Evening star., 1932-07-03
BY DENIS TILDEN LYNCH.


- small town in the Middle West.
because 81 were subsequently
IL indicted for conspiring to man
ufacture alcohol for beverage
purposes, because our bootleg rulers
suspected six of the accused and seven
others of being friendly to the Gov
ernment, they murdered them. They
also killed the paramour Of one.
While these IA were being slain the
United States of America looked on in
utter helplessness.
No one was arrested in any OF the
killings.
The Government was powerless
against the American Mafia.
Then, too, the Government does not
| appropriate funds to protect its wit
nesses, for no one ever dreamed that
criminals would defiantly slaughter the
witnesses of a sovereign power.
There is no parallel either in history
or literature for this story of terrorism
| and defiance Of government that lies
between the blue folder inscribed
United States Of American VS.. Phillip
Piazza ct al, D. c., No. 14677."
Government agents seized the still
| when they descended upon Chicago
Heights, a community of $4,000. Here
/ the Mafiosi dominate the underworld,
and for five years the town outranked
/ in gang murders any village, town or
city in the United States The 81 as
sassinations in this period had their
| origin, so far as is determinable, in
! bootleg warfare or in disputes over
| gambling and prostitution. Chicago,
/ with a population of 100000, had
but 500 gangster killings in its seven
worst years.
Gang Headed by Piazza.
Phillip Piazza was the head of the
/ gang whose still led to the IA murders.
In the first 13 killings automatics,
sawed-off shotguns and machine guns
were used. In the fourteenth murder
/ the squa6risti garroted their victim.
The Government made no comment
| when these assassinations were pub
lished as ordinary bootleg casualties.
| And only handful in the service of
/ the Nation knew the why and where
/ fore of the killings-one or two of the
prosecutors of the Department of JUS
| tice few in the intelligence units who
know so much and say so little, such
men as Alexander Jamie, A. P Mad
den, Clarence Converse, to name but
three of the able undercover men of
/ the Middle West in the last few years
An occasional journalist knew, but his
| information was revealed in confidence
and his lips were sealed The Govern
ment was hoping something might hap
| pen which would betray the murdererS
The Piazza gang first suspected Sam
Gambino, whose blind was a grocery
store, but whose wealth came from
bawdy house. the most notorious place
in Chicago Heights. And his head was
shot off in the kitchen of his home.
Just outside the western limits of
the City of Chicago is the Washington
| Park race track In a roadhouse op-
| poSite the track crosS-f1re of machine
guns killed another prospective witness
| OF the Government and his laughing,
carefree mistress.
! "Geralanes Lamberto, 1910 Thorn
street, Chicago Heights. Ill, known as
a big beer man, but who operated a
| iewelry store in Chicago Heights" said
the Government report, supposed to
have been put on the spot by Phillip
| Piazza, defendant in the above case.
When he was killed at Darby Inn, a
roadhouSe across the way from the
| Washington Park race track, he was
accompanied by his paramour, Mrs.
Crystal W. Barrier of Chicago, who was
killed at the same time, probably acci-
dentally."
When the gang learned that the flow
OF information into Government chan
nels was not stopped by the death Of
Lamberto and his mistress they held a
| meeting. Their chief was not present.
And. being sconvinced, in their own
minds, that Paizza had betrayed them
to the Government, they decreed his
death. And they shot him down in
front OF his saloon or speakeasy
"The Squawker" Rubbed Out.
The last Of the slaughtered IA was
| Tony di Stefano, pander, bootlegger
and lazar of sorts. Tony was known
| as THE Squawker" On the night de-
creed his executioners, good, true and
loyal friends all, dined and wined him.
When he heard the sentence he pro-
tested his innocence and begged or
mercy. The official record ends thus:
Found dead on the John Orr road, just
north of Chicago Heights, with wire
twisted around his neck"
Besides Piazza, the other defendants
killed were Frank Roberto Nick Pa
goria, Pete Ruffolo, Joe Faso and Ma
rion Fusei. In addition to Gambino.
Lamberto, Barrier and di Stefano, the
following prospective Government wit
| neSses were slain: Antonio " de Frank,
Giuseppe Salvo Giuseppe Catando, Jo-
seph Nerone. alias Caveliero.
These murders were committed in
the first nine months of 1926.
Yet the first public hint of the sys-
tematic way in which these IA had
been slain was given March 20, 1923.
by George E. @. Johnson, United States
attorney, before the Committee of the
judiciary. United States Senate. He
merely said that in one case Cd. c.,
l4677) six defendants and eight pros
pective witnesses for the Government
were murdered.
Fourteen murders in that case"
continued johnson. That, of course.
was unusual. But In a Capone mob
case two witnesses were murdered The
records are replete with experiences of
this kind And then daily-it is no
exaggeration for me to use that word
when we called the witnesses in before
the grand jury and questioned them
we met with this stock reply: IF you
want to send me to prison, all right,
but I will not talk, because, you know,
I will be taken for ride"
Since daylight raid on the dives of
Chicago Heights in January, 1929.
there have been no murders. The
gangsterS did not know what teIltale
memoranda might have been found by
the hundred agents Of the Federal and
state Governments in their daybreak
call The seized books showed the ring
made $725,0o0 yearly in one form of
gambling alone-Slot machines.
Head of Chicago Malta.
That series Of IA murders marks
the goriest chapter in the reign of ter
ror which began on November 10. 1924.
within "a hours of the death of Michele
Merlo, who. as the reader knows was
head Of the Malta Of Chicago. And he
was an influential man in local politics
because of his wealth and his large
following. Seeing his end approaching,
Merlo took to his bed and a lieutenant
escorted a sculptor to the sick room
where Merlo, grateful for this act of
thoughtfulness, smiled his best while
his features were modelled in fine wax.
which was so deftly tinted that Merlo
thought 1t was his mirrored reflection.
And then the artist returned to his
stl1din u.nara q cra fter,,ar, ,.ri&I, -t,..+ |