Herman Edward Hollis (January 27, 1903 – November 27, 1934) was an American law-enforcement officer who worked as special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

[1] Rated as one of the FBI's top investigators, Hollis earned a sharp-shooter's medal for his work with the Thompson submachine gun.

[7] Over the years, Hollis repeatedly requested that the Bureau transfer him to a field office in California or Arizona; doctors insisted that a warmer climate would help improve his wife Genevieve's nervous condition.

Hurt participated in a gun battle with the bank robber and gangster John Dillinger outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago, Illinois.

[4][10] FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was pleased at the news of Dillinger's death[8] and later recognized Hollis, Winstead, and Hurt for their "fearlessness and courageous action".

[4] Bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd was killed on October 22, 1934, after a shootout with FBI agents and local authorities in an apple orchard near East Liverpool, Ohio.

In a 1979 Time magazine article, East Liverpool Police Captain Chester C. Smith claimed that Hollis killed Floyd under orders from FBI agent Melvin Purvis.

[13] On November 27, 1934, Cowley received a tip that Nelson had been recognised in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, driving a stolen car.

[15] When Hollis and Cowley stopped and emerged from their car to apprehend the suspects, Nelson and Chase began firing at them.

[14] Having emptied his shotgun, Hollis pulled out a pistol and fired as he ran to take cover behind a nearby telephone pole.

[2][13] The first bystander to reach the scene ran to where Hollis lay face down; he had suffered severe wounds to the back of his head.

Cowley, who suffered serious stomach wounds in the gunfight,[2][14] instructed the man to look after Hollis first, then call the Chicago field office and report what had happened.

[13][17] Then, in April 1955, Chase or his attorneys filed a motion demanding that prosecutors either seek an immediate trial on Hollis's murder or dismiss the indictment altogether.