The Dean, Dillinger, and Dayton, Ohio: Legend - Lore - Legacy

Dayton, Ohio is the setting for this story and with it comes two larger-than-life figures: John Dillinger, who would later be named the nation’s first “Public Enemy No. 1,” and Police Chief Rudy Wurstner, who would become the nation’s “Dean of Police Chiefs.” All three – The Dean, Dillinger, and Dayton – come into their own in different ways in the year 1903, making it the starting point for this story. The “Gem City” has unique tales as compelling as those of other more publicized metropolises. While Dillinger was in and out of Dayton over a mere 5 months in 1933, Chief Wurstner served Dayton citizens over the course of 5 decades. Yet is it Dillinger who is best remembered nationally. Often publications – when addressing Dillinger’s time in Dayton and with his local girlfriend, Mary Jenkins Longnaker – gloss over the episode; Mary was not a gangster moll and his coming to Dayton happened before the famed Allen County jail escape. But the local story is more involved, and not surprisingly when it comes to Dillinger, a mix of facts and folklore. This is the definitive tale of Dillinger in Dayton and brings to light his forlorn love affair. Readers will also be introduced to other gangsters and mobsters with Greater Dayton connections – such as local crime figure Al Fouts, the more infamous Chicago mobster George ‘Bugs’ Moran, gangster Al Karpis, and many others. In the end, this saga will tie Dayton, Ohio to colorful legends from arguably the most notorious period in American history. The many figures and events from the Gem City’s past provide an astonishing untold legacy.