John Dillinger
The leader of the Dillinger or Terror Gang, John Dillinger was a notorious 1930’s Chicago gangster. Wanted for 24 bank robberies, he had escaped from jail twice and narrowly avoided a conviction for murder when he shot a Chicago, police officer. His flamboyant personality won him media admiration, and Dillinger began to acquire celebrity status. However, on July 22, 1934, Dillinger’s luck ran out when he was killed by police and federal agents in a shootout at the Biograph Theatre, Chicago.
As Dillinger drew his gun, officers shot him four times. Three shots superficially wounded him. However, the fatal bullet entered through the back of his neck, severing his spinal cord, passing through his brain and exiting just under his right eye. This death shot sent Dillinger sprawling face down on the floor. He died instantly. News of the gangster’s death soon spread, and before long, crowds of sensationalists eager for a glimpse of the notorious corpse had overrun the Chicago morgue that held Dillinger’s body.
Amongst those crowds were at least two opportunistic groups intent on capitalizing on Dillinger’s popularity by making a death mask of his face. Official permission was not forthcoming, but the cunning mask makers went ahead anyway. One group led by Professor D E Ashworth, deputy director of Worsham College of Embalming was one. Despite his claims that he had tried to gain permission and denials that he ever made a mask, the FBI detected Ashworth’s deception. They confiscated his mask, and the assistant coroner was sacked for his part in the affair.
A further mask was cast after Dillinger’s body was released to his family. Before its embalming, the funeral director claimed he was kept out of the room for an hour while a group of people made a mask of Dillinger’s face. They were so clumsy that they lacerated Dillinger’s already battered features with the gauze used to overlay the skin. This mask was also later handed in, this time by a Mr. May, a dentist, who claimed to have made his mask with the permission of Dillinger’s father.
These death masks show the impact of death on Dillinger’s face. The exit wound for the gunshot wound is visible as are the scrapes on his skin caused when his face hit the ground. The mask also preserves the traces of scars of the crude plastic surgery indulged in by the vain mobster. No authorized death mask was ever produced of Dillinger although one of the unofficial copies is now on display in the National Museum of Crime and Punishment. However, the justice system in 1880’s Australia positively encouraged the production of the death masks of criminals.