Dean O'Banion

Charles Dean O'Banion (born July 8, 1892 , Maroa , Illinois , † November 10, 1924 in Chicago ) was an American mobster and as the leader of the North Side Gang rival of Al Capone .

Life

Childhood and youth

Dean O'Banion was the son of Charles, an Irish - Catholic Farmer and hairdresser . Although he was born and raised in the small town of Maroa, his father Charles later gave the town of Aurora as his place of birth during the investigation after his death , which also resulted in the entry on the death certificate . In 1901 his mother Emma died of tuberculosis and his father decided to move to Chicago with his two sons Dean and Floyd, where relatives lived. They moved to the Kilgubbin neighborhood on Chicago's North Side (on Goose Island ), which was now nicknamed Little Hell .

Dean O'Banion began working as a newsboy while he was still at school and soon joined the Little Hellions , a youth gang that was in close contact with the Market Streeters . At that time it was common for gangs to maintain a kind of youth department whose members did subordinate tasks, including a. took the blame for crimes. The members who proved to be suitable were later taken over into the adult gang.

Probably in the spring of 1907, Dean O'Banion had an accident that affected him throughout his life. According to his own statement, it happened during a test of courage that was common at the time , in which young people threw themselves on a moving tram and tried to hold on to it for as long as possible. O'Banions lost his footing, fell onto the street and the backward tram ran over his left leg, which after the necessary operation was a few inches shorter than his other leg.

Entry into the criminal life

That same year, in 1907, O'Banion left school and started working as a singing waiter at McGovern's Saloon and Cabaret just a year later . He stayed active with the Little Hellions and became a jackroller - someone who robbed drunks. He also met Quinn and Eugene Geary while at McGovern's Jimmy "Hot Stove", who introduced him further to the world of crime. His first stay in the reformatory Bridewell he had in 1909 after being in a burglary had been caught. In 1911 he was convicted again after being caught with a gun.

After his second detention, O'Banion returned to work at McGoverns. It was in this bar that he met Charles "The Ox" Reiser , one of the best safe crackers of his time. This recognized the potential in O'Banion and became his mentor ; From 1917 at the latest, O'Banion also became a safe cracker in Reiser's gang. Other members of this gang would later be of enormous importance to O'Banion; including George "Bugs" Moran and Hymie Weiss , with whom O'Banion quickly befriended. Shortly afterwards in 1918 Lodovico di Ambrosio alias Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci joined them.

O'Banion also worked for the Chicago Examiner (and previously the American ), which belonged to William Randolph Hearst . Hearst had been in a "newspaper war" with the Chicago Tribune of Medill McCormick since 1910 .

Both sides tried to ensure the distribution of their own newspaper and at the same time to prevent the competition - by force - which led to some deaths over the years. This violence was even used against passers-by if they wanted to buy the opposing newspaper.

Initially, O'Banion had actually worked for the Tribune - he had been able to bypass drafting and recruitment into the US Army due to his disability - but soon switched sides as many of his hard-hitting friends were already on the road for Hearst.

The dispute only gradually subsided with the onset of alcohol prohibition , which offered the thugs of the newspapers more lucrative income opportunities. Dean O'Banion also quickly took advantage of these new opportunities.

North Side Gang

With the beginning of alcohol prohibition in 1919, O'Banion began with raids on trucks with alcohol loads . On its first use, he captured a cargo consisting of Grommes and Ulrich Whiskey , which O'Banion brought to his Jewish friend Nails Morton. Morton later became a close advisor to O'Banion and supported him in his ambitions to become a big player in alcohol smuggling. Through Morton's contacts in various other port cities, O'Banion was able to organize transport routes to Canada that brought the illegal alcohol into the country.

When O'Banions and Morton combined their resources, many members of the Reiser gang followed O'Banion, which marked the birth of the North Side Gang . The new group was strong enough to control the northern part of Chicago. Morton also advised O'Banion to buy their own breweries and distilleries and have them run by straw men . Officially, these companies produced beer with an alcohol content of 0.5%, which was still allowed under the Volstead Act.

Johnny Torrio approached O'Banion in 1920, shortly after the murder of Jim Colosimo , with a plan to divide Chicago among the various factions. The alcohol smuggling was to be organized in the form of an unofficial cartel , with O'Banion organizing his "North Side" and Torrio and his allies organizing the south of Chicago.

Each side should remain autonomous in its decisions as to which sources of supply of beer and other spirits its own customers would be supplied with, the territory of the other side should be respected, violations against it should be punished. O'Banion, seeing the benefit in this deal, agreed to Torrio's plan.

However, the north side was not limited to this new business area. On June 1, 1921, Dean O'Banion was caught red-handed by police officer John J. Ryan along with Hymie Weiss , George Moran and Charles Reiser when they were about to open a safe with the help of dynamite . After paying the bail , the group was released again and shortly afterwards were acquitted in court. This acquittal was celebrated in a bar and the drunken guests played the battle of Bunker Hill with their weapons hours later . However, the police that were summoned could no longer find anyone involved.

This - in his view - undisciplined behavior in public sowed the first doubts in Johnny Torrio , who was not used to such ruthlessness from his hometown New York City .

First trouble for O'Banion

The headquarters of O'Banion's North Side Gang became a flower shop at 738 North State Street in 1922. The owner, Bill Schofield, was a longtime friend of O'Banion and had a chain of shops around town. O'Banion and Morton decided to shop in the store and also used it as a meeting place for their group. However, Dean O'Banion was not only a superficial owner of the business, he actually worked in the shop a lot and made legal money from the business. O'Banion became the first point of contact for the mourners, especially at the funerals of bullies .

Problems for Chicago alcohol smugglers began in 1923 when Mayor William Hale “Big Bill” Thompson announced that he would not run for mayor again that year. "Big Bill" was himself a corrupt politician and alcohol smuggler, who basically gave the criminal gangs in Chicago a free hand. He was succeeded by William E. Dever , a Democrat who was one of the first acts to replace Charles Fitzmorris as chief of police, replacing him with Morgan A. Collinns. This should prove to Torrio and everyone else as a non-corruptible police officer who acted against the alcohol smugglers.

In addition, the north side was weakened by the death of Nails Morton. On May 13, 1923, he had an accident with his newly purchased horse , which ran away with him. When jumping, the horse hit Morton's head with a hoof. Morton was taken to the hospital by a police officer and a passer-by, but where help came too late and Morton succumbed to his head injury. A pompous funeral was held in his honor on May 15, 1923 . Nails Morton had always been a moderating influence on O'Banion and had also added social touches like wearing tuxedos .

Upcoming arguments

Shortly after Morton's death, O'Banion was already in conflict with the Miller brothers Hirschie, Davy and Maxie, who originally belonged to the Ragens Colts . O'Banion simply wanted to take over his partner's business with them, but was not accepted by the brothers because he was not from the west side of town, like Norton.

Another factor in this conflict was Julius "Yankee" Schwartz , who had come to Chicago in 1919 and from there did business with the Millers. Over time, however, their collaboration deteriorated and in January 1924 he was expelled from the Millers, who suspected he had tricked them in a liquor store and refused to pay reasonable damages. Schwartz approached the O'Banion camp and thus further fed the conflict between O'Banion and the Millers. The climax of this argument was to be January 20, 1924, when, in a verbal conflict between Maxie and Davy Miller on the one hand and O'Banion, Schwartz and Weiss on the other, things escalated and Dean O'Banion gave Davy Miller several shots missed the epigastric region. Davy Miller survived, but the media feared another gang war (Torrio had gotten into a bloody conflict with the West Side O'Donnells in between) and from that point on branded O'Banion as a psychopath who enjoyed causing pain . However, his reputation grew within his own ranks , as in this way he proved that he was personally responsible for his people. Schwartz in particular had been insulted by Miller in the conflict.

Another crucial situation happened in February of the same year, when the police discovered the body of John Duffy on February 21, 1924 and also found Duffy's murdered wife in his apartment. Duffy had been a suspect in a Philadelphia homicide case , who had sought refuge in Chicago, and had contacted O'Banion through Schwartz. He offered to kill Hirschie Miller for O'Banion, but O'Banion ignored that offer. He then decided to make a similar offer to Miller, which was also rejected. Despite all this, Duffy was seen repeatedly in bars, where he bragged about his plan and thus came into the sights of the North Side Gang . On February 20, he killed his wife while drunk and asked his friend William Engelke (who was also a witness to the crime) to help solve this unwanted problem. He contacted Julius "Potatoes" Kaufman, who immediately took care of it and let his contacts play.

That evening Duffy von Engelke was seen for the last time; a day later he was dead. Police investigations soon suspected O'Banion as the perpetrator, as he was in contact with Schwartz and Kaufman. Engelke's testimony also seemed to lead in this direction. But in the end O'Banion was acquitted of any allegations after Engelke claimed in a police confrontation that he had never seen O'Banion. Engelke himself was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in November for complicity in two murders, which was only shortly afterwards reduced in a new trial; presumably through the influence of O'Banion, who thus showed that Engelke had remained silent.

However, the Duffy story would have another aftermath for O'Banion, as the murder took place near the Four Deuces , Capone's old headquarters. As a result of this, the Torrio Capone group was suspected by the police of playing a role in the execution, which in Torrio's eyes attracted unnecessary attention.

Cicero and the Gennas

In March 1924, Al Capone approached O'Banion with a proposal. The outfit planned to take over a small town near Chicago, Cicero , in order to have a refuge in this town in order to be able to continue smuggling alcohol. The city's top politician, Joseph Z. Klenha, offered the outfit to continue operations in this city if it was certain that his re-election would be successful. To do this, the Torrio Capone group needed additional forces and approached the North Side Gang, which responded to this suggestion. In return, O'Banion received a concession to sell beer in Cicero and a 15% share of the gaming revenue. Shortly thereafter, however, the relationship between O'Banion and Torrio deteriorated. With its better alcoholic product, O'Banion managed to get some West Side bar owners to settle in its territory in Cicero. The lack of revenue, however, angered the other Chicago gangs who complained to Torrio. An attempt to mediate Torrio was blocked by O'Banion, who claimed that the bar owners came to him of their own free will and that he was therefore under no obligation.

At the same time, the Genna family began encroaching on O'Banion's North Side Territory in Chicago. With their (quite dangerous) self-produced alcohol they managed to undercut the price of O'Banion's alcohol massively. O'Banion then complained to the "cartel boss" Torrio, who reacted quite coolly to this demand (still keeping in mind O'Banion's own rejection). Nevertheless, he promised to speak to the Gennas, but this was unsuccessful. O'Banion began to suspect a Sicilian conspiracy from Torrio and the Gennas.

The Seven Brewery

In May 1924, O'Banion received a tip that a raid should take place in a brewery in which he and Torrio owned shares . Without further ado, he and Weiss developed a plan how they could harm Torrio. Torrio's loyal Lieutenant Capone had since gone into hiding as he was considered a suspect in a murder case. This circumstance was seen as the ideal situation to end Torrio's supremacy. O'Banion approached Torrio with the proposal to sell his stake in Seven Brewery as he planned to leave Chicago forever for fear of the gennas. He also told Torrio that on May 19, 1924 - the day of the raid - a large load of beer would arrive and it would be good if Torrio were also present to credibly initiate the change of ownership. Torrio immediately accepted the offer, pleased and without suspicion. On the morning of May 19, Torrio and O'Banion and their supporters were surprised by the police. O'Banion was willingly arrested, which fueled Torrio's suspicions that he had been tricked, as O'Banion had nothing to expect from the arrest, as it was his first offense against alcohol prohibition and he would only face a fine. Torrio, on the other hand, faced a prison sentence because it was his second disregard for prohibition; a fact that was consciously incorporated into the planning at O'Banion. So Torrio suspected treason - despite O'Banion's assurances that he had not known about the raid. The latter also refused to repay the purchase price he had received from Torrio for the brewery. However, Torrio only became fully aware that he had been betrayed when O'Banion failed to keep his promise to leave Chicago.

O'Banion had also messed with the gennas, stealing entire truckloads of alcohol from their property. The Gennas therefore demanded the execution of O'Banion, but this was prevented for the time being by Mike Merlo , the President of the Unione Siciliana , who recognized the problems that the assassination of a leader like O'Banion would cause in Chicago.

Hardened fronts

O'Banion presented an increasingly aggressive behavior towards the outfit . Capone's request that an O'Banion associate, Jew Bates, be removed from his post as manager of the Hawthorn Smoke Shop in Cicero was immediately rejected by O'Banion.

In the fall of 1924, O'Banion planned another step in his career - he wanted to go into politics. Many knew that he would become an influential person with his underworld contacts and political power and few doubted that he would succeed. O'Banion began to turn his sympathies from the Democrats (who tried in vain to change his mind) to the Republicans , who were making a list of more promising candidates for O'Banion in the upcoming election in early November (a more moderate stance, particularly on alcohol smuggling). O'Banion's efforts were crowned with success on November 4, 1924, and he succeeded in handing the 42nd and 43rd districts of Chicago over to the Republicans. It was he who had achieved this result with his influence and his plans were already going so far that his own name would be on the ballot paper at the next election .

Yet another crucial argument ensued, and O'Banion's immediate end would begin. On the evening of November 3, 1924, the shareholders of the gambling house The Ship met in Cicero. In addition to O'Banion, Weiss and Drucci, outfit members such as Al Capone and his bodyguard Frankie Rio were present . When Capone mentioned that Angelo Genna had left a promissory note for $ 30,000 and that it was going to be torn up out of goodwill, O'Banion ignored it as he was entitled to a 15% stake on the total; and demanded this share from Genna by telephone. This incident marked the turning point and immediately after learning of this incident with the Gennas, Torrio planned to assassinate the leader of the North Side Gang . They also discussed the on cancer diseased Mike Merlo been much worse and the doctors had predicted him his death. On November 8, 1924, Merlo succumbed to his illness.

The end

On November 10, 1924, Frankie Yale , John Scalise, and Albert Anselmi entered Schofield's flower shop ( 738 North State Street ). Due to numerous flower orders for Merlo's upcoming funeral (including from Yale), O'Banion welcomed the trio carelessly - according to the most widespread opinion today - and shook hands with Yale, which he never let go. At that moment Anselmi and Scalise drew their thirty-eight and killed the North Side leader with six shots. The driver of the getaway car was Mike Genna , who and his brothers had been involved in the planning of the murder. The event later went down in history through the media and as Handshake Murder . However, the testimony of the flower shop clerk, William Crutchfield, said that O'Banion shook hands with the guests, but the fatal shots at O'Banion did not occur until about 15 minutes later. However, Crutchfield could not judge what exactly happened, as O'Banion asked him for privacy with his customers after the greeting and the door between the sales and work areas was closed.

O'Banion's funeral in Mount Carmel Cemetery on November 14, 1924 was accompanied by a huge funeral procession. Previous plans to hold the funeral in the Holy Name Cathedral were prevented by the church , which would not allow such an honor for a criminal. The members of the North Side organized a pompous coffin and a sea of ​​flowers.

The police had picked up Frankie Yale , among others , but he was able to prove an alibi . In addition, there was no conviction because either witnesses contradicted each other or refused to testify before the jury .

O'Banion's successor was Hymie Weiss , who was supported by Vincent “The Schemer” Drucci and George “Bugs” Moran in the management of the North Side Gang and who in the following years launched a campaign of revenge against the Chicago outfit . Among other things, Weiss and Moran were directly involved in the attempted assassination attempt on Johnny Torrio in this subsequent " Vendetta " and thus ensured his decision to withdraw from the direct criminal activity in Chicago and make room for Al Capone .

Movie and TV

• 2017: Portrayed in the movie Gangster Land (In the Absence of Good Men) by Mark Rolston .

literature

• Rose Keefe: Guns and Roses: The Untold Story of Dean O'Banion, Chicago's Big Shot before Al Capone . Cumberland House, 2003, ISBN 1-58182-378-9 (English).

predecessor	Office	successor
-, -	Head of the North Side Gang in Chicago ~ 1920–1924	Hymie Weiss