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The Leadup to the St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre: Al Capone and George \u201cBugs\u201d Moran<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Rivalry was part and parcel of bootlegging life in 1920s Chicago. It wasn\u2019t strange for arguments and feuds to be settled with gun battles or covert assassinations, but what occurred on Valentine’s Day 1929 was unlike anything that had been seen before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the heart of the massacre was the ongoing rivalry<\/a> between two of the most powerful Chicago Gangs\u2013Al Capone\u2019s Chicago Outfit and the North Side Gang, an Irish group run by George \u201cBugs\u201d Moran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Capone\u2019s Chicago Outfit was by and large the biggest crime syndicate in the city. After taking over from Johnny Torrio, Al Capone<\/a> began absorbing many of the smaller gangs of the area into the Chicago Outfit. Though he used several means to do so, his most common was outright violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There was one other gang that rivaled Capone\u2019s for size, territory, and violence\u2013The North Side Gang. After the death of Dion O\u2019Banion at the hands of Capone\u2019s predecessor, anger had been brewing between the two groups. Capone was ready to have it dealt with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was painfully cold on Valentine\u2019s Day morning at 2212 N. Clark St. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Seven members of the North Side Gang had arrived early to broker a deal with Detroit\u2019s Purple Gang for cheap whiskey. It was supposed to be eight men, but gang leader Moran had woken up late and was running behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was around 10:30 am when a Cadillac pulled up outside of the garage. Four men stepped out\u2013two in plainclothes, and two dressed as police officers. The fake officers each carried a shotgun, and the other two men carried Thompson sub-machine guns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Their arrival took the seven North Side Gang men off guard, even more so when the men dressed as officers ordered them to line up against the back walls. Then, without hesitation, the four men from the Cadillac opened fire, spraying bullets right to left until their guns were empty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When they were finished, the fake officers came in with the shotguns. They blasted away the faces of the dead men until some of them were barely recognizable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, to keep up appearances for any bystanders outside of the garage, the fake police officers led the other two men out by gunpoint and loaded them back into the Cadillac. After that, they were gone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The victims of the St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n News of the massacre spread through the Chicago public like wildfire, putting gang leaders<\/a> in a tough position. The initial reaction was shock, followed by outrage that something so terrible was able to be carried out in their city in broad daylight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a push for law enforcement to take bootlegging gangs more seriously, and for the massacre itself to be solved. The Chicago Police, under the leadership of Detective William Sullivan, began to try and unravel the mystery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There was no lack of leads\u2013police already knew of the rivalry between Moran and Capone<\/a>. They were able to find the getaway car\u2013a Cadillac that had been in a garage fire that had been intentionally set. There were even multiple, extremely credible, eyewitness accounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the victims of the massacre had survived for a short period despite being shot 14 times. But he refused to give police any information before succumbing to his wounds in the hospital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So with all of this evidence, why is the St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre still, for the most part, unsolved? <\/p>\n\n\n\n To this day, in early 2024, no one has ever been arrested for the murders that occurred during the St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Several factors played into the lack of arrests. The biggest issue was that the man who is assumed to have ordered the massacre, Al Capone, was vacationing in Florida at the time it occurred. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite no one ever having been charged, Chicago police eventually settled on a few individuals who they believed committed the killings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although there were never any convictions made in relation to the St. Valentine’s Day massacre, it was common knowledge that Al Capone and the Chicago Outfit were likely behind the murders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This put Capone in the perfect position to take almost complete control of the Chicago bootlegging scene, which he did with gusto. The only problem was that it also put him in the crosshairs of both Chicago police and the IRS, who would, in the end, arrest Capone not for murder, but for tax evasion. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSt. Valentine’s Day Massacre\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/crime\/saint-valentines-day-massacre<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.historydefined.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Al_Capone_early_1930s.webp-773x1024.png\")
The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Investigation, Suspects, and Theories <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Is the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre Unsolved? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Who Were the Suspects for the St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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References <\/h2>\n\n\n\n