Happy St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Happy Valentine's Day to all the lovers and the haters out there! Huh? Haters? You're probably wondering what I am talking about. Well, it was on this day 78 years ago, February 14, 1929 that the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre took place at a warehouse in Chicago. It is probably one of my favorite 'quick' history events. However, it is a bit of a gruesome event for such a 'lovely' day, so if you aren't one for blood and gore, then you might want to skip the rest of the blog today. There are a few pictures that, even though they are in black and white, have enough detail to turn your stomach.

Al Capone, also known as "scarface," (left) is a famous gangster known as a result of prohibition and organized crime, what a lot of people don't know is why he is so widely known. Capone came to power in the organized crime world after John Torrio, "Papa Johnny," (right) returned to Italy after a failed assassination which left him scarred and ready to leave the mob lifestyle. His would-be assassins, Hymie Weiss, the new leader of the North Side gang after Dean O'Banion was killed by Torrio's men, and George "Bugs" Moran had been rivaling Torrio and his gang in prohibition activities for several years, but their attempt to get revenge and kill Torrio failed when they opened fire on Torrio and his wife as they were returning home from a shopping trip. Firing into Torrio's car they struck Torrio in the jaw, lung, and abdomen. Moran then attempted to shoot Torrio in the head execution style but his gun misfired it's last bullet, leaving him without any ammunition. Moran fled the scene and Torrio's near death experience was when he called it quits.

Torrio handed the crime ring, known as the Chicago Outfit, over to his #2 man Alphonse Gabriel Capone in 1925 after serving jail time for his connections to prohibition violations. He then returned to Italy, his birthplace, to escape and relax.

The rivalry between the two gangs continued and in 1926 George "Bugs" Moran (left) returned for another shot at the Chicago Outfit boss. They attempted to hit Capone at his headquarters in Cicero, Illinois but failed once again and Capone was unharmed. Capone's men, furious with the rival gang, were ready for retaliation, however they would have to wait several more years to get it.

Vincenzo Gibaldi, known in America as "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn, (right) was the primary person responsible for many of the murders associated with the Chicago Outfit. Often he arranged 'hits' which Capone did not approve of because of the bad image the media then portrayed on Capone. In January 1929, while McGurn was using a telephone booth inside a hotel lobby, two members of the North Side Gang - Frank & Peter Gusenberg who had been following McGurn for weeks - opened fire on McGurn. Positive they had eliminated McGurn they left the scene, however McGurn fell to the ground immediately after the initial volley of gunfire and survived, although he was badly wounded and close to death. Medical attention was issued quickly and McGurn survived, which was bad news for the North Side Gang.

Although most people associate Capone with the events following the attempted murder of McGurn, he actually wanted little to do with the new plot being devised by McGurn as revenge. Capone bought a home in Florida in early February 1929 and left a few weeks later to stay over the Valentine holiday with his wife. Capone however did arrange for a mobster from Detroit, who was loyal to Capone, to arrange a drop of bootleg whiskey to Moran and the North Side Gang. Moran, unknowing Capone had helped arrange the meeting, agreed to meet at 2122 N. Clark Street where the S.M.C. Company garage was located in Chicago to receive the recently hijacked bootleg delivery truck. Capone had additionally arranged for another truck to be hijacked weeks prior to the meeting and delivered to Moran without incident to help ease concerns Moran might have had for the mid-February meeting. Another larger shipment would insure that the entire North Side Gang would be there to help with the smooth delivery alcohol. From there, McGurn was in charge of the actions.

With the meeting in place, McGurn and his gang bribed an officer or simply stole a police paddy wagon for the second phase of the plan. The police in Chicago were crooked in their ways at the time, and some even had connections with organized crime as hitmen. Additionally, Capone's men obtained police uniforms complete with badges and the works.

McGurn planned extensively for the operation. He placed lookouts across the street in upper level windows to watch for Bugs to enter the warehouse, however the lookouts were unaware as to what Bugs Moran looked like. One of the few mistakes McGurn made during the operation.

At 10:30 on February 14, 1929 the lookouts reported seeing Moran enter the warehouse. The Temperature was in the 20's and the snow was ending as Capone's gang arrived in the police paddy wagon, siren blaring and informing everyone of their arrival. Four men exited the vehicle, two in police uniforms and two in plain clothing wearing long coats. The men rushed inside, as police would do to apprehend bootleggers of the day. The North Side Gang, believing the men were actual police complied with the officers request to stand facing the wall - assuming a quick pat down would occur and they would then find no bootleg alcohol because the delivery truck had not yet arrived. As the seven men faced the brick wall, the two men dressed in long coats each pulled a Thompson submachine gun, also known as a Tommy Gun or Chicago Typewriter, out from under their coats and opened fire with .45 caliber bullets. Firing in the infamous back and forth manner that has been made famous in countless Hollywood movies, Capones men cut the unarmed North Side Gang down quickly. They fired several more shots into the victims who were twitching and writhing around on the floor, firing into moving arms and legs.

Witnesses then reported that two police officers exited the building with the apparent apprehension of two other men wearing plain clothes. The officers placed the two men in the paddy wagon and left the scene. Moments later the actual police arrived on the scene, greatly confusing witnesses who had just seen the police escort two men from the building. When police went inside the warehouse they found a gruesome sight. Seven men - the brothers who had tried to murder Jack McGurn - Frank and Peter Gusenberg, Adam Heyer, James Clark, John May, A.R. Weinshank, and an 'innocent' man who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and just enjoyed the company of mobsters Dr. R. Schwimmer were laying next to the wall in pools of blood. The bodies of the men were mangled and several had been shot so many times through the torso that they had nearly been shot it half. The wall the men had been facing had hundreds of chips from the bullets hitting it as they bullets passed through the men. Notice that one man is even slumped over a chair. All of the men were dead, except for one. Frank Gusenberg, who had 22 bullets in his body was rushed to the hospital. Authorities, in effect framed for the murders of the men, worried the public would find the killings far out of hand and questioned Gusenberg as to who had shot him. Gusenberg replied to the effect "Nobody shot me." Perhaps that is why Frank was nicknamed "Tight lips." If you are a fan of The Simpson's you might have seen an episode or two with mobster references. One of those mobsters is Johnny Tightlips who was created from Frank Gusenberg.

McGurn's plan to kill George "Bugs" Moran had failed, although they had effectively wiped out the North Side Gang. Why wasn't McGurn there? Well, he happen to be running late for the meeting. The lookouts who were watching from across the street did not know what Moran looked like, but counted seven men walk into the warehouse. The seventh man was likely Dr. Schwimmer, mistakenly thought to be Bugs Moran.

None of Capone's men were ever convicted of the murders. Jack McGurn's alibi came from his girlfriend who claimed that they were together the entire day and Frank Gusenberg never told who had shot him before he died later at the hospital.

However, fate did find it's way into the picture. Seven years later in 1936 "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn was shot down in a bowling alley on Valentines Day in Chicago. Some references will say February 13 or February 15 as well, I don't happen to know which is true, but it's more interesting to think he was killed on Valentines Day as well. Two other men thought to be involved in the St. Valentines Day Massacre, Albert Anselmi and John Scalise, ultimately met their end at the hand of Capone himself in the baseball bat incident which is famous from the movie "The Untouchables" in which Robert De Niro is Capone.

Although it isn't certain which men actually carried out the murders of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, it is for certain that it will always be remembered as one of the most gruesome organized crime murders of the prohibition era and remain one of my favorite 'quick' history events.

Happy Valentines Day!

Until again

-=Nolan=-