Frank De Laurentis, a nephew of Chicago politician Diamond Joe Esposito, and John Tucillo, whose family was also well acquainted with the Espositos, were, according to a report, former members of the defunct Genna brothers gang who were now pushing booze for Ralph Sheldon's gang.
Roman Duchovitz, who ran a saloon in the territory controlled by the Saltis-McErlane gang started buying his product from De Laurentis and Tucillo.
Not one to sit idle while his customers were poached, Joe Saltis paid a visit to Duchovitz and demanded to know when the two Sheldon men made their deliveries. On this date in 1926, De Laurentis and Tucillo showed up at Duchovitz's saloon with some alcohol. Moments later a Lincoln sedan pulled up and four armed men entered the speakeasy. De Laurentis and Tucillo were marched out back to their own car and forced inside with three of the gunmen. The fourth followed in the Lincoln.
Later that night, with the curtains in the rear windows pulled close, a man pulled up in front of Sheldon's home in the De Laurentis and Tucillo auto. A neighbor stated that the man went to the front door and knocked but received no answer. Not surprising, because Sheldon, since his troubles with the Saltis-McErlane gang, was seldom seen at his house. With no answer at the door the man left in another car.
The De Laurentis- Tucillo car sat undisturbed in front of Sheldon's hose for nearly a week before the police were called to investigate. Thinking that it may have been stolen, officers looked inside and found the two alky peddlers in the back seat covered with a blanket.
L-R Frank De Laurentis and John Tucillo
