John Duffy (gangster)
Encyclopedia
John Duffy was a Philadelphia mobster and gunman for the North Side Mob.
A gun for hire out of Philadelphia, Duffy arrived in Chicago during the early 1920s. Finding work with the North Side Mob, Duffy participated in several jobs for Dean O'Banion
becoming known as a "hanger-on" to the gang in some respects.
In mid-February 1924, after eight days of marriage, Duffy smothered his bride Maybelle Exley with a pillow while she slept following a violent drunken argument (although other sources claim Duffy shot her twice in the head). When he awoke the following morning, Duffy panicked. He called a friend asking for a car and money to get out of town. He was soon contacted by O'Banion, who agreed to help Duffy. He told Duffy to meet him at the Four Deuces, a South Wabash club run by the Johnny "The Fox" Torrio
-Al Capone
organization.
At the club, several eye witnesses reported seeing Duffy being picked up around 8:00 pm in a Studebaker
by O'Banion and an unidentified man. Later on, Duffy's body was found in a snowbank outside of Chicago; he had been shot three times in the head with a .38 caliber revolver. Another witness later told police that he saw O'Banion and two other men dump Duffy's body, but he later retracted his statement.
As Duffy had been last seen at the Four Deuces, suspicion logically focused on club manager Al Capone. The subsequent investigation brought unwanted attention from law enforcement on the club as it was a source of illegal gambling, prostitution and bootlegging.
When police start to view O'Banion as a possible suspect, the gang leader told reporters, "The police don't have to look for me, I'll go and look for them. I'll be at the state's attorney's office at 2:30 PM Monday afternoon...I can tell the state's attorney anything he wants to know about me. Whatever happened to Duffy is out of my line. I don't mix with that kind of riffraff."
Police officials were never able to amass enough evidence to charge O'Banion with Duffy's murder. They theorized that O'Banion and two accomplices drove Duffy to a remote woodland area. Stopping on Nottingham Road, Duffy and O'Banion got out of the car to relieve themselves. At that point, O'Banion stood behind the unsuspecting Duffy and shot him in the back of the head. O'Bannion then shot Duffy twice more before dumping his body in the snowbank. Police think that O'Banion killed Duffy because he wanted to avoid a highly publicized investigation into the murder of Duffy's wife. By meeting Duffy at a Chicago Outfit club and taking Duffy for "a one way ride", he hoped to shift blame for Duffy's murder onto Torrio and Capone.
A gun for hire out of Philadelphia, Duffy arrived in Chicago during the early 1920s. Finding work with the North Side Mob, Duffy participated in several jobs for Dean O'Banion
Dean O'Banion
Charles Dean O'Banion was an Irish-American mobster who was the main rival of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone during the brutal Chicago bootlegging wars of the 1920s...
becoming known as a "hanger-on" to the gang in some respects.
In mid-February 1924, after eight days of marriage, Duffy smothered his bride Maybelle Exley with a pillow while she slept following a violent drunken argument (although other sources claim Duffy shot her twice in the head). When he awoke the following morning, Duffy panicked. He called a friend asking for a car and money to get out of town. He was soon contacted by O'Banion, who agreed to help Duffy. He told Duffy to meet him at the Four Deuces, a South Wabash club run by the Johnny "The Fox" Torrio
Johnny Torrio
John "Papa Johnny" Torrio , also known as "The Fox", was an Italian-American mobster who helped build the criminal empire known as the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s that was later inherited by his protege, Al Capone...
-Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
organization.
At the club, several eye witnesses reported seeing Duffy being picked up around 8:00 pm in a Studebaker
Studebaker
Studebaker Corporation was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers, miners, and the...
by O'Banion and an unidentified man. Later on, Duffy's body was found in a snowbank outside of Chicago; he had been shot three times in the head with a .38 caliber revolver. Another witness later told police that he saw O'Banion and two other men dump Duffy's body, but he later retracted his statement.
As Duffy had been last seen at the Four Deuces, suspicion logically focused on club manager Al Capone. The subsequent investigation brought unwanted attention from law enforcement on the club as it was a source of illegal gambling, prostitution and bootlegging.
When police start to view O'Banion as a possible suspect, the gang leader told reporters, "The police don't have to look for me, I'll go and look for them. I'll be at the state's attorney's office at 2:30 PM Monday afternoon...I can tell the state's attorney anything he wants to know about me. Whatever happened to Duffy is out of my line. I don't mix with that kind of riffraff."
Police officials were never able to amass enough evidence to charge O'Banion with Duffy's murder. They theorized that O'Banion and two accomplices drove Duffy to a remote woodland area. Stopping on Nottingham Road, Duffy and O'Banion got out of the car to relieve themselves. At that point, O'Banion stood behind the unsuspecting Duffy and shot him in the back of the head. O'Bannion then shot Duffy twice more before dumping his body in the snowbank. Police think that O'Banion killed Duffy because he wanted to avoid a highly publicized investigation into the murder of Duffy's wife. By meeting Duffy at a Chicago Outfit club and taking Duffy for "a one way ride", he hoped to shift blame for Duffy's murder onto Torrio and Capone.