precautions were taken to keep Pierpont and Makley locked up, on the assumption that Dillinger would show, but he didn't, as he had teamed up with Baby Face Nelson. Fatal escape attempt With Dillinger's death at the hands of the FBI on July 22, 1934, and time running out for them, Makley and Pierpont resorted to other means to get off death row: they would try to duplicate their old friend's feat. On September 22, 1934, exactly two months after Dillinger's death, Pierpont and Makley carved phony pistols out of soap cakes, and painted them black with shoe polish, and made their move. Brandishing the toys, they managed to get out of their cells and to the main door of the death house before rifle-wielding guards opened fire. Makley was mortally wounded and Pierpont was riddled with bullets. Although he survived, he was seriously injured. Execution Pierpont was executed at the Ohio Penitentiary on October 17, 1934. Still suffering from injuries incurred during his attempted escape, he had to be carried to the electric chair where he was successfully put to death, and pronounced dead at 12:14 a.m. His death certificate lists his age as 32 years and 4 days, with a date of birth of October 13, 1902 in Muncie, Indiana. His occupation was listed as former engineer and his marital status was given as "married." His mother, Lena Pierpont, of R.R. 2, Lakeville, Indiana was the informant. He is buried in the Holy Cross and St. Joseph Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana. Other media In the 1973 film Dillinger featuring Warren Oates, Pierpont is played by Geoffrey Lewis. In the 1991 TV movie Dillinger, he is portrayed by actor Bruce Abbott. In the 2009 Michael Mann film Public Enemies, he is played by David Wenham. Handsome Harry: Or the Gangster's True Confessions (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2004), a novel by James Carlos Blake See also List of Depression-era outlaws Notes References Girardin, George Russell (2009). Dillinger: The Untold Story, Indiana University Press. King, Jeffery S. (2005). The Rise and Fall of the Dillinger Gang, Cumberland House Publishing. Toland, John (1963). The Dillinger Days, Random House. External links JohnnieDillinger.com - the Dillinger Gang, information on Dillinger and company 1902 births 1934 deaths 20th-century executions by Ohio Depression-era gangsters People executed by Ohio by electric chair American people executed for murdering police officers People from Muncie, Indiana 20th-century executions of American