February 14, 1929, it is the massacre of Saint Valentine.
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At the end of the 1920s, in the midst of prohibition, the city of Chicago was under the yoke of two gangster clans.
The south is ruled by the Italians and their leader, Al Capone, known as “Scarface”. The north is under Irish control through their boss, Bugs Moran, known as “the Branque”.
Bugs Moran made two attempts to assassinate Capone. This time, it’s Scarface’s turn to take the initiative.
The perfect plan.
He summons Jack McGurn, known as “The Sulfate”, and entrusts him with the conception of a plan.
McGurn offers to set a trap. First, you have to lure Bugs Moran and his relatives to a remote shed for negotiations over a shipment of whiskey.
Then, Al Capone’s men disguised as police officers will intervene under the pretext of a routine check.
Once disarmed, Bugs Moran and his men will be executed without being able to defend themselves. Simple, fast and effective.
We choose February 14 to put the plan into action. Capone takes the opportunity to find an alibi and goes on vacation to Florida.
A real bloodbath.
At around 10:30 a.m., Capone’s men were posted not far from the meeting place, 2122 North Clark Street.
They watch seven men enter the hangar. They are adamant, Bugs Moran is among them. The signal is given.
Two fake police officers and two killers then appear and enter the hangar. They disarm and line the gangsters against the wall, before slaughtering them in cold blood.
When they come out, to calm the crowd of onlookers, the false police pretend to have captured the two bandits who were accompanying them.
When the real police arrive on the scene, it is a real bloodbath. There are more than 70 bullets fired.
Only the Irish German Shepherd remains alive, as well as one of the gangsters, Frank Gusenberg.
Despite the 14 bullets lodged in the body, he declared to the police that no one shot him. He died 3 hours later.
Among the victims, no trace of Bugs Moran, and for good reason, the leader of the North Side had arrived late. Mistaking the fake police car for a real one, he fled before the shooting.
The man Capone’s henchmen took for the Branque was none other than Albert Weinshank, Moran’s dyer, who looked like him like two drops of water.
The beginning of the end.
The investigation identifies some of the shooters, but Capone has nothing to fear from the police.
However, his reputation now extends beyond the borders of Chicago and draws his attention to the IRS, the repression of fraud, which will lead him to his per
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te October 24, 1931.
Seven years after the massacre on February 15, 1936, Bugs Moran finally got his revenge by assassinating Jack McGurn, the man behind the plan.
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