The World's Most Evil Gangs Read Online Free
Author: Nigel Blundell
street.
But to Al ‘Scarface’ Capone, the sweetest act of revenge was always going to be the elimination of his most hated opponent, George Clarence ‘Bugs’ Moran, the O’Bannion aide who had tried to kill Capone’s old partner Johnny Torrio in 1924. For the task, Capone employed his deadliest hitmen to enact what would become the most infamous gang shoot-out of all time – the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929.
On a snow-covered Chicago morning, men in police uniforms burst into a garage used by Moran’s North Side Gang. Seven of his men, who had gathered to await a liquor delivery,were lined up against a wall. The fake cops then motioned to the Mafia executioners just outside. Machine guns spat death.
Neither Capone, who was vacationing in Miami at the time, nor Moran, were in the garage that morning, the latter only narrowly missing his assassination. But six Mob associates and a car mechanic were killed. It was a massacre at the height of the Chicago Mob wars that shocked a nation already accustomed to headlines announcing random street killings. It also shook Moran himself, who fled town, leaving the ‘Windy City’ to Capone.
The actual hit is thought to have been organised, and possibly carried out, by one of his most trusted lieutenants, Vincenzo DeMora, who liked to be known as ‘Machine Gun’ Jack McGurn and sidekick Anthony ‘Joe Batters’ Accardo. McGurn, who had joined Capone as a hired gunman after his father was killed by the Genna family, had a fearsome reputation. By 1929 at least 25 bodies had been found with his ‘calling card’, a nickel coin pressed into the palm of the victim’s hand. His fees for contract killings allowed him to buy shares in a number of Chicago clubs. In 1927 when a comedian, Joe E. Lewis, refused to work at one of them, he was beaten up by McGurn and had his vocal cords cut. McGurn himself was machine-gunned to death by three masked executioners in a bowling alley in 1936, seven years and a day after the St Valentine’s Day Massacre.
McGurn’s sidekick, Anthony ‘Joe Batters’ Accardo, went on to succeed Capone as head of the Chicago Mafia. In old age, he gave way to Sam Giancana (of whom, much more in a further chapter).
McGurn’s killers were never traced but the prime suspect was ‘Bugs’ Moran. He largely disappeared from public view afterhis men were massacred and it was not until 1946 that he resurfaced in Ohio, where he was jailed for bank robbery. Shortly after his release in 1956, he was again caught after robbing a bank. He died in Leavenworth prison in 1957.
After forcing Moran to flee for his life following the 1929 massacre, Capone had taken over control of the entire criminal network of the city of Chicago. But his empire would soon crumble. In 1931 what the police failed to achieve in a decade the taxman managed in a few weeks. On 4 October after a speedy trial, Al Capone was found guilty of tax evasion. He was fined $50,000 and ordered to pay $30,000 costs – chickenfeed to him. But he was also sentenced to a jail term of 11 years. It broke him.
When he was released in 1939, Capone was already sliding into insanity from syphilis. He hid himself away on his Florida estate, shunned by neighbours and even his fellow Mafia veterans until his death, alone and deranged, in 1947. The new breed of Mob leaders wanted nothing to do with the loud-mouthed , brutish scar-faced relic of a blood-spattered era.
CHAPTER 2
MONSTERS WHO BECAME MOGULS OF THE MOB
A young Polish immigrant was walking through the streets of New York when he saw a girl being assaulted by two men. The 16-year-old rushed to her rescue, fists flying. In the ensuing fight, police were called and all three men were arrested and kept in prison for 48 days. Their brief incarceration changed their lives. The girl’s two attackers were young thugs ‘Lucky’ Luciano and ‘Bugsy’ Siegel. The plucky teenager was Meyer Lansky. Despite his attack on them, the thugs took
But to Al ‘Scarface’ Capone, the sweetest act of revenge was always going to be the elimination of his most hated opponent, George Clarence ‘Bugs’ Moran, the O’Bannion aide who had tried to kill Capone’s old partner Johnny Torrio in 1924. For the task, Capone employed his deadliest hitmen to enact what would become the most infamous gang shoot-out of all time – the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929.
On a snow-covered Chicago morning, men in police uniforms burst into a garage used by Moran’s North Side Gang. Seven of his men, who had gathered to await a liquor delivery,were lined up against a wall. The fake cops then motioned to the Mafia executioners just outside. Machine guns spat death.
Neither Capone, who was vacationing in Miami at the time, nor Moran, were in the garage that morning, the latter only narrowly missing his assassination. But six Mob associates and a car mechanic were killed. It was a massacre at the height of the Chicago Mob wars that shocked a nation already accustomed to headlines announcing random street killings. It also shook Moran himself, who fled town, leaving the ‘Windy City’ to Capone.
The actual hit is thought to have been organised, and possibly carried out, by one of his most trusted lieutenants, Vincenzo DeMora, who liked to be known as ‘Machine Gun’ Jack McGurn and sidekick Anthony ‘Joe Batters’ Accardo. McGurn, who had joined Capone as a hired gunman after his father was killed by the Genna family, had a fearsome reputation. By 1929 at least 25 bodies had been found with his ‘calling card’, a nickel coin pressed into the palm of the victim’s hand. His fees for contract killings allowed him to buy shares in a number of Chicago clubs. In 1927 when a comedian, Joe E. Lewis, refused to work at one of them, he was beaten up by McGurn and had his vocal cords cut. McGurn himself was machine-gunned to death by three masked executioners in a bowling alley in 1936, seven years and a day after the St Valentine’s Day Massacre.
McGurn’s sidekick, Anthony ‘Joe Batters’ Accardo, went on to succeed Capone as head of the Chicago Mafia. In old age, he gave way to Sam Giancana (of whom, much more in a further chapter).
McGurn’s killers were never traced but the prime suspect was ‘Bugs’ Moran. He largely disappeared from public view afterhis men were massacred and it was not until 1946 that he resurfaced in Ohio, where he was jailed for bank robbery. Shortly after his release in 1956, he was again caught after robbing a bank. He died in Leavenworth prison in 1957.
After forcing Moran to flee for his life following the 1929 massacre, Capone had taken over control of the entire criminal network of the city of Chicago. But his empire would soon crumble. In 1931 what the police failed to achieve in a decade the taxman managed in a few weeks. On 4 October after a speedy trial, Al Capone was found guilty of tax evasion. He was fined $50,000 and ordered to pay $30,000 costs – chickenfeed to him. But he was also sentenced to a jail term of 11 years. It broke him.
When he was released in 1939, Capone was already sliding into insanity from syphilis. He hid himself away on his Florida estate, shunned by neighbours and even his fellow Mafia veterans until his death, alone and deranged, in 1947. The new breed of Mob leaders wanted nothing to do with the loud-mouthed , brutish scar-faced relic of a blood-spattered era.
CHAPTER 2
MONSTERS WHO BECAME MOGULS OF THE MOB
A young Polish immigrant was walking through the streets of New York when he saw a girl being assaulted by two men. The 16-year-old rushed to her rescue, fists flying. In the ensuing fight, police were called and all three men were arrested and kept in prison for 48 days. Their brief incarceration changed their lives. The girl’s two attackers were young thugs ‘Lucky’ Luciano and ‘Bugsy’ Siegel. The plucky teenager was Meyer Lansky. Despite his attack on them, the thugs took
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