A request to exhume the remains of infamous US gangster John Dillinger has been approved by officials in Indiana.<\/p>\n
Dillinger’s relatives have been pressing for the permit, saying an imposter is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n
The FBI says its agents shot dead the gangster in Chicago in 1934, and he was then buried in Indiana’s state capital.<\/p>\n
The disinterment is now planned for 31 December 2019 – but the cemetery is fighting the decision in court.<\/p>\n
Dillinger’s nephew Michael Thompson and another family member say they believe that the FBI “killed the wrong man” at Chicago’s Biograph Theater in 1934.<\/p>\n
They say they have evidence that the imposter in the grave has different eye colour and fingerprints.<\/p>\n
The FBI has dismissed such arguments as “a conspiracy theory”.<\/p>\n
In a tweet in August<\/a>, the FBI said it had “a wealth of information” proving that Dillinger was indeed shot dead in Chicago.<\/p>\n Dillinger, who escaped from jail twice, was described as “Public Enemy No.1” in the 1930s – the Great Depression era in the US.<\/p>\n A $10,000 bounty was placed on his head.<\/p>\n He led the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of carrying out a string of bank robberies.<\/p>\n In 2009, Public Enemies, a biographical crime drama film directed by Michael Mann, was released.<\/p>\n It details the final years of Dillinger (played by Jonny Depp), and the birth of the modern-day FBI.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Who was John Dillinger?<\/h2>\n