Gold!

Yes! Office politics rule no 7: when you can't get information directly from the source you go to another source who has access to the information. I now have the information that I was looking for from Harry's Central State Hospital file.

I would not have to go through all of this if Harry had ever been given the attention he deserves as a case study. The only book that has good information on him also was very poorly fact checked. Consequently, I have to piece together information on my own. Personally it's more fun this way. Authors are human so either they are too detached or too involved with their subjects. Interpretation as to motive and history are always subjective with the exception of cold hard facts. I mean the where, when, how. Why is always subjective and why is almost never fully known unless you get an untainted confession. (Untainted no coercion, no diminished capacity, etc)

So here's the skinny; the information may not seem like much but it does explain some things, raise more questions about others and make me see Mrs. Lena Pierpont in a much more favorable light.

• Harry was diagnosed with dementia praecox. That diagnosis is available on the inquest papers that are available to the public. In the Central State file it list that his illness was of the Hebephrenic type. A form of schizophrenia that typically onsets after puberty and involves a progressive disintegration of behavior. Characteristics include inappropriate mannerisms and emotional responses (such as grimacing or grinning at improper times).
• Harry suffered a head injury at age 9, which was not though serious and a severe injury at 18 when he was hit in the head with a baseball bat and rendered unconscious for about 5 minutes.
  
• Harry was not sexually active at 18, in fact he avoided the company of girls except his sister Fern who he was close to. He was not a good mixer and became more stubborn and irritable as he grew older.
  
• Fern died when she was 19 years old of Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Harry would have been 17 at the time (1910 census records for the family show a 2 year difference). Harry did not tend to Fern during her illness; however he "was round her quite a bit". No sanitary precautions were used during his time with her.
• Examination of his lungs and breathing lead doctors to suspect a T.B. condition existed.

"Patient expresses no delusions. He guards well all that he says and will not let out anything. Declares at all times that there is nothing wrong with his mental condition. It is conceded that he is normal but the nervous system does not present a very favorable condition."

Even before he truly began his criminal career Harry knew when it was to his advantage to keep his mouth shut. It would become harder for him to keep outbursts at bay as evidenced at the Sarber trial and during his stint on death row. So why is this important? To me at least it shows several things:

1. Had Harry been in any criminal trouble prior to his visit at Central State it would show up in this file. So, unlike Dillinger, Karpis, Nelson, and hosts of others Harry doesn't start showing a criminal tendency until after childhood which is consistent with his diagnosis.
   
2. Harry's mother was genuinely concerned about her son's health and she had every reason to be. Her letter writing campaign is genuine not a ruse developed to spring Harry early.
3. Harry was crazy enough to develop an escape plan where the inmates went out the front door and think it would work. His paranoia aided him in changing the date.
   

I love this stuff!

Harry and HIPAA

Now for those of you who have ever had occasion to do research at the IN archives recently you know that the place is staffed with wonderful helpful people. Until you request to see the medical file from Harry's stay a Central State (the state mental institution). When you request to see that file you will meet with the proverbial brick wall!

Now the IN Public Records Act states that confidential information, with the exception of adoption records. is available to the public after 75 years. Harry's Central State records should have been available around 1996. Nope. If you request the records now and you are not a relative, then you will be told that those records are not available to the public because of HIPAA.

Now for those of you who don't know The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule is the first comprehensive Federal protection for the privacy of personal health information. Well here's my beef. I deal with HIPAA every day and I do understand some of the nuances of the law. What I don't understand is how the archives can stretch that law to deal with individuals who have been dead 72 years! The dead don't have privacy issues. Since members of Harry's immediate family are also dead (may be a nephew living in AL, but no spouses, children, parents, or siblings) I think applying HIPAA to his records is more than a stretch.

Only one thing to do...write Health & Human Services and get a ruling as to whether the archives is correct in their assessment. I wish I was as dedicated in my professional life as I am in my hobby life! http://privacyruleandresearch.nih.gov/pdf/HIPAA_Booklet_4-14-2003.pdf

Jack McGurn

Amanda J. Parr's biography of Vincenzo Gibaldi (aka "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn) is better than most of the genre. Jack McGurn is another individual whose story is so much better than fiction.

Most people who follow 30's crime know that Jack McGurn began his career as a boxer and eventually caught the eye of Al Capone and became Capone's chief bodyguard. What isn't usually told is the story of how McGurn became a criminal. His father was a victim of a Black Hand shake down that ended his life. McGurn methodically tracked down is father's killers and exacted vengeance. According to Parr it was this act that brought McGurn to Capone's attention.

Parr manages to flesh out McGurn's character; her portrayal is a man who is decidedly human. She writes about McGurn's transformation from hardworking family man to lethal "family" man. The man who orchestrated the largest hit during prohibition comes across as more than a cold calculating killer. Don't get me wrong, Parr doesn't sugar coat McGurn's story or motives. A complex individual- yes: a good person -no.

I almost felt sorry for McGurn in the end when Nitti (who comes across as a jealous bastard) kicks McGurn out after Capone is jailed for tax evasion. Almost but not quite, it's impossible to read the book to the end and forget how much blood is on McGurn's hands. In my book McGurn goes down as yet another person who made a bad choice about how to live life and he died like he lived.

Dary Matera John Dillinger

Well, I finished reading Dary Matera's John Dillinger The Life and Death of America's First Celebrity Criminal ; actually I reread it. Books like this usually take a couple of reads because they have so much information. What's great about it is that it is not as biased as some of the earlier works and it appears to be well researched and has good notes. The only thing that bothers me is that much of the work is based upon personal archives that aren't accessible to the general public. I'd love to see that stuff.

Anyway Johnny D. comes off as believable in this book. Some of the books seem hell bent on making sure that you know what a swell guy Dillinger was or they want to demonize him. This book presents a balanced portrait. A human being who made some bad decisions. Not good not evil: human.

I enjoyed the fact that the book paid some attention to Dillinger's relationship with Billie Freschette and what she meant to him. The book demonstrates Billie's humor and guile. It's also one of 2 books that I know that dispute that Dillinger ever slugged Freschette. There are a few errors but minor not glaring. Errors such as Helen Gillis in the riding outfit at Little Bohemia (it wasn't Helen), some things that don't really mean much.

I lost out on this photo on ebay. It's a great picture of Harry Pierpont being interrogated when the gang was captured in Tuscon!

I guess it 's for the best. I have to stop spending money on this stuff!! But I hate the fact that I was beat out by $0.50! Just when you think you got it made BOOM a faster gun gets you.

Maybes and What ifs

So Spanish and I disagree to an extent about Harry Pierpont.

I think these guys were bound together by friendship and their choice of occupation. But I don't think that Harry's reputation is wholly made up by sensationalist journalist. I don't think he is the psychopathic killer they like to make him out to be. He was schizophrenic yes; no disagreement there. But let's face it; he wasn't the menace he was made out to be. That said I don't want anybody to think that I think he was a good guy. He was a good con. He chose a life of crime. In the course of those crimes people got hurt and he was directly responsible for the death of Jess Sarber. I think that he was a leader of the group, but among friends everyone leads sometimes.

Spanish thinks that the Sept 1933 wasn't Harry's Plan. She thinks that it was primarily Detrich who planned it and Harry signed on for it. She also thinks that Van Meter was the outside contact and not Dillinger. She's really going to need to do some convincing for me to buy that one! It goes against everything everyone else has ever written and if she finds documentation for it then she will create a huge stir.

I tried to get in contact with Lori Hyde who has been researching Pierpont for sometime now. No success. I was wondering if she ever found out information about Harry as a child. Simply because I want to know if his delinquent tendencies ever surfaced prior his schizophrenia.

Did you know that if a person is diagnosed with schizophrenia then the probability of that person going to jail rise exponentially! Maybe I want to blame everything on his illness or maybe I just want to understand him better. Why is it the things we can't answer are so more tantalizing than the things we can?

Harry Pierpont wants Parole

Spanish sent me some letters that were written on Harry's behalf for parole. One letter was from Harry. They are fascinating and get me to wondering. His mother, Lena, did a whole letter writing campaign about how much he was needed on their large farm and so forth. Which is to be expected. He was also having Jesse Levy take care of getting letters from the judge and prosecuting attorney from his bank robbery case. The more information I get; the more I begin to wonder. It's a pity Harry didn't write down his memoirs at his death!

Reading Lena's letters I wonder how much is fact and how much is fiction? On the one hand I see a definite attempt to manipulate the system on the other I understand that she wants her son home with her. So it is hard and I think it is because I don't have all the pieces of the puzzle. With just the pieces that I have; I think Harry was tasking his Mom to do the letter writing campaign. Just as he had Levy broker the letters from the prosecutor and such.

I wonder if his Dad had TB and I wonder if Harry also suffered from it like Lena writes in her letters. I know that soon after the trial Lena brought a bar-b-cue stand. So maybe her husband was as ill as she writes he was and he and passed away soon after the trial. But I don't think she ever honestly believed Harry would come home to work on that farm. Those days left when he woke up from that baseball bat incident. But I think she wanted him home.

She alludes to something about Claudy. Supposedly he was obsessed with Harry. Was it because Harry was so defiant? Or was he sexually obsessed with him? Which would have made Harry really defiant! As much as people write that Harry was intolerant of homosexuals; sometimes I think maybe it was more he was intolerant of any man who had a sexual interest in him. That's why he allowed Dillinger in his gang (Dillinger didn't go for blonds. Also, James Jenkins was in with the Dec 1929 escape attempt. Jenkins was notorious from all accounts but Harry still let him in the group.

Again, I wonder too about the timing for the escape attempt. Harry had been planning that escape for a long time. Even while he was doing his parole campaign. I wonder when he made friends with Detrich. Detrich's having that job in the receiving department was key to the whole thing. Makley had it before but lost it for a discipline reason.

Just a bunch of musing on the puzzle.

Harry Pierpont's First Case

My friend V.C. sent me a news article on Harry Pierpont's first conviction. I enjoy the tale because it makes me laugh. It's funny enough to have been in a situation comedy, but it really happened.

V.C. had been searching for the article because a certain author (who I won't name) did a piss-poor job citing his Dillinger book. It wouldn't have been so bad if the book had been from the 1940's through 1960's; however, the book is recently published. I'm going to stop writing about it because it's upsetting how poor scholarship makes it in print.

Anyway, Harry's first big bust was for assault&battery, that's what his intake papers for Indiana State Prison state; however, they don't give the details. It's a great story and I was thrilled to get a copy of a contemporary account. Here goes my synopsis of events as related in the January 9, 1922 Indianapolis Star:

Harry Pierpont decided to go to Indianapolis for reasons known only to him. First he stops in Greencastle and steels a car from Ora Chileon. Next because )as his mother said in his mental competency inquest)he has a mania for guns, he breaks into Cooks Hardware store in Greencastle and steals nine guns. He made his way to Terre Haute IN then went to Indianapolis where he ditched the stolen car. He decided he needed another car. In the middle of Indianapolis during the rush hour home Harry spots just the right car parked in front of the Indianapolis Water Company. He hops in and commences to start the car. The owners of the car, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Devine, leave the butcher shop and return to their car. Seeing Harry in the car Mr. Devine rushes to the drivers side and attempts to dislodge Harry. Harry tells him to let him go since "he's out of work". Harry and Mr. Devine struggle; Harry whips out one of the four guns he is carrying at the time and aims for Mr. Devine's stomach; Mr. Devine forces Harry's aim to lower and Harry shoots at him three times hitting him once in the leg. Mrs. Devine then hits Harry over the head with the roast just purchased from the butcher shop. A Mr. Sartell comes to Mrs. Devine's aid with his help she is able to hold Harry until the police arrive.

She hit him over the head with a roast! LOVE It! So begins the career of one of the most notorious criminals during the Mid-west crime wave. The guy Dillinger looked up to! Hey we all have to start somewhere.

On a more serious note, what is really interesting is that Harry was so forthcoming after his arrest. He told the police everything. Now you have to remember, Pierpont gained a reputation for not cooperating even under coercion (beatings from guards) so I think his talking now is interesting.