St. Valentines Day Massacre

OK, I've been reading "War of the Godfathers" by Bill Roemer and this is the 2nd time he states that Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo was one of the shooters in the St. Valentines Day Massacre. Unfortunately he doesn't really provide much proof other than speculation overheard on "Little Al" and "Plumb". (listening devices planted by the FBI) Accardo never admits to being there or even being involved.

Along with JB, he states that it was Jack McGurn and Louie Campagna who were dressed in the police officers uniforms who let JB and Tony Capezio into the SMC Cartage Company garage with their Tommy Guns.

We've heard about the "Blond Alibi" for McGurn, and the mountain of circumstantial evidence that points to Fred Burke and his band of St.Louis mobsters. So what is it that makes this FBI agent go against several published theories??

I can't explain Roemer's cast of St. Valentine's Day killers. The book you cited isn't the latest to explore the subject. More recently, Laurance Bergreen, Capone's latest biographer, says that the shooters were Fred (Killer)Burke, Patsy Lolordo, John Scalise and Albert Anselmi. John Kobler, in an earlier Capone biography, also said Burke was one of the killers ("the only man of whom it can be said with moral certainty that he pulled a trigger in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre"), though he didn't identify the others.

Yeah, I read The St. Valentine's Day Massacre: The Untold Story of the Gangland Bloodbath That Brought Down Al Capone by William J. Helmer, Arthur J. Bilek. They give a lot of circumstancial evidence as to why it was Fred Burke. Yes, he had the murder weapons, but is it plausable that they were given to him after the fact??

There is an alcapone website that may have more information on it.(I'll look for it tonight)

There is a tree planted at the site of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre I believe.

Actually there's 5. Four of them mark the corners of the building and the fifth marks the location of the wall. (supposedly) I pass it all the time, but never stopped to notice the configuration of the trees. If it weren't raining, I'd go by there today.

hmmm I didn't know that. Isn't there a nursing home or hospital around that spot now?

The lot is actually empty, but it is incorporated into the property of a senior public housing complex.

I read a story years ago that the actual wall was re-assembled as part of a museum attraction. Anyone remember this or have any details?

I dont know about the wall being re-assembled, but I have found a site where a guy is selling bricks (supposedly from the wall) for $1000 a pop. Sounds like a sham to me :rolleyes:

I've also read an account that has Capezio causing a fire when he tried to cut-up the cars used in the caper with a blow torch. That doesn't put him at the garage for the shooting, but, if it's true, it is another piece of circumstantial evidence that links him to the event.

Many of these people were a very tight-knit crowd. I can't imagine that an assignment like that would be carried out by a half-dozen guys that didn't know each other. If "Tough Tony" was involved, it's likely that JB and McGurn and Scalise and Anselmi, his good friends, were also involved. And that would support the notion that they were the shooters and not Burke's group. On the other hand, they could have simply been given the responsibility of "mopping-up" by destroying key evidence after Burke's group did the job.

Who killed Kennedy? Who killed Giancana? Who was involved in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre? Doubtful that we will ever know for sure.

tony b.

YTB, as I'm sure you know, Capone used contract killers extensively, the better to keep himself and his intimates insulated. Scalise and Anselmi were his regulars, but so was Burke. In fact, Burke and Capone played golf together, and at one time famously got into a fistfight on a golf course when Burke got too familiar with Capone. So, I agree that the killers knew each other, but that would include Burke, too. But I also agree with you that we'll never know for certain who the actual killers were.

Earlier this year, when we were all planning on going to the Gangster Convention (near Chicago), I looked into going to see where the massacre took place. I changed my mind when I found out it was just an empty lot now.

Here's the picture I found of the current location:

Sc if you go to http://www.alcaponemuseum.com there is a great picture of the empty lot and it has the 5 trees.

It also has some interesting things about capone as well. If you go to it on the bottom there is a link to view his jail cell. If you follow the link to the Prison he was in (The Pennsylvania one not Alcatraz) you can see what his cell looked like when he was there.

Earlier this year, when we were all planning on going to the Gangster Convention (near Chicago), I looked into going to see where the massacre took place. I changed my mind when I found out it was just an empty lot now.

Here's the picture I found of the current location:
[/b][/quote]That picture I think is from the north edge. The brick wall in the background is the Senior Housing building. If I recall the layout of SMC, that tree may be the one representing the wall.