The 1928 Death of Chicago Blackhander Gaetano Acci

[cavita]

Crystal Lake, Illinois resident J. Stearns found a body lying beside state highway 19 a few miles north of Harvard, Illinois at 6 o’clock in the morning on May 13, 1928 and there were bullet holes through the head, neck and heart of this unfortunate soul. Conditions along the road indicated the dead man had been killed elsewhere and taken to the scene where it was found. The body was in an upright or sitting posture and there were no signs of a struggle on the body. In one of the pockets of the dead man, authorities found six “Blackhand” letters addressed to different people in Chicago. These were extortion letters demanding money under the threat of death which was a common occurrence not only in Chicago but in every city where there was a sizable Italian population.

Authorities determined the dead man was 49 year old Gaetano Acci, who had earned the nicknames “King of the Blackmailers” “The Wolf” and “The Muscler.” Acci was alleged to have lived the life of a recluse at 1066 West Polk Street and made his living from extorting both poor and wealthy Italians in Chicago.

Police had been on his tail for some time and Lieutenant Paul Riccio of the Black Hand Squad had stated they had orders to shoot to kill Acci and he was to have picked up some money that he was extorting from an Italian woman when police laid in wait for him but he had barely escaped this ruse. Apparently Acci had gotten word of this and it enabled him to be more careful.

After many interviews it was determined that Acci was a patron of an alleged gambling resort on a cross road between North Second Street and the river north of Loves Park, Illinois. Names of patrons of the gambling resort were found on some paper in Acci’s pockets and it was determined that he was present there on the evening of May 12th and he was seen driving through Rockford that same afternoon in the company of four men. Acci’s neighbors reported seeing him drive away from his Chicago home with four men early on Saturday morning May 12th.

Also found on Acci’s body were credentials indicating that he was endorsed by a Rockford man as a “safe fellow” to be admitted to the alleged gambling resort and road directions to the place also found on Acci indicated he had been a frequent visitor to the area. It was not determined, however, whether his visits were as a liquor dealer, gambler or extortionist. Rockford officials had investigated his possible connections with Rockford criminals but were unable to find any links.

Lieutenant Riccio suggested that victims of Acci had learned of his visits to Rockford and on that day had brought him to the alleged gambling resort and then murdered him on the return trip to Chicago.

To me, this theory is ridiculous. How would Acci have been befriended by his own victims, brought to a gambling resort some 80 miles to the northwest only to kill him on the return trip? It’s more plausible in my opinion these were acquaintances of his that he trusted, whether they were from Chicago or Rockford and they killed him after taking his money or because of a falling out. Does anyone else have any further information on Gaetano Acci? If he was well known enough to have all these nicknames and was much sought after and being 49 years old he must have had a longer history in Chicago or even a photograph published?

[Villain]

This is from February 1927...Kenosha, Wisconsin....dont know if its the same guy...keep in mind back in the days some guys landed in Chicago from Kenosha...

[cavita]

Very interesting....nice find! Since the name is very unique I'm betting it's the same individual. I wonder what his native Italian town was?

[Pogo The Clown]

Crystal Lake, Illinois resident J. Stearns found a body lying beside state highway 19 a few miles north of Harvard, Illinois at 6 o’clock in the morning on May 13, 1928 and there were bullet holes through the head, neck and heart of this unfortunate soul.

Jason Vorhees is my main suspect except using guns is not really his MO.


Pogo

[PolackTony]

Very interesting....nice find! Since the name is very unique I'm betting it's the same individual. I wonder what his native Italian town was?

Reasonably certain that he was from Calascibetta. In his WW1 registration records he was living in Portland, OR, but noted that his sister Filomena Acci was living in Chicago near Taylor St. Pretty clear that this sister Filomena married an Enrigo Castellano of Castrogiovanni/Enna. Her death record states that she was born in Calascibetta.

[cavita]

Very interesting....nice find! Since the name is very unique I'm betting it's the same individual. I wonder what his native Italian town was?

Reasonably certain that he was from Calascibetta. In his WW1 registration records he was living in Portland, OR, but noted that his sister Filomena Acci was living in Chicago near Taylor St. Pretty clear that this sister Filomena married an Enrigo Castellano of Castrogiovanni/Enna. Her death record states that she was born in Calascibetta.

Nice work on this....this gentleman seemed to get around.

[PolackTony]

Very interesting....nice find! Since the name is very unique I'm betting it's the same individual. I wonder what his native Italian town was?

Reasonably certain that he was from Calascibetta. In his WW1 registration records he was living in Portland, OR, but noted that his sister Filomena Acci was living in Chicago near Taylor St. Pretty clear that this sister Filomena married an Enrigo Castellano of Castrogiovanni/Enna. Her death record states that she was born in Calascibetta.

Nice work on this....this gentleman seemed to get around.

As you already noted, the guy has a very distinctive name. Per the WW1 document he was employed as a "pneumatic hammer" operator while in Portland. Of course by 1920 at the latest he was already back in Chicago.

It's really great to get into the nitty-gritty with some of these lesser known guys. A ton of guys from around the greater Chicago network that we still don't know about of course. It's interesting to see another potential guy linked to the Caltanissetta/Enna cluster that B. has identified for Chicago (Morgan, Gruttadaura, Pinelli, Gnolfo). And in those case Acci shows further links between Chicago, Kenosha, and Rockford (and possibly even Oregon -- that would be right up B's alley for sure).

Cavita -- any guys from Caltanissetta/ Enna active in Rockford at this time? We know they had a significant presence in Philly, Buffalo, Pittston.

[cavita]

Those are villages that are not represented by the criminal underworld in Rockford at the time.

[PolackTony]

Those are villages that are not represented by the criminal underworld in Rockford at the time.

Thanks, I hadn't seen any of them mentioned in your work but just wanted to verify.

[B.]

As you already noted, the guy has a very distinctive name. Per the WW1 document he was employed as a "pneumatic hammer" operator while in Portland. Of course by 1920 at the latest he was already back in Chicago.

It's really great to get into the nitty-gritty with some of these lesser known guys. A ton of guys from around the greater Chicago network that we still don't know about of course. It's interesting to see another potential guy linked to the Caltanissetta/Enna cluster that B. has identified for Chicago (Morgan, Gruttadaura, Pinelli, Gnolfo). And in those case Acci shows further links between Chicago, Kenosha, and Rockford (and possibly even Oregon -- that would be right up B's alley for sure).

Cavita -- any guys from Caltanissetta/ Enna active in Rockford at this time? We know they had a significant presence in Philly, Buffalo, Pittston.

You've got my number, man.

We know there was at least one made member in Portland early on, Giuseppe Lima who Tony Lima says was made in Sicily and would later transfer to San Jose. Other Lima relatives from Trabia lived there, too. So we have mafia figures from Trabia (Palermo) and Calascibetta (Calt/Enna) in Portland.

And yeah, this guy being from Calascibetta in Chicago makes you wonder if he's connected to the Chicago members from there and neighboring villages.

[PolackTony]

As you already noted, the guy has a very distinctive name. Per the WW1 document he was employed as a "pneumatic hammer" operator while in Portland. Of course by 1920 at the latest he was already back in Chicago.

It's really great to get into the nitty-gritty with some of these lesser known guys. A ton of guys from around the greater Chicago network that we still don't know about of course. It's interesting to see another potential guy linked to the Caltanissetta/Enna cluster that B. has identified for Chicago (Morgan, Gruttadaura, Pinelli, Gnolfo). And in those case Acci shows further links between Chicago, Kenosha, and Rockford (and possibly even Oregon -- that would be right up B's alley for sure).

Cavita -- any guys from Caltanissetta/ Enna active in Rockford at this time? We know they had a significant presence in Philly, Buffalo, Pittston.

You've got my number, man.

We know there was at least one made member in Portland early on, Giuseppe Lima who Tony Lima says was made in Sicily and would later transfer to San Jose. Other Lima relatives from Trabia lived there, too. So we have mafia figures from Trabia (Palermo) and Calascibetta (Calt/Enna) in Portland.

And yeah, this guy being from Calascibetta in Chicago makes you wonder if he's connected to the Chicago members from there and neighboring villages.

I should've added the Virruso Bros to this potential Calt/Enna group in Chicago. A question that I have is to what degree any of these guys had connects -- personal or familial -- with the more prominent Calt/Enna networks in PA/NY.

[Villain]

It is interesting to note that many criminals like Acci at the time were labeled as Black Hand gangsters, while on the other hand these guys, besides extortion, were also involed in more sophisticated crimes like bootlegging, arson and fraud, prostitution, corruption, owned saloons etc. and some of them even had contacts around the country. So they were either Mafiosi or Camorristi, or maybe I dont know enough regarding the alleged Black Hand groups lol