"Baby Face" Nelson
"Baby Face" Nelson was
born Lester M. Gillis on December 6, 1908, in Chicago,
Illinois. He roamed the Chicago streets with a gang
of juvenile hoodlums during his early teens. By the
age of 14, he was an accomplished car thief and had
been dubbed "Baby Face" by members of his
gang due to his juvenile appearance. Nelson's early
criminal career included stealing tires, running
stills, bootlegging, and armed robbery.
In 1922, Nelson was convicted of
auto theft and was committed to a boys' home. Two
years later, he was released on parole, but within
five months he was returned on a similar charge.
In 1928, Nelson met a salesgirl,
Helen Wawzynak, whom he married. His wife retained
the name Helen Gillis throughout their marriage.
Nelson was sentenced to a prison
term of one year to life for his January, 1931, bank
robbery in Chicago, Illinois. After a year's confinement,
Nelson was removed from the Illinois State Penitentiary,
Joliet, Illinois, to stand trial on another bank
robbery charge in Wheaton, Illinois. On February
17, 1932, Nelson escaped prison guards while being
returned to Joliet. After a brief stay in Reno, Nevada,
he fled to Sausalito, California. There he meet John
Paul Chase, with whom he would be closely associated
for the rest of his life.
John Paul Chase, born December
26, 1901, lived most of his life in California. He
attended school through fifth grade, then worked
at a ranch near San Rafael, California. Chase later
worked in railway shops for four years, first as
an office boy, then as a machinist's apprentice.
In 1930, Chase became associated with a liquor smuggling
operation comprised of persons with underworld connections.
When Nelson arrived in California,
Chase still was involved with the liquor smuggling
gang. Nelson worked with Chase as an armed guard
for the truck used to illegally transport liquor.
The two men became close friends, and Chase frequently
introduced Nelson as his half-brother.
Nelson was joined by his wife and
remained in California until May, 1933. While Chase
stayed in Sausalito, Nelson departed to Long Beach,
Indiana, where he lived for several months. While
in Indiana, Nelson met several criminals, including
Homer Van Meter, and occasionally accompanied them
to San Antonio, Texas. Nelson may have made his original
connection with the Dillinger gang during this period.
In December, 1933, Nelson contacted
Chase and they remained together for almost a year.
During this time, a man was shot and killed in Minneapolis.
The perpetrators were reportedly in an automobile
bearing California license plates which were eventually
traced to a car owned by Nelson.
After a short trip to Bremerton,
Washington, Nelson and Chase proceeded to Reno, Nevada.
Chase later reported in an interview that Nelson
killed a man during an altercation while they were
in Reno. The victim was a material witness in a United
States Mail Fraud case.
In April, 1934, Nelson, Helen Gillis
and John Paul Chase went to Chicago, Illinois, where
they joined the Dillinger gang. While Chase remained
in Chicago, Nelson and his wife vacationed with the
Dillinger gang at the Little Bohemia Lodge in northern
Wisconsin.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) learned of the gang's location on April 22,
1934, and Special Agents proceeded to the Little
Bohemia Lodge. Barking dogs alerted the gangsters
to the impending FBI raid. The gangsters escaped
in the dark, leaving a few women associates, including
Helen Gillis, behind.
Nelson fled to a nearby home and
forced his way in with two hostages. Shortly thereafter,
Special Agents J. C. Newman and W. Carter Baum arrived
at the scene with a local constable. When their car
stopped, the diminutive Nelson, who stood only five
feet four inches high and weighted 133 pounds, rushed
to the car and ordered the occupants to get out.
Before they could comply, Nelson shot all three men,
instantly killing Special Agent Baum with a series
of shots from his automatic pistol.
Within a short time, Chase rejoined
Nelson. Helen Gillis, who had been released on parole,
met her husband and Chase about a month later. They
lived near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, for several days.
On June 23, 1934, Attorney General Homer S. Cummings
offered a reward for Nelson's capture or information
leading to his arrest.
A robbery of the Merchants
National Bank, South Bend, Indiana, occurred on June
30, 1934,
in which a police officer was shot and killed. "Baby
Face" Nelson, John Dillinger, and Homer Van
Meter participated in the actual robbery. Following
the robbery, the gangsters fled to Chicago, Illinois.
Later two police officers were shot on Wolf Road,
outside Chicago, when Nelson opened fire as they
approached the gang's meeting place.
Notorious gangster leader John
Herbert Dillinger was shot and killed on July 22,
1934. Following Dillinger's death, Nelson, Helen
Gillis and Chase left Chicago for California with
two associates. That summer, Nelson and Chase made
numerous trips between Chicago and California. On
one occasion, they were arrested for speeding in
a small town. They paid the $5 fine at the police
station and were released. Their car, containing
machine guns, rifles and ammunition, was not searched.
In late August, the group returned
to Chicago. Within a month, Nelson went to Nevada
and Chase traveled to New York City. Nelson and Chase
again joined forces near Minden, Nevada, on October
10, 1934. They proceeded to Chicago, where they stole
a car on November 26, 1934, and drove to Wisconsin.
Inspector Samuel P. Cowley of the
FBI's Chicago Office had been assigned to search
for Nelson. On November 27, 1934, Cowley received
word that Nelson had been seen driving a stolen car.
Two Special Agents spotted the vehicle near Barrington,
Illinois. Nelson brought his car around behind the
Agents, and Chase fired five rounds from an automatic
rifle into the Agents' car. One of the Agents returned
fire and one shot pierced the radiator of Nelson's
car, partially disabling it.
Inspector Cowley and Special Agent
Herman Edward Hollis approached in another automobile
and began pursuing Nelson and Chase. Suddenly, Nelson
veered off Northwest Highway at the entrance to the
North Side Park in Barrington, Illinois, and stopped.
Before Cowley and Hollis could get out of their car,
Nelson and Chase began firing automatic weapons at
them.
Special Agent Hollis was killed
during the gun battle which lasted only four or five
minutes. Inspector Cowley, mortally wounded, died
early the next morning.
Nelson, also critically injured,
was helped into Cowley's automobile by Chase. Many
guns and other articles were transferred from Nelson's
car to the Agents' car. Helen Gillis had been lying
in a field during the battle. She jumped into the
Government vehicle as Chase was driving it away.
"Baby Face" Nelson
died about 8:00 that evening. In response to an anonymous
telephone call, FBI Agents found his body the next
day near a Niles Center, Illinois, cemetery.
Nelson's widow was arrested on
November 29, 1934. Having violated the terms of her
parole, Helen Gillis was sentenced to serve one year
and one day in the Women's Federal Reformatory in
Mila, Michigan.
After Chase disposed of Nelson's
body, he returned to Chicago. On November 30, 1934,
Chase responded to a want ad for men to drive automobiles
to Seattle, Washington. To obtain this job, he was
photographed for a chauffeur's license at a police
station. Because Chase's only known arrest had been
for drunkenness in 1931, no wanted circulars with
his photograph and fingerprints had ever been issued.
In early December, 1934, Special
Agents of the FBI's San Francisco Office contacted
Chase's former employers and associates. They were
instructed to notify the FBI if Chase was seen. On
December 27, 1934, Chase tried to borrow money from
employees at the Mount Shasta, California, fish hatcheries,
where he had worked in 1928. The FBI and local police
were immediately notified, and Chief of Police A.
L. Roberts apprehended Chase.
On December 31, 1934, Chase was
removed to Chicago, Illinois, where he was the first
person to be tried under the law that made it a Federal
violation to murder a Special Agent of the FBI in
the performance of his duties. Chase's trial began
on March 18, 1935. One week later, the jury found
him guilty of murdering Inspector Samuel P. Cowley.
The Attorney General designated the United States
Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, California, to receive
Chase, and his imprisonment there began on March
31, 1935.
Chase was transferred to the United
States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas, in September,
1954. Although he had been serving time for the murder
of Inspector Cowley, 20 years later Chase had not
yet been tried on the December 31, 1934, indictment
charging him with Special Agent Hollis's murder.
On April 27, 1955, a motion was filed in United States
District Court, Chicago, Illinois, demanding immediate
trial on this indictment or its dismissal.
On October 17, 1955, a United States
District judge dismissed the indictment that charged
Chase with Hollis's murder. He held that Chase's
mere knowledge of the indictment and his failure
to take action did not constitute a waiver of his
right to a speedy trial.
When the pending indictment was
dismissed, Chase became eligible for parole. After
parole had been denied repeatedly, Chase finally
was paroled from Leavenworth on October 31, 1966.
After his release, Chase resided in California, where
he was employed as a custodian for over six years.
John Paul Chase died of cancer
in Palo Alto, California, on October 5, 1973.
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