George Licali and the murder of Tom Rumore

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George Licali. Not much is known about him but he was born April 6, 1892 in Piana dei Greci, Sicily and indications are he lived in Madison, Wisconsin as his mother Josephine died there in August 1942 and he had sisters living there into the 1970s. Licali moved to Rockford, Illinois around 1917 and in April 1927 he was operating a service station at 1400 Montague Street in Rockford- just two months later, he and Joseph DiGiovanni bought the Rockford Celery Company at 520 Tinker Street from Dominic Arbisi. Both Arbisi and DiGiovanni had been arrested for bootlegging and Arbisi was a brother-in-law to the Rockford LCN connected Ginestra brothers whereas DiGiovanni’s nephew Joe ended up becoming a made member of the Rockford LCN.

It is my belief that the Rockford Celery Company was a valuable front for bootleg alcohol operations overseen by Rockford LCN boss Tony Musso and his cohorts. With Licali possibly being from Madison, it is very likely he and Musso knew the same people in that city. Over the years, Licali bought up much vacant land in the Little Italy section of Rockford and parceled it off where many houses were built and belonged to the George Licali Subdivision.

Around late May 1936 Tom Rumore was having problems with his wife Anna and they had begun arguing. Rumore, whose real last name was Petta, had come from the same town in Sicily as Licali and the two knew each other from the old country and carried that friendship to Rockford. Rumore had his own legal problems over the years. He had been arrested numerous times over the years and even spent time in Leavenworth prison with over two dozen Rockford area men in the large liquor conspiracy trial in 1931. After getting out of prison after serving a year and a day, Rumore had fallen on hard times and was having trouble finding steady work which caused him and his wife to quarrel. Many times, Rumore’s wife had taken refuge in the Licali home for protection.

On June 19, 1936 the two had argued again and once again Rumore’s wife had sought the safety of the Licali home. Rumore had gone to the Licali home and was denied entry by Licali’s wife, Vita. When Rumore asked where George Licali was, Vita stated her husband was at work. Rumore immediately drove to the Rockford Celery Company. Once there he asked a worker to go inside the plant and get Licali. Coming out to see his friend, Licali approached Rumore’s car and it was then that Rumore stuck a .32 pistol out the window and shot twice at Licali. One shot went wild and the other struck Licali in the throat. Rumore tossed the pistol and fled the scene, later that evening being arrested in Freeport, Illinois. Though his wound was serious, Licali made a full recovery.

During the trial, Rumore testified that he had found his wife and George Licali in compromising positions several times, claims which Licali vehemently denied. Based on this testimony, and after a half hour of deliberation, the jury found Rumore not guilty of assault with intent to kill on July 13, 1936 and he was freed.

Because of the problems with his wife, Rumore had moved out of their home at 1319 South Central Avenue and he was living at the home of Peter Capace at 1222 Holland Street. On the evening of October 6, 1936 Rumore had gone out with the Capace family to see a couple Italian shows at the Capitol Theater in town when they arrived back at 1222 Holland Street around 10:20 p.m. Rumore was driving so he dropped off the family at the door. The Capace family had gone into the house while Rumore parked the car in the garage and was shutting the garage door when he was approached from behind. At this time, someone stepped from the shadows and leveled a shotgun at Rumore, shooting him once in the back of his head and another blast hitting him in the left shoulder. A third blast missed Rumore, presumably because he was falling over, and lodged in the door jamb. The shots were fired from about 12 feet away and the killer fled through the backyard into an auto waiting in the alley. William Gedko, 14, heard the shots and saw a brown 1936 Chevrolet sedan without its lights on race north out of the alley and head west on Loomis Street according to his statement to police.

Shortly after the shooting, detectives went to Licali’s home and found him sleeping in bed and he accompanied them to police headquarters to answer questions. Licali said he spent the day in Chicago returning home about 7 p.m. and he went to bed shortly afterwards. After an inquest, no information was obtained that could determine the motive for Rumore’s murder, much less any suspect or suspects. Those questioned included Peter Capace and Anna Rumore as well as her 22-year-old and 19-year-old sons.

As for Licali, he continued to run the Rockford Celery Company and opened the Serv-U-Mart grocery store at 611 West State Street before moving to Riverside, California in late 1944. Licali bought the Arlington Café at 9488 Magnolia Avenue in that city from Louis Poles in May 1945 and he lived the rest of his life on the west coast passing away in Ontario, California on January 26, 1987 at the age of 94.

It is my belief that Rumore was killed on orders of Rockford LCN boss Tony Musso, likely because of their connection and that possibly Licali’s celery company was a front for Musso’s interests. It is also noteworthy that Licali moved to the Los Angeles area were Tony Musso had numerous connections including Tony Catalano who was also arrested in the 1931 liquor conspiracy trial in Rockford and was also from Piana dei Greci, Sicily.

[B.]

Awesome write-up. Rockford drama.

Piana dei Greci shows up a lot with San Giuseppe Jato as they are near each other.

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Awesome write-up. Rockford drama.

Piana dei Greci shows up a lot with San Giuseppe Jato as they are near each other.

Thanks bud.. I should also note that Rockford LCN capo Charles Vince had a brother Carl that lived in Ontario, California at the same time as Licali. Carl was mentioned quite a bit in Charles' FBI files and it was noted that Carl was interviewed often by federal agents. It would be pretty absurd to think that Carl Vince and George Licali didn't have any contact in that city given their common connections.