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N0KFQ > TODAY 22.04.08 04:36l 47 Lines 2308 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 17256_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Apr 22
Path: IZ3LSV<IQ0LT<IK2QCA<I4UKI<IR2UBX<IK2XDE<ON4HU<VE3UIL<K9BBS<N9PMO<
N0KFQ
Sent: 080421/1601Z @:N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA #:17256 [Branson] FBB7.00i $:17256_N
From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@ALLUS
April 22, 1934
An FBI agent is killed in a gangster raid
George "Baby Face" Nelson kills Special Agent W. Carter Baum
during an FBI raid in northern Wisconsin. Nelson was holed up
with notorious bank robber John Dillinger's gang at the Little
Bohemia resort but didn't follow the planned escape route. As he
was stealing a car to escape, he blasted several agents with two
handguns. The famed gangster was born Lester Gillis but wanted to
be known as Big George Nelson. Unfortunately for him, his
youthful looks caused everyone to call him "Baby Face," although
one had to be careful about using the nickname within earshot of
the gangster. After a typical teenage criminal career, Nelson
joined Al Capone's gang in 1929, where he was known for his
particularly brutal strong-arm tactics. In fact, his
unpredictable violence got so out of hand that it eventually led
to his expulsion from the gang.
In the early 1930s, Nelson joined up with bootleggers in
California. However, after Prohibition ended, Nelson returned to
the Midwest to try his hand at bank robberies. Nelson hit a
series of banks in 1933 and 1934 and was upset when John
Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd were given credit for his crimes.
Despite this, Nelson teamed up with Dillinger in April 1934: The
pair hit two banks in South Dakota and Iowa. Reportedly,
Dillinger was a bit perplexed by Nelson's outbursts during the
robberies. After shooting bank employees at both of the banks,
Nelson had to be persuaded not to kill them. Not long after the
raid on April 23, Dillinger was killed by agents in Chicago,
making Nelson the country's newest Public Enemy Number One.
On November 27, Nelson was spotted driving in rural Illinois.
After a chase involving two FBI agents, Sam Cowley and Herman
Hollis, an epic gun battle ensued. Witnesses say that Nelson
tired of exchanging shots from behind his cover and decided to
attack the agents on the offensive. Although Cowley and Hollis
fired many rounds into Nelson, he kept coming at them with a
machine gun. Nelson killed both agents and hobbled away to a
getaway car, but he did not survive the bold move. The next day,
his body, riddled with bullets, was found in a ditch.
Sysop Note: On this day in 1967, I married Billie Walling!
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