Should've Sent Flowers

Stephen Monastero was the top mobster of Pittsburgh's North Side. In addition to bootlegging he was a supplier of corn sugar and the needed hardware to produce alcohol. His position was precarious as was evident by his bullet proof car and bodyguards. 

One of Monastero's confederates, Charles Spallino, was in the hospital recovering from an appendectomy and Monsastero, his brother Sam in tow, were paying him a visit in the early evening of August 6, 1929. The Monstero brothers pulled up in front of the hospital in Stephen's bullet proof car and parked behind a large sedan. The brothers got out of their car as Stephen's body guards, in another car, drove by planning to park closer to the hospital. 

As the Monasteros passed the sedan parked in front of them, sawed off shotguns protruded from behind curtains and let go. Stephen fell to the ground wounded. A man with a pistol jumped out of the sedan and ran up to the wounded gangster. As Monastero writhed in pain, the gunman fired a number of shots into his head, finishing the job.

By this time, Sam had his gun out and fired off a few shots before turning and running into the hospital. The gunmen in the sedan, fired a shot at the bodyguard car and sent a number of rounds into Spallino's hospital room.

Sam Monestero made it inside the hospital and ran out a side door. He was picked up a few blocks away. While investigating the shooting police found a trail of blood suggesting that Sam had hit the gunman who finished off his brother. The trail led to some bushes and then the trail was lost. The car containing the hit men took off leaving their wounded comrade behind. 

Stephen Monastero

Two in the Trunk

On this date back in 1930 A coupe was found sitting in a field in the town of  Brecksville, about fifteen or so miles outside of Cleveland. Crammed the in trunk, or turtle back, as they were then called, were the bodies of Anthony Borsellino, 40,  and his 39 year-old cousin Joe*. Both men were described as Cleveland gangsters and both had been garroted with a cord and there wrists tied to their feet.

The last anyone had heard of them they said they were on their way to Akron to meet some people. Obviously they never made it. Cops thought that perhaps Akron gangsters took them out. It was also speculated that Cleveland gangsters may have taken them out. There was strife in the Cleveland underworld at the time and one paper stated that Anthony had replaced the recently dispatched Big Joe Lonardo as Mafia boss. Seeing that both men were executed in the same fashion as Sam Monastero, Pittsburgh authorities felt that perhaps there was an inter-state rum war going on and the Borsellinos fell victim to the same killers as Monestero. 

Sam's (Swan) Song

Sam Monastero took precautions. He wasn't naive. His brother was a Pittsburgh Mafia boss who was gunned down. He knew the life, so he took measures to protect himself. His coupe was bullet proof and the glass shatterproof. There was a shot gun strapped to the inside door in case some enemies pulled up along side him. But none of these safeguards are effective when your killers don't come at you on the road, so Sam met a gangsters fate on this date back in 1930.

A witness stated that Sam's car sped his own and a short time later the driver saw two kids flagging him down, and the coupe in a ditch. The rear compartment was on the fire and the driver doused the flames and went to check on Sam who he considered to be an unconscious drunk. Turns out that Sam had been garroted, either in his car, or elsewhere, and his body transferred to the car. Either way before he could be delivered to his final resting spot the driver of coupe crashed and got away unseen.

Sam Monastero