The 42 Gang

Why was it these guys were particularly violent and brutal compared to the other farm teams that grew in to factions of OC? If you don't know, Sam Giancana used to be in a gang of small time hoods starting from grade school. They included all the future Outfit leadership. Marshall Caiano, Sam Battaglia and others were all members of the gang which spent their youth terrorizing small communities. From a psychology standpoint these guys were way different than the farm teams the Colombos and Genovese kept around. For one, the sheer brutality is incredible. Petty shootings of innocents, eventual involvement in torture, and seamless integration in to the Outfit. What do we know about them?

Was Sam the leader or was there another? He had to have been about 9 when they started.

Just checked out Supermob from the library. About to do some serious Chicago reading.

the book 'the don", by william brashler......... goes into the 42 gang........... very interesting work.

Yeah Supermob a Good book And the Outfit Book by Gus Russo Both Books Are a Must Read

Sam Battaglia's cousins Paul, August and Frank were in the 42's and it is possible that Paul was one of the so-called leaders since he was once arrested together with Angelo Genna but there were also others such as Joe Calaro and Patsy Tardi. They also worked with Jack Zuta and some of Dago Manganos people such as Frank Laino. Once Mike DeStefano and two other 42 gang members bungled the hit on Laino for not fixing the trial of Mad Sam at the time and ended up shooting one of their own. I dont know if Giancana was one time leader but legend goes that he was a good wheel man, since the 42s were involved in the car theft racket, and also a shooter and his sponsors into the Outfit were allegedly Nitti and Campagna, which again is a proof that Nitti wasnt the boss at the time but instead it was Ricca

Why did the new regime in the Outfit kill the old guard Caponites Jack McGurn and Dago Mangano? It's curious because Louis Campagna stayed on at an extremely high rank and Jack Guzik retained his position.