1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:17,119 Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Dowdy and I'm Deblina Charko Boardy, and we 4 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: have a Valentine's story that may kind of change the 5 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: way you think about Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day, of course, 6 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: usually conjures up images of hearts, flowers and pretty lace 7 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: trimmed cards, but if you're from Chicago or you're a 8 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 1: true crime buff then it may have very different connotations. 9 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: And that's because it was February fourteenth nine that the 10 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: Valentine's Day massacre, which was one of the most famous 11 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 1: unsolved crimes in US history, went down in the Windy City. 12 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: It was obviously a terribly brutal crime, and it incorporated 13 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:53,560 Speaker 1: a lot of the unsavory elements in Chicago, all the 14 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: stuff that was going down at the same time, gangsters, bootlegging, 15 00:00:57,200 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: dirty cops, and we don't want to leave out the 16 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 1: top guns stuff. Lena and I were talking about it earlier. 17 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:04,320 Speaker 1: I liked you said, the Tommy guns are pretty much 18 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: another character, and there an extra person almost in this. 19 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:10,760 Speaker 1: But but we didn't get a chance to go too 20 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 1: much into that that they do. That you play a 21 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: part here, but it all actually starts with something that 22 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: was intended to make life a little more virtuous, and 23 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,400 Speaker 1: that was prohibition. And that's kind of like the irony 24 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: of the whole thing is that prohibition is what sort 25 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:29,319 Speaker 1: of instigated this whole kind of wave of events that 26 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:31,760 Speaker 1: is going to happen here. But we have a whole 27 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: podcast about prohibition. But the general just was that in 28 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: January n the eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution went into effect, 29 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: and this prohibited the manufacturer, the sale, the export, the import, 30 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: the transportation, all that having to do with alcoholic beverages. 31 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: It didn't ban personal possession and consumption though, so that 32 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: was kind of sort of an extra side note to it. 33 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: You could you could drink it if you had it, 34 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: so if you had your own personal stash, you could 35 00:01:57,560 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: consume it. You just couldn't buy it. They were just 36 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: to see ming that if you procured any you'd be 37 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: breaking laws anyways. Um, So prohibition almost immediately started a 38 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: new wave of organized crime, which was centered around bootlegging. 39 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: I mean, it really did start immediately. Some sources described 40 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: whiskey trucks in freight cars in Chicago being hijacked just 41 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 1: an hour after prohibition went into effect, and um Katie 42 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: and I did an episode on the molasses explosion. That's 43 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 1: another sort of immediate effect of prohibition, or leading up 44 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:35,679 Speaker 1: to it, at least people people reacted quickly. Yeah. I've 45 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 1: even seen prohibition described as the engine that drove the 46 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: gangster era. So again sort of seeing the irony here 47 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,079 Speaker 1: of wanting to do something good but having it all 48 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: sort of terribly ironic, terribly wrong immediately. So we should 49 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 1: give a little background to this though. There were gangs 50 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: before this, but they were mostly weren't too things like 51 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: muggings and robberies, and as far as business interests went, 52 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:03,959 Speaker 1: they controlled gambling and prostitution type establishments to make money. 53 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 1: So with bootlegging, though, gangster saw the opportunity to really 54 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: turn crime into more of a business, into up their 55 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:15,119 Speaker 1: profits considerably. Along with that, though, came the inevitable jostling 56 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 1: for territory between rival gangs, you know, I mean turf wars. 57 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: That's basically how we think of gangs today too, definitely, 58 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: and in Chicago is most notorious for that, right, It 59 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: was notorious, I guess for the outright gang on gang warfare. 60 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:32,240 Speaker 1: The gangs there, they didn't even really try to hide 61 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: it or conceal it at all. The gangs attacks on 62 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: each other were often really horrible and gory, but it 63 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: was mostly just gang on gang violence. They generally avoided 64 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 1: attacking just your normal, average citizen on the street. Um 65 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: also avoided attacking cops, so I guess as a citizen 66 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: of Chicago may have been easier to kind of distance 67 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: yourself from it a little bit. Um And from the 68 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: police's point of view, they weren't really making things too 69 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: hard on the gangsters anyway. Local mobs often paid off 70 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: cops to look the other way while bootleg alcohol shipments 71 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: were on the move. Some cops even participated. They would 72 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: get paid off and they would write on trucks to 73 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: make sure that the alcohol actually reached its destination the 74 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: way it was supposed to. And some politicians were in 75 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: the pockets of gangsters too, So those of you who 76 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:22,320 Speaker 1: watched gangster flicks, you're probably familiar with this whole dirty cop, 77 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,159 Speaker 1: dirty politician thing. But for for those of you like 78 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 1: romantic comedies, it is just a little background that the 79 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:29,719 Speaker 1: scene of what was going on during these so called 80 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: bootleg wars, but we should give you a little more 81 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:36,040 Speaker 1: background two on this. It's not all about bootlegging. They're 82 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: also ethnic hostilities involved. That was a really big part 83 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: of the rivalries between the gangs and UM. There were 84 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 1: two main gangs in Chicago. Obviously there are many, but 85 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: two of the major ones. One was on the South 86 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: Side and it was an Italian gang. The other was 87 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: on the North Side. It was an Irish gang. And 88 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: in the early nineteen twenties a guy named John Torrio 89 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 1: became the leader of the South Side Italian gang and 90 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:06,840 Speaker 1: he originally came from New York and was part of 91 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 1: the Five Points gang there, which had tammany hall connections. 92 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: He probably heard of the Five Points gang before, but 93 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: it didn't take him long to start to really get 94 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: into the Chicago mob scene and make a pretty big 95 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 1: impact there. He worked for the Chicago gangster Big Jim 96 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:28,599 Speaker 1: Colossemo as his business manager, and UM really started to 97 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: build his name from there. Yeah, big gym Colosemo. We 98 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 1: should probably say he was kind of an old school 99 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: gangster of the gambling and prostitution variety of that we 100 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,279 Speaker 1: mentioned before, So that was sort of his deal and 101 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: and uh, Torio worked for him. After Prohibition. He was 102 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 1: one of the first to really try to organize this 103 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: whole underworld of gangsters, and so many thought of him 104 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 1: as quote to the thinking man's criminal. He really wanted 105 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: to make the most of prohibition from a business standpoint, 106 00:05:57,080 --> 00:05:59,679 Speaker 1: so that was his whole thing. He wanted to actually 107 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: a void strife and bloodshed. His motto was there's plenty 108 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: for everyone, and he wanted to work with gangs. He 109 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: really worked with them to divide up the territory so 110 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,120 Speaker 1: that everyone got a share of Chicago's bootlegging profits. So 111 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: so sort of modernized thing. Yeah, and kind of the 112 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:18,799 Speaker 1: opposite of what you think a gangster would be doing. Yeah, exactly. 113 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: And he's pretty important though, not just for this ushering 114 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: in this new era of gangsterdom, but because he brings 115 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: in another young gangster from New York City named al Capone, 116 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: and I've heard of him. He may have heard of him, 117 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: and um, yeah, he takes al Capone under his wing, 118 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: and al later says, quote, I looked on Johnny like 119 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:43,440 Speaker 1: my advisor and father. So you have the the established 120 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:46,559 Speaker 1: gangster and the gangster in training, and they make quite 121 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:49,479 Speaker 1: a pair. Indeed, at the same time, though, there was 122 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:51,599 Speaker 1: sort of a similar kind of thing going on on 123 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: the other side of town. Torrio's counterpart on the north 124 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:56,920 Speaker 1: side was a guy named Dion O'Banion, and he was 125 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: a roughneck who'd grown up in Chicago's Little Hell neighborhood, which, 126 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:01,839 Speaker 1: for those of you who know Chicago, is now the 127 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:06,679 Speaker 1: area where Cabrini Green, the Public Housing Project housing complex stands. 128 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: And Obanion, like Torrio, had a couple of protegees of 129 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: his own. Uh. They were Jimie Weiss and George bugs 130 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 1: Moran and perhaps kind of strange for a gangster, for 131 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: a tough guy, this was something interesting of note about Obanion. 132 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: He had a passion for flowers. He was part owner 133 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 1: of a flower shop called show Fields, and he really 134 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: loved to serve customers and apparently could be found on 135 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: any given day making flower arrangements. He also provided flowers 136 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: for these lavish gangster funerals um which sometimes these funerals 137 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 1: were described as being so huge they were like funerals 138 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 1: fit for kings, and sometimes they had up to like 139 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 1: a hundred thousand dollars and in flowers definite you I 140 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 1: mentioned you were starting to watch The Wire definitely reminded 141 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: me of the Wire. These elaborate funerals and elaborate floral displays. 142 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: But um, I guess it helps tie things in a 143 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: little bit to Valentine's Day. It does passion for flower. 144 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: I'm glad you brought that up, Sarah, or totally coming 145 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 1: out of left field, but again we have to go 146 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: sort of in a negative, non lovey, devy direction to 147 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: say that there was some trouble that did start around 148 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: this time when Obanion he went to war with the Italians. 149 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 1: Basically he offered to sell Torrio half interest in something 150 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: called the Stephen Brewery, which was one of his interests 151 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: that that Obanion owned, and he was responsible for getting 152 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,079 Speaker 1: Torio basically caught in a police raid as the steel 153 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: was going down. On top of that, he ended up 154 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 1: keeping the five thousand dollars that he made off of 155 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:43,840 Speaker 1: the steel. So not a very friendly gesture towards his 156 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: gangster leader counterpart there. Yeah, I think you were saying 157 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 1: earlier his motives were a little unclear and all of 158 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:54,199 Speaker 1: the yeah, he was apparently tipped off about this raid beforehand, 159 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 1: which was what was sort of sketchy about the whole 160 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:01,800 Speaker 1: thing and why Torio ended up getting so at about it. Um. 161 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: It obviously wasn't a coincidence, but we can't really figure 162 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,840 Speaker 1: out I guess today whether O'Banion just thought it was 163 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,959 Speaker 1: funny or if you just wanted to see what would happen. 164 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 1: I mean, it's kind of unclear what he really wanted 165 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: to do. Um, he probably just wanted to mess with 166 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: Torio and UM, you know, kind of put his rival 167 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: gang member in a in a bad place because apparently 168 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: O'Banion didn't really have any previous charges at this point, 169 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:28,080 Speaker 1: so he wasn't going to get in trouble. But for 170 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:30,439 Speaker 1: Toria it was a different story. So well, and it 171 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 1: certainly won him no friends. And on November tenth, three 172 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: guys walk into Schofield's flower shop on North State Street, 173 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: UM saying that they want to pick up a wreath 174 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:46,079 Speaker 1: for the funeral of Mike Merlo, who was a prominent 175 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: member of the Italian community. And when one of the 176 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: guys reached out to shake O'Banion's hand, it seems like 177 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 1: a pretty nice thing to do. Doesn't seem violent or 178 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,560 Speaker 1: we're scary. Um, it turns out that he was just 179 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: trying to keep Obanion from reaching for his own gun. 180 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 1: Apparently he kept multiple guns on him at all times, um. 181 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: And then the other two guys pull out their guns 182 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: and shoot Obanion in the flower shop six times. So certainly, 183 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:17,360 Speaker 1: whatever Obanion's attentions were towards Torrio, Torrio did not much 184 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 1: care for him. No, he obviously did not like that. 185 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:22,719 Speaker 1: But on the bright side, if you want to look 186 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: at it as a bright side, Obagion's funeral was apparently 187 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 1: the most lavish that had been thrown for a gangster yet, 188 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:31,199 Speaker 1: and Capone sent a basket of Rosa's kind of a 189 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 1: cheeky bove as we discussed earlier Sarah, but he sent 190 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:37,920 Speaker 1: a basket of roses signed from Al So really nice guy. 191 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:40,839 Speaker 1: But this was sort of, I guess, the whole um 192 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:43,800 Speaker 1: event that set off the chain of events that will 193 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:46,199 Speaker 1: lead to the main story, the Valentine's Day massacre that 194 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:50,560 Speaker 1: we're discussing, Because right after this happened, retaliation soon followed 195 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:54,319 Speaker 1: Himie Weiss, who um he ended up taking over for Obanion, 196 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:58,320 Speaker 1: that's his protege that we mentioned before, and he did 197 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 1: in fact attack and severely Wood and John Torrio, who 198 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 1: was then forced to retire, Torrio left Chicago and turned 199 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: over his empire to Capone. So now we have big 200 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 1: Alve versus Himie Weiss, and after that Capone advice. Their 201 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: mobs were at war essentially for a couple of years, 202 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 1: and some sources say that Capone tried to make peace 203 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: with Vice, you know, get it, so they could get 204 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:25,800 Speaker 1: back to business and stop fighting each other. But Weiss 205 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 1: was sort of a crazy guy who was homicidal and 206 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:32,560 Speaker 1: apparently just kept on rebelling. They couldn't work out any 207 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: sort of mob treaty. Yeah, So eventually, because he had to, 208 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:40,920 Speaker 1: I'm sure, Capone ordered Weiss's murder and had him gunned 209 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 1: down with machine guns on North State Street, pretty much 210 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 1: right where Obanion got murdered. Um. It was right in 211 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: front of show Fields, because that's where Weiss had kept 212 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:53,440 Speaker 1: his offices, right above the flower shop, and that was 213 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:58,079 Speaker 1: on October eleven. And just stop ordering my flowers from 214 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:01,120 Speaker 1: there at them. Yeah, I think I would switch office locations, 215 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:03,840 Speaker 1: but he did not, um, and so he met his 216 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,360 Speaker 1: death there. He met his demise. But this left George 217 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:09,840 Speaker 1: bugs Moran in charge of the North Side Gang. So 218 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 1: now we've kind of hopefully you guys aren't too confused. 219 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,079 Speaker 1: But now we've kind of set up all the characters 220 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:17,480 Speaker 1: I think in this in this little play we have 221 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 1: going on here, Um and Marian. He was kind of 222 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:25,320 Speaker 1: a thug too. Yeah, he was definitely better known for 223 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:28,600 Speaker 1: his brawn than for his brains. He wasn't. He wasn't 224 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:33,199 Speaker 1: the leader that his predecessor had been, Obanion. And he 225 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 1: got his nickname Bugs from his temper tantrums to which 226 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,360 Speaker 1: is not exactly equality you want to see in the 227 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,280 Speaker 1: leader of a gang like this for a leader of 228 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 1: anything for that, Yeah, exactly. So, even though there was 229 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 1: a peace treaty organized in nine between the leading gangsters, 230 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:53,680 Speaker 1: it really didn't look like peace was going to happen 231 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:57,320 Speaker 1: because it was it seemed pretty likely that Bugs Moran 232 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,040 Speaker 1: would eventually go off the handle himself. Yeah, and in 233 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:02,640 Speaker 1: these two sides just kind of kept going at each other. 234 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 1: And yeah, Moran and Campone, the North Side Gang and 235 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:10,199 Speaker 1: the South Side Gang, and so it just seemed like 236 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:11,679 Speaker 1: they were going to keep trying to take each other 237 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:14,440 Speaker 1: out and antagonizing each other as much as they could. 238 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:18,120 Speaker 1: And sure enough, even during these years of relative peacetime, 239 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,280 Speaker 1: Moran continued to kind of try to stir up trouble 240 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,560 Speaker 1: with Capone and his gang. For example, he gave a 241 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:27,960 Speaker 1: kind of silent support to a north Sider named Joe 242 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,840 Speaker 1: Alo who tried to assassinate Capone a few times. So 243 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 1: he wasn't the one who was doing the assassination attempts, 244 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 1: but he was sort of tacit encouraging them. Yes. Um. 245 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:42,640 Speaker 1: Another thing, a couple of his own men, Pete and 246 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 1: Frank Gusenberg, who will come up later. They wounded one 247 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:50,160 Speaker 1: of Capone's best guys, one of his right hand men. Um, 248 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 1: a boxer turn gangster named machine gun Jack mcgern. Yeah. 249 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:59,360 Speaker 1: So Marian was certainly not on Al Capone's Valentine's list, 250 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:01,959 Speaker 1: if we're going to make a little joke about our 251 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 1: title here, Um, but he was on another list. He was, 252 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 1: And this is where we start to kind of get 253 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:13,199 Speaker 1: to the heart of our story. In early nine, Moran 254 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 1: was offered and he purchased a shipment of Canadian old 255 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:20,520 Speaker 1: log cabin whiskey, which had supposedly been hijacked from Capone. 256 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 1: And this transaction went off so well, it went off 257 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:25,560 Speaker 1: pretty much without a hitch, so that when the same 258 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,440 Speaker 1: people offered Moran another shipment for a great price. He 259 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 1: agreed to it, of course, and that delivery was supposed 260 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 1: to happen at ten thirty in the morning on St. 261 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 1: Valentine's Day, and Moran himself was supposed to be there 262 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 1: to oversee it. And it was to take place at SMC. 263 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:43,320 Speaker 1: Cartage Company, a garage and North Clark Street, which was 264 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:46,680 Speaker 1: basically a depot for Moran's bootleg operation and he kept 265 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 1: some of his trucks there and things like that. Yes, 266 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,920 Speaker 1: so we're gonna set the scene for this Valentine's Day morning. 267 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 1: It was cold and dreary and gray, and there were 268 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 1: seven guys at the garage by about ten am. Six 269 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:02,240 Speaker 1: of them we're part of Moran's gang. There were the 270 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 1: Goosenberg brothers who we mentioned earlier, Pete and Frank. There 271 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 1: was a bootlegger named Adam Hayer, a speakeasy boss named 272 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: al Wine Shank, and a safecracker named John May who 273 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: did a little sidework for Moran as an auto mechanic, 274 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:21,960 Speaker 1: and finally a bank robber James Clark. But then there 275 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 1: was another guy there too who was not part of 276 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:30,440 Speaker 1: the gang. He was Dr Reinhardt Swimmer, who was an optometris. Um, 277 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 1: he was not there performing medical exams. He was he 278 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 1: was just like a friend, kind of a gangster groupie. 279 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 1: He would hang out with these tough guys and brag 280 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: to to his own friends about it. Um, sort of 281 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: a strange addition to the party. I'd say, Yeah, strange idea. 282 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 1: I think, just a someone who wants to hang around 283 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 1: this kind of underworld scene, but go check out people's 284 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: eyes later in the day. Weird, yeah, Um, Or maybe 285 00:15:57,520 --> 00:15:59,160 Speaker 1: you were checking out the eyes first and then going 286 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: to the gangster stuf. Of maybe this was just a 287 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 1: random morning activity anyway. Also in attendance was May's German 288 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:07,600 Speaker 1: shepherd high Ball, and he was there tied to an 289 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 1: axle of a truck. So again just sort of setting up, Um, 290 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:16,240 Speaker 1: what this morning looked like. Now, all of these guys 291 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 1: except for May, who was dressed in overalls working on 292 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 1: trucks of course, Um, they were all dressed up in 293 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:25,280 Speaker 1: suits and ties. Around ten thirty, a black Cadillac drives 294 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:29,040 Speaker 1: up outside the garage. Four or five men get out 295 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:31,640 Speaker 1: of the car at this point. Um. Eye witness accounts 296 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:33,920 Speaker 1: differ as to how many people they are actually worry 297 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: you'll see it described both ways, I think, depending on 298 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 1: which you read UM. A couple of the men were 299 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 1: dressed up in police uniforms and the others are in 300 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: clothes that may resemble what detectives might wear. They were 301 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 1: wearing sort of top coats or trench coats. UM. One 302 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:49,920 Speaker 1: description has one of the guys at least wearing a fedora, 303 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:55,040 Speaker 1: so more normal clothing, not uniforms. And when they walked 304 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:58,240 Speaker 1: into the building, the seven men inside, this is what 305 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 1: people generally believe is that they must have a woomed. 306 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:03,440 Speaker 1: It was just a routine police raid because they appeared 307 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 1: to immediately just comply with whatever they wanted. They were 308 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,000 Speaker 1: asked to line up against the wall, and they did so. 309 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:12,400 Speaker 1: At that point, the police, or at least the men 310 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:14,679 Speaker 1: who they thought were police, opened fire on them with 311 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: two Tommy guns and they emptied seventy bullets into them 312 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:20,920 Speaker 1: that way and then finish off with a few more 313 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: shotgun blasts, so really violent, violent scene. Neighbors say that 314 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:30,320 Speaker 1: they heard popping noises and pneumatic drills and sounds like 315 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:34,680 Speaker 1: a car backfiring and a dog howling. So poor high 316 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: Ball is in there watching all going through all of 317 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:41,120 Speaker 1: this and so when the men walked out, these four 318 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 1: or five unknown men, it looked like just cops leading 319 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: out plain clothes guys, the men who looked kind of 320 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:51,840 Speaker 1: like detectives when they were walking in, leading them out, 321 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:55,400 Speaker 1: possibly at gunpoint, like they were in custody. And then 322 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:57,600 Speaker 1: they all got into the car and they sped away. 323 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: And at the end of it, six of the guy 324 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: eyes were dead, but miraculously one of them had survived, 325 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:07,880 Speaker 1: Frank Goosenberg, he was still alive, just barely. And this 326 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:11,080 Speaker 1: is where the story starts to get a little weird. Yeah, 327 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 1: this is the point where accounts of what was said 328 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:17,760 Speaker 1: and the details really start to get murky. Cops questioned 329 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:20,960 Speaker 1: Goosenberg like he's lying there with full of bullets and 330 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:24,000 Speaker 1: and they're trying to ask him what happened. Some accounts 331 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:26,840 Speaker 1: say that he said, nobody shot me. And the assumption 332 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,159 Speaker 1: here is that he was sticking to the gangster's code, 333 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,400 Speaker 1: which was basically, you don't snitch on other gangsters, even 334 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:35,479 Speaker 1: if it's someone right, don't say a thing, even if 335 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 1: it's someone from a rival gang. Other accounts, including an 336 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 1: account that's come to light recently, say that Goosenberg actually 337 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,920 Speaker 1: said cops did it, So we'll talk about that a 338 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:47,960 Speaker 1: little more in a minute. Frank dies, however, a few 339 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:50,840 Speaker 1: hours later in the hospital, and they never learn anything 340 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:54,040 Speaker 1: else from him about it. Moran, in case you forgot 341 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:56,680 Speaker 1: about him in the story, he never shows up that day, 342 00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:58,960 Speaker 1: even though he's supposed to. It said that he was 343 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:00,960 Speaker 1: seen in the area, but for it all went down, 344 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:03,960 Speaker 1: that maybe he drove by, saw the cops getting out 345 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,240 Speaker 1: of the caddy and just assumed it was a normal 346 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 1: police rate and got out of there. Um. But needless 347 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 1: to say, he did not die on that day. So 348 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 1: that leaves us with the question who who did it? 349 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 1: Who is responsible over the Saint Valentine State massacre? And 350 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:22,639 Speaker 1: some people believed for a while that it could have 351 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:25,960 Speaker 1: actually been the police, That these people weren't just in 352 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:30,639 Speaker 1: police costumes, they were some sort of rogue police outfit um, 353 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:33,480 Speaker 1: because after all, they did look like cops. They were 354 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:37,159 Speaker 1: driving what looked like a cop car. Um. And we 355 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 1: know that not all of the cops in Chicago at 356 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,440 Speaker 1: this time, we're we're straight knowing most of the backstory 357 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:46,080 Speaker 1: that we know now. Also too, though most assumed at 358 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:48,920 Speaker 1: the time that it was Capone, he himself, though had 359 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 1: a rock hard alibi. He was just sunning himself in Miami, 360 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,400 Speaker 1: catching some rays and he owned an estate down there, 361 00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 1: so he was not even in the state nowhere in 362 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:03,200 Speaker 1: the area, so that was how he got himself sort 363 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,000 Speaker 1: of out of it. But still it could have been 364 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:07,160 Speaker 1: a guy. It could have been his guys, and I 365 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 1: think the general consensus now is that machine gun Jack 366 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:13,800 Speaker 1: mcgern actually organized the whole event for capone um and 367 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:16,440 Speaker 1: perhaps may have even been a shooter. Here's just some 368 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:19,960 Speaker 1: examples of reasons that people might think this. He had 369 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 1: been spotted in nearby Lincoln Park and even outside SMC 370 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:26,960 Speaker 1: Cartridge that morning, so right outside the building where it happened. 371 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 1: Pretty suspicious, right. Mcgern claimed, however, that he had appropriately 372 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,639 Speaker 1: for Valentine's Day, been in bed all morning with his girlfriend, 373 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,480 Speaker 1: who was a very attractive blonde golfer named Louise Rolf 374 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,360 Speaker 1: and the papers ended up christening her the blonde Alibi 375 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:46,439 Speaker 1: after this, and so that's where that famous moniker comes from. 376 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:48,119 Speaker 1: I'm sure some of you have probably heard it. But 377 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,280 Speaker 1: because of this blonde alibi that he had, he was 378 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:54,199 Speaker 1: never really brought to trial, even though um he was 379 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:55,960 Speaker 1: charged with the crime and a lot of people thought 380 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:58,920 Speaker 1: it was him. Yeah, So while most people still assume 381 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:04,919 Speaker 1: Capone those guys did it eighty two years after the fact, 382 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:09,680 Speaker 1: there's a new theory about who organized the Valentine's Day massacre, 383 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 1: and it came out of a recent book called Get Capone, 384 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: which was released last year by the Chicago author Jonathan 385 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: i And it claims that this entirely different mobster, one 386 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:24,919 Speaker 1: not connected to the North Side or the South Side gangs. 387 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:29,439 Speaker 1: A guy named William White, also known as three Fingered Jack, 388 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:32,600 Speaker 1: was the one who was responsible. Yeah. Apparently one of 389 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:36,879 Speaker 1: Moran's guys killed White's cousin, a guy named William Davern Jr. 390 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:40,119 Speaker 1: In a bar fight, and the Valentine's Day massacre was 391 00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:43,760 Speaker 1: supposedly White's revenge for the whole thing. The really convincing 392 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,680 Speaker 1: part about this here's what it is. William Davern Jr's 393 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: dad was a Chicago police sergeant, so White could have 394 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,440 Speaker 1: easily arranged to get some of the props, police uniforms, 395 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:58,879 Speaker 1: the car, all of the police paraphernali in general from him. Also, 396 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:02,480 Speaker 1: I points to the sheer kind of violence of the event. 397 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 1: It seems like a really passionate killing rather than a 398 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:08,399 Speaker 1: business like one. I guess, yeah, you have kind of 399 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:11,480 Speaker 1: unimportant players killed in it, caught up in it, right, 400 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:14,520 Speaker 1: And another point he brings up is that the police 401 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,680 Speaker 1: talk to eyewitnesses who claimed that a person who was 402 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: driving the black Cadillac was missing a finger like three 403 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 1: fingered jack, just like three fingered jack. Um. And he 404 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,359 Speaker 1: also just points out if Capone wanted to kill Moran, 405 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:30,520 Speaker 1: why was Moran allowed to live after that? And I 406 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:32,760 Speaker 1: think that's a great point too. I mean, he knew 407 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: where Moran was. And if Moran is really the one 408 00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 1: that Capone had the beef with, then you think he'd 409 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:38,920 Speaker 1: be able to take him out. I mean he was 410 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,159 Speaker 1: al Capone. Yeah, and Miran is the guy who's supposed 411 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:43,159 Speaker 1: to be there. It's it's kind of a fluke that 412 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:47,120 Speaker 1: he's not right. So what evidence does I have of this? Um? 413 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:49,080 Speaker 1: The main thing is this letter from a guy named 414 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 1: Frank T. Ferrell, who had apparently been doing some undercover 415 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,920 Speaker 1: investigation of an unspecified nature at the time of the massacre. 416 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,600 Speaker 1: We're not really sure what that means, but that's his 417 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: explanation for how he's involved in all this. And the 418 00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: letter was from Ferrell to John Edgar Hoover, who was 419 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:07,000 Speaker 1: the head of the FBI at that time. So that's 420 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:08,920 Speaker 1: basically what he's basing this off of. And then he's 421 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:11,520 Speaker 1: gone in fact checked some of these things and that's 422 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,439 Speaker 1: how he's put this theory together. However, some historians have 423 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:16,840 Speaker 1: already found holes in this theory. Yeah, and the big 424 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,280 Speaker 1: one is that Jack White, three Fingered Jack was supposed 425 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:22,639 Speaker 1: to be in jail during this time. Yeah, that would 426 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:24,840 Speaker 1: seem to take him out of the equation a little bit. 427 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:28,720 Speaker 1: But I explained this away by saying he actually told 428 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: Chicago's ABC affiliate this um that White bribed his way out. 429 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 1: He bribed his way out of jail to commit the crime, 430 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,360 Speaker 1: and then got back in and was released later that year. 431 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,480 Speaker 1: So that kind of explains that. But even if you 432 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:44,680 Speaker 1: can explain it away, there's another issue there. The gun. 433 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,880 Speaker 1: The gun, Yeah, the gun involved in White's cousin shooting. 434 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 1: The whole thing that would have set this off in 435 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,879 Speaker 1: the first place, actually belonged to the McGurn gang, not 436 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: to Miran, So that kind of destroys the revenge motive. 437 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:58,880 Speaker 1: I don't know if I think that really takes away 438 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,360 Speaker 1: If the cousin was and he thought that Moran had 439 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,920 Speaker 1: killed him or Moran's gang, then you know three finger 440 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:08,359 Speaker 1: Jack would think the same thing. Exactly how was he 441 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: to know um unless he also had access to this 442 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:16,440 Speaker 1: ballistics report that Chicago's ABC had access to. UM. Regardless, 443 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:18,520 Speaker 1: the theory that I composes as to why this other 444 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:23,120 Speaker 1: possibility wasn't pursued, which was because investigators just wanted to 445 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: get Capone, probably has some kernel of truth to it. 446 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 1: Citizens in general at this time were really shocked by 447 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:33,120 Speaker 1: the massacre. There were really graphic photos of it published 448 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:36,240 Speaker 1: in the paper, and although these gang slangs were really 449 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,240 Speaker 1: nothing new, the massacre really made it seem like things 450 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,199 Speaker 1: were getting out of control, So it hardened public opinion 451 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:45,120 Speaker 1: against Capone at that point. Yeah, and Hoover also took 452 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,879 Speaker 1: office the same year of the crime, less than a 453 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:51,840 Speaker 1: month earlier actually, and he wanted to try to make 454 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:55,879 Speaker 1: an example of Capone, and eventually they ended up getting 455 00:24:55,920 --> 00:25:00,359 Speaker 1: Capone on tax evasion pretty pretty famously. There's a actually 456 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 1: been a previous podcast on that that Kenneth and Josh did. UM. 457 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 1: So they stuck him with an eleven year sentence. He 458 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,359 Speaker 1: was eventually released in nineteen thirty nine after spending a 459 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:15,119 Speaker 1: little time in Alcatraz, and he died in nineteen forty 460 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:20,120 Speaker 1: seven at age forty eight from complications from syphilis. So um, 461 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: pretty pretty out of it by the end, right, and 462 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 1: Moran's career went downhill after the massacre too. He was 463 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:30,879 Speaker 1: reduced to smaller bank robberies and ended up spending time 464 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:33,520 Speaker 1: in prison actually for a couple of them, and eventually 465 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: died in prison in nineteen fifty seven of lung cancer. 466 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:38,880 Speaker 1: Not to be outdone, machine gun mcgarn kind of went 467 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:42,560 Speaker 1: downhill after that as well after Capone's arrest. Especially his 468 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:45,520 Speaker 1: clubs closed during the depression, and he ended up a 469 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 1: small time drug dealer, so he fell pretty far and 470 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:50,679 Speaker 1: in the end he was gunned down in a bowling 471 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,800 Speaker 1: alley in nineteen thirty six and left. His dead body 472 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: was left actually with a comic valentine in his hand, 473 00:25:57,119 --> 00:26:00,600 Speaker 1: and it read, you've lost your job, You've lost stru dough, 474 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: your jewels and handsome houses. But things could be worse. 475 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:06,960 Speaker 1: You know, you haven't lost your trousers like that. You 476 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:09,840 Speaker 1: probably have to imagine it said in this kind of 477 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:13,440 Speaker 1: tough guy gangster accent to make the rhyme scheme work. 478 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,920 Speaker 1: But but that's not very valentine E. No, not again, 479 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:20,640 Speaker 1: not a nice thing to do. As for the bootleg Wars, though, 480 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:24,119 Speaker 1: they pretty much ended with the re legalization of liquor 481 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:28,440 Speaker 1: in ninety three, but mobs they stuck around definitely. UM 482 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:32,399 Speaker 1: labor and business racketeering sort of came in to replace 483 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:38,199 Speaker 1: the trading of alcohol. Legal alcohol and mob leaders they 484 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: had seen how this greater cooperation among them that Torrio 485 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 1: had kind of pushed them towards. They saw how this 486 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:47,240 Speaker 1: actually helped them get bigger profits. So this led to 487 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 1: an organized crime syndicate and the mobs that you still 488 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 1: stick around to some extent today. Yeah, you probably saw 489 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,120 Speaker 1: him on the news a few weeks ago, I think 490 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:59,679 Speaker 1: so the recent bust. So I'm still out there. So 491 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,720 Speaker 1: like us, that's it for pleasant Valentine's story today. Happy 492 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 1: Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day everyone. We'll come up with a 493 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:08,520 Speaker 1: love story soon to make up for it. This one 494 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:11,480 Speaker 1: was just kind of hard to resist. Um and I 495 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:17,000 Speaker 1: guess that brings us to listener mail. So we have 496 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: a letter from Janet and she says, Hi, Sarah and Dablina. 497 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:22,359 Speaker 1: I can't tell you how excited I was when I 498 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:24,960 Speaker 1: saw the Madame da Pumpadu episode come up in the 499 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,200 Speaker 1: iTunes feed. I had to text my bff right away 500 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:30,000 Speaker 1: to let her know she is a fan as well. 501 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:32,960 Speaker 1: We were both hoping you would mention her tryst with 502 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:36,480 Speaker 1: Doctor Who. Did you know the Doctor snogged Madame da Pompader. 503 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:38,600 Speaker 1: If you've never seen the show, then you should at 504 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:41,320 Speaker 1: least check out the episode called The Girl in the Fireplace. 505 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:45,080 Speaker 1: You would love it. We've gotten a lot of mentions 506 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:49,200 Speaker 1: for this episode of a lot of Doctor Who slash 507 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:52,640 Speaker 1: stuff you missed in history class fans. So so I'm glad. 508 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:55,600 Speaker 1: I mean, I had no idea that I was also, um, 509 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:59,879 Speaker 1: you know, we're helping helping unite people's love of television 510 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:03,919 Speaker 1: in history with one episode. Well, if you would like 511 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:06,240 Speaker 1: to learn a little bit more about some of the 512 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,240 Speaker 1: topics that we talked about in today's episode about the St. 513 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,119 Speaker 1: Valentine's Day massacre, you can look up a little bit 514 00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 1: more about how prohibition works by visiting our homepage and 515 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:23,879 Speaker 1: typing in prohibition at www dot how stuff works dot com. 516 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:26,400 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, visit 517 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,200 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. To learn more about the podcast, 518 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:31,960 Speaker 1: click on the podcast icon in the upper right corner 519 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 1: of our homepage. The How Stuff Works iPhone app has 520 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:37,560 Speaker 1: a ride. 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