Twenty-seven year old Chicago gangster Walter Zwolinksi, nick-named the "Terrible Pole", was a former member of Spike O'Donnell's South Side gang. He started his career as a car thief and entered gangland under the tutelage of Frank McErlane before changing allegiances and joining the O'Donnells.
By 1932, Zwolinski outgrew the O'Donnells. In spring, Spike's brother Charles was bumped off and there were attempts made on Spike. It was also stated that Zwolinski and two other defectors approached Spike on the the street and told him he was through. In an attempt to save his own skin, Spike headed to Califorinia for his health.
With Spike out of the picture, Zwolinksi allied himself with the McGeoghegan - Bubs Quinlan gang. Since this was his third known change in allegiance, the underworld to refer to him as boss of the switchmans union.
Chicago gang leader was a precarious position back then and Zwolinski's tenure was cut short in the early minutes of September 2, 1932 (or possibly the last minutes of the first.)
Whether or not it was Spike O'Donnell's loyal minions or not isn't known but somebody fired a shot into the back of Zwolinksi's head, trusted up his body and tossed him into the tonneau of an automobile and abandoned him a few blocks from his home.
Walter Zwolinski
3 comments:
excellent content, Patrick why didn't you post on September 1st? very good stories
Hi David, thank you for kind words. Glad you enjoy the blog. Regarding your question; I was preoccupied with other endeavors.
I came on here after googling this guy's name when I finished reading about him in the Frank McErlane biograghy books. The author had some pretty good insight from his research. I had no idea McErlane split from Joe Saltis and joined O'Donnell. Then the two and their gangs fought the Terrible Pole and his mob. News articles from that era, in the book, claim that McErlane was stalking him for awhile and on two separate occasions emptied his Tommy Gun into the windows of Zwolinkski's apartment where he lived with his wife but didn't hit him or her.
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