Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-10-12
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| (ContInued from Page One)
Holy Name Cathedral, where the sa-
cristic congress was opened last June
and short distance from the flower
shop OF Dion O'Banion, where this no.
torious gunman and gangster was
ambushed and slain three years ago.
Operating a machine gun from the
second story window of an apartment
building, one party of the gangsters
sprayed their victims with lead while
a second party riding in an automo-
bile opened fire simultaneously with
rifles and machine guns.
Blood Spattered Street
When the slaughter was ended two
men lay in the blood-spattered street.
| one dead and the other dying: an
other crawled to the curb and colIap-
sed and two others limped away and
We're found In doctors office. The
FACADE of the cathedral, which is the
see Of Cardinal Mundelein, was rak-
ed with bullets. The machine gun
was found in q nearby alley, where
1t was supposedly thrown after the
attack.
The dead are: Earl THYME" Wiss,
notorious gangster and gunman who
was associated with O'Banion and
Paddy Murray, gangster and brother
or William Murray, who with Big
Tim Murphy was sentenced to Leav-
| enWorth Penitentiary for participa-
ton in big mail robbery here a few
years ago.
o'Brien Hit 5 Times
O'Brien was shot five times in the
abdomen. He was a former assistant
states attorney and one Of Chicago
best known criminal lawyers. He
was at present engaged in the de-
tense of Joe Salts and Frank Kon-
ell. well known gang. leaders now on
trial for the murder of John Nit
tiers" Foley. rival gangster.
Besides OBrien, the others wounded
were Sam Pine, alias Peller, and Ben
| ny jacobson. Jacobson was said to
| be an investigator for O'Brien and
Pine was reported to have been asso-
| ciated with one of the various gang
| factions.
The police held several theories as
TO the exact motive for the slayings,
! GA Va NAcIII with Ine long gang
| land warfare and liquor feuds which
| have accounted for more than 100 VIC
| tins within the past two years during
the struggle for supremacy of the va
| rious gangs.
Police Hold Theories
| One theory was that Weiss and
| Murray were marked for death and
| that O'Brien simply happened to be
| present when they were ambushed and
| was an innocent victim of gangland
vengeance. Another theory was that
| O'Brien was the real target Of the
| gangs guns because rivals of Salts
/ and Koncil feared that O'Brien would
| involve them in his attempt to save
| his clients from the rope.
The machine gun found after the
| Staying was said to be similar to that
used six months ago in the Staying of
William McSwiggin, assistant states
| attorney, and known as the hanging
| prosecutor" McSwiggin and two COM
| panions, both connected with the H.
| quor trade, were shot to death with a
! machine gun operated by gangsters
| from an automobile when they went
| to Cicero, stronghold of Chicago gang
| land, last April.
The killing of McSwiggin and the
! operations of gang and liquor interests
| were subjects for investigation by five
| special grand juries which also In
| vestigated election frauds in last
/ Aprils primaries. About 200 indict-
ments were returned in the election
! fraud cases and in one or two minor
| gang killings murder indictments were
returned, but the McSwiggin killing
| has remained unsolved.
oBrien Has Chance
Doctors said OBrien had a fighting
chance to recover. He rallied sufii-
GENTLY to make a statement to police.
II got off a streetcar and as did
so / heard a rata tat-tat and felt a
sting in my arm" he said. Like a
| fool I turned around but it is prob
ably good thing l did or I would
/ have got 1t in the face. All that l
could hear was that continual rata
tat-tat. I ran down into a basement
close by and bumped into another
man I didn't know. We heard some
more shooting but after a while ev-
erything got quiet A woman came
down and told the other man to come
up and that a doctor was waiting. I
don't know where the shots came
from; they seemed to come from ev-
erywhere,"
O'Brien carried $500 in cash and
in Weiss clothing were found money
and checks amounting to more than
$1,000.
A complete list of the jurors In the
Saltis-K oncil murder trial was found
in Weiss clothes, lending credence to
the police theory that the result OF
evidence introduced In the trial
prompted the shootings.
One of the first to arrive at the
scene of the shooting was Father
Francis Ryan of Holy Name Cathe-
dral, who hurried from the church TO
administer last rites to the dying.
Both Pine and Jacobson told the
police they were innocent by-standers
who got caught In the jaws OF the
murderous trap laid for Weiss.
"This is not the end" Morgan Col
Inns, chief of police, said. More out
RACES may be expected at any time.
It will continue until one gang fac
ton or the other is wiped out. Weiss
was at outs with Scarface Al Capone.
A Capone joint in Cicero was fired on
recently by machine gunners' ms
was a reprisal for that"