Dillinger descendants drop bombshell: they have 'evidence' he was not killed outside the Biograph

Descendants of 1930s bank robber John Dillinger say they have evidence suggesting he was not the man famously gunned down outside Chicago's Biograph Theater 85 years ago.

And the "only means" of clearing things up is to examine the remains buried in the grave of the notorious gangster whose exploits captivated the nation during the Great Depression.

That's the upshot of a pair of affidavits obtained Wednesday by the Chicago Sun-Times from the Indiana State Department of Health. They help explain the news that Dillinger's body might soon be removed from the grave nearly a century after his bloody death at the hands of government agents on Chicago's North Side.

So does confirmation from History Channel spokesman Dan Silberman that the network is preparing a documentary about Dillinger that would cover the exhumation, assuming it occurs.

Though records show the Indiana State Department of Health issued a permit July 3 for Dillinger's exhumation from Indianapolis' Crown Hill Cemetery, Silberman said Wednesday that "full approval for the exhumation has not been granted," and a date for the exhumation has not been set.

Meanwhile, the Indiana State Department of Health also released a pair of two-page, signed affidavits from Mike Thompson and Carol Thompson. Each identifies Dillinger as an uncle. Neither could be reached by the Sun-Times for comment.

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