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Travel, History & Culture in America's Dairyland |
| Valley of the Molls - Part II | |||||||||||||||
| The panic eased somewhat as Dillinger was thought to be in Minneapolis, Chicago, or England. Sheriff Finn's wife regularly entertained the women in their jail cells. On April 30, another wave of hysteria swept the city. Baby Face Nelson, who had been on the lam by himself in northern Wisconsin (he housed himself for 2 days with an unimpressed Chippewa Indian named Ole Catfish) was spotted in two places at once. In side-by-side columns, the Capital Times reported that Baby Face was one of four gunmen involved in a skirmish with Chicago police -- while another bulletin placed him outside Madison in a stolen car: "Posse Hunts Nelson Near City". "Police at Watertown today received a report that 'Baby Face' Nelson had been seen early this morning by a farmer on a side road." A district attorney in a neighboring county joined the fray by claiming that he had tailed Nelson the night before, his suspicions aroused by a dark colored sedan with weeds obscuring the license plate. Two men also reported a car "somewhat" matching Nelson's driving on a downtown street. On May 19, a grand jury indicted each woman on charges of harboring a fugitive. Technically, the women were guilty as charged, but authorities believed the trio had been led astray. A week later, after more than a month behind bars, the women were given a suspended sentence and placed on probation. "I don't think you are a bad girl," the judge told Marie Conforti. "I know you're not. You just got into some bad company." Turning to the crowded courtroom, "I am satisfied this mere girl had no knowledge these men were gangsters," the judge said. "I am convinced she would not have jeopardized her own life by associating with dangerous criminals." Each woman was required to return to Chicago and report to a probation officer weekly for 18 months. After the proceedings, the Wisconsin State Journal asked the women how they enjoyed their stay in Madison. Conforti: "I'm saying nothing." Compton: "What I've seen of Madison, I don't like." Gillis: "I hope I never see this state again." The Capitol Times won the final newspaper battle by assigning its society reporter, Selma Sable Parker, to cover the women's departure from the city. Before catching a train to Chicago, the four women went shopping around the Capital Square and enjoyed beer and potato salad at a drug store. Enigmatic as ever, the women sounded a decidedly different tone, praising Madison as a beautiful lake city full of "nice shops." "Turn a woman loose, and she's bound to go shopping!" Parker wrote. The items bought by women "proved their excellent taste." "Don't call us 'molls' when you write your story," pleaded Conforti. "We hate that name. We're not 'molls' or 'gang girls.' After we've reported to the probation judge in Chicago, we're going right out to look for jobs and start all over." |
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