Al Capone

In 1928, on February 14, Capone's gang perpetrated the single most infamous gangland killing in American history. The St. Valentines day massacre was designed to off Bugs Moran, a constant thorn in Capone's side. Capone placed Jack McGurn in charge of designing the killing. McGurn arranged to meet members of Moran's gang in an empty warehouse at 10:30 AM in order to negotiate the sale of some top quality whiskey. McGurn hired a team of out of towners for the job: old favorites John Scalise and Albert Anselmi, Detroit brothers Harry and Phil Keywell, and regular old hitmen James Ray and Fred "Killer" Burke. The team of six men dressed in stolen police uniforms and drove a stolen police car to the warehouse. Inside, they found seven men, all members of rival gangs. They played the police bit to the hilt, asking the men to stand, face to the wall, arms behind their backs. The six not-cops then opened fire on the seven, emptying hundreds of rounds from a .45, a shotgun, and two machine-guns.

When the real police arrived on the scene , they found six dead men, and one Frank Gusenburg, still breathing and riddled with 22 gun shot wounds. When asked who had shot him, Frank replied "Nobody. Nobody shot me." A testament to the unspoken rules of the mafia world. Incidentally, Bugs Moran was not amongst the dead. He had arrived late, seen the police car, and left the scene.

Despite all this, Capone didn't think of himself as a bad guy. He considered himself to be a fine, upstanding member of the Italian American community. His rackets employed thousands of hard working people, and his booze whet the whistles of almost everyone in a town that was denied alcohol by its government. He was a loving father, and sincerely cared for his wife, though he cheated on her quite a bit. His son, "Sonny" was born with congenital syphillis, and was constantly sick. Al always remained near his sons side when bouts of the illness took over, and he provided for the best medical care possible for the boy.

As the twenties ended, so did Capone's heyday. President Herbert Hoover had taken notice now, and every facet of the government was after him, none the least of which was the IRS. In 1930, the IRS arrested Al's brother Ralph for tax evasion.

Al was soon after picked up for carrying a concealed weapon, and sent to the Holmesburg County Jail. While he was in the clink, the government used all