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opened fire on Van Meter, who fell dead. He was 28 years old. Brown continued to fire at Van Meter as he lay prone; the impact of the bullets ripped off one finger and nearly severed a thumb and finger of the right hand. The body was found to be armed with a .380 caliber Colt automatic pistol. The number and severity of Van Meter's wounds were attributed to the use of the shotguns; Van Meter's family later said that their kin had been used for "target practice".
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1028:) after a car chase from Little Bohemia, when in reality, Van Meter escaped unharmed with Dillinger, Tommy Carroll, and Hamilton. The film also portrays Van Meter as being one of the escapees in the September 26, 1933 breakout from Michigan City arranged by Dillinger, though in reality, he had made parole just after Dillinger.
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According to a 1939 FBI interview of one Thomas Kirwin, a handyman who worked on Harry Sawyer's farm north of St. Paul, and who had harbored both Gannon and Van Meter there, Gannon betrayed Van Meter to the St. Paul police in collusion with Peifer and Sawyer, who split $ 10,000 or so of Homer Van
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The officers later claimed Van Meter ignored their command to stop and fled into a nearby alley, where he fired twice on the officers with a .380 caliber pistol. Chief of Police Frank Cullen, armed with a rifle, held his fire as a bystander walked into the line of fire, but the remaining officers
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According to Ramsey County
Coroner, he was hit by 26 buckshot slugs and a single machine gun bullet – all entry wounds in the back. The four officers reported $ 1,323 found on Van Meter, although his friends and associates claimed he was carrying at least $ 10,000 on that day. A number of
499:. Whereas Van Meter befriended Dillinger, he and Pierpont openly despised each other, largely because of Van Meter's clowning antics and demeanor. On July 28, 1925, Van Meter's repeated joking and violation of the Indiana Reformatory rules earned him a transfer to the state prison at
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Meter's money with
Detective Brown, while Gannon was given Van Meter's guns. That same year, the FBI announced that it believed Sawyer had set up Van Meter to get at his money, splitting the take with the four ranking officers who did the shooting. Van Meter was buried in
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In
January 1926, Van Meter was transported to Chicago to testify in defense of a man wrongly suspected of being his accomplice for the train robbery in Crown Point. He escaped from the transport at Union Station, but was quickly apprehended by his captors while
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650:. On May 24, while driving a red panel truck, Van Meter and Dillinger were stopped by Detectives Martin O'Brien and Lloyd Mulvihill of the East Chicago Police Department. Van Meter gunned down both officers with his
680:. During the robbery, Van Meter shot and killed South Bend police officer Howard Wagner, but was also shot in the head himself and wounded. The fourth man, never identified, has been suggested at times to be
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Afterwards, Van Meter affected a reformation sufficient to allow the parole board to release him on May 19, 1933, one week after
Dillinger had made parole. On August 18, Van Meter aligned himself with
673:. Loeser operated on Van Meter on June 3. Unsatisfied with the results and, not coincidentally, with the pain of the operation, Van Meter attempted to kill Loeser on the spot.
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on the street. A week later, Van Meter attempted another escape, this time with cellmate
Charles Stewart. After sawing through the bars of their cell, the two beat a
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explanations of who betrayed Van Meter to the police have been advanced since his death, including Baby Face Nelson, with whom he had quarreled, St. Paul
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Van Meter was born to Cary B. Van Meter (1871–1918) and Julia Miller (1872–1924) in 1905 (according to other sources
December 3, 1906) in
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manhunt. Eddie Green was ambushed and killed by the FBI on April 3. Days earlier, Van Meter, Dillinger, and
Dillinger's girlfriend
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Van Meter was paroled in
December 1924. Three months later, he teamed up with an old cellmate to rob the passengers of a train in
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On June 30, Van Meter, Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and an unidentified fourth man robbed the
Merchants National Bank in
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in the kidnappings of
William Hamm and Edward Bremer. The FBI were interviewing captured former criminal associates.
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Actor Christopher Berry was cast to portray Homer Van Meter in an unreleased British film adaptation of
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had narrowly escaped from police in St. Paul after a gunfight. Later, on April 23, while fleeing from
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unconscious but were caught before leaving the prison. As a penalty, he spent the next two months in
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A few days later, in an attempt to conceal their identities, both Dillinger and Van Meter underwent
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Because of this level of criminal activity, Van Meter and the gang became the subject of an intense
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radio show on April 15, 1936, which later became the 10th episode of the first season of the 1952
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railroad conductor. During the sixth grade, Van Meter ran away from home, eventually ending up in
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Dillinger broke out of prison in Crown Point, Indiana, on March 3, 1934. Dillinger and
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He was arrested for the first time as a teenager, for drunk and disorderly conduct. In
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in Chicago. That night, Van Meter and his girlfriend Marie Comforti fled to St. Paul.
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and East Chicago cops led by Detective Martin Zarkevych ambushed and gunned down
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On May 3, Van Meter, Dillinger, and Carroll robbed the First National Bank in
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later joined the gang. On March 6, Dillinger, Nelson, Van Meter, Carroll,
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active in the early 20th century, most notably as a criminal associate of
627:. Hamilton was mortally wounded and died four days later at the house of
596:. One week later, on March 13, the men robbed the First National Bank in
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Drunk and disorderly conduct, larceny, motor vehicle theft, armed robbery
588:, and Hamilton robbed the Security National Bank & Trust Company in
354:(December 3, 1905 – August 23, 1934) was an American criminal and
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404: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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922:. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.
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560:. They got away with $ 30,000. On October 23, the trio, along with
460:, on June 23, 1923, Van Meter was sentenced to 41 days in jail for
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People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
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in the apartment of Jimmy Probasco, a bar owner connected to the
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People murdered by law enforcement officers in the United States
568:, escaping with $ 32,000. When Illinois published its list of "
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1931 Mugshot of Lester Gillis aka George "Baby Face" Nelson
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Homer Van Meter Walks Into Police Trap and Dies Shooting]
1134:"First National Bank Robbery (or the Dillinger Robbery)"
691:
On July 22, 1934, a combined force of FBI agents led by
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Mason City Public Library. Retrieved December 4, 2006.
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Homer Van Meter was the subject of an episode of the
592:. The gang escaped with $ 49,500 to their hideout in
1307:, Nashville, TN: Cumberland House Publishing, Inc.,
1059:. On the TV show, Van Meter was portrayed by actor
1016:. He is portrayed as being shot to death along with
1115:Checkmark Books, an imprint of Facts on File, Inc.
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152:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
1113:The Encyclopedia of Robberies, Heists, and Capers.
715:On August 23, at the corner of Marion Street and
654:. On June 7, Carroll was killed in a gunfight in
524:, where he was severely beaten by prison guards.
1328:, www.findagrave.com, retrieved 18 December 2013
1176:"People & Events: John Dillinger, 1903–1934"
491:While in the Indiana Reformatory, Van Meter met
1270:, The New York Times, New York, August 25, 1934
984:(1973), Homer Van Meter was portrayed by actor
1012:(2009), Homer Van Meter is portrayed by actor
337:from January to December, 1924; 1925 to 1933 (
1286:, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press,
1282:Girardin, G. Russell, and Helmer, William J,
572:" at the end of 1933, Van Meter ranked 18th.
564:and Charles "Chuck" Fisher, robbed a bank in
8:
1305:Baby Face Nelson: Portrait Of A Public Enemy
464:. On January 11, 1924, he was sentenced for
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856:. Unsourced material may be challenged and
815:Learn how and when to remove these messages
631:. Dillinger, Van Meter, and members of the
53:Learn how and when to remove these messages
1258:, Prescott Evening Courier, 24 August 1934
252:
241:
1223:, Indiana University Press, 2004, p. 340.
995:(1975), Van Meter was portrayed by actor
956:Learn how and when to remove this message
938:Learn how and when to remove this message
876:Learn how and when to remove this message
420:Learn how and when to remove this message
230:Learn how and when to remove this message
212:Learn how and when to remove this message
110:Learn how and when to remove this message
1303:Nickel, Steven, and Helmer, William J.,
1246:, Lawrence Journal-World, 24 August 1934
73:This article includes a list of general
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1423:Prisoners and detainees of Illinois
1398:Prisoners and detainees of Indiana
79:it lacks sufficient corresponding
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1268:Van Meter's Loot Sought From Girl
1202:, Constable & Robinson Ltd.,
796:This section has multiple issues.
34:This article has multiple issues.
16:American criminal and bank robber
1408:American people of Dutch descent
1219:George Russell Girardin et al.,
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635:buried him in a gravel pit near
378:
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1383:People from Fort Wayne, Indiana
1083:John F. Kennedy's assassination
804:or discuss these issues on the
741:Jewish-American organized crime
389:needs additional citations for
258:FBI mug shot of Homer Van Meter
137:needs additional citations for
42:or discuss these issues on the
1418:Deaths by firearm in Minnesota
1182:. Retrieved December 4, 2006.
1154:"John Dillinger: The New Gang"
470:Southern Illinois Penitentiary
1:
1166:. Retrieved December 4, 2006.
1284:Dillinger: The Untold Story
1256:Dillinger Mob Man Shot Down
1221:Dillinger, The Untold Story
918:the claims made and adding
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1079:The Death of Jack Hamilton
1057:TV series of the same name
1037:The Death of Jack Hamilton
1200:The Mammoth Book of Gangs
590:Sioux Falls, South Dakota
576:The Second Dillinger Gang
345:
318:
251:
1403:Depression-era gangsters
993:The Kansas City Massacre
991:In the television movie
604:, stealing firearms and
1324:Find A Grave Memorial,
1044:In radio and television
449:, where he worked as a
94:more precise citations.
545:
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487:Meeting John Dillinger
352:Homer Virgil Van Meter
268:Homer Virgil Van Meter
1393:American bank robbers
757:, and local St. Paul
721:Saint Paul, Minnesota
648:East Chicago, Indiana
558:Grand Haven, Michigan
543:
535:
850:improve this section
621:Little Bohemia Lodge
522:solitary confinement
477:Crown Point, Indiana
468:and incarcerated in
398:improve this article
146:improve this article
1111:Newton, M. (2002).
771:Fort Wayne, Indiana
767:Lindenwood Cemetery
678:South Bend, Indiana
625:Hastings, Minnesota
594:St. Paul, Minnesota
582:John "Red" Hamilton
566:Brainerd, Minnesota
518:corrections officer
481:Indiana Reformatory
466:motor vehicle theft
439:Fort Wayne, Indiana
309:Cause of death
301:St. Paul, Minnesota
282:Fort Wayne, Indiana
1388:American murderers
1159:2007-08-18 at the
1139:2007-02-08 at the
986:Harry Dean Stanton
903:possibly contains
729:Barker–Karpis gang
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514:begging for change
1358:Death certificate
1353:FBI wanted poster
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598:Mason City, Iowa
550:Baby Face Nelson
458:Aurora, Illinois
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1378:1934 deaths
1373:1905 births
1164:CourtTV.com
997:Brion James
976:John Milius
777:Other media
759:bank robber
755:Jack Peifer
633:Barker Gang
586:Eddie Green
356:bank robber
92:introducing
1367:Categories
1313:1581822723
1292:0253325560
1090:References
912:improve it
801:improve it
753:underling
528:Crime wave
433:Early life
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807:talk page
725:Tom Brown
652:Tommy gun
443:alcoholic
370:Biography
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1157:Archived
1137:Archived
1068:In print
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749:and his
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