Tennessee Museum Displays John Dillinger’s Eerie Death Mask

Check out the face of John Dillinger, the notorious Indiana native and early 20th-century gangster, at this awesome museum in Eastern Tennessee.

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I love visiting museums and definitely have my fair share of favorite artifacts I've come across. I took a picture of one of them, and it still gives me chills every time I randomly scroll past it on my iPhone. The artifact I'm talking about is a "death mask" of John Dillinger himself, which was one of four molds created while his body lay in the morgue.

John Dillinger Before His Life of Crime

According to the FBI History Archives, John Herbert Dillinger was born on June 22, 1903, in the Oak Hill section of Indianapolis. His mother died when he was only three years old, but his father later remarried to his son's dismay. Dillinger quit school as a teenager and began working in an Indianapolis machine shop until his father moved the family to Mooresville, Indiana.

After a fallout with his father and an auto theft incident, Dillinger enlisted in the United States Navy, but even that part of his life was short-lived. While onboard a ship, his conduct landed him in further trouble, leading him to desert the ship. He then returned to Mooresville, where his real life of crime would begin.

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John Dillinger's Jail Time

Dillinger joined the town pool shark, Ed Singleton, and robbed his first bank at around 21-years-old. However, the two were quickly caught leading to a legethy prison sentence for Dillegnger. He was locked up inside the Indiana State Prison, which only fueld his bitterness.

On May 10, 1933, Dillinger was paroled from prison after serving eight and a half years of his sentence. Almost immediately, Dillinger robbed a bank in Bluffton, Ohio. He was arrested on September 22 and booked into the county jail in Lima, Ohio, to await trial. Later, eight of Dillinger’s friends escaped from the Indiana State Prison and showed up in Lima to free Dillinger. The county sheriff was murdered in the process.

How Did John Dillinger Die?

After escaping jail in Ohio, Dillinger and his gang pulled several bank robberies. They also plundered several Indiana police arsenals, stealing guns, ammunition, and bulletproof vests. During their reign of terror, the gang murdered two Chicago law enforcement officers, which eventually landed Dillinger back in jail in Crown Point, Indiana. However, he was able to escape by tricking his captors with a wooden gun.

While escaping Crown Point, Dillinger made a critical error that would cost him his life. He stole the sheriff’s car and drove across the Indiana-Illinois line, committing a federal offense by transporting a stolen motor vehicle across state lines. Dillinger became “Public Enemy Number One,” and on July 22, 1934, he was ambushed by federal agents outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago.

Meeting John Dillinger Face-to-Face

Before photography, death masks preserved the appearance of deceased famous people and were even used as references for sculptures and portraits. While on vacation in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, I visited the Alcatraz East Crime Museum, where I came face-to-face with John Dillinger's death mask. According to the Mob Museum, Dillinger’s body received many visitors while in the morgue, including those who wanted to make a death mask. Four masks are believed to have been made, including the one you see above.

The funeral home director noted that Dillinger’s face was missing facial hair and skin from all the molds. If you look closely at the photo above, there is a small glass display case on the left side of the mask. In that case is one of Dillinger’s eyelashes pulled from his body during the making of the mask. It's a very interesting display and one that I certainly won't soon forget. You can learn more about the Alcatraz East Crime Museum by clicking HERE.