June 19, 2013

Crime History: John Dillinger's girlfriend dies

BY: SCOTT MCCABE JANUARY 12, 2013 | 8:00 PM
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On this day, Jan. 13, in 1969, Evelyn "Billie" Frechette, best known for her relationship with the bank robber John Dillinger in the early 1930s, died at age 61.

Frechette began a relationship with Dillinger in 1933 and was arrested in April of 1934 for hiding Dillinger in her St. Paul, Minn., apartment.

Dillinger saw her arrest from nearby and wanted to stop it but was talked out of it because it was too dangerous. He vowed to kill the agent in charge of her interrogation after she testified that she had been beaten and deprived of food for two days.

She served two years in prison, then toured the country with Dillinger's family for five years on the "Crime Doesn't Pay" show.

Frechette eventually settled down on the Indian reservation where she was born.

-- Scott McCabe

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