Joan Duczman, left, and her mother, Winifred Peterson… In 1930, Chase became associated with a liquor smuggling operation comprised of persons with underworld connections. Peterson's uncle was Lester Gillis, better known by his nickname, Baby Face Nelson. Lester Gillis was part of a group of Depression-era gangsters and bank robbers who have since became almost mythic figures - people like John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd and the team of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. On November 30, 1934, Chase responded to a want ad for men to drive automobiles to Seattle, Washington. Geni requires JavaScript! In response to an anonymous telephone call, FBI Agents found his body the next day near a Niles Center, Illinois, cemetery. On February 17, 1932, Nelson escaped prison guards while being returned to Joliet. I think he was someone who was easily led. Later two police officers were shot on Wolf Road, outside Chicago, when Nelson opened fire as they approached the gang’s meeting place. He attended school through fifth grade, then worked at a ranch near San Rafael, California. Barking dogs alerted the gangsters to the impending FBI raid. As such, he appears in "Public Enemies," the new Dillinger flick starring Johnny Depp (Gillis is played by British actor Stephen Graham). Nelson eventually earned the nickname "Baby Face" for his youthful appearance by his fellow street thugs. Nelson was joined by his wife and remained in California until May, 1933. Although he had been serving time for the murder of Inspector Cowley, 20 years later Chase had not yet been tried on the December 31, 1934, indictment charging him with Special Agent Hollis’s murder. Nelson, whose real name is, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, 1930 - Chicago (Districts 2627-2876), Cook, Illinois, USA, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, Wilmette, Cook County, Illinois, United States, American Gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baby_Face_Nelson&oldid=421969480, Birth of Lester Gillis aka Baby Face Nelson, Death of Lester Gillis aka Baby Face Nelson. "Everyone remembers these (Depression-era criminals), but people don't remember the fallen agents," said Schaumburg resident Joan Duczman, Peterson's daughter. Nelson’s early criminal career included stealing tires, running stills, bootlegging, and armed robbery. Her father, whom she describes as scrupulously honest, was hurt deeply by his brother's actions, she said. Nelson, also critically injured, was helped into Cowley’s automobile by Chase. "That's something I feel bad about.". There he meet John Paul Chase, with whom he would be closely associated for the rest of his life. On October 17, 1955, a United States District judge dismissed the indictment that charged Chase with Hollis’s murder. Having violated the terms of her parole, Helen Gillis was sentenced to serve one year and one day in the Women’s Federal Reformatory in Mila, Michigan. In December, 1933, Nelson contacted Chase and they remained together for almost a year. Following Dillinger’s death, Nelson, Helen Gillis and Chase left Chicago for California with two associates. Nelson fled to a nearby home and forced his way in with two hostages. The two men became close friends, and Chase frequently introduced Nelson as his half-brother. After his mother completed her sentence for harboring a fugitive (one year and one day) in 1935, she & her children led a life of relative obscurity as few associated the name Gillis with Baby Face Nelson. His mother, Marie Douget, was born to a middle-class family of Belgian farmers and emigrated to the United States in 1889. Lester Gillis, also known as "Baby Face" Nelson. "My father really didn't want our family to be marked by this," Peterson said. While in Indiana, Nelson met several criminals, including Homer Van Meter, and occasionally accompanied them to San Antonio, Texas. She was arrested on April 22, 1934, at Little Bohemia Lodge in northern Wisconsin. "I think it was brave of my mom to finally tell us.". Duczman first learned about her relationship to "Baby Face" when she was in junior high. On December 31, 1934, Chase was removed to Chicago, Illinois, where he was the first person to be tried under the law that made it a Federal violation to murder a Special Agent of the FBI in the performance of his duties. “Baby Face” Nelson, John Dillinger, and Homer Van Meter participated in the actual robbery. Gillis was known as Baby Face Nelson, a name given to him due to his youthful appearance and small stature. She jumped into the government vehicle as Chase was driving it away. One of the Agents returned fire and one shot pierced the radiator of Nelson’s car, partially disabling it. The perpetrators were reportedly in an automobile bearing California license plates which were eventually traced to a car owned by Nelson. Nelson was sentenced to a prison term of one year to life for his January, 1931, bank robbery in Chicago, Illinois. Nelson’s widow was arrested on November 29, 1934.