From The Archives - November 2014
George "Baby Face" Nelson
Notorious bank robber and killer Baby Face Nelson was born Lester Joseph Gillis in Chicago, Illinois, on December 6, 1908. Both of his parents were immigrants from Belgium, according to some reports.
By the age of 13, Nelson had begun his life of crime. He was caught stealing in 1922 and sentenced to the St. Charles School for boys. Over the next few years, he was in and out of juvenile facilities. Nelson eventually earned the nickname "Baby Face" for his youthful appearance by his fellow street thugs. He was only five feet four inches tall and weighed roughly 133
pounds.
In 1928, Nelson married Helen Waweznak. She called herself Helen Gillis, even after her husband had taken the last name of Nelson. Helen was only 16 at the time. The couple soon had a son and a daughter together.
Nelson graduated to adult prison in 1931 after robbing a bank in Chicago. Sentenced to a year in jail, he escaped from custody while being transported to be tried on another bank robbery charge in February 1932. Nelson eventually wound in Sausalito, California where he met John Paul Chase. The pair engaged in numerous criminal activities over the next few years. Nelson joined up legendary criminal John Dillinger in 1934, shortly after Dillinger's original gang dissolved. Nelson was almost caught that April while he was hiding out with the Dillinger gang in northern Wisconsin. But he shot his way out of the situation, killing an FBI agent in the process. He was with Dillinger and Homer Van Meter during the June robbery of the Merchants National Bank in South Bend, Indiana. A police officer was killed by the gang during the crime.
On july 22, 1934, Dillinger himself was ambushed and killed by FBI agents outside of the Biograph Theater in Lincoln Park in Chicago. The next day, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover announced that Nelson was the new "Public Enemy No. 1." Van Meter met a grisly end the following month, in a confrontation with police.
After Dillinger's death, Nelson headed to California with his wife, Helen, and John Paul Chase for a time. He managed to evade capture for several months, but the FBI finally caught up with him in November 27, 1934. Nelson was driving a stolen car with his wife and Chase near Barrington, Illinois, when they were spotted by FBI agents. For a time, Nelson tried to drive away. He then stopped the car to shoot at the agents. A brief gun battle ensued, which left one FBI agent dead.
Nelson had been severly wounded--hit by 17 bullets--in the standoff, but he, Chase and his wife managed to get away. On November 28,1934, he succumbed to his injuries. Nelson was only 26 years old. His body was left near the St. Peter Catholic Cemetery in Skokie, Illinois. His wife was later sentenced to a year in prison for violating her parole. She had previously pleaded guilty to harboring fugitives.