By now Gus Alex became more involved with his older brother’s associates such as James Cuba. On March 30, 1935, Gus was arrested in the company of Cuba, Frank Passaro and Joe Contorno. They were arrested at Gus’ home at 2604 South Wentworth for disorderly conduct. During the arrest the cops searched the house and found three revolvers that probably belonged to the gangsters. A month later the group was taken to trial and they were represented by a famous mob lawyer known as Thomas O’Grady. At the end of the trial the three gangsters were released for the “lack of evidences”. Even though James Cuba was known for his involvement in the union rackets together with the Alex brothers Sam and George, he also controlled a gang of robbers and Gus was one of its members. The gang worked like this…one of its members Frank Locascio frequented all the banks on Chicago’s South Side, Calumet City and even Hammond, Indiana and his job was to spot prospective victims, who were leaving the banks with large sums of money. After leaving the bank, the victims were fingered by Locascio and short time afterward they were robbed by Gus Alex, Frank Ferraro or other members of the gang. For example Barth Crowley, a retired policeman, was withdrawing money from the Pullman Bank when he was spotted by Locascio and later Crowley was robbed by an unknown criminal. Also Mrs. Mary Berilla, a widow, was leaving the Whiting bank with 51,000 when suddenly one gang member approached and at gun point took her money. Thomas McGrath, a messenger for the Merchants National Bank was robbed for $30,000 by two men. When the cops questioned McGrath about the identity of the robbers, he mentioned the name Gus Alex. Alex was arrested and was brought for identification but McGrath said that Alex bore a general resemblance to one of the robbers but could not be definite and so Alex was released. In just six weeks the gang managed more than 50 robberies in and out of Chicago and netted over $200,000 (or 3 million dollars in today’s money).


There are no official records about the other brothers, especially for Gus, being directly involved in any gangland slayings but we all know that one of the main rules in the mob in those days was that you have to kill a person so you can show your loyalty towards the organization. By “organization” I don’t mean only towards the big ones such as the Capone mob, but the same rule also applied to the smaller gangs. So with this next example, Gus Alex was about to wash his hands in blood or as the street term goes, to “make his bones.”


On September 30, 1937, Alex’s associate Frank Locascio was arrested on robbery charges. The cops found out that he was the finger man in numerous robberies of persons after they had withdrawn money from banks and that a gang of four men was also believed responsible. During the arrest Locascio tried to bribe the policemen with $140 but failed. Later he was taken from police custody and placed in the County jail. Now Locascio was very scared for his life because he knew that his associates suspected that he might talk to the cops and would want him dead. Before being booked for robbery and released in bond, Locascio confessed to more than 100 robberies made by the gang for which he acted as "spotter." With his help, the cops found an automobile, which was often used by the bandits, that contained masks and guns used in the hold-ups. The detective also uncovered a secret compartment in the machine that was operated by a concealed button. In it was secreted loot and firearms. In the end Locascio also told the cops that "If I am killed, James Cuba, Frank Ferraro and Gus Alex are the men to get." The easiest way to get killed by the mob is by spreading theories which usually include that the victim had become a government informant or was pocketing mob profits. In the mob world, the gangsters put a low value on human life so usually seven out of ten victims are killed under wrongful reasons and the other three guys are killed for “rightful” reasons according to mob standards. But this time the gangsters made the right decision because Locascio was really singing like a bird. So on October 19, 1937, Frank Locascio was assassinated by two men, who held handkerchiefs to their faces, in a delicatessen at 3020 South Wells street Chicago. Allegedly the two hitmen were Ferraro and Alex. Three days later, on October 22, 1937, Cuba, Alex and Ferraro were arrested regarding the murder of Locascio and the numerous robberies. First the three gangsters were brought in front of the victims of the robberies but out of fear, they failed to identify them. Later they were questioned regarding the murder but as usual they all kept their mouths shut and later were released, again, for the lack of evidences. After this, Alex had established a reputation as a well-respected, fearless individual with the guts to take another man’s life in order to protect the gangster code.


In the old days most of the gangsters had legitimate jobs and went to work almost every day and so Gus Alex started working as a truck driver for Antonio Munizzo, who was a powerful businessman with mob connections. Munizzo also had a son named Thomas “Tommy” Munizzo who since young age was involved in Chicago’s politics. Alex and Munizzo formed a close relationship which years later would become very profitable for both individuals. Alex became so close to the family that Munizzio’s mother Rose very often posted bonds for Alex and his associates such as Ferraro, whenever they got arrested during the 1930’s. After working for more than six months as a truck driver, Alex required a new job at the Urba Auto Sales and Service Company at 5100 West 25th Street in Cicero.


In 1939 began the election of an independent and capable judiciary in Chicago. But the word “independent” was placed just for show and to fool the ordinary people. During the election, Joseph Vinci, who was a close friend of Gus Alex and worked as a Democratic captain of the 52nd precinct in the 11th Ward, played a major role with the help of another Democratic captain Sam Orlando in submitting multiple ballots during the voting in which only one ballot per person was permitted. This illegal operation is also known as “ballot box stuffing”. Vinci came from a very well known and old South Side Mafia clan which was in close relationship with the Alex family for a very long time. On February 22, 1940, the pair was driving recklessly along Archer and Kostner avenues when suddenly a 65 year old man Adam Zabielski, who was crossing the street, was struck by the duo. None of the offenders came out of the car to see if the old man was still alive, but instead they sped off. Two days later, both men were arrested while standing near the automobile which was believed to have struck and fatally injured Zablelski. The duo was brought in on charges for man-slaughter, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, having no city vehicle license, using a fictitious license plate and driving without safety lane sticker. Alex was bailed out as usual by Rose Munizzo for the amount of $3,000. Vinci was also charged for vote frauds because of previous testimonies by few of his underlings. In March, 1940, the pair was brought to court. Alex’s lawyer argued that the car he was using had been borrowed from an auto dealer while he awaited delivery of a new model. By the end of the trial, on April 17, 1940, both men were freed of the charges by the Coroner’s jury. Four minor traffic charges against Alex were continued for two days to allow the police to verify his story. In the end Alex was found guilty only for driving an automobile bearing dealer’s license plates and half a dozen other charges against him were dismissed. As he left the court room, Alex announced that he would appeal the verdict even though it only cost him several hundred dollars. Later Vinci was also acquitted on the charges for vote fraud.


Gus “Slim” Alex


During the early 1940’s the two main illegal incomes for the Chicago mob were the labor rackets and the vast gambling operations. The “Big Four”, as they were called, which included Murray Humphreys and Danny Stanton on the South Side, Claude Maddox in Cicero and the mob’s alleged front boss Frank Nitti, controlled the labor rackets, and the gambling operations belonged to Sam Hunt and Jake Guzik on the South Side, Lawrence Mangano and Tony Accardo on the West Side and Ralph Capone and Louis Campagna in Cicero. Gus Alex was connected to most of these big time gangsters and so he easily ventured in both directions such as the labor and gambling operations. In 1942, Alex opened up his own gambling establishment at 2136 South Michigan Avenue. The place conducted many dice games, roulette wheels, and other gambling operations and became a big success. On April 12, 1943, the place was raided by the cops and arrested Alex. At the time of the raid, the cops found three roulette wheels, a crap table, and other valuable gambling equipment. On May 6, 1943, Alex was brought to court and was represented by two syndicate lawyers Sy Herr and George Bieber. These two guys fixed a lot cases, and I mean a lot. So the case was dismissed and all of the gambling equipment that was confiscated by the cops was ordered to be returned to Alex. Now that was power.


Also in 1943 Alex and two of Guzik’s lieutenants Hyman Levin and Gus Liebe, and two other gamblers and collectors Phillip Katz and Jim Mullen owned one of the most notorious gambling establishments called the Dome at 7466 West Irving Park Road. As for Alex by now he claimed employment at the 122 Club on 122 East Cermak Road and in just three years, Alex took a $40,000 salary. By now one of the biggest handbook operations in the Loop was handled by Malcolm Clarke. Clarke used to work for Guzik since the Capone days, and now he was one of Alex’s mentors. During this time the gambling operations were unquestionably closely associated with the top-ranking members of the syndicate. With this statement I want to say that during this period Alex was considered as one of the prime operators for the widely known Chicago Outfit. Another proof for that is during that period, the chief of the Cook County Highway Police who had Alex under surveillance at which time he visited the home of Tony Accardo, who by now was the next in line to take day to day operations for the jailed and real Outfit boss Paul Ricca.


But besides the gambling profits, Alex’s visits at the home of Accardo may’ve had another purpose. Danny Stanton, the union racketeer who enjoyed many years of wealth from his connections to the Outfit, got in an argument with Claude Maddox over the labor rackets. He also started to muscle in on another prominent racket and that’s was the numbers scheme which by now was controlled by Sam Hunt and Ralph Pierce. So one thing led to another and on May 5th 1943, just before midnight, Stanton and one of his closest associate Louis Dorman were assassinated by Outfit hitmen. But the troubles were not over because the brother-in-law of Stanton, Robert Bock was very much alive and continued to make problems. On October 31, 1943, Bock was heavily wounded by a shotgun blast as he stepped into his car near his home. While in hospital, Bock insisted he did not recognize his assailants and had no idea why he was shot. At first the cops arrested all of the late Danny Stanton’s enemies such as William Niemoth and James Fawcett, but almost a year later the cops received another information that Gus Alex might’ve been also involved in the shooting. So on November 2, 1944, Alex was arrested and was brought in for questioning. As usual, 31 year old Alex kept his mouth shut and the cops didn’t have any real evidences to lock him up so he was subsequently released.


On September 9, 1946, Gus Alex was taken for questioning regarding the shooting and later poisoning of the late James Ragen, the guy who owned the number one racing service out west known as the Continental Press, which serviced thousands of bookies between Chicago and Los Angeles. The only thing which is why the cops called Alex in, it’s because the truck which was used in the shooting of Ragen was reported stolen in Berrien Springs, Michigan which was also the place where the Alex brothers owned a farm. Alex arrived at the police station accompanied by mob lawyer Mike Brodkin, and they were “welcomed” by Police Chief Walter Storms. First Chief Storms called upon the FBI and asked them if they wanted to take Alex for questioning. But the feds refused so Storms, who obviously hated to do it by himself, walked in front of and looked him straight in the eyes. Alex, without introducing, said the Chief “I read in the newspapers that I’m wanted for questioning.” “That’s right!” agreed Chief Storms. “Well, here I am. I’m ready to stand a show up.” Storms then added “Ill take you up to the crime detection laboratory and have them give you a lie detector test.” Now this the point where many of the old time gangsters were very much afraid of the so-called “crime detectors” such as the lie detectors, truth serums and listening devices, because this was the era when all of these “spy equipments” were getting used by the secret services and army forces. So there was always some fictional talk circling around about the government putting something in the water and then you tell the whole story. For example the story when Alex’s mentor Jake Guzik was also called in for questioning regarding the problems with Ragen. When the cops asked Guzik to take the lie detector, he immediately replied “Captain, what’s the use of kidding ourselves?! If I took a lie test, 30 of the biggest men in Chicago would be diving out of high story windows and I’d have to hit myself in the head”. Minutes later he faked a heart attack and one of the cops handed him a glass of water and cracked a joke about putting some truth serum in it. Guzik recovered quickly and refused the glass of water, however few hours later he was released. These guys were afraid from these things like vampires from garlic and crosses. So when Storms told Alex to take the lie tests, he protested “Ill do anything but that! You can call witnesses to identify me.” Storms laughed and said “I can just see anybody identifying you. Ill let your lawyer be with you during the test. And for the record, what are you doing now?” Alex replied “Selling beer.” Storms then attacked with his next question on “I hear you’re pretty close to Guzik and also to Murray Humphreys, I hear.” “I don’t want any part of those fellows!” Alex again protested. “Where’s your brother Sam?” Storms asked. “He’s working behind a plow on a farm in Michigan, I forget his address.” Alex came to reply. Storms then added that “This was very important because the truck that was used in the shooting of Ragen was called stolen in that same area.” Alex kept quiet regarding the last statement and Storms ordered “Take him to the lockup!” So this was the time when Alex’s lawyer Mike Brodkin acted and all parties went before Chief Justice Harold Ward in the Criminal Court. Just ten minutes later, Alex was again a free man because the cops had no process on which to hold him.


In the following years Alex was a suspect in numerous mob hits and kidnappings but the idea came mostly because of his close association with Accardo and Guzik. The main hitmen during this period were Lenny Patrick, Dave Yaras and William Block from the Lawndale area and who were also 100% involved in the Ragen shooting, the three Doms (Dominic Nuccio, Brancato and DiBella) from the North Side, and Charles Nicoletti and Phil Alderisio, the Caifano brothers, Leonard and Marshall, and Sam Battaglia from the West Side. Of course there were other hitmen too but these four or five hit teams were involved in most of the high profile gangland slayings during this period. Most of these guys were overseen by Sam Giancana, a known West Side hoodlum and Battaglia, a close associate of Giancana. We really don’t have any real evidence or conviction of Alex ever being a killer but my personal opinion is that he might’ve been directly involved in one or two killings. In general he wasn’t a serial killer like his “friends” from the west and north sides of the city and he was certainly involved in making of the logistics in few mob hits.


By now Alex’s dirty business was under the rule of Jake Guzik and because of his father’s close and long time association to Guzik, Alex was given the chance to receive ”money making street knowledge” from one of the shrewdest criminals in Chicago. Guzik often stayed at the Continental Hotel (later known as the Sheraton Hotel) and Alex stayed in the next room, close to his associate. Since Guzik made it clear to the rest of the organization that any time Alex requested anything or left a message, it was to be treated as though Guzik himself had spoken. In other words, Alex became Guzik’s voice, eyes and ears. My opinion is that this was another huge push for Alex’s criminal career because Guzik was a boss who was mostly interested in making very important connections in the upper world and also making money through illegal operations, such as gambling and prostitution. He was one of the rare criminals who made it to the top without the help of a gun. He wasn’t very much interested in narcotics and loan sharking, which according to him were dirty rackets where mostly violence was used. He also hated murder but when it came to his money, sometimes he broke his own rules.


For example in 1947, Vincent Bozic was a South Side businessman who was involved in the candy and sugar business. Bozic was making a lot of money but he had a big gambling problem which brought him to his demise. Because of his role as degenerate gambler, he was in constant debt to the Guzik-Alex group and wasn’t returning a dime. So Guzik had to make an example by giving the “contract” to Alex. On August 2, 1947, Bozic sat on the front steps of his house at 3348 South Union Avenue while chatting with his brother-in-law Tony Kalbic. Suddenly two men got out of a car and walked near the steps and fired two times from their shotguns, fatally injuring Bozic. Kalbic remained uninjured while the assassins sped off with their car. Bozic was taken to he St. Bernard’s Hospital and on his death bed he told Kalbic that Gus Alex was responsible for the shooting. But Bozic also advised his brother-in-law that he shouldn’t mention Alex’s name to the cops because if he did so, he would be killed also. However, after the death of Bozic, Kalbic told the investigators about who was responsible for the murder. Soon Alex was brought to the police station and later was taken to State’s Attorney office at 26th Street and California Avenue in Chicago, for further questioning, however a writ of habeas corpus was filed for Alex in less then an hour and the judge gave the order that Alex was to be returned to 19th Police District in order for Kalbic to identify Alex as the killer of Bozic. After viewing of Alex, Kalbic stated that he was unable to identify him as having been responsible for the murder. Maybe Kalbic really thought about it and finally realized that he should stop talking and denied to testify against the Chicago Outfit because he would’ve jeopardized himself and all of his family members, including relatives and even their pets. So Alex was thereafter released, again.


Even if Alex was ever found guilty, he still had big chances in getting easily out of jail because his mentor had all the needed connections for doing such “miracles”. Guzik was a powerful guy who spread a lot of his influence around Chicago. He was a “criminal innovator”. Decade later, his prime associate would be recorded by a government listening device saying that after Prohibition, Guzik was the one who served as a lead man into the union racketeering and gambling businesses. Also the main power that he had was the control over the First Ward in Chicago. He had all of the politicians in his back pocket, a big share of gambling interests in and out of Chicago and also few prostitution rings here and there just to maintain his old family business. Guzik even influenced the Police commissioners who in turn ordered the removal of many police records which belonged to many high profile Outfit members including Joey Glimco, Gus Alex, Sam Hunt, Ross Prio, Joe Fusco and Jack Cerone. Such removals were granted in cases where there was no evidence in the records that the hoodlums had ever been convicted.


But Guzik was a very short guy with high pitched voice, very mild mannered with the brains for illegal business. So the problem was that Guzik was a man who could not physically defeat even an old lady so he knew who can be threatened and who cannot. But some times, blinded by power, people like Guzik forget who’s standing behind their threats and make them really scary. Guzik overlooked the fact that his true power came from the violent people within the organization that he belonged to. “Crime families” like the Chicago Outfit are based on violence. Whenever the guys with the “brains” needed to remove an obstacle on their path, they called upon their much violent associates. Usually these violent associates were the younger persons within the organization with skills and fantasies for cold blooded murders. But now times were different than the old Capone days when respect among members from a same crime organization was the main rule. Now the younger generation profited from their lack of respect. And the biggest mistake that the old guys like Guzik did was the highly criticising of the younger generations for their much violent tactics.


Jewish mob boss Jake “Shorty” Guzik


Proof for that is when back in April, 1943, Guzik got allegedly kidnapped by these “young turks” and was held for ransom. He was also allegedly told to relinquish some of his business operations. If this really happened then I truly believe that this maneuver was backed by some of the more violent Outfit’s bosses. So since that incident Guzik realized that his times as the old powerful boss were gone for good. Even though he still held power in the upper world, Guzik knew that he always will be somebody’s bi…uhhh…puppet. Don’t get me wrong, not all of the Outfit’s masterminds like Guzik were less violent. Guzik’s close associate Murray Humphreys was also mild mannered but in the old days he always used to carry a gun and also had a very violent history filled with numerous kidnappings and orchestrating murders. So the younger generation looked upon Humphreys as one of their “idols”. My point is that every mobster who can’t kill eventually is going to be limited in his progression inside the mob. It is a real mark of distinction in the mob to be exceptionally good in doing the “heavy work.” So when Guzik chose Gus Alex as his trusted lieutenant, he chose good because Alex grew up with these violent up and coming criminals such as Sam Giancana, Sam Battaglia or James Catuara. These guys were at least 6 or 7 years older than him but everyone knew about his family’s history and associations and also about his personal skills. So these guys regarded “Shotgun Gussie” or “Slim”, as he was called, as their younger and powerful associate. So from the moment when Guzik elevated Alex to a higher position, he bought himself protection from the up and coming gangsters but he also had to share everything that he had and earned with Alex. Some of that money was spread around Alex’s associates and Outfit bosses, and the rest was divided between Alex and his alleged boss. Some old reports say that Alex was chauffer and bodyguard for Guzik, which is wrong. The relation between Guzik and Alex was cold and strictly business. They rarely spent good times together and proof for that is the interview with Charles Guzik, Jake’s son. He said that during that period he almost saw every famous mobster from Chicago in his family’s house but never Gus Alex. Alex never came to Guzik’s parties or as a guest to his house. Maybe the cold relationship was based over the fact that Guzik was slowly been pushed out of the game but who knows?! The duo usually met at restaurants to talk business or they made business trips around the country. They usually met at Gino’s Italian Restaurant, because Alex loved Italian food, and talked strictly business. Alex was heavily regarded by the Italian community on Chicago’s South Side and he even knew few Italian words. But above all Guzik was a gangster who came from another era and so he had a huge respect towards his protégé. Since Guzik was fond for a fine art, he often gave Alex gifts in the form of expensive paintings from various famous artists.