Dr. Dillon Murdered

On May 1, 1925, a custodian at Washington University arrived at work around 6:00 a.m. Looking towards the gravel path to Francis Field, he spied what he thought was a bundle of laundry. Figuring a careless student dropped his laundry, the custodian walked down the path to the bundle. As he got closer, he realized it wasn’t clothing but a man.

Running towards the man, the custodian slid to a stop on the gravel path. Blood around the fallen man’s head had seeped into the gravel causing the rock to turn ruby red. Shocked, the man ran to summon authorities.

Police responded and identified the fallen man as Dr. William Dillon, a local physician. Dr. Dillon lived by the philosophy of “4 hours of work, 20 hours of play.” Dillon played football for St. Louis University and was known for hard living. Dillon could be quite gallant with women, particularly if he was romantically interested in them. The recently divorced Dillon was considered a man about town.

However, the 45-year-old Dillon was a bully with other men. Dillon was coarse and profane in his relations with men. If there was a difference of opinion, Dillon would often challenge the men to step outside and settle the matter with their fists.

A few days before his murder, he was overhead telling a man, “I’m taking her out tonight as a matter of fact. If you don’t like it, you know where to find me.” The doorman at his hotel, 4902 Maryland Avenue, overhead the man threaten to shoot Dillon. Dillon laughed at the threat.

St. Louis Police had plenty of suspects. They figured another suitor or one of the many men he bullied over the years decided to even up the odds with a firearm. Dillon was shot in the head at close range with his hands in his pockets indicating he knew his assailant and was not afraid of him.

The police focused on two men with previous grudges before a most unlikely suspect emerged. This suspect took several actions that practically begged the police to pay attention to him and made him the prime suspect in the murder of Dr. Dillon. But would this young man really shoot his father?

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