James "Bomber" Belcastro Capone gangster reknown as the "King of bombers".He is often suspected of the liquor and labor bombings of the1920's and 30's.Belcastro had been arrested a total of 150 times during his criminal career.Belcastro came out of Chicago old red light district, the Levee where he was a Blackhand extortionist before joining the mob under Johnny Torrio.He was highly skilled at constructing improvised explosive devices and he was the chief explosives expert and later became a prime bomber for Al Capone. In 1917, he was sentenced to a year at Bridewell for assault.

His skills for making homemade bombs were used to conquer the Chicago labor unions and bootleg competitors.In the 20's and 30's he was the main player in blowing up taxicabs in Chicagos infamous Taxi War.It is suspected that he was the cause for 100 deaths .

It was during the 1927 Chicago primary elections that Belcastro reached the height of his fame.Belcastro bombed voting booths across the city in the wards known to oppose Capone’s man for office Mayor “Big Bill” William Hale Thompson.It was dubbed "The Pineapple Primary" cuz of the bombs he used resembled large pineapples and killing at least 15 people..Many bombs were thrown into buildings causing many deaths and damage.Other opponent,lawyer Octavius Granady, was killed by Belcastro following a high speed car chase on April 10, 1927. Arrested in October 1927 by the State Attorney for Granady's murder, Belcastro was later acquitted after key witnesses recanted their statements.He wasn't convicted in either case.

Belcastro stayed with the Outfit through the Nitti years and in 1931 during the Touhy-Nitti union wars,Belcastro was ambushed and shot five times by rival gangsters,but survived.As Prohibition-era violence raged,Belcastro and Bruno Roti Sr. killed one of their rivals,Johnny "Pepe" Genero, a gangster who was driving to his mother's house with another man when his car was trapped by another car.Genero was shot in the head. He died instantly. His companion wasn't harmed.Some say it was possibly revenge for the ambush at Belcastro,but its not known for sure.Few weeks after Genero's murder, prosecutors dropped all charges against Roti and Belcastro .No one was ever convicted of Genero's murder.Belcastro was also questioned about Genaro's brother,John,who was machine gunned to death on March 31 1931.Bruno and Belcastro were so close so when Belcastro would be arrested, Roti Sr.'s wife sometimes put up her family's home to bail Belcastro out of jail.He was also a main suspect in the murder of Chicago's famous bootlegger Matt Kolb,a close friend of Roger Touhy.After that Belcastro would rise through the ranks of the Chicago crime syndicate eventually becoming one of its top enforcers.

Belcastro also had various tailoring and food businesses and ran handbook operations with his equally famous brother in law Rocco Fanelli,wich also was on the public enemy list.They were running together a big bookmaking operation. The Chicago Daily News decreed that Belcastro was "head of the bombmaking division of Capone Inc.''

Belcastro stayed with the Outfit till his death in 1945.He died in his father in law's home (1011 Polk street) of a heart attack August 23,1945, at the age of 49. Firemen on the scene vainly try to revive him.One of his greatest achievements was getting the number 4 spot on the Crime commission's public enemies list. One of his greatest “students” was James Catuara,nicknamed Jimmy The Bomber.Belcastro had a wife named Rose,one son and daughter.

Belcastro would later be portrayed by Peter Mamakos in the 1959 television movie "The Scarface Mob" as well as on "The Untouchables" TV series.

Theres not much info on Belcastro so this story is completed from various sources and infos that can be found on the internet.Cheers

Don't forget Jimmy Catuara too from the chop shop wars in the 70's. That SOB did bombings impervious to innocent bystanders too. Brutal guy

Yeah hes mentioned as one of his best "students".As a youngster,he was involved in the Taxi wars i think.My next post will be about Catuara's chop shop crew

I never heard of this guy before reading this. Thanks Toodoped.

I enjoy history and appreciate these articles.

Gary



quote=Toodoped]James "Bomber" Belcastro Capone gangster reknown as the "King of bombers".He is often suspected of the liquor and labor bombings of the1920's and 30's.Belcastro had been arrested a total of 150 times during his criminal career.Belcastro came out of Chicago old red light district, the Levee where he was a Blackhand extortionist before joining the mob under Johnny Torrio.He was highly skilled at constructing improvised explosive devices and he was the chief explosives expert and later became a prime bomber for Al Capone. In 1917, he was sentenced to a year at Bridewell for assault.

His skills for making homemade bombs were used to conquer the Chicago labor unions and bootleg competitors.In the 20's and 30's he was the main player in blowing up taxicabs in Chicagos infamous Taxi War.It is suspected that he was the cause for 100 deaths .

It was during the 1927 Chicago primary elections that Belcastro reached the height of his fame.Belcastro bombed voting booths across the city in the wards known to oppose Capone’s man for office Mayor “Big Bill” William Hale Thompson.It was dubbed "The Pineapple Primary" cuz of the bombs he used resembled large pineapples and killing at least 15 people..Many bombs were thrown into buildings causing many deaths and damage.Other opponent,lawyer Octavius Granady, was killed by Belcastro following a high speed car chase on April 10, 1927. Arrested in October 1927 by the State Attorney for Granady's murder, Belcastro was later acquitted after key witnesses recanted their statements.He wasn't convicted in either case.

Belcastro stayed with the Outfit through the Nitti years and in 1931 during the Touhy-Nitti union wars,Belcastro was ambushed and shot five times by rival gangsters,but survived.As Prohibition-era violence raged,Belcastro and Bruno Roti Sr. killed one of their rivals,Johnny "Pepe" Genero, a gangster who was driving to his mother's house with another man when his car was trapped by another car.Genero was shot in the head. He died instantly. His companion wasn't harmed.Some say it was possibly revenge for the ambush at Belcastro,but its not known for sure.Few weeks after Genero's murder, prosecutors dropped all charges against Roti and Belcastro .No one was ever convicted of Genero's murder.Belcastro was also questioned about Genaro's brother,John,who was machine gunned to death on March 31 1931.Bruno and Belcastro were so close so when Belcastro would be arrested, Roti Sr.'s wife sometimes put up her family's home to bail Belcastro out of jail.He was also a main suspect in the murder of Chicago's famous bootlegger Matt Kolb,a close friend of Roger Touhy.After that Belcastro would rise through the ranks of the Chicago crime syndicate eventually becoming one of its top enforcers.

Belcastro also had various tailoring and food businesses and ran handbook operations with his equally famous brother in law Rocco Fanelli,wich also was on the public enemy list.They were running together a big bookmaking operation. The Chicago Daily News decreed that Belcastro was "head of the bombmaking division of Capone Inc.''

Belcastro stayed with the Outfit till his death in 1945.He died in his father in law's home (1011 Polk street) of a heart attack August 23,1945, at the age of 49. Firemen on the scene vainly try to revive him.One of his greatest achievements was getting the number 4 spot on the Crime commission's public enemies list. One of his greatest “students” was James Catuara,nicknamed Jimmy The Bomber.Belcastro had a wife named Rose,one son and daughter.

Belcastro would later be portrayed by Peter Mamakos in the 1959 television movie "The Scarface Mob" as well as on "The Untouchables" TV series.

Theres not much info on Belcastro so this story is completed from various sources and infos that can be found on the internet.Cheers
[/quote]

Great thread Toodoped..:)

No problem fellas,its my pleasure.Gotta say thanks for your support,cheers

Thanx toodoped, I enjoy your history posts.

Cheers Tony