 louis "two gun" alterie (august 2, 1886 â july 18, 1935), born leland a. varain, and aka "diamond jack alterie", was a californian who became a notorious hitman for the chicago north side gang during the early years of prohibition. ==early years== alterie was born leland a. varain in northern california. the son of spanish ranchers, alterie moved to chicago as a young man. he eventually joined the predominantly irish north side gang, headed by dean o'banion. other prominent north siders included earl "hymie" weiss, vincent "the schemer" drucci, and george "bugs" moran. befitting his california background, alterie was a western enthusiast who wore a ten-gallon hat and two holstered colt .45 revolvers and owned a ranch near sedalia, colorado. as well as being a top gunman for the north side gang, he also formed the theatrical janitors' union and used his position as union president to extort money from theater owners.robert schoenberg, mr. capone, harper paperbacks, 1993. isbn 0-688-12838-6gus russo, the outfit, paperback ed., bloomsbury usa, 2003. isbn 1-58234-279-2rose keefe, guns and roses: the untold story of dean o'banion, chicago's big shot before al capone, cumberland house publishing, 2003. isbn 1-58182-378-9oliver cyriax, colin wilson, and damon wilson, the encyclopedia of crime, overlook hardcover, 2006. isbn 1-58567-763-9jay robert nash, world encyclopedia of organized crime, da capo press, 1993. isbn 0-306-80535-9 ==gang war with chicago outfit== in the early 1920s, the north side gang's greatest rival was the chicago outfit, run first by john "the fox" torrio and then al capone. during this period a series of disputes over bootlegging territories and other matters led the north siders into conflict with the outfit and its allies, the genna brothers of little italy. alterie by some reports killed more than 20 outfit and genna gang members during this conflict which had erupted into a full-scale gang war in 1924 when o'banion was murdered by outfit gunmen in his floral shop on state street in chicago. ==exile to colorado== alterie was considered the "flake" of the o'banion gang. he once feigned insanity prior to a murder trial to give his criminal 
1886_births 1935_deaths American_mobsters American_people_of_French_descent Burials_at_Forest_Lawn_Memorial_Park_(Glendale) Deaths_by_firearm_in_Illinois Murdered_American_mobsters North_Side_Gang People_from_Chicago,_Illinois People_murdered_by_the_Chicago_Outfit People_murdered_in_Illinois Prohibition-era_gangsters