On this day in 1929, five of gangster Bugs Moran’s men, along with two men unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, were gunned down by men impersonating police officers. The probable sender of this grisly Valentine: Al Capone. I guess Big Al didn’t think flowers and chocolates would do the trick. The killings became known as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
Check out author/crime historian Pat Downey’s interview with Mario Gomes, the man who knows more about Al Capone than anyone. Well, anyone alive, anyway.
Further reading:
Mario Gomes’s My Al Capone Museum: The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
Mysterynet: The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre With Pictures
Wikipedia – The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
Deadly Valentines, by Jeffrey Gusfield
John D.:
Ah, yes…how could we forget this day…expecially when Capone found the definitive method to “reach out and touch someone” as a way of demonstratijng his “:love” for his fellow man (and rival)?
Tommy guns ALWAYS trump flowers and chocolates.
(even if they do cost more and are louder)
Roll safe out there.
Yeah, Al really knew how to send a message.
When I was younger and wore rose-colored glasses, this event appalled me. Now I think it’s kinda poetic
It’s poetically appalling. Or appallingly poetic. Either way…