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ae bea Caren rer ee at * IVE SHOTS rang out. Five shots caught him as he clawed for his pistol. That's how Dillinger died. One of . the shots was mine. . Twenty-five years ago next Wedtnes — day, shortly before 11 p. m. on the night i of July 22, 1934, John Dillinger, America’s most vicious criminal, was gunned to death in an alley next to the old Biograph movie house in Chicago by Federal and local agents led by me. {rounding the death of Dillinger. Few people really know, for instance, the names of the officers who ahot him. Of course, I know. I was there. Then there Sage, the bawdy-house madam who. -#son for turning stool pigeon? Over the years, there have been more half-truths and pure fiction written about Dillinger’s last hours than pos- aibly about any othdr criminal. This is how it really was: receiving reports that Dillinger was in the Chicago area. At that time, I was special agent in charge of the Chicago : . @ffice of the Department of Justice's - Division of Investigation, which was the ‘» forerunner of the FBL On July 21, Sgt. Martin Zarkavich of - the E. Chicago (Ind.) police repo that he had a hot tip on Dillinger’s whereabouts. The criminal and his girl friend, Polly Hamilton, were in the habit of making frequent visits to Anna Sage's _ apartment in E. Chicago. The informant: * Mrs. Sage herself. — On the afternoon of July 22, a Sunday, I received word from Mrs. Sage that Even today, there are mysteries sur-. fingered Dillinger. What was her rea: By July of 1934, our agents were - Pelty~“Familton oe a S ovie that" HIEAE She didn't know, however, if they wer going to the Marbro Theatre. on the West Side, or the Biograph Theatre at 2344 N. Lincoln Ave. We made our plans for either theatre. ~ But it was to be the Biograph- The™ feature fitm: “Manhattan Melodrama,” a@ gangster thriller starring Clark Gable, William Powell and Myrna Loy. Twenty: ! seven Federal and local agents, including myself and Zarkovich, were staked out, near the theatre, How were we to recognize Dillinger? We had never seen him face to We had his photograph, and Dra. Sag¥ was to wear a red dress. It. was up to me to make the identification. -: bic: Lhe a ae AROUND 6:90 p.m.1 sw men proach the marquee with two women, one of them the “woman in red” The‘ man was coatless, he sported a ‘small mustache he wore gold-rimrmned dark: mustache, he wore gold-rimmed dark glasses, a straw hat, a white shirt. Hav- ing committed countless photos-ef Dil- linger to memory, I took a jong hard look. Yes, the man was Dillinger! — - The deadly killer calmly purchased three tickets (admission price, 30 cents each) and entered the movie house with Mra. Sage and Polly Hamilton. - We had originally planned to take . Dillinger by surprise inside the theatre. ’: The idea was to take a seat behind him, pin his arms and capture him without raising a fuss. But the closest seat ‘I could get was three rows away. The movie was packed. We decided to tak him on the way out. , So all of us waited, and waited. I was the longest two hours and fo