Born: June 22, 1903
Died: July 22, 1934
The BIG question: Is it true that when John Dillinger was ambushed and gunned down, death photos revealed that he had an 18-inch penis?
As we contribute to celebrate the anniversary of Dillinger’s death, America continues to unzip the rumor.
America’s most famous Public Enemy No. 1 (the first time such a designation was used by the FBI) was gunned down in an alley outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago. He, gal pal Polly Hamilton and Polly’s friend Anna Sage had just seen Manhattan Melodrama. What John and Polly didn’t know what that Sage was a madam whose deportation hearings had already begun, and she had made a deal with the FBI: She’d lead them to their man, they’d stop her deportation.
As the trio exited the theater, Sage tipped off the FBI agents who opened fire on Dillinger. He was struck three times-twice in the chest, one nicking his heart, and the fatal shot, which entered the back of his neck and exited just under his right eye. He was pronounced dead at 10:50 pm on July 22 at Alexian Brothers Hospital and buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.
His gravestone is often vandalized by people seeking souvenirs. Please don’t get any ideas: A three-foot slab of reinforced concrete has since been poured over the grave to discourage would-be robbers.
But the schlong story survives. Dillinger”s morgue shot shows what looks like a shockingly oversized erection. The rumor was that Dillinger was so well-endowed that his penis was removed, preserved and secretly sent to the Smithsonian Institution.
Not true.
The “erection” was the awkward angle of his arm, stiff from rigor mortis. To this day, the Smithsonian receives scores of calls each year from the morbidly curious asking if the story is true. You can now be cocksure it ain’t.
Morbid Curiosity, By Alan W. Petrucelli