We're So Sorry, Uncle Eddie

It was on November 5, 1928 when Philadelphia gangster Handsome Eddie Rafferty pulled into his brother's gas station. His niece ran up to and jumped into the back seat of Eddie's car. Being a good uncle, Eddie produced some grapes and handed them to her and she began to snack away.

As Eddie sat behind the wheel conversing with his brother, a car drove by and men with shotguns and pistols opened fire. His brother hit the deck while Eddie, hit by some of the shots, slouched over the steering wheel. A second car drove by and once again lead was hurled at Eddie. More bullets plowed into the gangster's body and he slumped to the floor mortally wounded. A third car drove by and fired another round which peppered the walls of the filling station.

It was said that Eddie Raffery was associated with the Eddie Reagan gang whom were supposedly responsible for the murder of a gangster named Robert Haggerty and that Eddie was killed in retaliation. Another theory was that Rafferty had double-crossed another bootlegger named William "Hop" Reilly. The latter was picked up but denied that there was any trouble between him and Rafferty.

Handsome Eddie Rafferty