Posted on 07/30/2019 3:31:35 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
INDIANAPOLIS — 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.
The Indiana State Department of Health approved a permit July 3 sought by Dillinger's nephew, Michael C. Thompson, to have the body exhumed from Crown Hill Cemetery and reinterred there.
The permit doesn't give a reason for the request, and Thompson couldn't immediately 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 Sept. 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.
"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.
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 theater 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.
Messages seeking comment were also left Tuesday for Jeffery Scalf, whose grandmother was Dillinger's half-sister, and for Savanah Light, the funeral director whose name is listed on the permit.
I read either in the article or elsewhere, that covering the casket in concrete was to prevent his body from being stolen, possibly by his fans.
when I was a kid, the story was that there is jar somewhere with his male parts
“Body of 1930s gangster John Dillinger to be exhumed”
They plan to run him against AOC in 2020.....I”m betting he will win.
Gun Molls, Chi-Town Tough Guys, Robbery, Cash Money, The North Woods and an Old Fashioned at the end of a long, hard Bank-Robbin', Money Laundering day! Ein Prosit!
Apparently from Chicago Tribune coverage, it was the good old days when crowds of casually dressed people could spend the day in the morgue and ogle a "stiff" gangster like he was in a wax museum.
What the.. The circus was in town? Is that a baton she’s holding ?
Well, according to Mojo Nixon, there is a little Elvis in all of us. Except for Michael J. Fox. He is the anti-Elvis.
Peach
I would imagine Dillinger, at the time, had his share of ‘Manson Girls.’
There’s no lack of crazies surrounding a Cult-Like Personality.
LOL! :)
Well the rumour was that his was um....exceptional. If not preserved in your storied jar but still with him down there in that grave I’m sure some shrinkage has occurred.
well, we couldn’t find that jar during a class trip to the Smithsonian, and we looked
Has it been 85 years *-? Wow.
I hope the casket is empty.
I heard as a kid that his pecker was cut off by some chick and embalmed to full length...just to remember him by.
The was an old Jean Shepard radio show where he had a friend (don’t thing it was Flick) whose dad was a G-Man who kept a pickled jar in his living room that he was told was John Dillingers trigger finger. Good old Shep. Excelsior!
My Grandfather was in a bank closet in Sheboygan WI with a BAR to kill this guy in the 30’s
My Grandfather was policeman back in the day
Publicity Stunt! Make money!
I was thinking the same thing.
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