The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1935-08-29
FIND BODY OF
NOTED KILLER
Government Men Unearth
Decayed Corpse Of
John Hamilton

OSWEGO, ILL.,, Aug. 20. .(UP)
John Hamilton was shot and
mortallv wounded in gun bat
tie with fedral agents at South
st. Paul, April %. 1884, it was
revealed at an inquest, which
followed the discovery of his
body yesterday in an abandoned
gravel pit nearby. Special agents
OF the Department of Justice ties.
tilted at the inquest that they
were duty bound to keep conf
DENTAL the source of informa-
ton that led to the discovery of
the body.
OSWEGO, H., Aug. 20. (UP)
The body of John Hamilton, last
lieutenant of the bullet-riddled
Dillinger gang to be accounted
for, was dug from a shallow grave
near here yesterday by federal
agents.
1t had laid there a year or more
while Omen. only hali-convinced
of reports that the vicious killer
was really dead, had sought him
through the middle west.
They found his body, presum-
ABLY on a tip from some woman
of the gang, in three feet of earth
on the edge of a gravel pit 100
wards from the East River road,
which runs between here and Au-
rora.
Grass had grown over the grave.
The body was almost a skeleton,
it's disintegration apparently aided
by lye. Agents found the top of a
tin can that probably had con-
tanned the I've. Part of gray felt
hat was under the body, to which
shreds of clothing chung.
With dirt and refuse still half
covering it, the body was dumped
into a basket and taken by ambu-
lance to an undertaker's office
here. An inquest was scheduled
for today.
It was believed Hamilton may
have been wounded fatally on
John Dillinger's last flight from
st. Paul and died en- route to Chi
cago. A blood-stained automobile
was found shortly after Dillinger
escaped from a trap in the twin
cities.
While Hamilton lay in his secret
grave, if his death occurred more
than a year ago, the gang of which
he was reputed to be the most
ruthless killer, was broken by the
relentless agents of the depart
ment of justice.
They shot down Dillinger out
side Chicago movie house. They
killed George (Baby Face Nelson
at Darlington, not many miles
from here, in a battle which took
the lives of two federal agents.
Police brought down Homer Van
Meter in st. Paul. That eliminat-
ed the three principal members OF
the gang but left Hamilton, SO far
as was then known, still at large.
But Hamilton probably was in
his clay grave while all this went
on. Nine of his gang died with
their boots on. Harry Pierpont
was electrocuted and George
Markley died in an attempt to
break prison. Six others are III
prison now. -,
The only Dillinger gangster still
at large, a minor figure, is Joseph
Fox. ,,,.,
The reports of Hamilton's death.
which persisted from the time OF
Dillinger's capture at Tucson
Ariz, checked in at least one de-
tail All the federal informantS
said Hamilton had been buried IN
Wisconsin quarries north of Ga
lena III, were searched for weeks
bv federal agents. Tuesday morn,
mo the search turned to the graVel
C;fa,ry on the Shoger estate near
here AGENTS dug there all Tues
dav without success. They came
upon the body i"tc yesterday ly-
ing on its left side: $500,
Unless he was killed by treach-
erv within the Dillingcr r1Hks,
Hamilton may have been sam II
any of four encounters WITH 'He
law.