Mike Thompson vividly remembers the knock. It was 1971 and he was a teenager.
“I opened the door and standing there was Rod Serling from ‘The Twilight Zone’ and another gentleman,” Thompson says. “They were working on a documentary and they wanted to interview my mom. I invited them in. It was surreal.”
Thompson’s mother was Frances Dillinger, the younger stepsister of notorious bank robber John Dillinger. Thompson telephoned his mom, but she was working and said she might not be able to break away. “Serling waited for a while, but they had to leave,” Thompson says. “They couldn’t wait.”
His mom’s reaction was not too surprising, Thompson says. “She always kept quiet about John. We never thought too much about it.”
But since Dillinger’s death in 1934, the legendary status of the infamous gangster has only grown. He robbed at least 20 banks during the Great Depression, escaped from jail twice and was idolized by many as a modern-day Robin Hood. He’s the subject of numerous books, with his life of crime most recently told by Johnny Depp in the movie “Public Enemies.”
Since shortly after Dillinger’s death at the hands of federal agents outside Chicago’s Biograph Theater, his family has held several items belonging to Dillinger, including a pocketwatch, hunting suit, rifles, a shotgun, and the wooden gun the family says Dillinger used in a daring jail escape. Also up for auction is the dollar bill removed from Dillinger’s body on the day he was shot.
One of the more personal items is a note Dillinger sent to his father, letting him know that his life of crime was not his father’s fault. “Dad,” Dillinger says in the handwritten letter dated Sept. 29, 1933, “most of the blame lies with me.”
The items belonging to the Frances Dillinger family are being auctioned by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions on Dec. 12, 2009.
More than 70 years after Dillinger’s death, the family continues living under the legacy of their famous relative. Thompson’s son works for a federal law enforcement agency.
“When they did his background check, they saw that his great uncle was John Dillinger — public enemy No. 1. But my son is doing something good, something he likes. I’m glad he went this route,” Thompson concludes with a smile.