Albert Anselmi

Albert Anselmi (* 15. July 1883 in Marsala in Sicily ; † 7. May 1929 ) was in the 1920s years Italian-American assassin u. a. for the Chicago outfit of the Cosa Nostra in Chicago .

A popular rumor has it that he was personally beaten to death by Al Capone with the help of a baseball bat during a banquet . However, Capone's involvement in the crime could never be proven and is still considered controversial to this day; especially since mafia bosses like Capone in the broader sense of omertà no longer need to be personally active.

Life

Anselmi came into contact with the Sicilian Mafia in Sicily . In 1924 he fled to the United States to avoid murder charges. He entered the Gulf Coast illegally and went to Chicago .

Genna family

Anselmi and his partner John Scalise , whose mentor he was, were the armed arm of the Genna family , important allies of Johnny Torrio during the alcohol prohibition that initially ruled south Chicago . The north was under control of the predominantly Irish composite transition Northside .

When the Gennas now advanced on the north side, it came to a conflict. The south side decided the death of the leader of the north side Dean O'Banion and it was Albert Anselmi and John Scalise who carried out the murder assignment on November 10, 1924 with the help of Frankie Yale . The three of them entered the O'Banion flower shop, Yale shook his hand, and John Scalise and Albert Anselmi opened fire. O'Banion had no suspicions because the perpetrators had allegedly come to the Irishman's flower shop to collect the pre-ordered flowers for Mike Merlo's funeral. Yale had succeeded him as President of the Unione Siciliana .

The north side struck back. On January 25, 1925, there was an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Johnny Torrio. In response, Scalise, Anselmi, and Mike Genna ambushed the Northsiders George Moran and Vincent Drucci in a similar manner on June 13, 1925 . They shot Moran and Drucci's car with shotguns, injuring the latter. About an hour later, Scalise, Genna, and Anselmi sped south on Chicago's Western Avenue. A police force followed them and passed them on the corner of Western and 60th Streets . After the vehicles came to a standstill, the mobsters opened fire. During the shooting, the Chicago police officers Charles Walsh and Harold Olsen were killed and Michael Conway seriously wounded. The fourth policeman, William Sweeney, chased the fugitives for a block. Mike Genna was shot while trying to escape, while Scalise and Anselmi were found and arrested by the police. Both were later charged and tried.

Chicago outfit

Apparently Anselmi and Scalise were not entirely satisfied with the care provided by the Gennas and were able to be taken over by Al Capone in their Chicago outfits . Both have been linked to the murder of Antonio Genna on July 8, 1925. Accordingly, the order came directly from Capone, who had replaced Torrio as head and, in contrast to this, did not tolerate any territorial encroachments by the Gennas in order to end the conflict with the north side.

According to the press at the time, Antonio had also fallen into the same group of perpetrators as his brother Angelo. The removal of Aselmi and Scalise, the armed arm of the Gennas, so to speak, was an important strategic success for Capone and Capone could certainly be trusted to have deliberately delivered the Gennas to the “north side” without protection.

On February 14, 1929, Capone solved the problem with the north side with the Valentine's Day massacre , in which seven people were liquidated. Because of their past as contract killers for the Genna family and their current affiliation with the outfit , John Scalise and Albert Anselmi were also questioned about the bloodbath. But only Scalise was indicted , along with Jack McGurn .

The end

Shortly after the indictment, in the early hours of May 8, 1929, Scalise, Anselmi, and Joseph Giunta were found dead on a street near Hammond, Indiana . All three were brutally beaten and then shot.

Within a few days, reporters said that the three men had been lured to a banquet with their Sicilian friends. The three of them were killed while trying to settle a staged argument. Years later, a much more popular story emerged. Accordingly, Anselmi, John Scalise, and Joseph Giunta planned an attack on Capone. A waiter or Capone's main bodyguard, Frank Rio , learned of the plan, which Capone initially refused to believe. He set a trap for the three of them: over dinner, Capone and Rio staged an apparent argument. Scalise and Anselmi then offered Rio an alliance and revealed their plan. Capone saw his pride and loyalty badly hurt. On May 7, 1929, the organization held a large banquet at which all guests were examined for weapons beforehand. Scalise, Anselmi and Giunta were therefore already drunk at this feast, and Capone personally knocked them down with a baseball bat ; then the three were shot.

However, the direct involvement of Capone was never proven and to this day this claim is seen as one of numerous Mafia legends.

Movie and TV

• 2017: Portrayed in the film Gangster Land (In the Absence of Good Men) by Louis Fasanaro .

Web links

• Albert Anselmi in the database of Find a Grave (English)