chase. Agents Samuel Cowley and Herman Hollis were behind the wheel. Herman was famous for being the man who killed John Dillinger. As you can imagine, he'd love to add babyface Nelson to his resume. Nelson's Ford was losing speed, and the FBI was hot on his tail.

He veered off the road and crashed through the entrance of Barrington's Northside Park. Cowley and Hollis overshot Nelson by 100 feet as both cars skidded to a stop. The agents took defensive positions behind their vehicle and opened fire on Nelson and Chase. Helen took cover in a nearby ditch.

Nelson's Tommy gun jammed, and a bullet from Cowley struck him above the belt. He fell, bleeding like a stuck pig, while Chase returned fire. Knowing this was the end, Nelson grabbed another machine gun and stepped into the line of fire. He walked toward Cowley and Hollis, spraying bullets like the Terminator. A bullet struck Cowley as he retreated for better cover.

Hollis popped up and fired a single shotgun blast at Nelson. Several pellets struck him in the legs, yet Babyface kept going. Hollis, who was likely injured, retreated behind a utility pole to reload. The second he turned to fire, Nelson was standing over him. He put a bullet through the agent's head. With Chase's help, Nelson loaded their guns into the FBI car and sped away with Helen. Chase drove. Babyface Nelson was in rough shape.

He'd been shot nine times, one mortal wound to the stomach and eight shotgun pellets to his legs. Chase drove them to a nearby safe house where Nelson died in bed. The Battle of Barrington was witnessed by over two dozen people. Cowley lived long enough to report what happened to the FBI. He died shortly after an unsuccessful surgery. Agent Hollis was declared dead on arrival with a massive head wound.

Nelson's body was found later that day, wrapped in a blanket near a cemetery in Skokie, Illinois. Chase fled west. Helen became the most wanted woman in America. Director Hoover gave his agents strict orders to find the woman and show her no quarter.

Based on that order, some newspapers reported that the FBI had issued a death order on Helen. She surrendered to the FBI on Thanksgiving Day, 1934. She told the police that she was the one who wrapped her husband's body because Les always hated being cold. She spent one year in prison for harboring Nelson during his crime spree. Afterward, she remained close to her children and Babyface's family.

She died in 1987 and was buried next to her husband in St. Joseph's Cemetery in Chicago. John Paul Chase was arrested in California on December 27th, 1934. He was the first person tried under a new law that made it a federal violation to murder an FBI agent on duty. He was found guilty of Agent Cowley's murder and sent to Alcatraz.

In 1954, Chase transferred to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas. He was paroled in 1966 and worked as a janitor for six more years. The rat with the patriotic sounding name died of cancer in 1973. Neither he nor Babyface Nelson were ever charged with Agent Hollis' death. Babyface Nelson was only 25 years old when he died.

In that short life, he killed three federal agents and one innocent civilian. There's a story about him shooting and killing a Minneapolis paint salesman during a road rage incident. That murder remains unsolved, and it's unclear if Babyface had anything to do with it. He wounded countless others as he sprayed machine gun fire from the banks he was robbing.

He stole roughly $139,000 worth of cash, bonds, and valuables from banks and wealthy Depression-era folks. And that's just the money we know about. Nelson's total haul would be about $2.5 million in today's cash. He was a man of many names.

Those who loved him knew him as Lester Gillis. Those who robbed banks with him knew him as George Nelson. To California rum runners and Texas gun dealers, he was Jimmy Johnson. To the public, he was John Dillinger's right-hand man. He was the guy who was too violent even for Al Capone. He was public enemy number one, Babyface Nelson.