Jack McGurn would soon learn that of the seven men killed the morning of Feburary 14, 1929, George “Bugs” Moran was not one of them. Moran and a couple of associates were on their way to the garage when they saw the police car pull in. Believing that a Prohibition raid was about to take place, Moran and his associates did not enter the garage but instead continued their walk down the street.1 Although Moran survived this attempt on his life, it would cause him to go into a sort of early retirement from his life of crime.
As reports from witnesses and tips began to come in, police began to narrow their search of suspects, naming Al Capone as the man who orchestrated what would forever be named the St.Valentine’s Day Massacre. Police looked into Capone, but were unable to find any ties to the crime. Capone was with his family in Florida at the time of the crime, and after checking phone records, police saw that no calls were made to or from Capone several days before or after the massacre.2 Capone was ultimately ruled out as a prime suspect. It may seem that because these were his men who committed this gruesome crime, it would be easy to say it must have been Capone who ordered the hits, but looking closer at the story, it seems that while he may have been involved, it was Jack McGurn who was calling all the shots.
The days and weeks following the massacre churned out rumor after rumor that police had been involved in the incident.3 If McGurn wanted to create confusion in the minds of law enforcement and keep his name out of the spotlight, having his men pose as officers as they gunned down the Moran gang did the job. Law enforcement made attempts to shut down the accusations as quickly as they could, and tried everything in their power to catch the men responsible for the hideous crime. Rewards for the capture and conviction of the criminals were offered $50,000 from the Chicago Association of Commerce, $20,000 from the City Council, $20,000 from the state’s attorney, and $10,000 from public collections.4 It was clear that not only the police, but the entire city of Chicago wanted these men to pay for their crimes.
One of the seven men shot that morning, Frank Gusenberg, had somehow survived the initial attack from McGurn and his men. An officer visited him when he was taken to the hospital, but Gusenberg remained tight lipped and refused to give any names as to who orchestrated the attack. When asked by the officer who had shot him, he simply replied, “No one, nobody shot me.”5 If the police wanted to nail down any leads, they had their work cut out for them. Clues slowly began to come in, and on March 4th, three men were named in the massacre: Joseph Lolodro, James Ray, and Fred Burke.6 Lolodro disappeared off the grid, it is unknown what happened to Ray, and Burke was tried and sentenced to life in prison for an unrelated crime.7
Later, Jack McGurn and John Scalise were taken into custody, but both made bail and were back on the streets of Chicago. Scalise was soon the victim of another gangland assassination, leaving McGurn to fight alone against the charges.8 Forensic science in 1929 was nothing like it is in our current age, so McGurn’s case continued to be pushed back further because of the ongoing investigation. Finally, ten months later, on December 2, 1929, it was decided that there was not enough evidence to convict McGurn or anyone else involved in the case, and the case was ultimately dismissed.9 “Machine Gun” Jack McGurn and his men had gotten away with murder. No one was ever convicted in the St.Valentine’s Day Massacre. Chicago became home to the “most vicious slaughter” in the nation up until then.10 No matter how the case ended, and who was really at fault, the gang wars in the Chicago area had reached an all-time high, and something needed to be done, the violence needed to be stopped. The city of Chicago would forever be changed and tied to gangland violence because of this event. The city would continue to see gang warfare for decades to come, but hopes were that this was the last time such a gruesome attack would occur.
- Fred D. Pasley, Al Capone The Biography of a Self-Made Man (New York: Books for Libraries Press, 1930), 255. ↵
- Laurence Bergreen, Capone The Man and The Era (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994), 314. ↵
- Bergreen, Capone The Man and The Era, 312-313. ↵
- Bergreen, Capone The Man and The Era, 314. ↵
- Pasley, Al Capone The Biography of a Self-Made Man, 256. ↵
- Pasley, Al Capone The Biography of a Self-Made Man, 261. ↵
- Bergreen, Capone The Man and The Era, 317. ↵
- Pasley, Al Capone The Biography of a Self-Made Man, 260. ↵
- Pasley, Al Capone The Biography of a Self-Made Man, 261. ↵
- Bergreen, Capone The Man and The Era, 312. ↵
This Post Has 30 Comments
As expected, the article had enticing details and parts of a story that I already knew. Though, what was a little unexpected was the lack of closure in this second part conclusion. I know that the first part was meant to be left open for this article, but this second part kind of left me with an unsatisfied feeling in the conclusion. Now, it might be because of the author, but I believe its more probable that the article has a lack of closure because the massacre was left without closure. Think of all the loved one’s lost and all the loved one’s left behind with no answers, no justice, only suspicions and empty hearts.
This part of the article does a great job of putting all of the events together and finishing the story. It is tragic that no one was convicted for the massacre and it was also ironic that Moran was not present at the garage. It really goes to show how dangerous Chicago was in that time. The article does a great job of connecting with the first one and put the information in a way that efficiently finishes the event.
I really thought Moran was one of the victims but knowing he survived had me surprised, in the end Moran didn’t kill McGurn and McGurn couldn’t kill Moran. Great job of describing the event so well, it was very easy to follow and interesting to learn about. I can’t believe that in the end no one was charged for the St. Valentine’s Massacre. I really enjoyed reading both parts of your article!
I enjoyed the article and all the information it presented. It is surprising, and yet not that surprising that the trial was dismissed. The article showed how brutal times were then, and even now, by including that the surviving victim refused to give any information. He was so terrified to give any information, he thought for sure they would come back and “finish the job.”
I can’t believe that no one got convicted at the end of this gang war. I also forgot to mention that the name they gave this massacre is one that will catch anyone’s attention, it’s actually what caught my attention. It is a great story overall and I really enjoyed reading part one and two of this article. Both articles provided great information and credible sources along with it.
This was such a good read. I had never heard of this tragedy and this article was so informative, and helpful on the story of the massacre. I was shocked to read that the entire massacre only lasted a total of two minutes. It’s even more surprising to read and find out that because there was not enough evidence the case was dismissed. It goes to show how important the advancement of technology is, in this case if it were advanced the case may have not been thrown out, and these men would’ve been arrested, but it was not advanced, and they were not jailed, which was sad.
i have never heard of thee massacre before but I’m glad that i came across and read it. the featured picture is what really lead me to read it, it caught y attention and i was really curious on when i read ” killers ace captured as gang slayer”. i was really surprised how no one was convicted and the case was dismissed because lack of evidence.
Thank you for this article again! I find it interesting how no-one has been accused of the crime despite the strong accusations on Jack McGurn and his men. I’m sure that this event has been a shock to the people of Chicago who had to live in this tense climax. Also, I found it amusing that Moran decided to retire after the attack, he got lucky, and it shows that crime is a short-term career.
The cover picture was really shocking and had me intrigued to understand what the article would be about. Although it was a negative newspaper announcement about a killer, it really had a lot left to say. Another unique aspect was that the article had Al Capone as a suspect. It was interesting to see how notorious people could coincide at moments in their life. I also appreciated that it compared forensics in 1900’s to forensics today and how that may have had negative consequences on such a case.
This was a great article and I am coming from part one just wondering if they were going to get caught but I guess their plan was perfect. Usually when you have these types of cases you would expect them to get caught. Since it was during the late 1920s there wasn’t enough evidence to convict anyone. Overall great job on telling the story of St.Valentine’s Day Massacre. Keep up the good work.