Tony Accardo

Was tony Accardo a hitman in the st valentine day massacre and what weapon did you think he used a machine gun ? as FBI Agent bill roamer over heard tony accardo say he was there on a FBI BUG .

Allegedly! and the guns used was the Thompson smg with the 45 caliber 50 round drum. Tough tony capezio was allegedly the second gunman. But frank anselmi and john scalise were the Main prime suspects. Who knows who the real killers were.

Ya and according to Double Cross the book by sam and chuck Giancana.. Supposedly Sam said he did it and was a shooter

Outfit and O.C. historians say there is no definitive answer relative to Accardo's involvement. He may or may not have been involved.

The one individual who was very likely involved was Fred " Killer" Burke. Guns taken from his home matched bullets from the massacre.

These guys liked to brag about participating in notorious events like the St. Val. Day's massacre and the assassination of President Kennedy, but most of the time no evidence can be found to prove the assertions. It doesn't mean they were not involved, just that it can't be proven.

I highly doubt that Accardo was involved.

i do not

Accardo was McGurn's driver, but he is not named by serious authorities on the subject as being directly involved.

Funnily enough the Massacre is not much of a mystery, though it remains officially unsolved. There is not much reason to doubt the Byron Bolton confession. Bill Helmer's book lays it out in (exhausting) detail.

Burke, Winkler, Bolton, Goetz, who knows who else, in all probability did it.

Burke was arrested with the guns, Bolton confessed, Winkler's widow confirmed. That's about as close to a closed case as you are likely to get .

Didn't the FBI (or some other law enforcement agency) re-test Burke's guns in the last 10 years or so?

I thought I read somewhere that they decided to check them again using more modern ballistics / forensic tools and techniques, specifically to see if they could be matched to some other cases in Detroit. My memory on this is hazy, and it may not have been Detroit, but it was a city other than Chicago.

And, jonnynonos is correct, it was likely Burke, Winkler, Bolton etc. I think the evidence against them is convincing.

For those who are interested, just google Byron Bolton and go to Wiki and read his account of the event.

Fred "Killer" Burke, Raymond “Shocker” Schulte,Fred Goetz,Gus Winkler, James Ray and Raymond “Crane Neck” Nugent were members of the St. Louis gang Egan's Rats and they all moved to Chicago in the period of 1925-1930 and became associates of the Circus gang under Claude Maddox and were also named by the media as Capone's “American Boys”.Story goes that Raymond “Shocker” Schulte, a.k.a. Charles Maginness, dismantled the getaway car from the St.Valentines day massacre together with Tony Capezio.Capezio got burned while using flammable liquids to get rid of the evidence.He ran to a hospital clinic,but then ran back out when he realized that someone who might saw the fire would be calling the cops. This stunt earned him the nickname “Tough Tony.”

Byron Bolton,former member of Alvin Karpis gang was also a close friend of Capezio, Bolton became a stool pigeon becase he swindled the gang for a lot of cash.After Byron Bolton’s 1935 confession,Claude Maddox was picked up by the cops again( because he was also picked up right after the massacre)but later was released.

As for young Accardo, story goes that he was in one of the look out crews together with Ross Prio and Jimmy "The Swede" Moran.Prio also got picked up by the cops for questioning.

Good explanation, Toodoped. Good to hear from you.

Thanks GaryMartin

I always thought the explanation that Fosco gave on his site, naming
Joey Aiuppa & Sam Banks among others as the killers was interesting. Aiuppa was given control of Cicero, he must have done something to earn it.
Thoughts?

Being given Cicero wasn't necessarily a good thing in the post-Capone years. When Aiuppa got that territory it was no longer thought of as a cash cow but he turned that crew into a moneymaking machine in the matter of a few years, mostly through gambling.

I remember reading in the book { the last Mafioso} johnny roseli is talking to frattiano about aiuppa beconning boss of the outfit. "hes was nothing but a cheap bust out man from cicero"

He was described as such in his FBI files as well by an informant.

Seems like the FBI was wrong. A cheap bust out man would be nowhere near the top of the outfit back then. Roselli was a washed out bitter gangster who had been shelved. Aiuppa took care of him

mulberry, I think you are right on with that, roselli also told frattiano that " batters has never liked me " I get the feeling that giancana was the one keeping roselli alive, and after he got clipped. roaelli was on his own.

Ai up pa was always a good earner, that's how he became boss, but was he accardo ' s front boss or did he have absolute power?

The guys who robbed accardos house always fascinated me , accardo was never one to be crossed

John Mendell robbed a jewellery store belonging to accardos friend Harry levinson , wen accardo found out he made them give all the loot bak . That's wen the house was robbed , bernie Ryan , Steve Garcia , vincent morretti, Donald Swanson , john mendell , john macdonald , bobby hertogs, micheal volpe who was supposed to watch the house while accardo was away was also murdered . The last two to be killed John Borsellino and Gerry Carusiello had taken care of the burglars and had now themselves been taken care of. No more ties to Accardo.

Borsellino was killed for other reasons than his involvement in the murders of the burglars.

Yeah borsellino was part of the wild bunch , did William “Butch” Petrocelli not get him clipped , think I read that somewhere

I think I read where a couple of the burglars of accardos home, had their faces burned off with blow torches, I cant understand why he would murder his housesitter Michael volpe.

Wow, I've heard of the robbery but never knew any of the details. Dudes were pretty damn STUPID to knock off the Big Tuna after you done pissed him off once. There is NO WAY I would have been that stupid. Almost as dumb as the bookie in Federal Hill in Providence that told Patriarca's underboss to tell Ray Sr. to "shit in a hat" and thought he would live to keep up the bookmaking. Some folks just want to die I guess.




I'd like to learn more about this too, but looks like he wasn't doing much house sitting.....lol

Technically, Volpe disappeared.

Loose lips sink ships. Volpe knew too much and had already spilled to the grand jury that there had been a break in. A fact Accardo had been trying to deny.

Well, the burglaries may have had something to do with Bors getting killed; it was said that he had expressed reservations about killing some guys that he knew were not involved with the burglary. But the main reason he was killed is because Butch Petrocelli was a major rival of his. Butch began spreading rumors that Bors was an informant (some of which may have been related to the burglary), specifically to Joe Ferriola. Once Turk Torello (whom Bors belonged to) died, the way was open for Bors to be killed and for Butch to increase his power. It was believed that Jerry Scalise and Jerry Scarpelli killed Borsellino and dumped his body on the side of a country road.

Butch himself was killed the next year for running his mouth and, ironically enough, because of rumors that he was an informant.

It was originally noted in the papers that Butch Petrocelli appeared to have been tortured with a blowtorch but this was later discredited by Nick Calabrese. The burns were actually the result of a failed attempt to torch the car that Butch's body was left in.

Binnie - The Chicago Police Dept. indicated that Accardo, Aiuppa and Cerone somehow felt, or were told, that Volpe assisted the burglars. Sounds bizarre, but it didn't take much to get you killed when dealing with the Outfit. I've only heard this theory from one source.......Chicago Police Dept. May or may not be true. Who knows?

I don't believe Volpe or his car (Honda) were ever found.

Here's the story of the Accardo burglary for anyone interested.

I believe this link is ok. I've had problems with my iPad, but I think this one is correct.

http://www.ganglandchicagohistory.com/2010/02/feature-article-3-bad-career-move.html

thank you gary.

What was volpe thinking admitting the burglary happened to a grand jury.He'd bein around accardo for 40 yrs and came from Sicily surely he would know what happens to squealers

why he got whacked he give the blueprint of Tony Accardo house to FBI plus he talked to much to the grand jury

Yeah .I think he was under pressure from immigration they were threatening to deport him back to Sicily because of his naturalization status but deportation is better than death.

Yeah for sure i bet the hit was a slow one like they did to Action Jackson but with it not being trunk music .

o.c. I agree. theres something else going on here. perhaps youre right about the immigration thing. still, he should have known enough to clam up in front of a grand jury.

o.c. yeah, im with you. I don't figure a guy like him squawking to a grand jury. its got to be the immigration issue you brought up. still, he should have known better.

sorry about the double post when you guys get my age youll understand.

To true Binnie,whatever ya say say nothing 😉

Giancanna was an animal..
Bill Roemer


Their throats were slashed, their faces were burned off with torches, they were castrated and all found in the trunks of their cars...Everyone on both sides of the law had a grudging respect for Tony Accardo
Bill Roemer

roemer don't know what hes talking about. accardo ordered the murders, giancana had nothing to do with it. because of the way they were found roemer had a grudging respect for accardo. was roemer funny for accardo?

Accardo prime suspect.

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1979/...eft-at-his-home

thank you gary.

Something was definitely up...This guy even went to a college university to vouch for Accardo's grandson...Had to be on accardo's payroll !!

yes, dilorenzo, I wanna see this roemer explain some things before he dies.

Roemer's been dead for almost twenty years.

He died already...

Its funny, the guy's that he didn't like...Giancanna and Milwaukee Phil he hounded and arrested...But not the guy he called the real boss !!!

dilorenzo I didn't know he died but, now the truth might come out. anxious to hear it. maybe a book coming out.

William Roemer died in 1996. Be careful about believing everything in Roemer's book about Accardo. Some things are supported by other agents, newspaper reports, etc., etc., and have credibility. But there are other statements, stories, that are very questionable. Several mistakes relative to people, places and things
have been noted.

I don't really care for his books gary,just for the reasons you mentioned. but, dilorenzo and I agree he was to close to accardo, to be on the up and up.

As I've said in other posts the way roemer spoke of joe batters is almost as disgusting as Carlo talkin about poor ole Anthony casso. Unreal of the romantic spin that could be attested to serial killers

Nothing would surprise me with these guys. But I've never found anything that says Accardo was a snitch. It doesn't mean he wasn't, just that I haven't found anything. It was somewhat strange. Some people have said Accardo was trying to find out what Roemer knew relative to the Outfit goings-on. But who knows with these characters.

Roemer sent a letter on behalf of Accardos grandson Eric Kumerow, to the NFL saying that they shouldn't hold prejudice against him in the NFL draft. He was an all-state quarterback turned linebacker drafted by Miami later traded to the Bears. Injuries cut his career short.

how many mafia members did roemer actually arrest?

cook county, great question. I have no idea.

Roemer starts his book on Accardo with the jewelry heist story, including all the gruesome murders done on behalf of Joe Batters. He didn't paint Accardo as a saint, not at all. It was the first substantial book I read about Accordo en I never got the impression that he was a nice guy or even not a ruthless murderer. I half remember him also writing that Accardo had made a plan to have his legs broken or something like that, after he retired from the FBI.
It's just that the contrast with guys like Alderisio, Fifi Bucieri, Mad Sam and Giancani was rather big. He certainly disliked swaggering mobsters as those guys were, and especially with Giancana it seemed to be a personal/ego thing.
The guys I remember as being the 'nice' guys from his books are guys like Gussie Alex and Murray Humphreys. I don't remember them being associated with too much violence in the years he writes about, but it's been a while ago since I read his books.

Where did Accardo stand at that point? Was he just an influencial person to the Outfit? Or did he still call shots? Its incredible to think he could order murders to be that cruel, and then you see him testifying 7 years later and he looks like a gentle, brittle, hard of hearing old man. Crazy.

Accardo was always influential (IMO). He was so well insulated that law enforcement just couldn't make anything stick. As far as the burglary, I can't imagine he didn't give the go ahead to have these people killed, some of whom probably had no involvement. None of these top echelon guys could afford to have someone violate their living quarters and not take some type action. To do so would reflect a serious weakness. My guess is the same fate would have resulted if the break-in had occurred at some of the other homes of high ranking Outfit members.

If you're talking about the 70's, Accardo was obviously a shot caller. There were a number of Outfit members who made decisions relative to business dealings. Who did what is difficult to say, but no doubt Accardo was in the upper tier of the Outfit (IMO).

FBI surveillance reports indicate that he was still very much involved until the mid to late 1980's. I'm not sure how many shots he called, but he would probably have no problem getting something done if he chose to do so. He was very rich and for the most part, retired. He was also very, very sick.

gary martin, you mean physically sick, or mentally sick. he certainly seemed demented the way he had those people who stole from him, tortured and their throats cut. im sure that was when his true colors came out.

I'm not sure about Accardo's mental state, but he certainly was in very poor physical shape. My opinion is that Accardo didn't give a flip how these guys were killed. He was a cold-blooded killer just like most of the other Outfit members. He was sending a message and making a point.

Accardo had no personal involvement (IMO) in these murders. He was probably 3-4 X out of the decision ( he told someone who told someone, etc.) Again, well insulated by some of the most hard-core Outfit men. Yes, the true colors come out and people die. This is how OC works.

Well Said Garymartin i really enjoy Roamers Books he was there and meet must of them and he Heard them on FBI bugs And most of them FBI files we read now was done by Roamer and his FBI unit he was a top guy really help get rid of the chicago outfit and stop there operations and made the public know about them in the papers he was fascinated by them like all of us on this site and his favs was Accardo and Curly and Gus ALEX and Jackie Cerone he know what they did and tried to put them prison his knowledge and info did help put a lot of outfit members in prison i respect him for that .

it took the f.b.i. long enough to know about them, hoover said they didn't exit for 4o years. you don't think they had this guy in their pocket for what they knew about him.

Yeah for sure they had a few pics of hoover dress up like a woman and having gay sex i am sure this is true. I Agree with you binnie coll he was in there pockets plus he used bet with with them and know the winners on the ponys and made a lot money on fix races .

Im sure i read somewhere that Roamer shed a tear when Accardo died, he was that well respected even though he was a Gangster..

rickydelta, young man, we are on the same page.

Good to hear Binnie Coll Great Minds Think A Like

Heres an interesting part of a documentary about Hoovers connections and private life...

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fqMA9YV3ks

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N3Vg5l-ITU

Nice Toodoped They sure did Have him in there Pockets i am Sure there was lot of pictures And videos & Audio on a lot of the Powerful Elite to Keep them in there Place And Pockets i am Sure it Still Goes on Now .

toodoped, after watching those two videos you posted, how can anyone excuse j. edgar hoover for aiding and abeting the growth of organized crime. still, today there is a hoover building. what is it that keeps so many people in denial about this fruit.

on top of that, he neglected the kkk in the south as well, all adding to the reality of the fbi never being a true crime fighting organization. but a hyped up propaganda machine. used by hoover to intimidate, harass, and blackmail whom he chose. such a shameless man [ or woman ]

When accardo died, did his legal holdings revert back to the mafia or did it stay within his real family?

Tony Accardo had lot of legal holdings i am sure most of it went to his real family maybe he had partners i am sure it went 50 50 with them

Does anyone have background on Tony Accardo's brother Martin Accardo?

Some people already "know everything" and refuse to listen to anything.The same people usualy say that it doesn't matter what proof they are shown, they will not believe in any evidence that seems to point that direction and they usualy say that the proof is not reliable.They usually belive in some former FBI agent or other government people words that are defending their own.Hoover had his own mob ties and that is that.It is a waste of time to argue with people who dont think like that.

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1954/...n-surprise-plea

Martin Accardo


http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1962/...burglar-suspect

toodoped, youre absolutely right of course in your assessment of hoovers allies. but you and I and millions of others, know better. thank you for the videos. I wish everyone on this site would watch them.

Accardo:

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1981/06/05/page/1/

Not to mention the fact that Giancana had been dead for three years before the burglery