[ INVESTIGATIVE FILES JOE NICKELL Joe Nickell, PhD, is CSI’s senior research fellow. A former stage magician and private detective, he has—since 1969—investi- gated numerous cases of alleged ghosts, poltergeists, and demons from a scientific perspective.

Dillinger’s Ghost and Hoover’s Vendetta against G-Man Purvis

ot since Jesse James had a bank Dillinger to fend for himself. Although stepped on the gas and sped them to robber attained such a Robin both were soon arrested, the latter safety. Dillinger had another close call NHood image. Although there was sentenced to just two years, while one night a month later in the infamous were other “public enemies” of the Dillinger drew a prison term of ten to affair at Wisconsin’s Little Bohemia Depression Era—such as “Pretty Boy twenty years. Freed in 1933, after only Lodge. FBI agents led by Floyd” and “Baby Face” Nelson—John nine years, he was rearrested while still approached the lodge but were forced Dillinger had daring and style to spare. on parole as the leader of a new band of to dive for cover from machine-gun But so did a tenacious G-man named bank robbers (Girardin 1994, 10–32). fire. Three non-gangsters, who jumped Melvin Purvis (Figure 1), an agent so After some of his old prison buddies in a car and failed to stop when ordered effective and so adored by the public escaped, they raided the jail in Lima, to, were shot by Purvis’s men, one fa- and press that his boss, Federal Bureau Ohio, where Dillinger had been lodged, tally, and Dillinger, Nelson, and others of Investigation Director J. Edgar freeing him but accidentally killing the escaped (Girardin 1994, 113–156; Pur- Hoover, seethed with jealousy. Well, sheriff in the process. Over the next few vis 1936, 21). I’m getting ahead of a most frightening months, the gang committed a series of Dillinger underwent plastic surgery story in the annals of crime fighting, bold bank heists, although probably to alter his appearance and damage and I don’t mean the tale of Dillinger’s not the more than thirty credited to his fingerprints. Neither attempt was ghost. them. Then, in January 1934, police very successful. Billie having been ar- in Tucson, Arizona, arrested Dillinger rested, Dillinger had taken up with a Dillinger and most of his gang. Sent to an “es- waitress who shared an apartment with cape-proof” jail in Indiana, he was soon a Romanian woman, Ana Cumpanas, The biography of John Herbert escaping—using a pistol he suddenly a brothel owner known as Anna Sage. Dillinger (1903–1934) begins with an brandished. Legend says the pistol was She recognized Dillinger and tipped endearing story of him at age three, a dummy that Dillinger carved from off police who passed her on to Melvin dragging a chair to the side of his wood and blackened with shoe polish, Purvis. Sage later informed Purvis that mother’s coffin, climbing up, and try- while a conspiracy theory holds that a Dillinger was to take her and his girl- ing to shake her awake. It is tempered bribed judge smuggled in a real pistol friend to a movie, and that she could be by the account of a moonshine-in- (Girardin 1994, 32–108; Toland 1963). identified by her attire. She would be- toxicated punk of twenty-one, who Dillinger assembled another gang, come forever known as “the woman in teamed up with a more seasoned thug, this time including the infamous red,” although she actually wore an or- attempting to rob an elderly grocer of George “Baby Face” Nelson. Two rob- ange skirt and white blouse that night. his weekend receipts. As they beat the beries later, the FBI got the drop on was soon dead in a hail struggling old man, Dillinger’s revolver Dillinger in St. Paul, but he escaped of gunfire outside ’s Biograph went off and the pair fled, the accom- with only a gunshot to the leg as his Theater (Girardin 1994, 169–173, plice driving off and leaving young girlfriend, Evelyn “Billie” Frechette, 217–230).

14 Volume 39 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer Melvin Purvis dying. “Later after leaving this scene,” man who would become “the nation’s Dillinger’s nemesis was the FBI’s Purvis wrote, “I tried to button up my top cop,” had parlayed his Master Melvin Purvis (1903–1960) who coat and found both buttons gone. of Laws degree into a job with the became a special agent in 1927 and Apparently I had grabbed for my gun Department of Justice in 1917. Thus soon headed investigative offices in without thinking, and I am frank to say escaping the draft, he pursued draft Cincinnati, Washington, Oklahoma that I do not know how it came into my evaders, suspected German partisans, City, and Birmingham before taking hand” (Purvis 1936, 275–277). and communists on the home front. A charge of the Bureau’s most high-pro- Purvis’s self-effacement notwith- biographer (Hack 2004, 54) observed: file office in Chicago in 1932. In standing, he gained tremendous noto- The fledging civil servant had devel- just eight years, he captured more riety for his lead role in bringing down oped an unpopular habit of ridi- FBI-designated public enemies than John Dillinger, and—three months culing those who dared to disagree any agent in the history of the FBI later—Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd, with his interpretation of the law, (“Melvin Purvis” 2014). dismissing them with a flutter of the killed in an Ohio farm field. J. Edgar hand as if clearing the air of annoy- Standing just five feet nine inches Hoover steamed at the attention given ing cobwebs. and weighing only 140 pounds, Pur- Purvis. He wanted his brave agents to vis appeared an unlikely hero, and remain faceless so he would get credit It was a sign of things to come. the newspapers sometimes called him for their achievements. So it was that Working twelve-hour days every day “Little Mel.” They also dubbed him Hoover maneuvered behind the scenes of the week, Hoover received promo- “Nervous Purvis”—especially after he tions for his industry. He lobbied for, admitted that the cigar shook in his and obtained, the job of assistant chief mouth that fateful night when he lit of the Bureau of Investigation, and, it to signal agents that he had identi- in 1924, became director, charged by fied Dillinger. Purvis would later write, Attorney General Harlan Fiske Stone with the candor of a man of integrity: with implementing a laundry list of ethical reforms. After minor name The romantic newspaper writers have, on occasion, pictured me in their changes, it became the Federal Bureau deathless prose as a combination of of Investigation in 1935. Meanwhile, Wild Bill Hickok, Nick Carter and Hoover sought to improve efficiency Frank Merriwell. Nothing could be and obtain laws permitting agents to farther from the truth; I am not a gun make arrests and carry guns, as well as fighter; I am not a wily sleuth; and I am not a Fearless Frank. To tell the making the slaying of a special agent a truth, I was thoroughly frightened federal offense. And he allowed Charles every time it fell to my lot to carry a Appel—an accountant as well as a doc- gun on a foray of any kind. ument examiner—to found the Bu- There were men who served with reau’s now-famous crime laboratory, me who never knew the emotion of fear. They belonged to the glory com- beginning with a borrowed microscope pany of history, those joyous daredevils (Gentry 1991, 124–148). who, from time immemorial, have In 1927, a handsome young law- been vainly waiting for a commander Figure 1. Melvin Purvis autographed photo (to close yer named Clyde Tolson caught to order a charge on the gateways of friend James McLeod) courtesy of McLeod’s daughter Hoover’s eye, and in just two years he hell. I admire them, but my nervous Florrie Ervin; copy photo by Joe Nickell. system is not built that way. I never led would become in rapid succession an a raid without apprehension, and only agent, a staff supervisor, special agent the knowledge that there was a job to keep Purvis from the next target, in charge of the Buffalo office, and fi- there to do kept me functioning in the George “Baby Face” Nelson (real name nally assistant director! Thus began a death-haunted sectors where bullets friendship—some say a romantic liai- were flying. Lester Gillis). When Nelson shot agent Sam Cowley (after Nelson turned a car son—that lasted until Hoover’s death. Purvis added, “A sense of responsibility chase into a trap), a scheming Hoover Neither married, and the two dined to- is often an effective substitute for cour- ordered Purvis to stay at the hospital gether, spent weekends together, took age” (Purvis 1936, 246–247). vacations together, albeit while keeping with Cowley while urgently scrambling So, as he and other agents moved in separate residences; Hoover lived with less experienced agents to pursue Nel- on Dillinger, on the sidewalk outside his mother until her death in 1938. son. When, as Cowley lay dying, Purvis the theater, Purvis would later admit, Hoover’s sexual orientation has been vowed to a Chicago American reporter “I was very nervous; it must have been a made an issue due to his public crusade that he would get Nelson, Hoover had squeaky voice that called out, ‘Stick ’em against homosexuals—his professed had enough (Purvis 2005, 259–260). up Johnny, we have you surrounded.’” contempt of them being second only Dillinger drew his automatic pistol, but to his hatred of Communists. Hoover it never fired. Number Hoover refused to allow gays into the FBI, One was shot by Purvis’s men and lay John Edgar Hoover (1895–1972), the subverted their positions elsewhere,

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and sometimes blackmailed them into promotion for the FBI, Hoover never- veillance of Martin Bormann, helped becoming informants (Hack 2004, theless tried to find a pretext for chal- organize a War Crimes Office, inves- 281–282; Gentry 1991, 90; 307–310, lenging the little toy badges. He had tigated the report of Hitler’s death, and 412–413). to content himself with getting Post assisted with the Nuremburg trials. Un- Hoover also took an interest in an- Toasties to remove any mention of the fortunately, Colonel Purvis’s service re- cords were destroyed in a fire, so crucial details are lacking, but he served with distinction (Purvis 2005, 260–313). Hoover secretly demoted Purvis—one of the great- Months after Purvis had resigned est G-men of all time—and began to load him with from the FBI, Hoover had been hu- miliated at a senate subcommittee demeaning assignments and to rewrite history, hearing on appropriations when a sen- omitting Purvis’s name from the Dillinger saga. ator pressed him on whether Ameri- ca’s top cop had ever made an arrest. Hoover was forced to reply—four times—that he never had, that he was a desk-bound administrator. He prob- other young lawyer, the dashing Mel- ably never in his life wished more for vin Purvis to whom the Bureau di- credentials like Purvis’s. The very next rector wrote (April 3, 1934), “. . . get morning Hoover ordered his agents to Dillinger for me and the world is yours” notify him immediately when targeted (Summers 1993, 70). Things soured gangster was about to be with the -turned-fiasco at Bo- arrested. Three weeks later, Hoover ar- hemia Lodge, and Hoover sent agent ranged to be on scene, kept safely out of Sam Cowley to assist. When Purvis did harm while brave agents pulled in front succeed against Public Enemy Number of Karpis’s car and arrested him with One, Hoover briefly feted Purvis and drawn guns. But in the official version, Cowley in Washington, privately prais- it was Hoover who lunged at Karpis ing Purvis for “almost unimaginable and grabbed him before he could reach daring” (Summers 1993, 72). Unfortu- his weapon. (Actually Karpis’s two ri- nately, the press kept referring to Pur- fles were in the trunk.) “Karpis Cap- vis—not Hoover—as “The Man Who tured in New Orleans by Hoover Him- Got Dillinger,” and when Purvis also self,” headlined . brought down and Years later, in an autobiography, Karpis became a media sensation, Hoover’s would make fun of these lies (Gentry jealous anger finally boiled over. 1991, 182–195). John Dillinger Hoover secretly demoted Pur- Purvis committed suicide on Feb- vis—one of the greatest G-men of all ruary 29, 1960.1 After Purvis’s funeral, time—and began to load him with de- his widow gathered her three sons and FBI in their Junior G-Man promotion meaning assignments and to rewrite sent a terse telegram to Hoover: “We (Purvis 2005, 283–284, 295). history, omitting Purvis’s name from are honored that you ignored Melvin’s the Dillinger saga. An early example of While pretending to be friendly death. Your jealousy hurt him very Hoover’s spite came following Purvis’s with Purvis, Hoover in fact launched an much but until the end I think he loved telegraphed resignation in 1935, when unrelenting sneak crusade against him, you.” Hoover did not respond (Purvis he accepted a lucrative offer from Post sabotaging Purvis’s career opportunities 2005, 329). (In 2004, I spent most of Toasties cereal. Comic strips featured whenever possible, spreading rumors, a week in Florence, South Carolina, Purvis’s exploits and promoted the and encouraging agents to look for where Melvin Purvis—after resign- Melvin Purvis Junior G-Man Club, anything negative about this principled ing from the FBI—had raised a fam- which offered—in exchange for cereal American hero. Although successful in ily and died. From March 27 to 31, I box tops—such items as a fingerprint blocking his appointment as a federal visited his former home, talked with kit, code wheel, invisible ink and de- judge, undermining Hollywood of- people who had known him, made a veloper, and a Secret Operator’s Man- fers, and the like, Hoover was unable pilgrimage to his grave, and conducted ual, plus Junior G-Man badges and to thwart Purvis’s appointment to the research at both the county library and Secret Operator badges for girls as well Military Intelligence Division during courthouse—being permitted at the as boys. Although this was wonderful World War II. Purvis instigated sur- coroner’s office to make a supervised

16 Volume 39 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer JOE NICKELL INVESTIGATIVE FILES]

examination of the file on Purvis’s But did these paranormal reenact- immediately determined that he had death. I obtained a copy of the Coro- ments actually occur? Ogden is contra- no other weapons. We spoke to him, but he couldn’t speak. An ambulance ner’s Inquest report [1960], and I held dicted by another writer, Ursula Bielski was called. in my hand the bullet that killed the (1998, 134), who insists: great G-man.) In light of the mania following So the alleyway ghost is a figment, Dillinger’s death, it seems almost obviously based on misreports of Dil- Dillinger’s Ghost? unbelievable that no unusual phe- linger’s slaying. Besides, “In recent nomena were reported at the shoot- years . . . paranormal tales of that al- Some conspiracy theorists maintain ing site in the immediate months leyway have lapsed . . .” (Bielski 1998, that it was not Dillinger who died and years that followed. In fact, it 134). Let us hope that Dillinger’s imag- near the . Rumors was not until the 1970s that pass- ined ghost now rests in peace, and let circulated after his death that the ersby on north Lincoln Avenue began to spot a bluish figure running us remember Purvis and Hoover in the FBI shot down the wrong man. They ■ down the alley, stumbling, falling, contrasting ways that each deserves. cite discrepancies in the description and disappearing. of Dillinger versus the autopsy that Note “point to Dillinger’s permanent escape Hauck (1996, 154) repeats claims that Dillinger’s ghost “has been seen racing 1. A longer, online version of this article dis- and disappearance” (Nash 1978, 394). cusses the controversy over Purvis’s death and is Some have postulated that the FBI had down the alley.” available on csicop.org. actually killed a small-time hoodlum In fact, however, the reported References ghostly reenactments are no such thing, by the name of Jimmy Lawrence “and Bielski, Ursula. 1998. Chicago Haunts: Ghostlore was covering up its tracks” (Ogden since Dillinger never ran and was never of the Windy City. Chicago: Lake Claremont 2009, 117). This is a familiar type of in the alley. For these facts, we turn to Press. the first-hand account of his death by Coroner’s Inquest: The State of South Carolina conspiracy claim (Nickell 1993). vs. The Dead Body of Melvin Purvis. 1960. In fact, Dillinger’s body was iden- Melvin Purvis, leader of the team of Inquest held April 13. (Table of contents, p. tified by his own father—once he had G-men who brought down John Dil- a; report, pp. 1–57.) Gentry, Curt. 1991. J. Edgar Hoover: The Man looked past the minor plastic surgery— linger. As Purvis wrote in his American and the Secrets. New York: W.W. Norton & and he had his son’s coffin covered with Company. three feet of concrete to keep the curi- Agent (1936, 275–276), “I was about Girardin, G. Russell, with William J. Helmer. 1994. Dillinger: The Untold Story. ous from digging it up (Ogden 2009, three feet to the left of him,” when agents closed in on Dillinger. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 117). A death photo leaves little doubt Hack, Richard. 2004. Puppetmaster: The Secret the corpse was indeed Dillinger’s, and I had to give the signal to close in Life of J. Edgar Hoover. Beverly Hills, CA: then because I had seen the woman New Millennium Press. fingerprints left no doubt at all: The Hauck, Dennis William. 1996. Haunted Places: tiny scars that obliterated his prints’ at his right [his current girlfriend] tug at his shirt in a furtive sort of The National Directory. New York: Penguin major pattern features (called “cores” Books. way as if to warn him that all was Kurland, Michael. 1994. A Gallery of Rogues. and “deltas”) did not prevent com- not well. I had seen him reach for New York: Prentice Hall. parison, and the postmortem prints his right-hand pocket and give it a “Melvin Purvis.” 2014. Online at https://en. unquestionably match those of Dil- slight jerk as if in an effort to draw wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvin_Purvis; accessed linger on his FBI wanted poster. As to a gun. When I called out to him he February 11, 2014. drew his .380 automatic pistol, but Nash, Jay Robert. 1978. Among the Missing: “Jimmy Lawrence,” that was simply the he never fired it. He dropped to the An Anecdotal History of Missing Persons from alias Dillinger was using at the time of ground; he had been shot. 1800 to the Present. New York: Simon and his death (Kurland 1994, 101–108; Gi- Schuster. Purvis continued, making clear that Nickell, Joe. 1993. “Outlaw Impostors,” in Stein rardin 1994, 220; Gentry 1991, 173). 1993, 112–113. Now that we know “Dillinger” was Dillinger never ran or even entered Ogden, Tom. 2009. Haunted Theaters: Playhouse the alley: Phantoms, Opera House Horrors, and Backstage indeed Dillinger, we need not be mis- Banshees. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press. taken as to just whose ghost allegedly He had made a long stride toward Purvis, Alston, with Alex Tresniowski. 2005. visits Dillinger’s death site. According the entrance to an alley at the end The Vendetta: Special Agent Melvin Purvis, to ghost raconteur Tom Ogden (2009, of which were some of our men. I John Dillinger, and Hoover’s FBI in the Age of am glad he didn’t get into the alley, Gangsters. New York: Public Affairs. 117): “Within months of Dillinger’s as there might have been a cross fire, Purvis, Melvin. 1936. American Agent. Garden death, people began to report seeing a although we had planned to avoid City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co. misty male form floating down the alley this as in all cases. Dillinger fell with Stein, Gordon. 1993. Encyclopedia of Hoaxes. Detroit, MI: Gale Research. his head in the alley and his feet on where he died. Sometimes it would Summers, Anthony. 1993. Official and pull a gun before it fell to the ground the sidewalk. In his right hand was Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar his gun, and as he fell the elbow hit and faded away.” In other words, the Hoover. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. first, causing a sort of bounce. When Toland, John. 1963. The Dillinger Days. New alleged ghostly drama simply repeated his hand bounced up I took the York: Random House; cited in Kurland the drama people had read about. gun from it. Turning him over, we 1994, 105–106.

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