Summary of the Case
St. Valentine's Day MassacreAl Capone participated in crime and gang related activities for years, although this crime was the last straw. He had been on watch lists and also arrested for a DUI previously, but he had not been caught for the more serious crimes he committed. St. Valentine's Day Massacre occurred on February 14th, 1929 when the North Side of Chicago broke out in gang violence. Capone had worked for years to try to eliminate other gang members and organizations in order to build his empire of bootlegging, prostitution, and other criminal activities. George "Bugs" Morgan was one of Capone's biggest rivals and enemies in all of Chicago. Morgan was also a known gangster who participated in bootlegging which he ran out of a garage at 2122 North Clark Street. Capone had always had it out for Morgan and his associates because they ran such similar "businesses" and were in the same territory. On this day, gunmen dressed as policemen, lined up 7 of Morgan's men and gunned them down. They used over 70 rounds of ammunition and killed all 7 men. When police first arrived they found eye witnesses that informed them of the gunmen being disguised as cops. Clearly the killers were not actual cops, but they were smart enough to disguise themselves which showed police that it was probably gang related violence based on territory.
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They also found Frank Gusenberg barely alive who they then questioned before he was pronounced dead. He refused to talk which prevented the arrest of Capone and ultimately, left the case open as one of the most interesting unsolved mass murders. Police were very sure of Capone and his men being the culprits but with barely any eyewitnesses and no survivors or anyone willing to talk, they could not pursue any arrests in the case. Although this did lead to the downfall of Capone and eventually his arrest for other, lesser crimes.
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