John Dillinger and Evelyn "Billie'' Frechette. |
Woman from Neopit figured in Dillinger case July 23, 2009 While few if anyone in the Antigo area knew John Dillinger, there are certainly those around to remember Evelyn “Billy” Frechette, the girlfriend of the gangster who died in a hail of bullets just a few hours over 75 years ago in Chicago.
The “Public Enemies” movie about those Dillinger years starts at the Palace Theater on Friday evening, and before the Hollywood version of the story lands on the screen, it seems that some information on Frechette should be made available.
She was a stunning beauty who was raised on the hill on the south side of Neopit, born to a French father, leading to the Frechette name, and to a Native American mother.
While there is no good biography of Frechette, it appears she lived with her family on the reservation into her mid teens and then shifted to an Indian boarding school in South Dakota. She left for Chicago at the age of 18 to live closer to her sister.
Working as a waitress and doing housework, she was having a tough time. Young, she married Melton Sparks in 1933 and soon after that, he was off to prison for a mail robbery.
It didn’t take long for things to happen. A few months later in November, 1933, she met Dillinger at a dance hall and she told “True Confessions” magazine later in her life that “there was something in his eyes I will never forget.”
She was 26 then, and the couple had quite a time. There are reports that they tried to marry, but the divorce from Sparks wasn’t yet final so the deal couldn’t be made.
She called Dillinger a gentleman and said “he treated me like lady.”
According to several history sources, she was never involved in the crimes except to get him away from the scenes of trouble.
She bought clothing and did the “outside” things that may have been difficult for Dillinger and his pals, and may have offered a bit of help when he broke out of a Crowne Point, Ind. jail.
They were in Minneapolis at an apartment, with a physician, when the place was raided by the police. Dillinger managed to escape — again — and Frechette was captured.
There are reports that he rode around the block several times plotting a rescue before being warned by fellow escapees that it was risky and futile.
Dillinger paid her attorney to fight harboring charges in St. Paul, sparking legendary exchanges between Frechette’s attorney and Dillinger. He was eventually forced to allow the law to take its course. After that two-year prison sentence he died in a matter of months and they didn’t see each other again.
According to history reports, he continued to discuss appeals for Frechette even while he had started dating Polly Hamilton — one of the two women at the Biograph Theater the night he was killed.
Histories from decades ago suggest that she had asked Dillinger not to attempt a prison rescue because of the dangers. But there is also information that he did drive to Milan, Mich. to eyeball the federal prison, agreeing with her that it was an impossible feat.
After his death 75 years ago and her release from prison, she toured with Dillinger’s family with a show called “Crime Does Not Pay.”
She returned to central Wisconsin and lived in Shawano until her death in 1969 at the age of 62.
She is buried in a Neopit cemetery.
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