Chicago outfit viciousness

[Antiliar]

Here's Buccieri and Torello boasting to Jack Cerone how they tortured Action Jackson:
https://books.google.com/books?id=UFYEA ... ne&f=false

[davidf1989]

How many murders has Joey Aiuppa been linked to?

I think that Aiuppa had Rosselli killed and Johnny Rosselli had been an important figure in the Oufit

[davidf1989]

Who killed Giancana and did Accardo give the order?

[Snakes]

Who killed Giancana and did Accardo give the order?

Intel points to Butch Blasi being the most likely shooter, but the order was most assuredly given by Accardo. I'm sure Aiuppa was also involved in the planning.

[davidf1989]

Thanks for your reply and wasn't Butch Blasi Giancana's driver or something?

[InCamelot]

I had this thought recently and talked to PolackTony about this, although I was using the word "torture" more than viciousness.

While its true that the East Coast has had their share of sadistic hits (ie the Tony Bananas murder), I guess I was also thinking of the amount of beatings, stabbings, blow torches, stomping-to-deaths that Chicago had.

I can't remember if it was in Villain's article where it was noted that Frank Nitti was threatened with torture in the 40s by Ricca and Co.

What's interesting is that Capone in pop culture is synonymous with machine gun fire, and some of the type of violence we're talking about here is sort of the inverse of that. I was always curious as to which Outfit leader really put that type of technique into play. Did torture gain more prominence after Giancana became boss?

[Snakes]

Thanks for your reply and wasn't Butch Blasi Giancana's driver or something?

I can't remember if he actually drove for Sam, but he was definitely one of a handful of guys (Dick Cain and Chuckie English being two others) who were close with him after he left for Mexico.

[davidf1989]

Thanks for your reply and wasn't Butch Blasi Giancana's driver or something?

I can't remember if he actually drove for Sam, but he was definitely one of a handful of guys (Dick Cain and Chuckie English being two others) who were close with him after he left for Mexico.

Thanks Snakes for your message. Here is an article about Blasi below where it suggests that he was talking to the FBI.

http://mafiahistory.us/rattrap/infblasi.html

Wasn't Dick Cain the former cop and then informant for Roemer? I think that he was killed by Outfit members.

[PolackTony]

Angelo Lonardo testified that Jack Cerone told him that they (Chicago) would kill a guy every week to keep people "in line."

Good info and apart from the fact that many of them were brutal thugs, there was a strong instrumental purpose to Chicago’s level of violence.

[Mason_dixon]

This might be the same as NYC but the way they are raised in Chicago is Just simply aggressive from driving to business I'm from Indiana and we will kiss ya before you get fucked. Much more Midwestern vibe them chicagoans are bred that way in my experience. They don't call it chiraq for nothing.

[InCamelot]

In New York the police and politicians were considered off-limits, but they killed a number of them in Chicago. Bombs were off-limits in New York (with very rare exceptions like the Paul Castellano murder), but were used a number of times by Chicago guys going back to the infamous Pineapple Primary in 1928. You definitely didn't want to mess with the Outfit.

This.

Apart from the personal character of Chicago members and the highly criminal-based networks through which members were recruited, I think another major factor for the comparatively flagrant exercise of brutal violence in Chicago was the high level of penetration that the Outfit had in police departments and the Cook County court system. Not that they had the level of protection where they could kill a guy in broad daylight on Michigan Ave and get away with it (the system had its limits), but they had major influence over the exercise of law enforcement and corruption in the judicial system. Raimondo Catanzaro wrote of a similar dynamic in 19th century Sicily, where "honor" accrued to mafiosi not only from the exercise of violence to get what they wanted, but even more so when they were able to repeatedly get away with it due to "friends" in high places.

They were also a comparatively small family in total number of members but controlled a vast set of criminal networks in a huge metropolitan area (as well as operations further afield). In order to manage this "syndicate" and keep the hordes of degenerate criminals who served them or were subjugated to them in line, a lot of violence was necessary. The brutality of the violence certainly would serve an instrumental role in sending a clear message to the hoods and hustlers as to what would they could expect to happen if they got out of line. This is not to downplay the truly vicious character of many of the members (e.g., the tape with Buccieri and Cerone gleefully recounting the Jackson thing), but to say that the brutality was not solely due to individual/psychological factors.

Very good points

[B.]

Do you think murder was a requirement for most inducted members or was the Family simply so violent it was inevitable? Maybe not for the politicians but Chicago members on the whole seem to gain stature through violence. Wasn't Nick Calabrese's induction after he participated in a murder?

[Snakes]

Do you think murder was a requirement for most inducted members or was the Family simply so violent it was inevitable? Maybe not for the politicians but Chicago members on the whole seem to gain stature through violence. Wasn't Nick Calabrese's induction after he participated in a murder?

He had participated in several murders by the time of his induction. It can be assumed that Frank had participated in more as he seemed fairly seasoned by the time Nick was brought on. Unless you were highly specialized in one area (politics or gambling) bring involved in a murder was seemingly an important part of being made in Chicago. When Monteleone was promoted to capo in the early 90s, special mention was made by informants of his involvement in murders, so it can be assumed that showing a penchant for violence assisted in gaining admission into and advancing your position within the Chicago LCN.

[B.]

Great info -- thank you.

[davidf1989]

Do you think murder was a requirement for most inducted members or was the Family simply so violent it was inevitable? Maybe not for the politicians but Chicago members on the whole seem to gain stature through violence. Wasn't Nick Calabrese's induction after he participated in a murder?

He had participated in several murders by the time of his induction. It can be assumed that Frank had participated in more as he seemed fairly seasoned by the time Nick was brought on. Unless you were highly specialized in one area (politics or gambling) bring involved in a murder was seemingly an important part of being made in Chicago. When Monteleone was promoted to capo in the early 90s, special mention was made by informants of his involvement in murders, so it can be assumed that showing a penchant for violence assisted in gaining admission into and advancing your position within the Chicago LCN.

Tony Accardo was called Joe Batters by Capone for his skills in cracking skulls with a baseball bat. Although he shunned publicity in contrast to his former boss

Did Ricca have Willie Bioff blown up for testifying against them?