THE BLACK HAND FORUM

Antiliar is apsolutely right since its really hard to answer that question but Dwalin2014 you have to realize that Powers aka De Pow (love that name lol) came from the old school and he wasnt Italian nor Sicilian but instead he belonged to the so-called Grey Wolves, which in fact was one shady aldermanic and political syndicate. Before the murderous and criminal Italian organization became strong, the top notch gangsters and political bosses from the previous era (Tennes, O'Leary, Kenna, Coughlin) rarely killed but instead they mostly planted bombs with the purpose to make material damage but above all to sent a message to their rivals. Obviously sometimes there was some colateral damage, meaning someone got killed but very rarely, so they possesed softer criminal mentality. So.my point is that D'Andrea was obviously killed by the Italians and I bet my left nut on it LOL In addition, Powers and D'Andrea were once close associates so there was some kind of respect between the two

You're asking questions I can't answer.

[quote=Antiliar post_id=55672 time=1502240949 user_id=77]
No, I don't believe John Powers had anything to do with it. D'Andrea said he dropped out of politics before he was killed. There were people who would have killed for Powers, [b]but I don't see evidence that he himself would have ordered or even suggested that someone should kill D'Andrea[/b]. Gentile named LaSpisa as being involved, and I think it's likely Merlo had sources of inside information that outsiders didn't have. That's my belief based on the available evidence.
[/quote]
But do you mean he didn't want D'Andrea dead at all, even at the beginning? But then what was the point of the whole "Aldermen's wars" conflict, weren't people being killed on both sides, D'Andrea's and Powers'? Underlings usually get killed because the leader is difficult to get to, but when they can, they always kill the leader first, that stops the war....I mean, I agree there is no evidence to suggest LaSpisa and others had any contact with Powers and they have acted on their own, but you said Powers wouldn't have ordered D'Andrea dead, and this part I am confused about. Didn't he want him dead at least initially, when the "Aldermen's wars" started?

No, I don't believe John Powers had anything to do with it. D'Andrea said he dropped out of politics before he was killed. There were people who would have killed for Powers, but I don't see evidence that he himself would have ordered or even suggested that someone should kill D'Andrea. Gentile named LaSpisa as being involved, and I think it's likely Merlo had sources of inside information that outsiders didn't have. That's my belief based on the available evidence.

[quote=Antiliar post_id=55521 time=1502084463 user_id=77]
I double-checked my article. Joseph LaSpisa, Joseph Sinacola and others were part of a conspiracy. We don't have the name of the actual shooter, so I didn't put him in the article.
[/quote]
Yes, I re-read it too (found the file I bought back then), now it's more clear. But in your opinion, did John Powers have nothing to do with this? After all, he and D'Andrea were at each other's throats all this time, with bodies dropping, so it was even called "Aldermen's wars". Could he have made a deal with them to kll D'Andrea? Or did LaSpisa, Sinacola etc act on their own, because whoever was the ringleader had the ambition to take D'Andrea's place as boss? What do you think? I understand we can never know for sure, but at least in terms of making theories, I mean.

I double-checked my article. Joseph LaSpisa, Joseph Sinacola and others were part of a conspiracy. We don't have the name of the actual shooter, so I didn't put him in the article.

[quote=Frank post_id=55505 time=1502076211 user_id=5387]
Is he related to Phil D'Andrea?
[/quote]

Phil was his nephew

Is he related to Phil D'Andrea?

I have been re-reading some things about the earlier mafia bosses in Chicago, this reminded me of an old question: in your opinion, who ordered the murder of Anthony D'Andrea in 1921 ? He was a main participant in the "Aldermen's wars" against John Powers, but was it Powers who had him killed at the end or was it an inside job in the mafia? I searched for articles, I think in one of the "Informer" journal chapters there was an article about D'Andrea (forgot where I put the file, will check later), but I noticed that there are no specific allegations about who did it, in any article, neither who pulled the trigger nor who gave the order. I remember only 1 post or article somewhere alleging it could be the Genna brothers who didn't need D'Andrea any more, but were they in it with Powers, or acting on their own? There was another article about the murders following

http://www.crimemagazine.com/chicagos-unione-siciliana-1920-%E2%80%93-decade-slaughter-part-one

allegedly of people who knew something about this murder, some retaliations etc, but all the victims have Italian names, so I wonder whether D'Andrea's organization started an inside fight apart from having a war against John Powers? Usually there are plenty of discussions about unsolved hits, but here it seems almost nobody even makes theories about who killed D'Andrea....

So what do you think?