St. Valentine's Day Massacre with Pictures - True Crime
St. Valentine's Day Massacre
by Kevin Hammonds
Page 1 of 3
One February evening in North Chicago, seven well-dressed men were
found riddled with bullets inside the S.M.C Cartage Co. garage. They
had been lined up against a wall, with their backs to their
executioners and shot to death. With the exception of Dr. Reinhardt H.
Schwimmer these men were mobsters working under the leadership of
gangster and bootlegger, "Bugs" Moran. Within a few seconds, while
staring at a bare brick wall, these seven men had become a part of
Valentine's Day history: the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
During the height of prohibition and the never-ending competition
between gangster rivals Al "Scarface" Capone and George "Bugs" Moran,
bloody warfare was nothing new to the authorities of Chicago. However,
investigators on the scene found the Valentine's Day Massacre to be
somewhat puzzling. The victims were mobsters, with an endless supply
of weapons and well known capability for brutality. Why would they
turn their backs and face the wall for anyone without putting up a
fight? That was one of many questions to be answered.
Another question came about after an eyewitness gave her account
of what happened on that night in 1929. She lived directly across the
street and had a perfect view of the garage. She claimed to have seen
two uniformed policemen exit the garage while escorting two plain
clothed men who held their hands up in the air, as if they were under
arrest.
Of course, this comforted the shaken woman, thinking that the
loud gun fire that she had just heard had been resolved and the
parties responsible were being taken into custody. However, the
Chicago police had no record of any such activity at 2122 Clark Street
until they arrived on the scene to find the horrifying blood bath.
