Charles Winstead

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Charles Batsell Winstead (born May 25, 1891 in Sherman , Texas , † August 3, 1973 in Albuquerque ) was an FBI agent in the 1930s and 1940s . Together with agents Clarence Hurt and Herman Hollis, he fired the fatal shots on the so-called "Public Enemy No. 1" John Dillinger .

Life

Before joining the FBI, Winstead held various jobs. He served as a soldier in World War I , later served as the deputy sheriff in various Texas judicial counties, and served in the attorney’s office for El Paso , Texas. On July 27, 1926, Winstead went to the FBI. As a member of the Dallas office , he participated in several persecutions of the criminals Bonnie and Clyde . He was also one of the main people responsible for the search for George "Machine Gun" Kelly . Together with FBI agent Gus Jones, Winstead arrested Kelly's accomplice Harvey Bailey in Rhome , Oklahoma .

In May 1934, Winstead and other agents from the western US were transferred to the Chicago office . You should be there to assist in the capture of John Dillinger and his gang. After the April fiasco in which Dillinger and his gang were supposed to be arrested near the Little Bohemia Lodge in Wisconsin and in which FBI agents led by Melvin Purvis and Sam Cowley killed several innocent people and are an agent Lost life, J. Edgar Hoover arranged for the experienced agents to be transferred from Texas.

After Dillinger's death, Winstead tracked down Dillinger's partner, Babyface Nelson . He narrowly avoided a shootout with Nelson when Winstead and the gangster were driving in a row on an Illinois country road. Winstead's observation led to the FBI's raid in Barrington , Illinois, in which Nelson and Agents Cowley and Hollis were fatally wounded.

Winstead worked in the FBI offices of El Paso and Albuquerque after Nelson's death . After an argument with Hoover, Winstead resigned from the FBI in 1943 and then served in the US Army. He had the rank of captain in the US Army and worked for the military intelligence service. His request to return to the FBI after the war was denied. In the 1950s he retired into private life and worked on his memoirs, which however never appeared.

He died of lung cancer in 1973 .

Artistic reception

Actor Stephen Lang played FBI agent Winstead in Michael Mann's 2009 film Public Enemies .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Susan Rosenfeld: Biographies. In: Athan G. Theoharis (Ed.): The FBI. A comprehensive reference guide. Oryx Press, Phoenix AZ 1999, ISBN 0-89774-991-X , pp. 309-360, here p. 359.
  2. ↑ Bryan Burrough: Public Enemies. America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34. Penguin Press, New York NY 2004, ISBN 1-59420-021-1 , pp. 90-91.
  3. ^ Curious Facts About John Dillinger & J. Edgar Hoover. Kekionga Press, Fort Wayne IN 2008, ISBN 978-1-4116-3579-1 , pp. 25 ff.
  4. ↑ Bryan Burrough: Public Enemies. America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34. Penguin Press, New York NY 2004, ISBN 1-59420-021-1 , pp. 473-474.
  5. ^ Charles Winstead's death certificate. In: death certificate. www.footnote.com, accessed March 8, 2010 .
personal data
SURNAME Winstead, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Winstead, Charles B.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American employee of the FBI
DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Sherman , Texas
DATE OF DEATH 3rd August 1973
Place of death Albuquerque