During the Great Depression, Newsreels about John Dillinger, the first gangster declared Public Enemy #1, drew cheers from movie audiences across America and hisses when pictures of J. Edgar Hoover appeared on screen.

Crowd Outside Chicago’s Biograph Theater After John Dillinger was shot in 1934

Agents from what would become the FBI killed Dillinger in a hail of gunfire while leaving Chicago’s Biograph Theater on July 22, 1934.

The case put the FBI on the map and, to this day, plays a major part in the bureau’s historical legacy.

But questions persist about whether the FBI killed the real John Dillinger or a stand-in resembling the gangster so he could make a getaway.

Travis Thompson, the great-nephew of John Dillinger and a veteran law enforcement officer in Indiana has literally been trying to dig up evidence from the cemetery where John Dillinger is buried.

L-R Travis Thompson, great nephew of John Dillinger, holding Tommy Gun from Gangster Era, with his father Michael C. Thompson, nephew of John Dillinger

Thompson has tried to exhume Dillinger’s body from a concrete-encased tomb at the Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.

John Dillinger Grave Site At Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis

Adding to the Dillinger mystery, Thompson and Stewart Fillmore, a retired FBI agent have unearthed a mysterious map on the family farm in Indiana.

The Dillinger case is a celebrated chapter in the FBI’s history and the bureau dismisses what it calls conspiracy theories.

But Travis Thompson brings his law enforcement background to the search for more evidence.

Did the FBI kill the real John Dillinger or a stand-in who was helping Dillinger escape?

The mystery continues in my interview with Travis Thompson.

Links To Dillinger Resources Mentioned During Episode

True Crime Reporter® Story About The FBI’s Hogan’s Alley This Bank Gets Robbed Every Day

FBI John Dillinger History

FBI “The Top Ten Dillinger Myths”

Expedition Unknown

John Dillinger’s Death Mask

History Channel Behind Efforts To Exhume John Dillinger’s Body

History Channel Drops Out Of Planned John Dillinger Documentary; Proposed Exhumation In Doubt

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