Roots of the Capone Mob a.k.a. the Chicago Outfit

[Villain]

Also, I've always subscribed to the top boss/CEO theory too,

I also believe that theory can backed with some of Eboli's conversations (the Genovese guy) in which he states something like he was tired of going back and forth between Giancana and Ricca regarding commission problems...I also believe Frank LaPorte talked about having the same problem

[Antiliar]

The other thing that made Chicago different is the consigliere. Normally, the consigliere is below the boss and voted in by the members. In Chicago, the senior adviser is the consigliere, and is an ex-boss who really is the top boss. I can imagine this set up going all the way back to when Capone was sent to prison in 1931. Gives the top man an extra level of protection.

[Villain]

I completely agree with you on that and an alleged proof for that is the quie interesting way of giving out their murder contracts. According to one FBI document (I think it was in Alex's files), the so-called “contracts” were first given as “proposals” by the captains usually to Alex or Humphreys who in turn informed Accardo or Giancana. After that one of the two bosses allegedly took the information to Ricca who was the last individual that signed the contracts. And in the end Accardo or Giancana took the order back to Humphreys or Alex, who later turned it over to the captains or captain. I also remember one convo between Accardo and Alex, in which the Greek asks Tony on when will the contracts arrive and Accardo said something like it will be the first thing for him to do after his return from vacation, Mexico i think it was

[Antiliar]

That reminds me about Roemer's claim that he heard Humphreys talking about Accardo being involved with the St. Valentine's Day massacre. I looked all thru the ELSURS available on Accardo and Humphreys and haven't found this particular conversation. I contacted the FBI because there's a lot of missing dates. Basically, they would look, but it would cost me a small fortune and there's no guarantee of finding it. As it is, I'm still waiting on files I requested years ago.

[Villain]

As it is, I'm still waiting on files I requested years ago.

Tell.me about it...im located on the Balkans and im still waiting and I ordered them in back in 2012 or 13 i dont remember lol and i also dont think that ill ever receive them

Btw there are some indications that Accardo might've been involved in the lookout crews....but theres no hard evidence for it since all reports show that Byron Bolton, Jimmy Moran and one Jimmy McCryssen were the lookout crew...although Humphreys talks about it a lot regarding that period and I also went through his files but couldnt find anything regarding the subject, who.knows maybe it is in somebody esles files. I dont really remember but I think that one of the owners who rented the rooms described a young male with a non-italian name but to her or him looked like an Italian youngster.

[Dwalin2014]

But could anything Humphreys says be trusted? I read he knew perfectly he was being recorded on tape and even joked at the cops by saying sometimes "here is the gathering of the Chicago underworld leadership starting" or something like that. Whatever he said to other mobsters in other places and was told to the law enforcement may be reliable, but on those tapes he would never say anything true that would be relevant to the investigations, he would do just the opposite, if he knew he was being recorded.

[Sam22]

Roemer said the same thing about the Frankie Yale killing. That Accardo was involved and traveled to NY to hit Yale. Have you seen any evidence of that ?

[Snakes]

I don't think, and either Villain or Antilliar alluded to this earlier, that the transcript with Humphreys namedropping Accardo as a St. Valentin'e shooter is "out there," so to speak. I'm not even sure if there is one out there with Humphreys poking fun at the FBI, or if it's just another ANP falsity that turned into "fact."

[Villain]

@Dwalin2014 according to my personal research, many of Humphrey's conversations and plots did realized, no matter if it was in the past or future. There are also many different individulas in his conversations, in which they talk about things which already occurred or were about to...and later they really did. So there goes the theory regarding Humphrey's alleged knowledge on the hidden bug. I believe that rumour came from his wife, which in fact can be quite expected reaction from a woman who spent her whole life defending one of the most dangerous criminals in the world, obviously in a corruptive way. Dont forget that at the time the feds were unable to arrest them since it was illegal to use listening devices. And if you really think about it, if Humphreys and boys really knew about the bug, than they or their associates could've escaped every possible raid...

@Sam22 my personal theory on the Yale killing is that one of the guys who was involved in the hit was possibly Louis Campagna since that same year, or as some of the records say that after the hit, he was protected or in other words brought to Chicago allegedly by Gaetano Ricci. Story goes that after the murder the cops found the abandoned hit car and inside they found al of the weapons which were used and managed to trace them to a Chicago legit dealer. So my personal opinion regarding the rest of the members from the so-called hit squad is that they were possibly imports from St.Louis, such as Maddox, Heeney or Fred Burke.

Also both Antiliar and Snakes are right since there's not even one single solid piece of evidence, that we know of, regarding Accardo's involvment in the massacre...

[Antiliar]

Dwalin2014 and Snakes - The story that Humphreys knew he was being recorded came from Gus Russo in his book, "The Outfit." He used a lot of stories that came from Humphreys's family that are exaggerated and unreliable. I've gone through those ELSURS several times, and there's nothing in the the conversations that indicates he knew he was being recorded.

Sam22 - Agree with Villain that Louis Campagna was involved in the Yale hit. This came from information you can find in Bill Helmer's book, "Al Capone and the American Boys."

Villain - I think it's possible that Accardo had a secondary role in the massacre. Not as a shooter, but in getting rid of one of the cars. Recall the burned out car next to the Circus Cafe Gang headquarters (assuming there ever was an actual Circus Gang, and I have my doubts as I lean to it being a newspaper invention). I haven't seen any evidence that Accardo was involved in the Yale killing. Campagna makes sense since he came from Brooklyn and knew the area. However, lack of evidence isn't the same as proof that he wasn't there, so it's possible. All the more reason I wish I could see that transcript for myself.

[Villain]

When I was researching John Moore aka Claude Maddox, I realized that there's no other way but to maintain your focus on the massacre, mainly because that's more than a half of his life story and after that, its all about unions and horses, like a true boss, until the mid 1950's. There are tons of newpapaer articles filled with testimonies from various individuals, including the women who rented the apartemnts and people on the streets who saw two cops and a driver with a missing finger(Rocco Belcastro? killed 1933?). My point is that there's too much info (true or false) regarding the event, which in fact makes things even more harder to understand.

Antiliar is right regarding the situation with the dismantling of one of the cars which was used during the hit. Allegedly Capezio was the guy who screw things up by blowing the whole car. I think that after that his hand got burned and went to the hospital but quickly got out unmedicated. There are many witnesses who saw three or two guys leaving the garage while one of them was badly hurt. I believe that Capezio forgot to empty the gas tank...and I also agree that the Circus gang name was invented by the press manily because of the gang's hangout, which in fact wasnt even a real gang, but it was more like a "collection" of imports (mostly from St. Louis and Detroit) who were brought on various jobs but later some of them remained in Chicago aka "The American Boys"(allegedly Capone used to call them like that but still I personally believe that it was the press)

[Lupara]

Who was behind the supposed murder attempt on Accardo? How was this even possible and was there retribution?

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[Villain]

was there retribution?

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It is quite possible since the alleged shooting occurred in May that same year, then few months later Charles Gioe and Frank Maritote, both high level members, were shot to death. According to one story, before his death, Maritote said that Gioe allegedly wanted his old share back but the bosses refused and so he allegedly gopt very mad. On top of that story goes that Gioe was known for having the guts to against the bigger leagues. For example, he was allegedly behind the kidnapping of Jake Guzik in 1942 or 41

[Antiliar]

Years later the newspapers dismissed the alleged shooting of Accardo as a myth. If there was a gun shot near him, in Chicago it's possible it was meant for someone else and he just happened to be in the wrong place and the wrong time. Who knows? For all we know there was a domestic violence dispute nearby. Whatever the case, back in the 1950s the press did get a lot of information wrong and jumped to conclusions. So this is another case of "We just don't know." Bill Bonanno wrote that Accardo was still on the Commission in 1956, and that's when he announced his retirement. So there's no indication that he stepped down before then, plus the FBI files are consistent that Accardo was the boss from around 1946 to around 1957 (give or take a year).

The Guzik kidnapping is another mystery. He was the top-ranking non-Italian in the Outfit at the time, so if it was authorized it had to come from the top. There were also some rogue elements, but Gioe wasn't one of those rogue elements in the early 1940s. So if Gioe was involved, that means Ricca, Campagna and others were too. Paul Labriola and James Weinberg may have been rogue elements in the 1940s; it certainly got them killed in 1954. There's so much we don't know that it's hard to even guess.

[Villain]

Years later the newspapers dismissed the alleged shooting of Accardo as a myth. If there was a gun shot near him, in Chicago it's possible it was meant for someone else and he just happened to be in the wrong place and the wrong time. Who knows? For all we know there was a domestic violence dispute nearby. Whatever the case, back in the 1950s the press did get a lot of information wrong and jumped to conclusions. So this is another case of "We just don't know." Bill Bonanno wrote that Accardo was still on the Commission in 1956, and that's when he announced his retirement. So there's no indication that he stepped down before then, plus the FBI files are consistent that Accardo was the boss from around 1946 to around 1957 (give or take a year).

The Guzik kidnapping is another mystery. He was the top-ranking non-Italian in the Outfit at the time, so if it was authorized it had to come from the top. There were also some rogue elements, but Gioe wasn't one of those rogue elements in the early 1940s. So if Gioe was involved, that means Ricca, Campagna and others were too. Paul Labriola and James Weinberg may have been rogue elements in the 1940s; it certainly got them killed in 1954. There's so much we don't know that it's hard to even guess.

Thanks for the additional info Antiliar, I never knew that the papers later dismissed the alleged shooting on Accardo, but as you said, you can never tell what was going on with those guys, especially with city of Chicago.

As for tha Guzik kidnapping, I dont remember if it was in Humphreys or Vogels files or maybe it was some newspaper article(i busted my ass off last night just to find it) but I it said something like Guzik had a lot of problems with law enforcement during the early 1940's especially when the cops allegedly found his books which in fact were the Outfit's books (1941 i think). The story went something like both Humphreys and Gioe were very mad at Guzik and allegedly they were the ones behind the alleged two-day kidnapping. You're also right regarding Gio being far from a rogue element but if we look at the situation from his point of view at the time when he also had difficulties both with the law and his cohorts, before or after his conviction, he just might've become more violent than the usual...but thats just a theory

As for Labriola and Weinberg, I believe that they were swindled by Prio and Roti and later possibly executed on the proposal which was made by Battaglia...and to tell you the truth thats one of my favourite cases