Someone will pay a lot of money for this gun, which Capone probably never carried. Why would he? He was never a hitman during his career. There's no record of his being in a gunfight, or of killing someone with a firearm. As boss, he was surrounded by bodyguards, and he knew that if he carried, any cop could have arrested him and send him away without any further ado--unless he wanted to be sent away. That's exactly what happened in Philadelphia on May 17, 1929, after the famous gangster convention in Atlantic City, when some of his fellow pezzanovanti "suggested" that he step down to relieve some of the heat generated by the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and other violence in Chicago. Here's a link to Capone's deluxe cell in Eastern State Prison, where he spent nine months after a concealed carry arrest he engineered Not exactly hard time: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smar...te-roommates-cot-opens-public-180972105/
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
Re: Al Capone's "sweetheart" gun is up for auction
[Re: Hollander]
#1088971 04/30/2402:31 AM04/30/2402:31 AM
Someone will pay a lot of money for this gun, which Capone probably never carried. Why would he? He was never a hitman during his career. There's no record of his being in a gunfight, or of killing someone with a firearm. As boss, he was surrounded by bodyguards, and he knew that if he carried, any cop could have arrested him and send him away without any further ado--unless he wanted to be sent away. That's exactly what happened in Philadelphia on May 17, 1929, after the famous gangster convention in Atlantic City, when some of his fellow pezzanovanti "suggested" that he step down to relieve some of the heat generated by the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and other violence in Chicago. Here's a link to Capone's deluxe cell in Eastern State Prison, where he spent nine months after a concealed carry arrest he engineered Not exactly hard time: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smar...te-roommates-cot-opens-public-180972105/
He was arrested in December 1925 for the murder of Richard "PegLeg" Lonergan in Brooklyn. No one was prosecuted when all the witnesses lost their memory. In 1923, Al was connected to the shooting murder of "Ragtime" Joe Howard, who slapped Jake Guzik and called Snarky a pimp. Al laid low for a month until the witnesses were all taken care of, then turned himself in.
Last edited by CNote; 04/30/2405:14 AM.
Re: Al Capone's "sweetheart" gun is up for auction
[Re: Hollander]
#1088976 04/30/2405:36 AM04/30/2405:36 AM
If I'm not mistaken, when he and Torrio first came to Chicago, wasn't Capone also suspected of having been the shooter in the Big Jim Colisimo killing (shot in the vestibule of his nightclub?)
If I'm not mistaken,t-- when he and Torrio first came to Chicago, wasn't Capone also suspected of having been the shooter tthe Big Jim Colisimo killing (shot in the vestibule of his nightclub?)
John Kobler, in his excellent Capone bio, says that Big Jim, infatuated with Dale Winter, a singer in his supper club, wasn't taking care of business, ignoring Torrio's grand plan to cartelize the upcoming booze bonanza among the gangs. So, logically, Big Jim had to go; and Torrio, rather than killing his uncle, gave the contract to Capone. Both benefited. BUT: Kobler stops short--he merely says "shots rand out in the vestibule." Lawrence Bergreen, a later Capone biographer, says the killer was Frankie Yale, Capone's old mentor in Brooklyn, who did it to expand his influence in Chicago. BUT: Bergreen doesn't follow up om that--the next we hear of Yale in his book, he's still in Brooklyn.
That's the long answer. Short answer: NFI.
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
Re: Al Capone's "sweetheart" gun is up for auction
[Re: Toodoped]
#1088998 04/30/2404:37 PM04/30/2404:37 PM
If I'm not mistaken,t-- when he and Torrio first came to Chicago, wasn't Capone also suspected of having been the shooter tthe Big Jim Colisimo killing (shot in the vestibule of his nightclub?)
John Kobler, in his excellent Capone bio, says that Big Jim, infatuated with Dale Winter, a singer in his supper club, wasn't taking care of business, ignoring Torrio's grand plan to cartelize the upcoming booze bonanza among the gangs. So, logically, Big Jim had to go; and Torrio, rather than killing his uncle, gave the contract to Capone. Both benefited. BUT: Kobler stops short--he merely says "shots rand out in the vestibule." Lawrence Bergreen, a later Capone biographer, says the killer was Frankie Yale, Capone's old mentor in Brooklyn, who did it to expand his influence in Chicago. BUT: Bergreen doesn't follow up om that--the next we hear of Yale in his book, he's still in Brooklyn.
That's the long answer. Short answer: NFI.
Yes, I agree with you. Let's face it, short of one of the executioners on the scene turning informer, these types of things (gangland murders) are still conjecture and educated guesses. But it does make sense that an up-n-coming young Capone would have "cut his teeth" and secured his place by Torrio's side with such a killing.
Big Jim Colosimo's murder scene. Big Jim after being rolled over. Witnesses who had seen a man waiting around at Colosimo's before Big Jim was killed. Waiter Gabriele even went as far to face Frankie Yale, but then lost his nerve and memory.