The Bozo Show

 

July 30, 1929 saw Chicago police officer Sgt. Murrin walking to work on the West Side when he came across three gangsters banging away at each other outside a cigar store. As the sergeant ran up he saw one of the gunmen stagger into a car, with a woman at the wheel, and then the auto sped off. Left at the scene were bootlegger James "Bozo" Shupe ,35, with a record dating back to his teen years and his partner George Riggins, who was also proprietor of the cigar store. Both men had been shot and the latter collapsed onto the running board of a nearby car while Bozo simply collapsed.

Sgt. Murrin saw that Shupe and Riggins made it to the hospital. While there, a woman pulled up and dropped off  the wounded Thomas "Big Six" McNichols, 37, a former court bailiff and the son of an alderman, who had turned to the beer business. Big Six stated that he was standing on the corner when some guy he didn't know shot him. When questioned about Bozo and Riggins he snarled, "Don't bother me."

Bozo was the first to go, followed a few hours later by Big Six. Before Big Six gave up the ghost, he told his mother that he had two grand in cash and a $3000 ring on his person when he arrived at the hospital. She brought it up with the police who assured the woman that her son had been mistaken.

James Bozo Shupe          Thomas Big Six McNichols