Pictured above: Two guns used in the 1929 Massacre/Courtesy The Mob Museum
CULTUREIFY
On February 14, 1929, a day that was anything but sweet hearts amidst a bed of roses, the St. Valentines Day Massacre unfolded as five rivals of gangster Al Capone and two wannabes were gunned down in a garage on the North Side of Chicago, IL. The day’s events are, arguably, the most publicized and talked about mob event in history. The sole purpose of the killings was the elimination of George “Bugs” Moran, the last rival to Al Capone’s title of crime boss in Chicago.
Witness statements are varied, but this is generally how the slaying was believed to have ‘gone down’…
News St. Valentines Day Massacre
At about 10:30 a.m., in Chicago, IL, four men pushed their way into the garage, S-M-C Cartage Co. Shipping – Packing – Long Distance Hauling, at 2122 North Clark Street, used by Moran as a cover for booze business and other illegal activities. The four men, two who were wearing police uniforms, announced a raid. They directed seven men, who were inside the garage, to line up against a wall and proceeded to open fire upon them with two shotguns and two Thompson machine guns, one holding a 20 round clip, and the other, a 50 round drum . Some eight minutes afterward, by eyewitness accounts, the assailants were seen exiting the garage…the two who were dressed as policemen, ushering their accomplices before them with their hands in the air and guns at their backs in an effort to mislead any potential witnesses. They entered a black Cadillac touring car, used by policemen of the day, and sped off. Those killed in the garage or in the throes of a bloody death were auto mechanic and ex safe cracker, Johnny May, Frank “Hock” Gusenberg (October 11, 1892 – February 14, 1929), known as Moran’s enforcer, and his brother, Peter “Goosy” Gusenberg (September 22, 1889 – February 14, 1929), Albert Kachellek (alias, James Clark), Moran’s brother-in-law; Adam Heyer; and Al Weinshank. Another among the dead was Dr. Reinhardt Schwimmer, an optician who tagged along …show more content…
Reports say upon approaching the garage, Bugsy spotted the black ‘cop’ car outside the garage and sped off into the sunset…or around the block to have a cup of coffee and await the suspected police raid out. While Moran wasn’t wiped out from oblivion as intended, the day ultimately finished him off as a big crime figure. After a life that followed, played out in small time crime, Moran finally died in the Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary on February 25, 1957 where he was serving time for a bank robbery. His death from lung cancer, at the age 65. His net worth at the time of his death was $100. He received a pauper’s burial in the prison cemetery.
It is generally believed, through admissions and eye witness accounts, that the actual assassins were former members of the Egan’s Rats, led by Fred “Killer” Burke (May 29, 1893 – July 10, 1940). Nobody, however, was ever fingered for the killings…not even Capone. Ironically, he had an ironclad, airtight alibi in the whole dirty little affair…who had conveniently secreted himself to Palm Island, FL ‘for a vacation’. Throughout his life, it is said Capone was haunted by Jimmy Clark, one of those murdered in the
CULTUREIFY
On February 14, 1929, a day that was anything but sweet hearts amidst a bed of roses, the St. Valentines Day Massacre unfolded as five rivals of gangster Al Capone and two wannabes were gunned down in a garage on the North Side of Chicago, IL. The day’s events are, arguably, the most publicized and talked about mob event in history. The sole purpose of the killings was the elimination of George “Bugs” Moran, the last rival to Al Capone’s title of crime boss in Chicago.
Witness statements are varied, but this is generally how the slaying was believed to have ‘gone down’…
News St. Valentines Day Massacre
At about 10:30 a.m., in Chicago, IL, four men pushed their way into the garage, S-M-C Cartage Co. Shipping – Packing – Long Distance Hauling, at 2122 North Clark Street, used by Moran as a cover for booze business and other illegal activities. The four men, two who were wearing police uniforms, announced a raid. They directed seven men, who were inside the garage, to line up against a wall and proceeded to open fire upon them with two shotguns and two Thompson machine guns, one holding a 20 round clip, and the other, a 50 round drum . Some eight minutes afterward, by eyewitness accounts, the assailants were seen exiting the garage…the two who were dressed as policemen, ushering their accomplices before them with their hands in the air and guns at their backs in an effort to mislead any potential witnesses. They entered a black Cadillac touring car, used by policemen of the day, and sped off. Those killed in the garage or in the throes of a bloody death were auto mechanic and ex safe cracker, Johnny May, Frank “Hock” Gusenberg (October 11, 1892 – February 14, 1929), known as Moran’s enforcer, and his brother, Peter “Goosy” Gusenberg (September 22, 1889 – February 14, 1929), Albert Kachellek (alias, James Clark), Moran’s brother-in-law; Adam Heyer; and Al Weinshank. Another among the dead was Dr. Reinhardt Schwimmer, an optician who tagged along …show more content…
Reports say upon approaching the garage, Bugsy spotted the black ‘cop’ car outside the garage and sped off into the sunset…or around the block to have a cup of coffee and await the suspected police raid out. While Moran wasn’t wiped out from oblivion as intended, the day ultimately finished him off as a big crime figure. After a life that followed, played out in small time crime, Moran finally died in the Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary on February 25, 1957 where he was serving time for a bank robbery. His death from lung cancer, at the age 65. His net worth at the time of his death was $100. He received a pauper’s burial in the prison cemetery.
It is generally believed, through admissions and eye witness accounts, that the actual assassins were former members of the Egan’s Rats, led by Fred “Killer” Burke (May 29, 1893 – July 10, 1940). Nobody, however, was ever fingered for the killings…not even Capone. Ironically, he had an ironclad, airtight alibi in the whole dirty little affair…who had conveniently secreted himself to Palm Island, FL ‘for a vacation’. Throughout his life, it is said Capone was haunted by Jimmy Clark, one of those murdered in the