Rubbed Out

The art of the gangland slaying took a giant leap forward 89 years ago, when mobsters working for Al Capone wiped out a rival gang in a garage on Chicago's North Side.

The St. Valentine's Day massacre wasn't the first time mobsters used the Tommy gun in a rub-out, but the seven man slaughter was unprecedented and therefore shocking, even by Chicago standards. The massacre was ordered by Capone to wipe out George "Bugs" Moran and his North Side Gang, which was muscling in on Capone's bootlegging operations.

The plan was to lure Moran and as many of his men as possible to a garage at 2122 North Clark Street and take care of business there. Although a shipment of smuggled alcohol is usually given as the bait used, what actually brought Moran's men there that night remains unclear. Moran, however, was a no-show. A Capone lookout mistakenly identified one of the mobsters as Moran, and Capone's men closed in.

Two of them, disguised as cops, succeeded in disarming Moran's mugs, who probably suspected some kind of shakedown. The "cops" lined up the gangsters against the back wall of the garage as if they were going to be frisked. They were, with .45 caliber slugs from a couple of Thompsons brought in by two plain-clothed killers.

Although the Tommy guns provided plenty of firepower, these were professionals. The executioners used shotguns to seal the deal. Incredibly, one of the victims, Frank Gusenberg, was discovered alive and made it to the hospital, even reviving briefly before dying. True to the gangsters' code, though, he went to his grave without squealing. "I'm not gonna talk. Nobody shot me," Gusenberg said before expiring.

Lacking eyewitnesses, the police made no arrests, even though there was never a doubt who lay behind the St. Valentine's Day massacre. Though Capone failed to physically eliminate Moran, the damage was done. Moran lost power and eventually control of the North Side.

It's not clear how they tied in the whole chocolate, flowers, and hearts thing in, but clearly, it was a day made for lovers.