John Herbert Dillinger Biography

John Herbert Dillinger

Famous bank robber and cold-blooded killer who terrorized the Midwest during the early '30s, John Dillinger captured national attention with his ruthless robberies and jailbreaks. First incarcerated for armed robbery in 1924, he was paroled in 1933 and then robbed a bank in Bluffton, Ohio shortly after his release. On October 12, 1933 three escaped prisoners whom Dillinger knew from his previous prison term killed the sheriff at the Lima, Ohio prison and freed Dillinger. Dillinger's gang continued their murderous rampage, robbing banks and police arsenals throughout Indiana and Illinois. Dillinger was captured on January 23, 1934 in Tucson, Arizona, however he escaped less than three months later. Dillinger was able to evade authorities until July 22, 1934, when he was turned in by “the lady in red,” Anna Sage, outside of the Biograph Theater in Chicago. John Dillinger was shot dead by FBI agents while trying to escape. John Dillinger's short but destructive life is immortalized in movies such as Dillinger (1945), Dillinger (1973), and Dillinger (1991 TV).