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American Crime History Boston Evening Transcript on Baby Face Nelson and Helen Gillis November 30 1934

1934Best.-Nr. 141211934. Boston Evening Transcript November 30 1934 reports the immediate aftermath of the gun battle that killed George "Baby Face" Nelson born Lester Gillis and mortally wounded federal agents Samuel P. Cowley and Herman E. Hollis. Published three days after the November 27 Battle of Barrington and four months after John Dillinger was killed in Chicago the issue records the final phase of the federal campaign against the Dillinger gang and the rapidly intensifying pursuit of Nelson's widow Helen Gillis. Nelson a bank robber and Dillinger associate killed three federal agents during his criminal career more FBI agents in the line of duty than any other individual. Boston Evening Transcript. Boston Massachusetts. November 30 1934. Front page coverage continues onto page two under the headline "No Quarter to Young Widow of 'Baby Face.'" The article reports the search for Helen Gillis following Nelson's death: ".Federal agents today as they hunted Mrs. Helen Gillis diminutive widow of George 'Baby Face' Nelson leader of the rapidly diminishing remnants of the gang of the late John Dillinger." It further describes efforts to locate Nelson associate John Paul Chase and John Hamilton stating that authorities sought men believed connected with "a machine-gun battle at Barrington in which Inspector Samuel P. Cowley and Special Agent Herman E. Hollis perished in the Government's drive against the nation's public enemies." Another passage places Nelson's death directly within the succession of killings that dismantled the Dillinger circle: "Government agents stood guard at the morgue where Nelson's body lay on the same slab that recently held John Dillinger." The report also states "Federal Agents believe Mrs. Nelson loaded guns for the outlaws in the fight with Cowley and Hollis." The headline's "No Quarter" language arose amid particularly aggressive press coverage of the search for Helen Gillis who had been present with Nelson and John Paul Chase during the Barrington encounter. Nelson died from his wounds on the evening of November 27; Hollis died during the gun battle and Cowley died early the following morning. Gillis remained sought by federal authorities until her arrest on November 29 making this November 30 issue nearly contemporaneous with the end of the manhunt. Newspapers cast her as a female counterpart to the highly publicized "public enemies" pursued during the Dillinger era while federal authorities ultimately prosecuted her for offenses connected with harboring Nelson rather than killing her during the search. Scattered foxing and tears with minor paper loss around the edges; overall very good condition. Front page contemporary reporting on the deaths at Barrington and the federal pursuit of Helen Gillis at the close of the Dillinger and Nelson manhunts. unknown