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The Rest of the Stories
Nelson stops in for a visit; the FBI
is caught with its pants down and
Gallagher shrugs off the whole thing
Well congratulations. You made to the end of this part of the story. Hope you enjoyed it so far. Ready to tie up all the loose ends? Here we go.

  How did the FBI know where Nelson was in the first place?


  Prior to the day of the shooting, the FBI had received a tip that Nelson was planning to winter in the Lake Geneva area. He was planning to stay, according to the tip, at the Lake Como Hotel near Lake Geneva, Wis. The placed was owned by Hobart Hermanson, a former bootlegger who still had connections and who didn't ask questions of his guests, especially those carrying guns.

  Assuming Nelson believed he was among friends and would drop his guard, they set a trap for him at Hermanson's house on Nov. 27. Unfortunately for the FBI, Nelson arrived before the trap could be set. As he pulled up to Hermanson's place, a supposedly unarmed FBI agent, thinking it was just another agent, walked out onto the front porch. The agent and Nelson locked eyes. Both realized who the other was. There was a brief exchange of words, and Nelson slammed the car into reverse, backed out and sped away.

Why didn't Nelson shoot?

  He probably assumed the place was crawling with agents (it wasn't) and figured this was his only chance to get away before the agent on the porch alerted the others, or began shooting at Nelson himself. As Nelson backed away, all the agent on the porch could do was run back into the house and telephone Cowley in Chicago to report what had happened.

Why didn't the FBI give immediate chase?

  Because the FBI only had one car, and another agent had taken it to the store to buy groceries. That's why when Nelson encountered the first car with Ryan and McDade later that afternoon he was so quick to turn around. He was certain he had come across a second trap. The three carloads of agents (two of which would encounter Nelson on the road) were headed to Hermanson's house in response to the call from the agent on the porch. None of the agents expected to encounter Nelson on the road.

What happened after the shooting of Cowley and Hollis?

Nelson had attempted to drive away from the scene but, in one of the great understatements in history, he turned to Chase in the passenger seat and said: "You drive. I've been hit." He had 17 bullet holes in him.

  Chase drove Nelson to the Chicago surburb of Wilmette where, at the insistance of Helen, they went to a priest that Helen knew. (Both Nelson and his wife had been raised as Catholics). The priest gave Nelson absolution. When Helen and Chase attempted to move Nelson the priest said they could go but urged them to leave Nelson. It was obvious he was near death. But Helen and Chase insisted Nelson was going with them. They managed to get him back into the agents' car and they sped off into the darkness. The priest called the FBI.

Where did they go after leaving the church?

Chase drove back to Niles Center (now Skokie) to 1627 Walnut St. The home, it was noted years later, belonged to a suspected FBI informant. That informant, it was also later learned, had supposedly been supplying Nelson with information about the FBI's investigation of him. When this information surfaced during the FBI's investigation of Nelson's shooting, the FBI decided not to press charges against the informant.

  After Nelson died around 8 that night, Chase and Helen stripped the body, wrapped it in a old blanket and drove it to the cemetery where they left it near the gates.

And finally, what about Gallagher?

Patrolman William Gallagher returned to duty the following day. He filed the proper reports on the shooting and it was agreed by all concerned he acted in a proper and professional manner. He was written up in several newspapers and Chase himself, during his trial early the following year, noted the role Gallagher played on the late afternoon of Nov. 27. He even went so far as to say it might have been Gallagher who delivered the fatal wounds to Nelson.

  Despite all of this, Gallagher is not mentioned in any of the FBI reports as having played such an important role in the elimination of Nelson, nor has his role ever been formally recognized by the FBI.

  Gallagher remained on the Illinois Highway Patrol until 1942 when he moved on to other things. During his years with the department he was involved in a variety of duties and received several letters of commendation for the performance of those duties. He also consistantly received high scores for his marksmanship. He eventually married and began a family. William Gallagher seldom spoke about what happened on the afternoon of Nov. 27, 1934. He was "just being a cop" he usually told people who asked. Now it's time his story is told.

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