November 27, 1934: Baby Face Nelson Is Killed

November 27, 1934: Baby Face Nelson is killed, ending a bad year for America's criminal element that also saw the bloody ends of John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and the team of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.

Lester Joseph Gillis was born on December 6, 1908 in Chicago. He got off to an early start: He was arrested on July 4, 1921, at the age of 12, after he accidentally shot a playmate in the jaw with a pistol that he had found. He served over a year in the State reformatory.

Using the name George Nelson, and, known as "Baby Face" for his appearance, he fell in with a group of young thieves, and as soon as he was old enough to drive, he drove trucks loaded with bootleg liquor. After robbing homes of rich people for their jewelry, he began robbing banks in 1930. The Great Depression was on, and, like other gangsters, the poor began seeing him as a hero for preying on the banks that were preying on the poor. But he was no hero: He was a murderer, and was sent to the State Prison at Joliet in 1931.

In 1932, he escaped during a prisoner transfer. By the Summer of 1933, having pulled a few more bank robberies, he formed his own gang. Witnesses reported that Nelson wildly sprayed sub-machine gun bullets at bystanders as he made his getaway from his robberies. He killed an agent at a resort lodge in Wisconsin. Early in 1934, he helped Dillinger escape from prison in 1934. They worked together, which may be way, after the FBI killed Dillinger, they made Nelson the new "Public Enemy No. 1."

On November 27, 1934, Nelson, his wife Helen Gillis (she called him "Les," short for "Lester"), and associate John Paul Chase headed south in a stolen V8 Ford towards Chicago on U.S. Route 14, in Barrington, Illinois. Nelson caught sight of a sedan driven in the opposite direction by agents Thomas McDade and William Ryan. Both parties simultaneously recognized each other, and a shootout resulted, which became known as the Battle of Barrington.

Nelson was hit in the lower abdomen, but kept firing, hitting an agent. Another agent shot Nelson in both legs, knocking him down. He managed to get up and find cover, and killed an agent, before Chase drove Nelson and his wife away. It was for naught: Nelson had been hit 9 times, and the initial abdominal wound was enough to kill him. Chase drove to a safe house in suburban Wilmette, where Nelson died, a few days short of his 26th birthday.

Helen Gillis surrendered 2 days later, on Thanksgiving, and served a year in prison for harboring a fugitive, namely her husband. She never remarried, remained close to her husband's family, and lived until 1987. Chase also served time in prison, including at Alcatraz. He died in 1973.

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November 27, 1934 was a Tuesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. There were 2 games played in the NHL. The New York Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 at the old Madison Square Garden. And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Boston Bruins, 3-2 at the Boston Garden.