The body of a legendary criminal, who was number-one on the FBI's Most Wanted List when he robbed a Sioux Falls bank 85 years ago, will not be exhumed to prove his identity.

Gangster John Dillinger has been buried at the Crown Hill Cemetary in Indianapolis since he was shot and killed by FBI agents outside a Chicago theater on July 22, 1934. Recently his nephew, Michael Thompson, filed a lawsuit in Indiana claiming that the body in the grave there was not that of his uncle. The lawsuit sought to have the body exhumed to prove its identity.

Wednesday (December 4), the Associated Press is reported that Marion County Superior Court Judge granted Crown Hill's motion to dismiss the suit, saying that in over for the body to be dug up the Cemetery must give its consent.

Attorneys for Crown Hill call reports of Dillenger's mistaken identity “a decades-old conspiracy.” The FBI agrees, saying in a statement that "a wealth of information supports Dillinger's demise", including fingerprint matches.

Thompson had obtained a permit in October from the Indiana State Department of Health that calls for the remains to be exhumed on Dec. 31.

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Four months before he was killed, Dillinger and his gang, which included 'Baby Face' Nelson, robbed Security National Bank in Downtown Sioux Falls, March 6, 1934. The robbery netted the gangsters nearly $50,000. To this day, there is a plaque on the building at Ninth Street and Main Avenue commemorating the incident.

In 1933 and 1934, the Dillinger Gang was responsible for at least a dozen hold-ups across the country, getting away with more than $300,000.


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