Cemetery where John Dillinger is buried objects to exhumation plans

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis cemetery where 1930s gangster John Dillinger is buried is objecting to his body’s planned exhumation as part of a television documentary.

The Indianapolis Star reports Crown Hill Cemetery said in a statement Wednesday that it objects to the exhumation in part because it’s concerned “the complex and commercial nature of this exhumation could cause disruption to the peaceful tranquility of the Cemetery” and people visiting loved ones’ graves.

Dillinger was fatally shot by FBI agents in Chicago in 1934.

WXIN-TV reports that Dillinger’s nephew, Michael C. Thompson, sued the cemetery Wednesday, arguing it should allow him and his family to exhume Dillinger’s remains for a forensic examination to determine if it’s in fact Dillinger’s body.

That exhumation would be part of a Dillinger documentary for The History Channel.