Dillinger Builds a Legend

Dillinger had already escaped form one jail and now had landed back in another one. This time however he was quite the media star. Press poured in from all over the country and it appeared that Dillinger enjoyed the attention. He expressed the view that he held no ill feelings toward the police that arrested him. He even posed for pictures with the warden and some of the officers involved in the arrest. But the good times came to an end when he was sent back to Indiana to stand trial for bank robbery and murder. This was to be an escape-proof prison and times seemed bleak for Dillinger and members of his gang.

Back in Indiana, Dillinger to his surprise continued to be viewed as a media star. His folk hero status made many notable people feel compelled to have their picture taken with him. Even the prosecutor in his trail posed for a picture displaying Dillinger with his arm around him. Rumors arose warning that crime lords were planning a full-scale attack on the jail to obtain his freedom. Remembering the jailbreak in Ohio the security had reached a new height within the prison. It seemed impossible that any effort to free Dillinger was doomed to failure. Realizing that he was faced with an almost impossible defense, he sought others means to deal with his future.

When a jail attendant opened his cell for cleaning, he was surprised to find Dillinger sticking a gun into his ribs. He and another prisoner had the warden come to the cell and locked the warden into the cell with the attendant. Dillinger removed weapons from the warden vacated office drug some hostages to the sheriff's car and took off down the road. The gun used in the escape was not a gun at all but a carved piece of dark wood that resembled an automatic. The fear of Dillinger and his legend as a master robber and escape artist caused everyone to assume that the gun was real. Dillinger did make one major mistake during his escape, when he crossed the state line he fell into the aim of federal authorities.

With his old gang still in jail, Dillinger needed to form a new gang and began to recruit members as quickly as possible. He turned to an old friend who provided additional members, and recruited one Lester Gillis, soon to be known as "Baby Face Nelson". While holding up a bank in Sioux Falls, one of the gang members held the entire police force at bay with his machine gun. The public watched part of the robbery convinced that it was part of a movie being shot by Hollywood, and kept their distance so as not to spoil the shot for the movie. Leaving town with close to $50,000 Dillinger suddenly stopped the car, much to the surprise to other gang members. He dumped a box of nails onto the roadway and expressed the view that this action should slow down any pursuit. He was right.

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