Johnny Torrio

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Johnny Torrio (1936)

John Donato Torrio (* 1882 in Irsina , Matera , † March 16, 1957 in Brooklyn , New York City ) was an Italian-American mobster . He was responsible for building the Chicago Outfit , a clan of the American Cosa Nostra in Chicago , during the 1920s , as well as mentoring Al Capone , who would later become infamous and legendary as the leader of the clan.

Torrio is believed to be one of the originators of the idea to form the National Crime Syndicate in the 1930s, which was operated by Lucky Luciano .

Life

Torrios young years

His father died when he was two years old, and his mother emigrated with him to New York City . There he grew up in the slums of Lower East Side in Manhattan . His first job was porter and errand boy in his stepfather's new grocery store, which acted as a contact point for consumers of black liquor and beer . He later became a bouncer in a bar.

As a teenager, Torrio became the leader of the youth gang James Street Gang . He saved enough money to open a billiards bar for the group, which grew into illegal activities such as gambling and credit usury . His keen business acumen caught the attention of Paolo Vaccarelli, aka Paul Kelly , the leader of the Five Points Gang .

In 1905 the James Street Gang was converted into the Five Points Juniors , a kind of training ground for future Five Pointers and Torrio possibly became Kelly's second husband. Torrio admired Kelly, who introduced him to organized crime . He convinced the young man to dress conservatively, stop swearing, and pretend to be a legitimate entrepreneur. Torrio benefited from these teachings and because of his cunning and diplomatic nature, he was nicknamed "The Fox" (English: The Fox).

Torrio soon ran its own subgroup in the Brooklyn Docks, behind its legal facade following the lottery , bookmaking , usury of credit , kidnapping , prostitution and the opium trade. Torrio often paid younger neighbor boys to run errands for him. One of these boys was Al Capone , whom he soon showed great confidence in. Capone was a member of the Juniors, soon became the Five Points Gang itself, and Torrio hired him as a bartender at the Harvard Inn , a bar on Coney Island owned by his business friend Frankie Yale .

Torrio to Chicago

Probably in 1909, Torrio was summoned by his aunt, Victoria Moresco, who was a very successful brothel landlady in Chicago. Her husband's life, Jim "Big Jim" Colosimo , gang boss and pimp, was threatened by "Blackhanders" . Other theories suggest that Torrio was either Victoria Moresco's cousin or Colosimo's nephew himself (this would be a weak indication that Colosimo's sister and Torrio's mother both had the first name Maria, but historian Rose Keefe argues that this could be sheer coincidence, as this name is often used by women of Italian descent). However, other sources claim that regardless of extortion, Colosimo brought Torrio to Chicago in 1909 and made him the manager of his Saratoga brothel. Colosimo and Torrio had met on one of his previous visits to Chicago. Torrio agreed to the extortion and made an appointment to deal with the incoming money collectors through gunslingers. According to police reports, however, this failed blackmail attempt did not take place until November 1911.

Frankie Yale became Torrio's deputy director and looked after the Fox's New York business when he left for Chicago. Torrio became the administrator of Big Jim's Colosimo's Cafe at 2126 South Wabash Avenue . In 1919 he opened the "Four Deuces," a new gambling saloon and brothel, at 2222 South Wabash Avenue and relocated its operations there. He married the Jewish girl Anna Jacob, whom he loved dearly, never cheated on, but also never let anyone know about his business.

Torrios take power

In 1918 Frankie contacted Yale Torrio and asked him to take Capone to Chicago; "Scarface" was on the run from both a potential murder charge and the revenge of Bill Lovett . So he avoided Chicago. He joined the gang as a bouncer in a Johnny's brothel and soon rose to be manager of the Four Deuces. Two years later, the alcohol prohibition came into force, which banned the manufacture, trade and sale of alcoholic beverages . Torrio immediately recognized the immense profit that smuggling would bring and urged Colosimo to join in the business. Big Jim showed no interest, however. He was satisfied with the pimping and sensed that expanding into wider areas would only involve the police and rival gangs. In addition, he had fallen in love with the singer Dale Winter, because of whom he then divorced Victoria.

He married Dale Winter three weeks later. She convinced him to lead a quieter life, dress more conservatively, and stay out of the news. All of this, Torrio believed, was a serious obstacle to the gangster business. With the consent of Colosimo's allies, the Genna family and Joseph Aiello's brothers , Frankie Yale was ordered to Chicago to kill Big Jim. The murder took place on May 11, 1920 in the main foyer of "Colosimos Cafe". Nobody has ever been charged. Through the murder, Torrio took over his uncle's vast, criminal empire and began smuggling alcohol.

In the course of the 1920s, Torrio, with Capone as his lieutenant , expanded his outfit , which brought him millions of US dollars through gambling, prostitution and now above all alcohol smuggling. Both the Loop , downtown Chicago, and the South Side gradually came under his control. It was also intended to join the profitable Gold Coast , which drew the wrath of the North Side Gang led by Dean O'Banion .

Assassination attempt on Torrio

In early 1923, Torrio managed to reach an agreement between almost all of Chicago's gangs, who now collaborated with the large-scale alcohol cartel. Accordingly, the Irish north side supplied the Canadian whiskey, the gennas supplied gin, cognac and home-distilled whiskey and Torrio supplied the strong beer. The profit from this beer business alone is said to have been around 12 million US dollars per year.

The deal got mixed up, however, when the Irishman Spike O'Donnel was released from prison, his old gang gathered around him and tried to break into the cartel with self-produced thin beer. Deputy Al Capone resolved the problem by murdering O'Donnel's gang members. Torrio had traveled to Sicily in the winter of 1923 with his homesick mother and did not return to Chicago until the spring of 1924. In the meantime, the Genna brothers also violated the agreement, as they had penetrated into the area of ​​the north side of O'Banion.

O'Banion offered Torrio a whiskey business for $ 500,000 upon his return in May 1924. Accordingly, Torrio should take over one of the "breweries" on the north side. For this purpose, Torrio and O'Banion met with two companions each. Torrio paid with $ 1,000 bills. When a convoy of 13 trucks was about to start moving, the police carried out a surprise raid and all those present were arrested. It was only after the arrest that Torrio learned from a policeman friend that O'Banion had known about the raid beforehand and had thus tricked Torrio.

The financial loss was less of a problem for Torrio than the arrest in connection with the violation of Prohibition . It was (unlike O'Banion) the second arrest and Torrio now faced jail time. Torrio paid the bail and decided on the betrayal of O'Banion's death. On November 10, 1924, Dean O'Banion was shot by Frankie Yale , John Scalise and Albert Anselmi in Schofield's flower shop , which he ran as a hobby and lucrative side income . However, this murder did not end the conflict and the gang war between the north and south sides lasted for several years.

O'Banion's friends and gang members Hymie Weiss , Vincent Drucci, and George Moran of the North Side Gang tried to retaliate for the murder and nearly succeeded on January 24, 1925. Torrio and Anna were just returning from a shopping spree to their apartment at 7106 South Clyde Avenue when a hail of bullets from Weiss and Moran riddled their car. Torrio's driver was hit in the leg and Torrio himself in the abdomen, jaw and lungs. Moran ran out of bullets when he tried to give him the final, fatal shot. Then Drucci gave the two of them the signal to flee.

Handover to Capone

After emergency treatment, Torrio slowly recovered from his injuries and Capone had the "fox" guarded around the clock. Torrio never mentioned the names of his attackers. After his release, he was sentenced to one year in prison for violating alcohol prohibition due to the arrest at the O'Banion deal at the time, then retired from his leadership position, handed the outfit to his second husband, Capone, and emigrated with his Wife and mother to Italy.

"Papa Johnny" returned to the United States in the 1930s to testify in Capone's trial. He also advised underworld bosses such as Lucky Luciano in New York City and recommended the establishment of a nationwide criminal syndicate instead of wiping out the forces in constant bloody clashes between smaller gangs. His idea was welcomed as he was seen as an " elder statesman " and consigliere in the world of mobsters . When Luciano implemented the concept, the National Crime Syndicate was created. In later years, Torrio returned to New York City to live in the city where he grew up. On March 16, 1957, he suffered a heart attack at his hairdresser's, which he succumbed to several hours later.

In film and television

Johnny Torrio has been featured in television and motion pictures numerous times:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Dieter Sinn: The great criminal lexicon . Licensed edition 1984. Manfred Pawlak Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. P. 183ff. ISBN 3-88199-146-8 .

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Jim Colosimo Head of the " Chicago Outfit " of the American Cosa Nostra
1920 - 1925 		Al Capone
personal data
SURNAME Torrio, Johnny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Torrio, Giovanni (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian-American mobster
DATE OF BIRTH 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Irsina , Matera
DATE OF DEATH March 16, 1957
Place of death Brooklyn , New York City , United States