Benny Bites the Dust

Benny Zion was an election day terrorist who operated in Chicago's Twentieth Ward aka the Bloody 20th. In addition to being under indictment for nine different counts including assault, kidnapping and murder, he was accused of participating in the election day murder of Octavius Granady, the opponent of Zion's boss Morris Eller.

On July 31, 1928, Eller testified to a special grand jury what he knew about the murder and violence that took place on the previous election day. That morning Zion's body was found in a alley behind a saloon. He had been shot four times and partially buried with trash. It was reported that Zion had talked to much.

Benny Zion

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

They Never Forget

In December 1930, Philadelphia and South Jersey gangster Tony Masino was released from Eastern Penitentiary after serving a sentence for carrying concealed weapons. Upon leaving he asked for a police escort. "If somebody doesn't take me home, I'll never make it alive," he told them. Why rivals wanted him dead was never ascertained.

Masino was a former boxer who became a member of Philly/South Jersey gangster Danny Day's gang. Among other things, they specialized in shaking down legitimate businesses. Masino garnered a bit of media attention, along with his boss, in 1929 when both survived a machine-gun attempt on their lives. Two other gangsters and a young woman were killed.

Masino was keeping clear of Philadelphia in the months following his release, and one report had him involved in some gambling houses in Camden, New Jersey. One can only avoid one's enemies for so long however. It was nearing six-thirty in the evening of July 29, 1931 when two farmers came upon his body on the outskirts of Hammonton, New Jersey. His body was still warm, though perforated with about sixteen shots. Some reports say he was machine-gunned others shotgunned. Regardless the guns used, the desired effect was obtained.

Tony Masino

Three of a Kind

July 28, 1932 saw the Pittsburgh underworld up-ended when three members of the ruling Volpe clan were eliminated at the same time. The patriarch of the Volpe crime family was brother John. He had been picked up numerous times for numerous crimes, including murder, but never convicted. Through the 1920s, the Volpe clan ran the underworld in the town of Wilmerding outside Pittsburgh. By the early 1930s they were making inroads into Pittsburgh.

John Bazzano, the local Mafia chieftain, who took the reigns of leadership the prior fall after the murder of Joe Siragusa, considered the Volpes allies, but with their moving into Pittsburgh he decided that they needed to go.

For a headquarters in Pittsburgh, the Volpe brothers used Bazzano's Rome coffee shop and it was there that Bazzano made his move. John was the first to go, simply because he stepped outside moments before the gunmen arrived. As he loitered out front, a car bearing New York license plates pulled up and three men got out. John seemed to know what was coming because he turned to run back to the shop but, the gunmen were faster and shot him five times. John crumpled to the ground and the gunmen passed him and entered the shop. They knew their targets. Brother Arthur, who was lunching on a bowel of corn flakes, took a bullet or two to the back of the head while his brother James made a dash for a counter but, fell with a bullet through the brain.

While the town of Wilmerding mourned the three Volpe brothers, the surviving siblings plead their case to the National Mafia Commission, who came to the conclusion that Pittsburgh mob boss John Bazzano had no authority to bump of the brothers. Sentence was passed and Bazzano ended up in sack.

John Volpe                James Volpe               Arthur Volpe

Purple Reign is Over

Twenty-four year old Irving Shapiro was a feared member of Detroit's Purple gang and had the distinction of being the first of that particular gang to go for a one-way ride. Shapiro was adept at shaking down speakeasies, contractors and kidnapping. There were no shortage of enemies that would have liked to seen the man dead. It's possible that his own gang had him taken out.

Three days before Shapiro was erased, four member of the gang Abe Axler, Eddie Flectcher, Irving Millberg and Harry Sutton were sent to Leavenworth for bootlegging. There may have been some power moves by the remaining gang who decided that Shapiro had to go. Purple Gang historian Paul Kavieff states that Shapiro kidnapped a contractor and wanted to get $25,000 in ransom but his confederates settled for $4,000. Apparently Shapiro wasn't happy and told his gang mates that they would be kicking in the difference for his share or else. 

Well aware of their cronies ferocity, the remaining Purple Gang members picked up Shapiro in large grey touring sedan, he was in the front passenger seat. At about 3 o'clock in the morning, someone in the back seat placed a .32 at the left base of his skull and fired. The bull passed through his head and out his left cheek. Two more shots were fired to similar effect. The car pulled over and Shapiro was jettisoned.

 

Irving Shapiro

Don't Bet on the Ponies

It was a bookies war, or so the Chicago police believed, that claimed the life of John "Irish" McLeod and the wounding of his partner James Ryan. McLeod was a former employee of Moe Annenberg who published the Daily Racing Form and was sent to prison the previous April.

McLeod and Ryan belonged to a group of independent bookies operating out of Chicago's South Side. Their group may have been planning to publish a racing service paper to fill the void left by Annenberg's removal. This put them at odds with other gangsters who had the same idea. Namely, former Prohibition gang Leader, Danny Stanton.

Two of Stanton's boys, Michael McGovern and James McGlade were bumped off the previous June. Police say the were searching for James Ryan but he managed to elude them, that is until July 26, 1940.

McLeod and Ryan had just exited an A&P grocery were store with a stock of can goods. It was believed that they were planning on leaving town as they knew they were on the spot. Just as they got into McLeod's car, a sedan pulled up and three masked men, each armed with sawed off shotguns, opened fire on the duo. McLeod lost a portion of his head and was killed. Ryan caught some of the shot, and although seriously wounded, survived the hit.

John McLeod       James Ryan

The Sandlot

It may have been an ambush as some papers implied or, most likely, it was meeting or truce between St. Louis' Russo gang and members of the Cuckoo gang, that turned sour. What is known is that on July 25, 1928, three members of the Russo gang: Jimmy Russo, Mike Longo and Jack Griffin. Met with a few Cuckoo gangsters, probably Tommy Hayes and a few of his minions.

The meet took place in a vacant lot, where a house used by Hayes once stood.  There were neighboring houses and witnesses in adjoining yards who witnessed the shooting. One of them, who knew Russo and Longo and said he'd seen them there numerous times, stated that while looking over the fence, he saw the gangsters tossing a ball around. All was peaceful until, "Suddenly they began to argue hotly over something.,,Longo and Russo and two others began fist fighting." The witness went on to say that Russo pulled a .45 and started shooting. After that everyone drew guns and started blasting away at each other. It was at this time that the witness stated that another man sprang from a Chrysler with a Thompson machine gun and yelled, "Give it to 'em boys! They ain't any good anyhow. Give it to them good!" Then he lit up the yard with a number of blasts.

Russo and Longo dropped dead. Griffin, with half a dozen shots in his right shoulder and chest fell but managed to crawl to a neighboring house after the Cuckoos fled the seen. A short time later, gunmen invaded the store of a Russo ally and wounded three men. It appears, that after the sandlot battle, the gunmen attempted to wipe out the whole Russo operation.

The fact that the battle was started by Russo and took place in the middle of the afternoon with witnesses nearby lends credence to fact that it was a spur of the moment fight and not a planned ambush. The guy with the Tommy gun was probably there for just such an occurrence. 

Jimmy Russo            Mike Longo                   Jack Griffin

Negative Side Effects of Coffee

New York City gangster Louis Geno AKA Louis Francisco was a life long criminal with a record dating back to 1911, who did time at both Elmira and Sing Sing. On July 24, 1923 he was in sitting inside a Lower East Side restaurant sipping coffee and reading a newspaper. 

As Geno studied his paper a sedan pulled up out front. A "powerfully built" man emerged flanked by two other guys, each holding a handgun. The two gunmen stood outside the restaurant as their confederate entered the establishment. Geno was still absorbed in his periodical as the man stopped at each table inspecting the occupants. When he got to Geno's table he drew a nickle plated pistol. Looking up, Geno jumped from his chair and started to speak, but was cut off with a shot to the mouth. "That's for talking to much," the gunman said.

Wounded, Geno dodged behind a busboy but the gunman shot the employee in the leg and he dropped, exposing Geno again. Another shot went into the gangster's neck. With no where else to hide, Geno leapt at the gunman who backed off and fired off another five shots. All missed Geno but three other patrons were wounded. 

The gunman exited the restaurant and was escorted back into the sedan by his two confederates. At the hospital Geno refused to tell detectives who shot him before dying. Police said he a gang of bootleggers from Washington D.C. got him for giving information to police.

The Avengers

The evening of July 23, 1926 found gunman Vincent McErlane, brother of trigger happy Frank McErlane,  hanging out in the rear room of a saloon with fellow Saltis-McErlane gangster John Conlon, age 25. Another twenty people or so were drinking and carousing when two men came up to the rear door. One had a pistol the other a shotgun. McErlane saw them and dove for cover. Conlon didn't have time and caught the blasts from the shotgun throughout his body and a pistol shot through the head. 

Conlon dropped dead as the saloon's patrons all headed for the front door. The gunmen ran back to their car and took off. When the cops arrived, it was only Conlon and the bartender. Police felt that the shooting was in retaliation from Ralph Sheldon for a killing from the previous April.

John Conlon

Movies Cause Violence

Eighty-Six years ago tonight, bank robber John Dillinger was gunned down by FBI agents outside Chicago's Biograph Theater.  The culmination of fourteen months of robberies, murders and more than a few gunfights.

Dillinger was paroled from prison in May 1933, after serving almost nine years for a robbery. He had become friends with some hardcore desperadoes while inside and his first priority when he was released was to help his associates escape. This cost money so he spent the summer of 1933 robbing banks and making preparations. In September of that year he was arrested. A few days later his confederates smashed out of prison thanks to Dillinger's efforts. They decided to repay the favor. Three of the men entered the jail holding Dillinger and broke him out. This resulted in the murder of Sheriff Jesse Sarber.

Reunited, Dillinger and his cronies went on a four month bank robbing spree. In January of 1934 most were captured in Tucson, Arizona. Dillinger was sent to the jail in Crown Point, Indiana. It was from here that he escaped with the help of a wooden gun. Once out of the jail, he stole the warden's car and drove to Illinois. He should have ditched the car at the state line because, at the time, robbing banks and shooting people weren't Federal crimes, but taking a stolen car across state lines was. Now the FBI were on his trail.

Back on the outside, Dillinger joined the Baby Face Nelson gang. He was traced to St. Paul where he shot his way out of an attempted arrest. The gang was then traced to the Little Bohemia resort in northern Wisconsin. A fierce firefight that resulted in the deaths of FBI agent W. Carter Baum as well as some innocent civilians that the FBI agents mistook as the bandits. Dillinger and his confederates managed to escape.

By July, Dillinger was staying in Chicago with a madam named Anna Sage. Because of her record Sage was facing deportation so she tried to cut a deal with the FBI, she would turn in Dillinger if they would fix it that she wouldn't be deported. Agent Melvin Purvis made no promises but said he would see what he could do.

On July 22, Sage contacted Purvis and told him that she, Dillinger and the bandit's new paramour, Polly Hamilton would be attending the Biograph theater that night to view Manhattan Melodrama starring Clark Gable and William Powell.

While Dillinger enjoyed his last picture show, FBI agents were taking up posts around the theater to ensure that their quarry did not escape. At about 10:30 p.m. the show let out. Dillinger walked out flanked by both Sage and Hamilton. They passed Purvis, who, once he was sure of Dillinger's presence, lit a cigar, the pre-arranged signal for the agents to move in. Dillinger was alerted to the movement and went for the gun in his pocket as he dashed for an alley. A number of shots rang out and bank robber fell face first into the alley entrance. A bullet had entered the back of his head and pierced his brain.

  

John Dillinger

Roadhouse Blues

With all the killings and what not, being a labor leader in Prohibition era Chicago was a stressful occupation. Looking for a bit of R&R, Patrick "Paddy" Berrell, vice-president of the Teamsters journeyed north to the resort town of Showano, Wisconsin. 

As a union head, one of Berrell's headaches was gangster George "Red" Barker, who attempted to unite all the Teamster unions under his leadership. Berrell fought him at each turn until a machine-gunner took care of Barker the previous June 17. A few weeks later Berrell headed for the peaceful seclusion of the Wisconsin woods. Could just be a coincidence that Berrell felt the need to leave Chicago after Barker's death or maybe...

On Wednesday July 20, 1932, former North Side gangster Willie Marks and his brother in-law drove up to visit Berrell. Marks was said to be Berrell's bodyguard. Willie's claim to fame was that he was with Bugs Moran on the morning of February 14, 1929 when the two men saw what they believed to be a police raid on the gangs' headquarters. Marks and Moran ducked into a coffee shop believing that they had avoided a raid when in fact it was rival gangsters who mowed down seven of the gang in what is referred to as the St. Valentine's day massacre. 

Berrell and Marks spent the following evening at the Lime Kiln Inn, a roadhouse situated on Highway 29 between the towns of Showano and Bonduel. In the wee hours of July 21, Berrell and Marks exited through the back door. Barely had the duo taken a few steps when a machine-gun lit up the night and both men dropped dead. It was assumed that Berrell's enemies followed Marks out from Chicago assuming correctly that he would lead them to Berrell.

Patrick Berrell         Willie Marks

Permanent Vacation at the Jersey Shore

It was the early afternoon of July 20, 1941 when a vacationing Philadelphia family went out crabbing in Skunk Sound, a tributary off Cape May harbor. Seeing a bundle half protruding from the water they investigated. "It looked like something in brown wrapping paper," the family patriarch recalled. "It stuck up about a foot out of the water. We rowed over and felt it. And what we felt was a human foot."

The foot belonged to fifty-two year old Philly gangster John "Chink" Goodman, who had a record dating back to 1903 when he was arrested for being a pickpocket. Since that time he had been picked up about 20 times in his home city as well as others for everything including murder. He served time for grand larceny and passing counterfeit money. He was also a member of Mickey Duffy's gang back in Prohibition times.

Authorities stated that Goodman ran a string of disorderly houses as well as running numbers and bootlegging. Cause of death was an extreme blows to face and head. His body was then trussed up in an army tent and bound with sash cord and clothes line. His killers drove the body to the Cape May area and tossed the grisly package off of a bridge. Though there was a concrete block attached. Air filled out and the shroud rose high enough in the water for the crabbing family to discover.

John Chink Goodman

The City of Brotherly Hate

Richard "Patsy" Morella was a Philadelphia gangster who may have played a part in the murder of fellow Philly gangster Edward Winger who was killed in New York City a few days earlier. July 20, 1929 found Morella inside a cigar shop shooting the breeze with the boys when he mentioned that he was getting blamed for Winger's murder by the dead gangster's pal Samuel Cohen, and that Cohen was looking for him. Then, patting a pocket containing a gun he laughed and said, "But I've got a friend, and this is it."

Morella was still chuckling as he stepped outside. After taking a couple of paces, a bullet whizzed by his head. Assuming the shot came from the cigar store he just exited, Morella drew his gun and fired a few shots through the window. Not realizing the gunman was actually across the street, Morella continued to look at the cigar store as the man ran up from behind and fired three bullets into the back of his head. Morella managed to turn and see his killer. Falling forward, he draped his arms around the shooter's neck. The gunman pushed Morella off and he slumped to the ground. Stooping over the prone gangster, the gunman fired a fourth and final shot into Morella's head.

A woman identified Cohen as the killer and he was arrested while leaving his house the following morning with a bag of clothes. He went on trial that September but the press didn't find it necessary to report on it.

Duel

By 1925, James Vinci already had some infamy in his home town of Chicago. In 1920 he was convicted as the getaway driver during the gangland murder of labor racketeer Mossy Enright. He named the ring leaders and wrapped of the case nicely for the prosecutors. However, during retrial the Illinois Supreme court threw the case out because he confessed under duress. Officer Duress being the ham fisted cop(s) who beat the confession out of him. (That's Vinci's version anyways.)

In 1923 Vinci, who by this time owned a saloon, was back in the news when a car he was driving at a fast speed slammed into a coal truck killing the three underworld characters who were riding with him. Since Vinci was speeding, police assume that the quartet was either fleeing or on their way to a crime.

In the spring of 1925 a confederate of Vinci's, Joseph "Machine Gun Joe" Granata, was arrested for armed robbery. Lets just take a moment to appreciate a moniker like Machine Gun Joe. Remember, this is a few months before the first machine gun was used in a gangland shooting in Chicago. How did Granata become Machine Gun Joe if they weren't used yet? Perhaps a hold over from WWI?  Or maybe Frank McErlane wasn't the first to use one? Anyways back to the story...So Granata is arrested and goes to Vinci for help. Vinci goes to some of his fellow saloon keepers and who knows who else and raises $15,000 to get Machine Gun Joe out on bail pending trial. His day in court arrives but Machine Gun Joe doesn't show up. Goodbye $15,000. Vinci's stock with the saloon keepers and those who kicked in the $15,000 tanks.

At about ten-thirty on the night of July 18, 1925 Machine Gun Joe enters a saloon and is followed by Vinci a few minutes later. After a brief discussion they step outside. Within moments Machine Gun Joe produces a knife and pistol [disappointing weapons considering his nick-name] and starts to slash and shoot at Vinci. Mortally wounded, Vinci runs across the street followed by his attacker, and pulls out his own gun and fires off six rounds. Both men drop dead. Once they were prone, a Vinci confederate ran up and pumped four more shots into Granata just to make sure.

             James Vinci         Joseph Granata

Clipped Wing(er)

On July 17, 1929, thirty-year old Eddie Winger (alias Newman), a gangster from Philadelphia, had just checked into a Lower East Side bath house. What he was doing in New York is unknown. Business? Perhaps. Hiding from rivals? Perhaps. After settling in, and presumably taking a bath, he ventured out and hooked up with man who has been forever remembered only as Louie.

The two men were walking along when a sedan pulled up and an occupant from within opened fire on Winger. Said gangster dropped wounded; Louie took a powder and was unscathed. Later at the hospital Winger would say only that he was with a guy named Louie. He died the next day saying no more. It's possible that a gunman from Philly named Patsy Morella followed him to New York and gave him the works.

Edward Winger

Really Detroit, Another One!!

On the morning of July 16, 1930 A young Detroit woman left her house to run up to the local store. On her way she found the body of gangster David Overstein lying between two garages. He had been shot three times in the side of the head. She alerted a neighbor, who in turn, called the police.

Overstein was an ex-convict who had ties to the Purple Gang. In the early Twenties he was reputed to be a member of  the Oakland Sugar House gang. In 1928 he was sent to the Michigan State Reformatory for breaking and entering. Upon his release it was said that he got involved with bootlegging.

Overstein was last seen hanging around a corner at about 10 p.m. the previous night. Neighbors who lived nearby the garages where the dead gangster was found, said they heard one shot, around midnight, followed by three more. 

David Overstein

Chicago Ride Job

In the early hours of July 15, 1931, Milton Winfield sat in his Chicago home. He heard a series of shots and ran to the window. Looking out, he saw two men jump from a sedan and the driver slumped over the wheel.

Another sedan pulled up and a guy climbed out, went over, and pushed the slumped body of the driver off to the side. Perhaps he was just making sure of the job. The men then drove away.

The police were summoned and the dead man turned out to be Edgar Smith, body guard of Al Capone confederate Danny Stanton. Both Smith and Stanton had been arrested the previous year when ballistic test proved that a gun found in their car was used in the murder of Jack Zuta.

At the time of Smith's murder, Stanton was at war with another South Side of Chicago gang headed by James Quigley. It was also hypothesized that friends of Zuta pumped the three bullets into the back of Smith's head.

Edgar Smith

Another Murder in Detroit

The bullets were flying in Detroit the spring and summer of 1930, and bootlegger Henry Tupancy caught his lethal dose on July 15, 1930. Tupancy was arrested in 1922 for selling booze in his speakeasy and paid a $500 fine. By 1930 he was also producing the stuff, as was evidenced in a number of corn sugar receipts found on his person after he was killed.

Tupancy was sitting in his car along with another bootlegger, Louis Salvio, who was most likely a member of the Licavoli gang, having been arrested that spring with a number of Licavoli - Moceri gangsters following the murder of a police officer.

As Tupancy and Salvio sat in the former's auto, witnesses of a nearby street car, as well as some children playing, saw a man wearing striped linen pants, a cream colored silk shirt and a pair of black and white shoes, (no coat or hat) approach the car and, producing two guns, open fire on Tupancy. The victim was hit by nine shots and died. Salvio took a bullete to the gut, hopped out of the car and ran a short distance before collapsing.

Mobster Peter Licavoli was arrested for the murder. At the hospital, and later on the stand, Salvio played mute. He said he didn't even know Tupancy and didn't recognize the shooter. Seeing that Salvio, was probably a member of the Licavoli gang and not the intended target, he may have been setting Tupancy up and was hit by friendly fire.

Though Salvio didn't identify Licavoli as the shooter, a number of witnesses did and he was shipped off to prison for life. Salvio was living on borrowed time however. He got his the following October, but it wasn't the bullets of rival gangsters that brought him down, it was bullets from a jealous husband. The gangster was rooming with a married couple in a volatile relationship. The husband left home for period of time and came home and found his wife and Salvio "talking". The enraged husband killed Salvio and shot his wife, who survived.

 

Henry Tupancy      Louis Salvio

Everything is Hotsy-Totsy Now

As the sun was preparing to rise over Manhattan on July 13, 1929, the Hotsy-Totsy Club was still jumping. The band was playing, people were dancing, drinking and carrying on in true Roaring Twenties fashion. 

On the premises were the clubs part owners Jack Legs Diamond and a confederate of his, Charles Entratta. At some point in the wee hours West Side bootlegger William "Red" Cassidy, who owned his own club and was part owner of a brewery with Owney Madden, stopped in with his brother Peter and a Sing Sing alumnus who went by Simon Walker.

To make a long blog entry short, after awhile and argument broke out. The words flew followed by bullets. In a matter of seconds Red Cassidy and Simon Walker were dead on the floor. Peter was wounded and Diamond and Entratta disappeared for months.

Though Cassidy and Walker were the only victims that night, a number of employees who witnessed the murders were also dispatched. Two Hotsy-Totsy employees, the entertainment manager Hymie Cohen and laborer Tommy Ribler simply disappeared. A few days later the perforated body of waiter/bartender William Wolgast popped up in Jersey, forever silenced.

Detectives caught up with Entratta first in Chicago. He was brought back to New York City for trial and beat the rap. After that Diamond surrendered and the charges against him were dropped. 

Simon Walker

To learn more about the Legs Diamond and the Hotsy-Totsy club check out Legs Diamond: Gangster.

Sam I Was

Twenty-eight year old Sam Cilluffo, started in the Detroit booze racket at the on set of Prohibition. He had been arrested five times since 1922, and did a stretch in Leavenworth for bootlegging. Cilluffo worked for East Detroit mob boss Angelo Meli, who during the summer of 1930, was at war with the West Side's Chester LaMare.

After the murder of two of LaMare's boys on July 7, the West Siders struck back by eliminating Cilluffo. At about 12:25 AM on July 12, Cilluffo was driving along in his coupe when a sedan containing three men swung up along side him. One of the men blew out Cilluffo's rear tires with a shotgun blast, forcing the gangster to stop. When he did, the sedan drove past and another hoodlum raked Cilluffo's coupe with a Thompson machine-gun, hitting the gangster eleven time.

Sam Cilluffo

House Call

As the Roaring Twenties came to a close, brothers Meyer and Irving Shapiro were the top underworld dogs in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. Together they controlled the slot machines and other nefarious activities in their bailiwick. Irving's main concern was floating crap games. One of their goons was a young thug named Abe Reles, who decided that since he was taking all the chances that could find him in jail or the cemetery he was entitled to a bigger slice of the pie. The Shapiros saw it differently and war broke out out.

Reles and his band shot it out with the Shapiro gang for about year, each side losing members, Finally on July 11, 1931, Reles though that he had both Shapiros in his sites. He knew that they  were both at the Democratic Social club and so he, Happy Maione, Dasher Abbandando and Vito Gurino waited outside in order to gun them down. 

As the Shapiros exited, another group of men followed them out so Reles called off the assassination. Assuming that they were going to head to the family home, Reles and company drove there and beat them home. The reason being was that Meyer wanted to go to the turkish baths so was dropped off. Irving was going to join him but had their driver, Smokey Epstein, take him home first for a change of clothes.

While this was taking place Reles and his confederates entered the foyer of the Shapiro house and removed the light bulb and waited. They heard the car pull and idle as Irving jumped out and ran up to the house. Entering the dark foyer he could nothing. His enemies pulled their triggers and two bullets ripped into Irving's face, spinning him around, the gunmen stayed long enough to empty their guns in the prostrate hoodlum's back. It was one Shapiro down, one to go.

Irving Shapiro

The Tommy Knockers

Thomas Bonner was described as a low level Chicago racketeer. He dabbled in booze and narcotics but also took part in some hold ups. None of these paid him much. But it did keep him involved in the underworld which came in handy because he was a police informer.

Perhaps it was his loose lips that kept him out of jail, if so the trade of wasn't worth it. One of his confederates was Big Earl Herbert a ranking member of the Joe Saltis gang. In addition to making money money in Saltis's bootlegging business, Herbert also dabbled in armed robberies and counterfietting.

One day he saw a police lieutenant leave Bonner's house through the back door. Afterwards, he kept an eye on Bonner's abode and saw the officer come and go a number of times. It was determined that Bonner was a snitch and had to be dispatched.

On July 10, 1930 Herbert and another man went to Bonner's house. Mrs. Bonner stated that she heard her husband let the two men. After they conversed for a few minutes she heard one of the men yell,
 "You dirty rat stool!"
"You've got me all wrong on that." Bonner pleaded.
"No we haven't. Not this time."
The next thing Mrs. Bonner heard was two gun shots and her husband crashing on a table. Running back into the room she saw her prone husband, dead with two bullets in his head, and the two gunmen running from the house.

Thomas Bonner

Herbert would remain free until October 11, when he was arrested while sleeping in a basement with thousands of dollars worth of tobacco products that had been stolen from a Walgreen's warehouse.

Big Earl Herbert

Louis Loses

Thirty-four year old Louis Candia had made a small fortune bootlegging in Detroit. With his profits he bought the Tremont hotel and was part owner of a speakeasy called the Ocean View Yacht Club (an odd name considering Detroit is about 700 miles away from the nearest ocean). Due to his mis-management, and the fact that he was dealing in prostitution, he lost his hotel and was facing deportation.

Only July 9, 1930, Candia entered the Ocean View Yacht Club at the same time as another guy. They sat close to each other and soon and argument broke out and both men stood up and drew their weapons. Candia was late on the draw and was hit by three bullets. As he fell he fired off a shot but only succeeded in hitting the bar manager's hand, who was trying to prevent the gunfight. Candia was dead when he hit the floor and his killer escaped.

Initially, police thought that he may have been killed by a former associate for some old bootlegging grudge, but it was determined that the fight was over a woman.

Louis Candia and the Ocean View Yacht Club