Unholy Toledo*

Today in 1931 the body of "Cleveland Beer Baron" Al Jaffee, (not to be confused with Mad Magazine artist Al Jaffee) was found on a lonely Toledo road just south of the Michigan border. He wasn't by himself either. the fellers who bound, gagged and fired a couple of .45 bullets into his head figured they should send him off with a companion and so did the same to his body guard Harry "The Carpenter" Gertzlin.

A couple reasons offered for the offing were that they were trying to muscle in on the Toledo alcohol scene and that they were there to settle a situation regarding the hijacking of one of their liquor trucks. If it was the latter then I doubt they were satisfied with resolution.

*Didn't come up with that one ourselves, it's a title of book about Toledo gangsters.

Gas, Guns & Gus

Gus Buselaki owned a filling station in downtown St. Louis back when you didn't have to pump your own gas. You just sat back while some guy in an appropriate outfit filled your tank, washed your windshield and probably even thanked you for coming in.

Yes, Gus was a proprietor of just such a place. Gus was some other things too. Gus was also an organizer for the "Service Car Drivers Association". Gangster was also listed as one of Gus's occupations.

So there Gus was standing about his station just after midnight back on this date in 1931 when a sedan drove by and either two machine-guns with 25 round drums or one gun with a 50 round drum opened fire from a window spraying Gus's establishment as well as Gus himself with upwards of fifty bullets.

Nine other people were about and two woman were slightly wounded. As for Gus, a good percentage of the fifty bullets came to rest in him.

Spiked

Since Chicago has been so bountiful with dgis we shall remain here another day and remember one Edgar "Spiker" Smith who went the way of all gangster flesh on this date back in 1931.

Yes friends it was eighty-three years ago this evening that a citizen of Chicago's south side went to the coppers and reported that he saw, right in front of his own house mind you,  a man get shot in a sedan. Later that night said car was found with "Spiker" (not to be confused with Edward "Spike" O'Donnell, another Chicago hoodlum and survivor of numerous assassination attempts) slumped over in the front passenger side.

Spiker was called both a Capone hoodlum as well as the body guard of Danny Stanton. Regarding the latter, both he and Spiker were wanted in Waukesha, Wisconsin for the murder of prominent Chicago hoodlum Jack Zuta who got a fatal dose of lead while hiding out there in a resort. Together with Danny, Spiker was fighting extradition to Wisconsin to stand trial.

Police said that Spiker was bumped off because of a south side beer war or possibly for retaliation for killing a film projectionist in a labor feud. Being sentimentalists we here at the institute like to think he got it from his "friends". Maybe he was getting nervous about the Zuta business and they thought it would be better if he went on a one way vacation.

Chicago house call

On this date back in 1926, thirty-seven year old well-to-do contractor Joe Ciccone was, like most family men, home with his wife and six children. Unlike most family men however Joe was said to be a high ranking member of the Genna gang. For those who may be new to the gangster genre the Gennas were a powerful Chicago gang ran by the six Genna brothers. Unfortunately for Joseph and other gang members, by 1926 three of the brothers were dead and the gang was on the ropes.

For whatever reason rivals decided that Joe had to go too. Apparently Joe didn't get out much because his assassins decided the best way to get him would be at his house. So shortly after midnight two guntoters rang his doorbell. With his entire family in the living room, Joe answered the door and...well you can guess the rest.

Pulpy goodness

Sorry to be the one to break it to you folks, but yes, the Gorton's fisherman does have a sordid past.

Not the type of autoshow Detroit wanted

Eighty-four years ago today, alleged Detroit racketeer Samuel Cilluffo was driving his coupe along the streets of the Motor City when a sedan containing four other alleged racketeers forced Sam's buggy to the curb. Once stopped, a rain of twenty shots peppered Sam's coupe. After the the first round, two of the alleged racketeers clambered out of their car and mounted Sam's running board and fired another eleven shots into Sam.

Pushing up weeds

T'was on this day in 1931 it t'was that Dave Amdur, said to be a Cleveland racketeer was found dead in a clump of weeds in Pennsylvania just over the Ohio border near the city of Warren.

According to Dave's pal,  Joseph Blank, also of the racketeering brotherhood, the duo were walking along the Sharon - Youngstown highway before the rising of the sun when a car passed them, came to a stop and backed up along side them, and, occupants of said auto thusly opened fire on the duo. Amdur took three shots to the head, Blank took some lead to the arms and chest but managed to make his way to a night watchman's shanty and get help.

Of course Blank knew of no reason why anyone would want to hurt him and his pal. He said they had left Cleveland the day before and were on their way to New York. What he didn't say was why they were walking and how Amdur ended up in the Pennsylvania weeds. We here at the DGIS Instituted smell a ride job...and French toast. Friday is French toast day here.