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Jack McGurn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Vincenzo Gibaldi | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1905 Licata, Sicily, Italy |
| Died | February 15, 1936 Chicago, Illinois, USA |
"Machine Gun" Jack McGurn (1905–February 15, 1936) was a key member of Al Capone's Chicago-based criminal organization known as the Chicago Outfit, and believed to be the principal assassin and planner of the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
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He was born Vincenzo Antonio Gibaldi in Licata, Sicily. A year later his family emigrated to the USA, arriving at Ellis Island on November 24, 1906. Vincenzo grew up in the Chicago slums where he later took up a career in boxing as a teenager and changed his name to "Battling" Jack McGurn.
McGurn never started off as a gangster, however when his father was assassinated by members of The White Hand Gang after being mistaken for Willie "Two Knife" Altieri, McGurn, with Frankie Yale's consent, killed the 3 hitmen responsible and avenged his fathers death. On hearing the news Al Capone asked Yale if he could take McGurn to Chicago, Yale agreed.
He was the assassin that fired the Tommy Gun that killed Frankie Yale in 1928.
He is most well-known for the infamous instance of violence on St. Valentine's Day in 1929, where he planned the attempted killing of the North Side gang leader Bugs Moran. The incident became known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. He remained free from suspicion, largely due to his "blonde alibi" - the nickname of girlfriend Louise Rolfe - who claimed they spent the whole day together.
In April 1930, when Frank J. Loesch, chairman of the Chicago Crime Commission compiled his "Public Enemies" list of the top 28 people he saw as corrupting Chicago, McGurn's name was fourth on the list, which was published nationwide.
McGurn, by then impoverished and abandoned by his fellow gangsters, was assassinated on St. Valentine's Day in 1936 in a Chicago bowling alley while wearing rented shoes exactly seven years after the massacre[citation needed]. It is alleged that George "Bugs" Moran, the very man Jack had tried to kill years before, killed him for revenge of the murder of his gang.
- McGurn has been portrayed in several movies including The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) by Clint Ritchie, Capone (1975) by Carmen Argenziano and The Verne Miller Story (1987) by Frank Costa. He was also played by K.L. Smith in the original The Untouchables television series and by Paul Stevens in the Playhouse 90 episode "Seven Against the Wall", depicting his role in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
- McGurn was one of many organized crime figures to be featured on the documentary series American Justice. McGurn was in fact killed by the "outfit" for failure of the murder of Joe E. Lewis. When Lewis no longer wished to play at the "Al Capone" Club, McGurn threatened to have Lewis "whacked". Lewis, however did not take this threat seriously. One night three men came to Lewis's apartment in attempts to kill him. They slashed his throat, cut deep gouges next to his ear and sliced off part of his tongue. The three men left him for dead. Fortunately Lewis was able to get help and survived. But bad news for McGurn who was "whacked" by the outfit.
- Parr, Amanda J. [2005]. The True and Complete Story of Machine Gun Jack McGurn. Matador. ISBN 1-905237-13-8.