New plot to exhume notorious gangster John Dillinger

The body of notorious gangster John Dillinger will be exhumed 85 years after he was killed by FBI agents, but the grave escape plot will be an incredibly tough job.

The body of notorious 1930s gangster John Dillinger is expected to be exhumed in September at an Indianapolis cemetery but it could be a tough job because his grave is encased in concrete.

Digging up the remains more than 85 years after Dillinger was killed by FBI agents also could resolve conspiracy theories that the man some considered a hero during the Great Depression isn’t buried in his marked grave, said Susan Sutton, a historian with the Indiana Historical Society.

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John Dillinger at 21 years old. Picture: AP

The Indiana State Department of Health approved a permit on July 3 that was sought by Dillinger’s nephew, Michael C. Thompson, to have his body exhumed from Crown Hill Cemetery and reinterred there.

John Dillinger is set to be exhumed from an Indianapolis cemetery more than 85 years after he was killed by FBI agents. Picture: AP

The permit doesn’t give a reason for the request, and Thompson couldn’t be reached for comment.

Indiana health department spokeswoman Jeni O’Malley said that based on the permit, the agency expects Dillinger’s body will be exhumed and reinterred on September 16 — the date listed on the document.

But digging up Dillinger’s grave might prove a difficult task because days after his son’s funeral, Dillinger’s father had the casket reburied under a protective cap of concrete and scrap iron topped by four reinforced-concrete slabs, Sutton said.

“I think they’re going to have a hard time getting through that,” Sutton said.

The reason for the concrete-encased grave was to thwart would-be vandals, she said, citing “Crown Hill: History, Spirit, and Sanctuary” a 2013 book the historical society published about the cemetery’s history.

“The main fear was that someone would come in and dig up the grave and either desecrate the corpse or steal it,” Sutton said.

“The Dillingers had actually been offered money to ‘lend out’ his body for exhibits, so they were concerned.” The Indianapolis-born Dillinger was one of America’s most notorious criminals. The FBI says Dillinger’s gang killed 10 people as they pulled off a bloody string of bank robberies across the Midwest in the 1930s.

Dillinger was never convicted of murder and he was lauded by some for robbing banks during the Great Depression as many Americans lost their homes and farms to foreclosure, Sutton said.

American gangster and bank robber John Dillinger. Picture: Supplied

“So somebody who had, as maybe people would say now — ‘Stuck it to the banker’ — would easily become a folk hero,” she said. “He was also known by some people to be very polite even while he was stealing. It’s an odd combination.”

Dillinger was awaiting trial in the slaying of an East Chicago police officer when he escaped from jail in Crown Point, Indiana, in March 1934 with a gun carved out of wood. While on the run, he underwent plastic surgery to alter his face and was said to have tried to remove his fingerprints with acid.

The car used by Dillinger housed at the US National Museum of Crime and Punishment. Picture: AFP

Johnny Depp as John Dillinger in the film Public Enemies. Picture: Supplied

Dillinger, who was portrayed by Johnny Depp in the 2009 movie “Public Enemies,” was fatally shot in July 1934 by FBI agents outside the Biograph theatre in Chicago after he was betrayed by a woman who became known in the papers as the “Lady in Red.”

Crown Hill Cemetery spokeswoman Crystal King said the cemetery has no information about the plans to exhume Dillinger, whose tomb is an attraction at the hilltop graveyard on Indianapolis’ near north side.

Originally published as New plot to exhume notorious gangster John Dillinger