Or was he? Someone was killed that day, but was it really John Dillinger? Was it perhaps a double, set up by the mob to take the fall? There are several interesting controversies surrounding the death of Dillinger beginning with the fact that the gun he was supposedly reaching into his pocket for was not manufactured until AFTER his supposed death.

Dillinger knew there was an intensive search for him. There was a $15,000 reward out for him which in the 1930's was an enormous amount of money. He was already contemplating to his friends that he was getting out of the business, and possibly getting out of the country.

Then there's the controversy surrounding the body of the person who was shot and killed that night. The most convincing evidence of a possible double is the fact that the corpse had brown eyes while Dillinger was known to have blue eyes.

John also had a well publicized birth mark. Why was this never documented in the autopsy? A close up picture of the corpse shows a full set of upper front teeth when in fact Dillinger was missing his right front incisor as is evidenced in pictures and newsreels of him at Crown Point. There were also signs of childhood illnesses in the body that Dillinger never had.

There have also been several letters written allegedly from John Dillinger himself after his supposed death. One of these letters was written in 1963 to the Indianapolis Star. In this letter a man claimed to be John Dillinger himself. The letter included a return address in Hollywood California, and also included a photo of a person who did indeed appear to be an aged John Dillinger. This letter was ignored, and a subsequent letter was sent to Emil Wanatka, the owner of the infamous Little Bohemia Lodge where John had hidden out and was nearly captured by authorities.