Slot Machines Don't Pay Out

Newark, New Jersey - The evening of October 27, 1930 found Joseph Hamley, a slot machine racketeer in a nervous state. He had recently been expanding his slot machine business in Northern New Jersey. Supposedly he had the backing of New York City gangster Jack Legs Diamond.

Word on the street was that Hamley was a former slot machine repairman who talked himself into being Legs' New Jersey slot guy. Supposedly another Legs man, Abe Figura, was Legs' liaison with Hamley. Things were fine until the evening of October 11 when Figura was on his way to Jersey to meet with Hamley but wound up going for a ride; a one-way ride that is. His body was found the next day. The day Figura was found was the same day that Legs Diamond was shot down in his room at the Hotel Monticello. He lived.

Shortly after the two shootings Hamley received a note which read, "You are next on the spot Windy". Windy being his nickname. At around 8 pm on the 27th Hamley's brother visited him at his room at the Newark's Elk Club where the twenty-seven year old told him had a date that night. After visiting with his brother he went to his girl's house. He was nervous and told her that he expected to get bumped off. He left her place around 10 pm. Three hours later Hamley was found near Milburn, New Jersey with, depending which paper you read, either two or six bullets in him. All papers agreed on the fact that a number of them were through the head.

Body of Joseph Hamley

Knocked Out of the Presidential Race

Chicago - On this day in 1928 Peter Rizzuto*, a Sicilian big wig, was loading near beer onto a truck outside his place of business. His place of business was a beverage supply company that not only manufactured the stuff he was loading onto the truck, but also supplied hops, sugar etc. all the things one would need to make alcoholic beverages. One of his top customers was the Aiello gang.

In addition to his business interests, Rizzuto was being groomed by said Aiellos to take over the presidency of the Unione Siciliana. The previous month the former president Joe Lombardo, a Capone ally,  had been shot to death while walking with his bodyguards. Most likely at the behest of the Aiellos. Rizzuto had been on the phone with Lombardo a few moments before the shooting and was considered a suspect in the killing.

As Rizzuto was loading his near beer, two men, each armed with a sawed off shotgun, crept around the side of his truck and cut him down. Perhaps somebody else suspected him in the Lombardo killing as well.

Peter Rizzuto

*Rizzuto was spelled numerous ways in the press. This may not be the actual spelling.

Taxi Driver

Chicago- Just before 8:30 pm on this evening back in 1930, cab driver James Ruane pulled up to an apartment building where he was supposed to pick up a fare named "Mr. Presto". He entered the vestibule but there were no names listed. He knocked on the ground floor apartment but nobody answered. Walking back to this cab, he shone his spotlight on the building and saw four or five guys peaking out the window. Annoyed, he went back up and kicked the door.  This time Mr. Presto stepped out.

Ruane headed back to his cab a few steps a head of Presto and opened the rear door of his cab. Something across the street caught Ruane's eye, a man in a second story apartment across the street was lifting the window. Then he placed something big on the sill. That something began to spit fire and bullets sprayed the area. Mr. Presto let out a groan, his body jerking as a number of bullets slammed into it.

In an attempt to save himself, Mr. Presto staggered around the apartment he just vacated and found momentary relief in an alley. However, a second machine gun nest, came alive and another volley slammed into Presto's body and he collapsed.

Their job complete, the group of assassins fled their nests. Ruane ran up to his fare, whose life was slipping away. An off duty cop who lived nearby ran over and they placed Presto in the cab for an unnecessary ride to the hospital. He was dead.

Mr. Presto was in fact, rival gang leader to Al Capone, Joe Aiello. For years Aiello, who had allied himself with Capone's other arch enemy Bugs Moran, had tried to kill Capone. Aiello had fled Chicago a number of times but always returned in his hopes to displace Capone as Chicago's top gangster.

Its in the Bag

One time Legs Diamond associate Dominick "Wicky" Bifano was found trussed up in a burlap sack in the back seat of a car on this date back in 1932. Prior to his bagging he was shot through the head. Bifano was with Eddie Diamond in Denver back in 1928 when gunmen Joe Piteo and Gene Moran were sent by Dutch Schultz to kill Eddie. Both men nearly escaped being machine gunned.

What Bifano was up to following the death of both Diamonds is unknown but he was well dressed and the recent recipient of a manicure. It was assumed that the foes of Diamond finally caught up with him.

Don't Bite the Hand That Feeds You

On this date in 1927, Frank Selvaggi, a member of St. Louis' Cuckoo gang, was shot in the cigar store of Bennie Greenberg. Benny was also a bookie whom, Selvaggi had been shaking down. He visited the cigar stand twice that day. On one visit he helped himself to a cigar and on the second a free pack of cigarettes. On the third visit Selvaggi, age 23, was drunk and had two confederates with him.

Greenberg was counting up his gambling receipts of the day when Selvaggi came in the third and final time. Waving his gun he told Greenberg to "Stick 'em up." and started to fire. His shots went wild as Greenberg grabbed his own pistol and fired back hitting the gangster three times. Twice in the chest and once in the leg. Selvaggi stumbled from the store and collapsed about a hundred feet away.

Fearing reprisal, Greenberg ran to a nearby saloon owned by his brother and waited until the cops came before returning to his cigar store. " I had to shoot," he told the cops, "Selvaggi was drunk and he was shooting at me. I was lending him money and we both knew he would never pay it back, but that was all right. When your in this business you expect to get preyed upon." Greenberg was freed after it was determined he acted in self defense.

 Frank Selvaggi

Bennie Greenberg

Sugar Not So Sweet

Sam Dalaly was the nineteen year old driver for Chicago's 42 gang. His bullet riddled body was found on a roadside on this date back in 1932. Police determined that Dalaly was bumped off for his part in the hijacking of a sugar truck that was enroute from Indiana to a still.

Police stated that Dalaly was supposed to drive the sugar to a specific location but along the way, he stopped and handed a some of the sugar over to confederates. Police theorized that Dalaly was either bumped off by those who orchestrated the hijacking and found out he held out some of the sugar or was knocked off by the concern that owned the sugar truck that got hijacked.

Sam Dalaly

Human pin cushion

Pittsburgh mobster John Aliberti was found on this date in 1933 on the outskirts of his home town with upwards of sixty ice pick wounds in his body. His pal, John Bazzano, was found in a similar condition the previous year in Brooklyn. Bazzano had orchestrated the murders of the Volpe Brothers, rival mafiosi in his coffee shop, a decision that the fellas in New York City didn't take kindly to. Aliberti, we're told, took a powder from the his old haunts after the Volpe murders for a number of months.

Known as a gunman, Aliberti was arrested in 1927 for having a pistol and shotgun in his car. He did time in prison for a shooting and was arrested and acquitted for murder in the spring of 1932.

Perhaps Aliberti was bumped off for being in the Bazzano camp or maybe it was because the previous summer he reportedly bombed a night club. The gunman was last seen at 2 a.m. the morning of his murder arguing with two men and two women, but when cops approached he got into a car with them, and two other men, and took off. His body was found six hours later.

A Chicago Double

It was a two-fer for Chicago on this date back in 1931. Former dirty cop George Wilson's machine-gun perforated body was found by three girls who were walking near a railroad viaduct and James Quigley, a South Side saloon keeper, who was said to have been a one time member of Spike O'Donnell's gang but had recently broke out on his own with his own gang, was found floating in a drainage canal in about thirty minutes south of Chicago in the city of Lockport.

Thirty-three year old Wilson was kicked off the force in 1923 for shaking down wine merchants. Afterwards he may have been involved with the Druggan-Lake gang but may have had a falling out. It was reported that he had said, "If anything happens to me, George Druggan [brother of gang leader Terry Druggan] a week prior to his murder he was arrested for a robbery and posted bail.

Forty-Five year old Quigley was originally a railroad man who moved into the saloon business. After breaking with O'Donnell he tried carving out his own territory which put him at odds with O'Donnell and as well as the Saltis-McErlane gang. It was believed that Quigley killed Frank McErlane's chauffeur George Fitzgerald and that McErlane was the one who put him in the drainage canal with a bullet in the head.

  L.  George Wilson         R.  James Quigley