The gun that killed Dillinger up for auction in July
Cine Fanatico
Johnny Depp contemplates bidding on the pistol that killed his real-life Public Enemies character.
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John Dillinger fans will have a shot at owning a piece of the famed mob-man paraphernalia (other than a fedora): the gun that killed him.
The .38-caliber, 5-inch barrel gun used by East Chicago, Ind., police Capt. Timothy A. O’Neil will be auctioned off on July 28, hot on the heels of the Dillinger biopic Public Enemies and the 75th anniversary of Dillinger's death. O’Neil, East Chicago police Sgt. Martin Zarkovich, and three FBI agents shot at the famed bank robber as he exited the Biograph Theater in Lincoln Park, but O’Neil's gun is believed to have fired the fatal shot in 1934. Officials from Leslie Hindman Auctioneers say the gun and its holster will go for between $8,000 and $12,000. It’s safe to assume the gun will end up going for a lot more, given that Zarkovich’s gun went for $17,550 when it was auctioned in November of 2007.
Mary Williams, head of books and manuscripts at Hindman, told Decider that other Dillinger items will go up for auction on the same day, including a letter written by Dillinger to his niece while locked up in Crown Point jail (estimated to fetch between $4,000 and $6,000) and black-and-white press photos of Dillinger ($600 to $800).
Anyone expecting to ogle the revolver, however, will be sorely disappointed. Handguns are banned in Chicago, so a picture of the gun will be projected on a screen. The real gun is being kept at Shore Galleries in Lincolnwood. Maybe Dillinger enthusiasts are better off seeing Johnny Depp projected on a screen instead.
