Broken-Hearted in Chicago

 

Myth:  On February 14, 1929, six members, including one unknown, of Bugs Moran’s North Side Irish gang were found slain inside a warehouse in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago.  As bootlegging skyrocketed during prohibition, violence erupted between rival gangs jockeying for dominance in the crime-ridden city of Chicago, most notably, Al Capone and his South Side gang of Italians.  This day of infamy, commonly known as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, invariably brought national attention to the scourge of Chicago.  As Capone, Scarface himself, is often cited as the perpetrator of the crime, it was he who received renewed attention by the FBI and police forces, ultimately landing him in jail in 1931 for tax evasion.  Though the massacre seems to be a cut-and-dry case, many loose ends have yet to be tied up.  Who were the gunmen – two of who were dressed as police officers?  Was it actually Capone who ordered the hit?  Why St. Valentine’s Day?

Fact:  Before delving into the truth behind the massacre, I wish to first settle the misinterpreted origin of Al Capone’s nickname, Scarface.  He did not, as many believe, receive the prominent gash on the left side of his face when he insulted the patron of an inn he was working at an inn in New York City.  On the contrary, the resulting scar(s) were acquired over a period of years from the claws of cats.  As Capone was a notorious cat lover, he sheltered some 45 cats during his tenure in Chicago.  And as a man of power and greed, he often wanted the cats to pay attention to him during all hours of the day – much to the cats’ dismay.  Thus, over the years he received several gashes a day from his beloved cats attempting to release themselves from his smothering grasp.  During the early 1920s, he was often referred to as Cat Scratch Capone, but as he wielded more and more power he wished to go by the more fear-inducing moniker, Scarface.

So, why St. Valentine’s Day?  Many historians disregard this date as a mere coincidence, when in fact it forms the crux of the “massacre.”  Though Capone, Moran and all of their counterparts were ruthless criminals, they still abided by numerous principals dearly held by all of the criminal underworld at the time.  St. Valentine’s Day was a day of atonement for Chicago gangsters, often highlighted by the giving of valentine cards to rival gangsters, basically admitting to their sin in the face of God.  As the majority of the gangsters at the time happened to be of Catholic descent, the tradition was admirably upheld over decades.  For instance, after Capone was imprisoned and the Feds raided his Chicago abode, they found innumerable valentines in a box beneath his desk.  One such valentine was from Bugs Moran himself.  It was a picture of Michael Jordan stating that Capone was “a slam dunk.”  Such a valentine was a deep sign of respect for a formidable foe.  The seven men found dead in a Lincoln Park garage were not murdered, but had committed suicide.  These men were at the bottom of the hierarchy in the criminal world, and though they held such positions, they were truly offended and disheartened when they did not receive valentines on that day of atonement, that day of ceasefire.  Ironically, Moran and Capone had later noticed their negligence and sent four gangsters to deliver valentines to these seven men.  The act of kindness came too late as the seven bodies were quickly discovered.  The ceasefire had been broken that fateful day in 1929.