Egan's Rats
Encyclopedia
Egan's Rats was an American organized crime group that exercised considerable power in St. Louis, Missouri
from 1890 to 1924. Its 35 years of criminal activity included bootlegging, labor slugging, voter intimidation, armed robbery, and murder. Although predominantly Irish-American, Egan's Rats did include a few Italian-Americans and some Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe
, most notably, Max "Big Maxie" Greenberg
.
Formed by Thomas "Snake" Kinney and Tom Egan, the gang became the dominant criminal organization in St. Louis around the turn of the century
when they became noted as the worst political terrorists in the city. The Rats squeezed out the required number of Democratic votes at the polls. In addition to their election tactics, the Rats also engaged in union busting
, armed robbery, and theft from railroads. By the mid-1910s, the gang had entered into bootlegging. By 1921, both Tom and Willie Egan were dead and leadership of the crew passed to William "Dint" Colbeck
. Egan's Rats soon went to war with the rival Hogan Gang, whom they suspected of killing Willie Egan. After defeating the Hogans in a well-publicized war, the Rats turned to armed robberies rather than bootlegging as a chief source of income. In November 1924, nine key members of the Egan gang were sentenced to long terms in federal prison for a mail robbery at Staunton, Illinois
. While a few lower-ranking members of Egan's Rats still operated in St. Louis, they were finished by the fall of 1925.
Those members of the gang who hadn't gone to prison spread across the country. Some of the ex-Rats, led by Fred "Killer" Burke, were suspected of being involved in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre
. The gang later made headlines when gang member Leo Vincent Brothers
was convicted of the murder of Chicago Tribune
reporter Jake Lingle
in June 1930.
political machine by intimidating voters at polling places on Election Day. Kinney used the gang as a stepping stone into politics. He first served as the Fourth Ward’s delegate in to the Missouri House of Delegates and later served in the Missouri State Senate.
In contrast, Tom Egan stayed in the old neighborhood and became the main leader of the increasingly powerful Rats. By 1904, Egan's Rats was the most powerful street gang in St. Louis. The fabric of the gang were the Democratic political clubs scattered around the city. Most members of the Rats belonged to one club or another. Some Egan-affiliated clubs were the Jolly Five, Cross Keys, and Friendly Ten.
The Egan Gang's main rival at this time was the violent Bottoms Gang
from the Twenty-second Ward. However, the Bottoms Gang made the mistake of assaulting police officers and were soon forced out of existence. Ruthless killers, the Rats Gang was willing to assassinate anyone, regardless of the consequences. On June 7, 1909, the Rats murdered rival gunman Fred "Yellow Kid" Mohrle in the Four Courts Building while he was on trial for killing Egan gangster Sam Young. The Rats got a little taste of their own medicine when John "Bad Jack" Barry, leader of the Cross Keys Club, was fatally shot in a North Side courtroom on February 24, 1910 by Henry Diederichsen.
in which he flaunted his power and underworld status. The murder of auto mechanic Fred Hesse, in particular, underscored the Rats' blatant gangsterism. At high noon on November 7, 1913, dozens of witnesses saw Deputy Constable Harry Levin shoot and kill Hesse in front of 2647 Olive Street. Fred Hesse was suspected to have "snitched" on the Rats over a $15,000 railroad swindle. Despite the fact that numerous people saw the unprovoked murder, Levin was acquitted on April 23, 1914.
With Snake Kinney’s death from tuberculosis
, Tom Egan moved the gang into more sophisticated rackets. Correctly suspecting that alcohol consumption would soon be prohibited in the United States, Tom Egan set up a liquor smuggling network in St. Louis.
By early 1916, the Egan's Rats went to war with the depleted Bottoms Gang. The main cause was disgruntled Egan gangster Harry "Cherries" Dunn, who was angry that Tom Egan did little to help his imprisoned brother John. Dunn shot and killed original Egan gang member William "Skippy" Rohan
inside Tom Egan's saloon on January 8, 1916. Tom's brother Willie successfully argued to spare Dunn's life. "Cherries" defected to the Bottoms Gang and instigated a full-blown war on August 21, 1916, when he killed Harry Romani, a semi-pro boxer and crook who was allied with the Egan gang.
Willie Egan and four of his men confronted Cherries Dunn at the Typo Press Club on September 19, 1916. Walter Costello
and Frank "Gutter" Newman shot and killed him. The war between the Egan and Bottoms gangs claimed almost a dozen lives, including both of Harry Dunn's murderers.
Despite the passage of a Prohibition
law, Tom Egan was unable to reap the full benefits of his liquor smuggling ring. Tom died of Bright's Disease
on April 20, 1919.
. Unfortunately, Willie wasn’t a natural leader like his brother. As a result, younger gang members became restless. While Egan wanted to build up the bootlegging business for longterm profits, the younger members wanted the quicker payoffs of armed robberies. Rebelling against Egan, these youthful gangsters, known as “red hots”, began robbing up banks, armored cars, and messengers with lightning rapidity.
By 1921, these disputes worsened when Max "Big Maxie" Greenberg, a dissatisfied Egan's Rats member, double-crossed Willie Egan over a shipment of whiskey. In retaliation, Egan unsuccessfully attempted to kill Greenberg. At this point, Max defected to a new rival, the Hogan Gang. The Hogan Gang was headed by Egan archrival, Edward "Jelly Roll" Hogan, who also served as the Deputy Missouri State Beverage Inspector. On October 31, 1921, Willie Egan was gunned down in front of his Franklin Avenue saloon. The Hogan Gang were considered to be the likely suspects.
took over Egan’s Rats. A former plumber and World War I infantryman, Colbeck aggressively led Egan's Rats against the Hogans. Shootings swept the city, with both gangsters and innocent bystanders being killed on the streets. A primary order of business was tracking down Willie Egan's alleged murderers. According to Dint Colbeck, James Hogan, John Doyle, and Luke Kennedy had been paid $10,000 each to kill Egan. Doyle was shot and killed by St. Louis police on January 6, 1922, while Luke Kennedy was trapped in Wellston on April 17, 1922. Kennedy was shot and killed while begging for his life. Jimmy Hogan spent most of the next year in hiding. In the winter of 1923, the Egan-Hogan war was re-ignited when the Rats killed Hogan lawyer Jacob Mackler on February 21, 1923. The Rats also shot up Jelly Roll Hogan's house at 3035 Cass Avenue on two occasions. By now, public outrage at reached a fever pitch and people were scrambling to figure out how to get the gangs from shooting each other. By the spring of 1923, the Rats forced the battered Hogan Gang to sign a peace treaty.
Now at peace, the Rats commenced a crime wave of robbery and murder in Missouri and Illinois. The gang was ruthless with anyone who crossed them, including their own members. In the midst of it all, Colbeck maintained the gang’s rackets. Headquartered at a St. Louis County roadhouse named the Maxwelton Club, the Rats increasingly looked toward their armed robberies for income.
, of $7,189 on October 24, 1921; State Bank of Dupo, Dupo, Illinois
, of $10,000 on December 23, 1921; Gravois Bank, Affton, Missouri
of $3,500 on March 6, 1922; Wellston Trust Company, Wellston, Missouri, of $22,000 on March 16, 1923; Park Savings Trust Company, St. Louis, of $2,380 on November 6, 1923; West St. Louis Trust Company, St. Louis, of $26,850 on January 15, 1924; Bank of Maplewood, Maplewood, Missouri
of $8,500 on February 26, 1924; Granite City National Bank, Granite City, Illinois
of $63,000 on April 25, 1924; and the Wellston Trust Company (again), Wellston, Missouri, of $40,000 on September 19, 1924.
These bank robberies represent only a fraction of the heists Egan's Rats pulled off in the 1919-1924 window allotted by informant Ray Renard. By far, their most famous caper took place in downtown St. Louis on the morning of April 2, 1923, when they stuck up an armored mail truck after receiving a tip from the Cuckoo Gang. The Rats took control of the truck and made off with $2.4 million in cash and negotiable bonds.
, Charles "Red" Lanham, Gus Dietmeyer, and Frank "Cotton" Epplesheimer, were convicted of a Staunton, Illinois
mail robbery and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.
With the 1924 convictions of Colbeck and his associates, Egan's Rats fell apart. The gang members who hadn't gone to prison scattered across the country, wreaking havoc wherever they went. One crew of ex-Rats, led by Fred "Killer" Burke, committed numerous robberies, kidnappings, and contract murders throughout the American Midwest. This crew allegedly took part in the infamous 1929 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of seven gangsters in Chicago. Burke was involved in the killings of Policemen in 1928 and 1929 and died in prison in 1940. Another ex-Rat, Leo Vincent Brothers
, was convicted of killing Chicago Tribune
reporter Jake Lingle
in 1930. Two other former members, Pete and Thomas "Yonnie" Licavoli
, started the “River Gang”, a large Detroit bootlegging gang that would dominate rackets in both Detroit and Toledo, Ohio
. A former Rat named Elmer Macklin would murder Detroit mob boss Chester LaMare in February 1931. One member of the "rats" Raymond "Craneneck" Nugent was involved in the killing of an Ohio policeman in 1928 and later "vanished" in April 1931 .
By the early 1940s, Colbeck and most of the imprisoned gang members had been set free. They returned to a St. Louis that had changed over the past 20 years. Colbeck and some other gang members tried to muscle their way back into power. Most of them went to work for local mob boss Frank “Buster” Wortman
and eventually retired peacefully. However, William “Dint” Colbeck was machine-gunned to death while driving down a St. Louis street on February 17, 1943.
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
from 1890 to 1924. Its 35 years of criminal activity included bootlegging, labor slugging, voter intimidation, armed robbery, and murder. Although predominantly Irish-American, Egan's Rats did include a few Italian-Americans and some Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, most notably, Max "Big Maxie" Greenberg
Max Greenberg
Max "Big Maxie" Greenberg was an American bootlegger and organized crime figure in Detroit, Michigan and later as a member of Egan's Rats in St. Louis. He oversaw the purchasing of sacramental wine from Orthodox rabbis, then allowed under the Volstead Act, which were sold to bootleggers in the St....
.
Formed by Thomas "Snake" Kinney and Tom Egan, the gang became the dominant criminal organization in St. Louis around the turn of the century
Turn of the century
Turn of the century, in its broadest sense, refers to the transition from one century to another. The term is most often used to indicate a non-specific time period either before or after the beginning of a century....
when they became noted as the worst political terrorists in the city. The Rats squeezed out the required number of Democratic votes at the polls. In addition to their election tactics, the Rats also engaged in union busting
Union busting
Union busting is a wide range of activities undertaken by employers, their proxies, and governments, which attempt to prevent the formation or expansion of trade unions...
, armed robbery, and theft from railroads. By the mid-1910s, the gang had entered into bootlegging. By 1921, both Tom and Willie Egan were dead and leadership of the crew passed to William "Dint" Colbeck
William Colbeck
William "Dint" Colbeck was a St. Louis politician and organized crime figure involved in bootlegging and illegal gambling. He succeeded William Egan as head of the Egan's Rats bootlegging gang in the early 1920s....
. Egan's Rats soon went to war with the rival Hogan Gang, whom they suspected of killing Willie Egan. After defeating the Hogans in a well-publicized war, the Rats turned to armed robberies rather than bootlegging as a chief source of income. In November 1924, nine key members of the Egan gang were sentenced to long terms in federal prison for a mail robbery at Staunton, Illinois
Staunton, Illinois
Staunton is a city in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,030 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Staunton is located at ....
. While a few lower-ranking members of Egan's Rats still operated in St. Louis, they were finished by the fall of 1925.
Those members of the gang who hadn't gone to prison spread across the country. Some of the ex-Rats, led by Fred "Killer" Burke, were suspected of being involved in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre
St. Valentine's Day massacre
The Saint Valentine's Day massacre is the name given to the 1929 murder of 7 mob associates as part of a prohibition era conflict between two powerful criminal gangs in Chicago: the South Side Italian gang led by Al Capone and the North Side Irish gang led by Bugs Moran. Former members of the...
. The gang later made headlines when gang member Leo Vincent Brothers
Leo Vincent Brothers
Leo Vincent Brothers a.k.a. "Vincent Bader" was an early 20th-century gangster who gained notoriety throughout the underworld after being convicted of the 1930 murder of Chicago Tribune reporter Jake Lingle....
was convicted of the murder of Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
reporter Jake Lingle
Jake Lingle
Alfred "Jake" Lingle, Jr. was a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. He was shot dead gangland-style at the Illinois Central commuter train station underpass , during rush hour on June 9, 1930, as dozens of people watched...
in June 1930.
Up from the streets
Egan's Rats was founded around 1890 by Thomas "Snake" Kinney and Thomas Egan, two street toughs living in the riverfront "Kerry Patch" neighborhood of St. Louis. Recruiting other members from the neighborhood, the Rats started out as pickpockets, burglars, and armed robbers. The gang also aided the Democratic PartyDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
political machine by intimidating voters at polling places on Election Day. Kinney used the gang as a stepping stone into politics. He first served as the Fourth Ward’s delegate in to the Missouri House of Delegates and later served in the Missouri State Senate.
In contrast, Tom Egan stayed in the old neighborhood and became the main leader of the increasingly powerful Rats. By 1904, Egan's Rats was the most powerful street gang in St. Louis. The fabric of the gang were the Democratic political clubs scattered around the city. Most members of the Rats belonged to one club or another. Some Egan-affiliated clubs were the Jolly Five, Cross Keys, and Friendly Ten.
The Egan Gang's main rival at this time was the violent Bottoms Gang
Bottoms Gang
The Bottoms Gang was an American street gang that terrorized St. Louis, Missouri in the early 20th century. Their main criminal activities included voter intimidation, armed robbery, assault, illegal lottery, and murder. The gang's members were primarily Irish-American, with a handful of German and...
from the Twenty-second Ward. However, the Bottoms Gang made the mistake of assaulting police officers and were soon forced out of existence. Ruthless killers, the Rats Gang was willing to assassinate anyone, regardless of the consequences. On June 7, 1909, the Rats murdered rival gunman Fred "Yellow Kid" Mohrle in the Four Courts Building while he was on trial for killing Egan gangster Sam Young. The Rats got a little taste of their own medicine when John "Bad Jack" Barry, leader of the Cross Keys Club, was fatally shot in a North Side courtroom on February 24, 1910 by Henry Diederichsen.
The Heyday
By 1912, Tom Egan headed an organization of 300 to 400 men. That same year, he gave an astounding interview to the St. Louis Post-DispatchSt. Louis Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
in which he flaunted his power and underworld status. The murder of auto mechanic Fred Hesse, in particular, underscored the Rats' blatant gangsterism. At high noon on November 7, 1913, dozens of witnesses saw Deputy Constable Harry Levin shoot and kill Hesse in front of 2647 Olive Street. Fred Hesse was suspected to have "snitched" on the Rats over a $15,000 railroad swindle. Despite the fact that numerous people saw the unprovoked murder, Levin was acquitted on April 23, 1914.
With Snake Kinney’s death from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, Tom Egan moved the gang into more sophisticated rackets. Correctly suspecting that alcohol consumption would soon be prohibited in the United States, Tom Egan set up a liquor smuggling network in St. Louis.
By early 1916, the Egan's Rats went to war with the depleted Bottoms Gang. The main cause was disgruntled Egan gangster Harry "Cherries" Dunn, who was angry that Tom Egan did little to help his imprisoned brother John. Dunn shot and killed original Egan gang member William "Skippy" Rohan
William "Skippy" Rohan
William "Skippy" Rohan was a St. Louis gangster and an original member of Egan's Rats.Born as William J. Ruane, Rohan grew up in North St. Louis's "Kerry Patch" neighborhood. As a young man, he found his way into many of the street gangs inhabiting his district. "Skippy" was known as a tough...
inside Tom Egan's saloon on January 8, 1916. Tom's brother Willie successfully argued to spare Dunn's life. "Cherries" defected to the Bottoms Gang and instigated a full-blown war on August 21, 1916, when he killed Harry Romani, a semi-pro boxer and crook who was allied with the Egan gang.
Willie Egan and four of his men confronted Cherries Dunn at the Typo Press Club on September 19, 1916. Walter Costello
Walter Costello
Walter Costello was a St. Louis gangster and member of the Egan's Rats.Born and raised in North St. Louis, Costello joined Egan's Rats while in his late teens. He became known as a crack shot with a pistol. At the age of 19 in the summer of 1908, Costello was stabbed and nearly killed in a tavern...
and Frank "Gutter" Newman shot and killed him. The war between the Egan and Bottoms gangs claimed almost a dozen lives, including both of Harry Dunn's murderers.
Despite the passage of a Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
law, Tom Egan was unable to reap the full benefits of his liquor smuggling ring. Tom died of Bright's Disease
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....
on April 20, 1919.
Changing Of The Guard
After Tom Egan's death in 1919, Egan's Rats was taken over by his younger brother, WillieWilliam Egan (gangster)
William Egan was a St. Louis politician and organized crime figure involved in bootlegging and illegal gambling. His brother was the namesake of the infamous Egan's Rats....
. Unfortunately, Willie wasn’t a natural leader like his brother. As a result, younger gang members became restless. While Egan wanted to build up the bootlegging business for longterm profits, the younger members wanted the quicker payoffs of armed robberies. Rebelling against Egan, these youthful gangsters, known as “red hots”, began robbing up banks, armored cars, and messengers with lightning rapidity.
By 1921, these disputes worsened when Max "Big Maxie" Greenberg, a dissatisfied Egan's Rats member, double-crossed Willie Egan over a shipment of whiskey. In retaliation, Egan unsuccessfully attempted to kill Greenberg. At this point, Max defected to a new rival, the Hogan Gang. The Hogan Gang was headed by Egan archrival, Edward "Jelly Roll" Hogan, who also served as the Deputy Missouri State Beverage Inspector. On October 31, 1921, Willie Egan was gunned down in front of his Franklin Avenue saloon. The Hogan Gang were considered to be the likely suspects.
Ultra-Violence
With the murder of Willie Egan in 1921, William "Dint" ColbeckWilliam Colbeck
William "Dint" Colbeck was a St. Louis politician and organized crime figure involved in bootlegging and illegal gambling. He succeeded William Egan as head of the Egan's Rats bootlegging gang in the early 1920s....
took over Egan’s Rats. A former plumber and World War I infantryman, Colbeck aggressively led Egan's Rats against the Hogans. Shootings swept the city, with both gangsters and innocent bystanders being killed on the streets. A primary order of business was tracking down Willie Egan's alleged murderers. According to Dint Colbeck, James Hogan, John Doyle, and Luke Kennedy had been paid $10,000 each to kill Egan. Doyle was shot and killed by St. Louis police on January 6, 1922, while Luke Kennedy was trapped in Wellston on April 17, 1922. Kennedy was shot and killed while begging for his life. Jimmy Hogan spent most of the next year in hiding. In the winter of 1923, the Egan-Hogan war was re-ignited when the Rats killed Hogan lawyer Jacob Mackler on February 21, 1923. The Rats also shot up Jelly Roll Hogan's house at 3035 Cass Avenue on two occasions. By now, public outrage at reached a fever pitch and people were scrambling to figure out how to get the gangs from shooting each other. By the spring of 1923, the Rats forced the battered Hogan Gang to sign a peace treaty.
Now at peace, the Rats commenced a crime wave of robbery and murder in Missouri and Illinois. The gang was ruthless with anyone who crossed them, including their own members. In the midst of it all, Colbeck maintained the gang’s rackets. Headquartered at a St. Louis County roadhouse named the Maxwelton Club, the Rats increasingly looked toward their armed robberies for income.
Armed Robbery
It would later be estimated that the Rats stole nearly $4.5 million dollars worth in cash and property in a five-year period. Some of the bank robberies attributed to Egan's Rats include; the Baden Bank, St. Louis, of $59,000 on April 10, 1919; Lowell Bank, St. Louis of $11,877 on April 9, 1920; Hodiamont Bank, Wellston, MissouriWellston, Missouri
Wellston is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, along the northwest border of the city of St. Louis. The population was 2,313 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, of $7,189 on October 24, 1921; State Bank of Dupo, Dupo, Illinois
Dupo, Illinois
Dupo is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,933 at the 2000 census. The village was settled in about 1750 and was incorporated in 1876. Its name is derived from Prairie du Pont .-Geography:...
, of $10,000 on December 23, 1921; Gravois Bank, Affton, Missouri
Affton, Missouri
Affton is an unincorporated inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri, USA. As of the 2010 census, the community had a total population of 20,307.-Geography:...
of $3,500 on March 6, 1922; Wellston Trust Company, Wellston, Missouri, of $22,000 on March 16, 1923; Park Savings Trust Company, St. Louis, of $2,380 on November 6, 1923; West St. Louis Trust Company, St. Louis, of $26,850 on January 15, 1924; Bank of Maplewood, Maplewood, Missouri
Maplewood, Missouri
Maplewood is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County. The population was 8,046 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Maplewood is located at ....
of $8,500 on February 26, 1924; Granite City National Bank, Granite City, Illinois
Granite City, Illinois
Granite City is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States, part of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. At the 2010 census, the population was 29,849, making it the third largest city in the Metro-East and Southern Illinois, behind Alton and Belleville...
of $63,000 on April 25, 1924; and the Wellston Trust Company (again), Wellston, Missouri, of $40,000 on September 19, 1924.
These bank robberies represent only a fraction of the heists Egan's Rats pulled off in the 1919-1924 window allotted by informant Ray Renard. By far, their most famous caper took place in downtown St. Louis on the morning of April 2, 1923, when they stuck up an armored mail truck after receiving a tip from the Cuckoo Gang. The Rats took control of the truck and made off with $2.4 million in cash and negotiable bonds.
Gang breakup
In 1924, Egan's Rats would suffer a crushing blow. Fearful for his life, imprisoned gang member Ray Renard started cooperating with federal prosecutors. On November 15, 1924, Colbeck, Louis "Red" Smith, Steve Ryan, David "Chippy" Robinson, Oliver Dougherty, Frank HackethalFrank Hackethal
Frank Hackethal was a prominent St. Louis organized crime figure in the early 20th century. He was one of nine members of the Egan's Rats to be convicted of mail robbery on November 15, 1924....
, Charles "Red" Lanham, Gus Dietmeyer, and Frank "Cotton" Epplesheimer, were convicted of a Staunton, Illinois
Staunton, Illinois
Staunton is a city in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,030 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Staunton is located at ....
mail robbery and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.
With the 1924 convictions of Colbeck and his associates, Egan's Rats fell apart. The gang members who hadn't gone to prison scattered across the country, wreaking havoc wherever they went. One crew of ex-Rats, led by Fred "Killer" Burke, committed numerous robberies, kidnappings, and contract murders throughout the American Midwest. This crew allegedly took part in the infamous 1929 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of seven gangsters in Chicago. Burke was involved in the killings of Policemen in 1928 and 1929 and died in prison in 1940. Another ex-Rat, Leo Vincent Brothers
Leo Vincent Brothers
Leo Vincent Brothers a.k.a. "Vincent Bader" was an early 20th-century gangster who gained notoriety throughout the underworld after being convicted of the 1930 murder of Chicago Tribune reporter Jake Lingle....
, was convicted of killing Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
reporter Jake Lingle
Jake Lingle
Alfred "Jake" Lingle, Jr. was a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. He was shot dead gangland-style at the Illinois Central commuter train station underpass , during rush hour on June 9, 1930, as dozens of people watched...
in 1930. Two other former members, Pete and Thomas "Yonnie" Licavoli
Thomas Licavoli
Thomas "Yonnie" Licavoli was a gangster and bootlegger during Prohibition. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Yonnie, along with brother Peter Joseph Licavoli and cousin James Licavoli, worked with Jewish gangsters to take over illegal gambling in St. Louis. He was a member of the Licavoli Crime Family...
, started the “River Gang”, a large Detroit bootlegging gang that would dominate rackets in both Detroit and Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
. A former Rat named Elmer Macklin would murder Detroit mob boss Chester LaMare in February 1931. One member of the "rats" Raymond "Craneneck" Nugent was involved in the killing of an Ohio policeman in 1928 and later "vanished" in April 1931 .
By the early 1940s, Colbeck and most of the imprisoned gang members had been set free. They returned to a St. Louis that had changed over the past 20 years. Colbeck and some other gang members tried to muscle their way back into power. Most of them went to work for local mob boss Frank “Buster” Wortman
Frank Wortman
Frank L. "Buster" Wortman was a St. Louis-area bootlegger, gambler and a former member of the Shelton Brothers Gang during Prohibition. Wortman would eventually succeed the Sheltons and take over St. Louis's gambling operations in southwest Illinois until his death.-Early life:The son of an East St...
and eventually retired peacefully. However, William “Dint” Colbeck was machine-gunned to death while driving down a St. Louis street on February 17, 1943.
Further reading
- Fried, Albert. The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980. ISBN 0-23109683-6
- McCormick, Mike. Terre Haute: Queen City of the Wabash. Chicago: Arcadia Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0-7385-2406-9
- Montesi, Albert and Richard Deposki Historic North St. Louis. Chicago: Arcadia Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-7385-2319-4
- Reppetto, Thomas A. American Mafia: A History of Its Rise to Power. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 2004. ISBN 0-8050-7798-7