JOIN USGiuliano, who was at least 5ft 9in tall, is supposed to have been buried in the cemetery in Montelpre in Sicily, 60 years after the 'The King of Montelpre' was supposedly killed by his cousin.
Now, investigators, who have exhumed his remains to ascertain whether Italy's famous bandit had a lookalike buried in his place and then escaped for a new life in the US, claim the skeleton belongs to someone who was between 5ft 2in and 5ft 5in tall, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported.
If still alive, he would be 88. A local coroner has instructed police to check documents which may record Giuliano's exact height in order to confirm the apparent discrepancy. Experts even plan to carry out DNA tests on the skeleton and match the samples with those
of Giuliano's living relatives.
The handsome bandit led a gang of deserters and desperadoes in the mountains of Sicily during the Second World War, developing a reputation as an Italian Robin Hood who robbed rich landowners and helped peasants.
He also threw his weight behind a campaign for Sicily to be declared independent and reportedly wrote to the then US President Harry Truman suggesting the island should become an American state.
The novelist Mario Puzo, author of 'The Godfather', wrote a book about Giuliano's life, 'The Sicilian', in 1984. In 1987, it was made into a film starring the French actor Christophe Lambert.