John Scalise
Encyclopedia
John Scalise was an American organized crime
figure of the early 20th century and, with partner Albert Anselmi
, was one of the Chicago Outfit
's most successful hitmen in Prohibition-era Chicago.
, Sicily
, Scalise was involved with the mob starting early in his life. Sometime around age twenty, Scalise lost his right eye in an attack, which was then replaced with a glass eye. Scalise traveled illegally to America circa 1923 and settled in Chicago
's Little Italy
aka "The Patch", where he began working for the Genna brothers
.
, who became his mentor and best friend. Both men remain, to this day, the prime suspects in the November 1924 murder of Dean O'Banion
, boss of Chicago's North Side Gang
.
Soon after O'Banion's murder, Scalise and Anselmi secretly defected from the Gennas to Al Capone
's Chicago Outfit
. On June 13, 1925, Anselmi and Scalise, along with Mike Genna, ambushed North Siders George "Bugs" Moran
and Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci
in The Patch, shooting up their car with shotguns and wounding Drucci. About an hour later, as the shooters raced south on Western Avenue, they were sighted and pursued by a detective squad. After a high-speed chase, the gangsters were overtaken at the corner of Western and 60th Street. Immediately after the cars screeched to a stop, the gangsters jumped out and opened fire with their shotguns. During the ensuing gun battle, Chicago Police officers Harold Olsen and Charles Walsh were killed and Michael Conway severely wounded. The fourth officer, William Sweeney, pursued the fleeing Anselmi, Scalise, and Genna towards the next block of houses. Genna was fatally shot by Sweeney while the other two were captured after boarding a nearby streetcar. It was later said that when they were initially spotted by the detectives, Scalise and Anselmi were speeding south towards Chicago city limits in order to discreetly murder Mike Genna, who had allegedly been targeted for death by the pair's secret employer, Al Capone.
Anselmi and Scalise were bound over for trial. Prosecutor Bob Crowe vowed to send both men to the gallows
. The two killers’ lawyers managed to convince the jury that they had reacted against "unwarranted police aggression." Anselmi and Scalise were found guilty of the manslaughter
of Officer Walsh and were sentenced to 14 years in prison.
In the time between their trials, the two men and their cohorts sent "collectors" around The Patch to raise money for their defense fund. Men like Henry Spignola, Agostino and Antonio Morici were murdered. The main "collector", a fearsome mobster named Orazio "The Scourge" Tropea, was discovered to be keeping most of the collections for himself. Tropea was shotgunned to death on Halsted Street on February 15, 1926. Other deaths followed before Scalise and Anselmi were both acquitted of the murder of Patrolman Harold Olsen.
Back in Joliet Prison
, both Scalise and Anselmi had difficulty adjusting to prison life. Both men were frequently beaten and Scalise was nearly poisoned on one occasion. Nevertheless, the two still played a part in Chicago gangland affairs. The war between Capone and the North Side Gang, now under Earl "Hymie" Weiss
, reached a crescendo
in the fall of 1926. During a peace conference, Weiss offered peace to Capone if the O'Banion killers, Scalise and Anselmi, were killed. Capone refused and had Weiss murdered less than two weeks later.
In December 1926, both Scalise and Anselmi were granted a retrial in the Walsh killing and in January were released from prison. In June 1927, the two men were acquitted. Capone threw them a grand party, climaxed by a shoot-out with champagne-bottle corks.
case. At the pair's arraignment on March 8, 1929, their attorney Thomas Nash asked the arresting officer, Sergeant Fred Valenta, if he had "just and reasonable grounds" for believing Scalise and Anselmi committed the massacre. Sergeant Valenta replied, "No." The two gangsters were then released due to a lack of evidence. Around this time Scalise had been elevated to vice-president of the Unione Siciliana by new president Joseph "Hop Toad" Giunta, who had taken over following the murder of its former president, Pasqualino "Patsy" Lolordo
. Soon after his promotion, Scalise was heard to brag, "I'm the most powerful man in Chicago."
. All three had been severely beaten and shot to death. One of Scalise’s gunshot wounds had torn off the pinky finger of his left hand. The coroner said he had never seen such disfigured bodies. It was initially suspected that the North Side Gang had killed the trio in retaliation for the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, but this theory was discounted a few days later when informants stated that the three men were lured to a banquet with their Sicilian friends and, while trying to break up a quarrel that was being staged for their benefit, were themselves attacked and killed. Scalise’s body was shipped back to Castelvetrano, Sicily for burial.
Years later, a more popular story emerged that Al Capone had discovered that Scalise, Anselmi, and Giunta were conspiring with rival mobster Joe Aiello
to betray him. Capone bodyguard Frankie Rio
was credited with nosing out the plan, which his boss initially refused to believe. During a charade concocted for their benefit, Capone staged an argument with Rio in front of Scalise and Anselmi and slapped his bodyguard, who ran from the room. Both killers tracked Frankie Rio down and offered to bring him in on their plans with Giunta and Aiello. After confirmation of the treachery, an elaborate ruse was developed to get rid of the plotters. At the climax of a dinner thrown in their honor, Capone produced a baseball bat and beat the three men within an inch of their lives, before two or three gunmen stepped in to finish the job.
mobster Joseph Jerome "Jerry" Scalise, who served under Albert Tocco
.
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
figure of the early 20th century and, with partner Albert Anselmi
Albert Anselmi
Albert Anselmi was a Chicago mobster who became a hitman during the Prohibition era for the Chicago Outfit criminal organization....
, was one of the Chicago Outfit
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
's most successful hitmen in Prohibition-era Chicago.
Early life
Born in CastelvetranoCastelvetrano
Castelvetrano is a town and comune in the province of Trapani, Sicily, Italy. The archeological site of Selinunte is located within the territory of the comune. It was the birthplace of Giovanni Gentile, the key philosopher of the Fascist movement in Italy.The town is predominantly a farming town,...
, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, Scalise was involved with the mob starting early in his life. Sometime around age twenty, Scalise lost his right eye in an attack, which was then replaced with a glass eye. Scalise traveled illegally to America circa 1923 and settled in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's Little Italy
Little Italy, Chicago
Little Italy is a neighborhood on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. The current boundaries of Little Italy are Ashland Avenue on the west and Morgan Street on the east — bracketed by Harrison Street on the north and Roosevelt Road; i.e., 12th Street, on the south...
aka "The Patch", where he began working for the Genna brothers
Genna (crime family)
Chicago's Sicilian Mafia, also known as the Genna crime family, was a Prohibition era crime family in Chicago, United States. From 1921 to 1925, the family was headed by the Genna brothers, known as the Terrible Gennas. The Sicilians operated from Chicago's Little Italy and maintained control over...
.
Prohibition & the Bootleg Wars
Shortly after he began working for the Gennas, Scalise met Albert AnselmiAlbert Anselmi
Albert Anselmi was a Chicago mobster who became a hitman during the Prohibition era for the Chicago Outfit criminal organization....
, who became his mentor and best friend. Both men remain, to this day, the prime suspects in the November 1924 murder of 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...
, boss of Chicago's North Side Gang
North Side Gang
The North Side family Gang, also known as the North Side Mob, was the dominant Irish-American criminal organization within Chicago during the Prohibition era from the early to late 1920s and principal rival of the Johnny Torrio-Al Capone organization, later known as the Chicago Outfit.- Early...
.
Soon after O'Banion's murder, Scalise and Anselmi secretly defected from the Gennas to 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...
's Chicago Outfit
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
. On June 13, 1925, Anselmi and Scalise, along with Mike Genna, ambushed North Siders George "Bugs" Moran
Bugs Moran
George Clarence Moran , better known by the alias "Bugs" Moran, was a Chicago Prohibition-era gangster born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Moran, of Irish and Polish descent, moved to the north side of Chicago when he was 19, where he became affiliated with several gangs...
and Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci
Vincent Drucci
Vincent Drucci, also known as "The Schemer" , was an American mobster during Chicago's Prohibition era who served as a lieutenant under Dean O'Banion's North Side Gang and later as gang boss. Drucci was one of the few mobsters to ever be killed by a law enforcement officer...
in The Patch, shooting up their car with shotguns and wounding Drucci. About an hour later, as the shooters raced south on Western Avenue, they were sighted and pursued by a detective squad. After a high-speed chase, the gangsters were overtaken at the corner of Western and 60th Street. Immediately after the cars screeched to a stop, the gangsters jumped out and opened fire with their shotguns. During the ensuing gun battle, Chicago Police officers Harold Olsen and Charles Walsh were killed and Michael Conway severely wounded. The fourth officer, William Sweeney, pursued the fleeing Anselmi, Scalise, and Genna towards the next block of houses. Genna was fatally shot by Sweeney while the other two were captured after boarding a nearby streetcar. It was later said that when they were initially spotted by the detectives, Scalise and Anselmi were speeding south towards Chicago city limits in order to discreetly murder Mike Genna, who had allegedly been targeted for death by the pair's secret employer, Al Capone.
Anselmi and Scalise were bound over for trial. Prosecutor Bob Crowe vowed to send both men to the gallows
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
. The two killers’ lawyers managed to convince the jury that they had reacted against "unwarranted police aggression." Anselmi and Scalise were found guilty of the manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
of Officer Walsh and were sentenced to 14 years in prison.
In the time between their trials, the two men and their cohorts sent "collectors" around The Patch to raise money for their defense fund. Men like Henry Spignola, Agostino and Antonio Morici were murdered. The main "collector", a fearsome mobster named Orazio "The Scourge" Tropea, was discovered to be keeping most of the collections for himself. Tropea was shotgunned to death on Halsted Street on February 15, 1926. Other deaths followed before Scalise and Anselmi were both acquitted of the murder of Patrolman Harold Olsen.
Back in Joliet Prison
Joliet Prison
Joliet Correctional Center was a prison in Joliet, Illinois, United States from 1858 to 2002. It is featured in the motion picture The Blues Brothers as the prison from which Jake Blues is released at the beginning of the movie...
, both Scalise and Anselmi had difficulty adjusting to prison life. Both men were frequently beaten and Scalise was nearly poisoned on one occasion. Nevertheless, the two still played a part in Chicago gangland affairs. The war between Capone and the North Side Gang, now under Earl "Hymie" Weiss
Hymie Weiss
Hymie Weiss was a Polish-American mob boss who became a leader of the Prohibition-era North Side Gang and a bitter rival of Al Capone.-Early years:...
, reached a crescendo
Crescendo
-In music:*Crescendo, a passage of music during which the volume gradually increases, see Dynamics * Crescendo , a Liverpool-based electronic pop band* "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue", one of Duke Ellington's longer-form compositions...
in the fall of 1926. During a peace conference, Weiss offered peace to Capone if the O'Banion killers, Scalise and Anselmi, were killed. Capone refused and had Weiss murdered less than two weeks later.
In December 1926, both Scalise and Anselmi were granted a retrial in the Walsh killing and in January were released from prison. In June 1927, the two men were acquitted. Capone threw them a grand party, climaxed by a shoot-out with champagne-bottle corks.
St. Valentine's Day Massacre
Both John Scalise and Albert Anselmi were arrested and charged in the St. Valentine's Day MassacreSt. 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...
case. At the pair's arraignment on March 8, 1929, their attorney Thomas Nash asked the arresting officer, Sergeant Fred Valenta, if he had "just and reasonable grounds" for believing Scalise and Anselmi committed the massacre. Sergeant Valenta replied, "No." The two gangsters were then released due to a lack of evidence. Around this time Scalise had been elevated to vice-president of the Unione Siciliana by new president Joseph "Hop Toad" Giunta, who had taken over following the murder of its former president, Pasqualino "Patsy" Lolordo
Pasqualino Lolordo
Pasqualino "Patsy" Lolordo was an organized crime figure and head of the Chicago chapter of the Unione Siciliana a "front" organization for the Mafia, of which Lolordo was considered one of the most powerful capos during the late 1920s.Lolordo succeeded Antonio "The Scourge" Lombardo, an...
. Soon after his promotion, Scalise was heard to brag, "I'm the most powerful man in Chicago."
Final days
In the early morning hours of May 8, 1929, the bodies of John Scalise, Albert Anselmi, and Joseph Giunta were discovered on a lonely road near Hammond, IndianaHammond, Indiana
Hammond is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 80,830 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Hammond is located at ....
. All three had been severely beaten and shot to death. One of Scalise’s gunshot wounds had torn off the pinky finger of his left hand. The coroner said he had never seen such disfigured bodies. It was initially suspected that the North Side Gang had killed the trio in retaliation for the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, but this theory was discounted a few days later when informants stated that the three men were lured to a banquet with their Sicilian friends and, while trying to break up a quarrel that was being staged for their benefit, were themselves attacked and killed. Scalise’s body was shipped back to Castelvetrano, Sicily for burial.
Years later, a more popular story emerged that Al Capone had discovered that Scalise, Anselmi, and Giunta were conspiring with rival mobster Joe Aiello
Joe Aiello
Giuseppe "Joe" Aiello was a Chicago bootlegger during the 1920s and early 1930s who had a longstanding, bloody feud with Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone.-Arrival in America:...
to betray him. Capone bodyguard Frankie Rio
Frank Rio
Franklin Rio also known as "Frank Rio" and "Frank Cline" was a member of Al Capone's Chicago-based criminal organization known as the Chicago Outfit. He was also an alleged gunman in the famous 1929 St...
was credited with nosing out the plan, which his boss initially refused to believe. During a charade concocted for their benefit, Capone staged an argument with Rio in front of Scalise and Anselmi and slapped his bodyguard, who ran from the room. Both killers tracked Frankie Rio down and offered to bring him in on their plans with Giunta and Aiello. After confirmation of the treachery, an elaborate ruse was developed to get rid of the plotters. At the climax of a dinner thrown in their honor, Capone produced a baseball bat and beat the three men within an inch of their lives, before two or three gunmen stepped in to finish the job.
Descendants
John Scalise was said to be the uncle of Chicago OutfitChicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
mobster Joseph Jerome "Jerry" Scalise, who served under Albert Tocco
Albert Tocco
Albert Tocco , also known as "Caesar" , was a high ranking member of the Chicago Outfit during the 1970s and '80s. He allegedly controlled the rackets on the South Side of Chicago, the south suburbs, and parts of Northern Indiana...
.
External links
- John Scalise at Find-A-Grave
- John Scalise