Body of American gangster to be unearthed

The remains of notorious bank robber John Dillinger are to be exhumed as part of a TV documentary to see if he really was killed by federal agents in 1934. The body will be reinterred on the same day


Jul 22, 1934: Dillinger (right) exits Biograph Theater, sees agents waiting outside and flees into alleyway. Pulls gun but is shot dead by FBI

Jun 21, 1933: John Herbert Dillinger and his gang rob first of 24 banks during Great Depression

Dillinger escapes jail twice and is wanted for murder of East Chicago policeman

Alters his face with backstreet plastic surgery and tries to burn fingerprints off with acid

Exaggerated accounts of his bravado see him portrayed as folk hero rather than violent criminal


ILLINOIS
Lake Michigan 
Biograph Theater
CHICAGO
INDIANA
Crown Hill Cemetery
INDIANAPOLIS
50km 30 miles

38th Street
500m 1,600ft
Dillinger grave
Crown Hill Cemetery


Headstone: Replaced several times as visitors chip pieces off as keepsakes

After funeral, Dillinger’s father has casket securely reburied to deter robbers

Slabs: Four reinforced concrete blocks laid on top

Cap: Mixture of concrete and scrap iron poured over coffin

Casket

2.3 tonnes of concrete

Exhumation could debunk conspiracy theories that Dillinger survived and lookalike was killed – grave fortified with concrete to hide truth
 

Sources: Associated Press, New York Times, CBS, Find A Grave, Google Maps
Pictures: FBI, Associated Press
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