So, the Genna Brothers had cleared he way to move into O’Banion’s territory, but they’d also made a LOT of enemies. ALL of the North Siders wanted them dead – and so did Al Capone.
One of them became president of the Unione Siciliane, a major organization that gave him a lot of clout. Capone believed they were just spreading out and biding their time to take over his whole operation. Plus, in retailiation for the death of O’Banion, the unholy trio of Weiss, Drucci and Moran were launching LOTS of hits on HIM – for which he blamed the Gennas.
First to be killed was Angelo Genna. The three north siders chased him down in his car down Ogden Avenue. He crashed into a pole and then shot to death.
His funeral was a MASSIVE affair – by rules of the game, gangsters from all sides paid their respects. He was buried wearing a rich purple robe (which covered the four bullet holes nicely) in a $6000 casket. One gang sent roses, another sent lillies of the valley. Torrio, who was still in jail, sent a huge vase of pink and white carnations. peonies from “Diamond Joe” Esposito, lillies from Al Capone…estimates put the cost of the flowers alone in the hundreds of thousands – much it from Schofield’s Flowers, which had been co-owned by O’Banion.
O’Banion himself had a slightly larger crowd than the 10,000 or so who turned out for Genna’s funeral – but it was a different kind of crowd. “Dean may have had a bigger mob, but a lot of it was curiosity seekers,” said one. “Everyone here was a friend of Angelo.”
He was buried in Mt. Carmel cemetery, very close to O’Banion’s grave, and not far from Mike Merlo’s. One onlooker was quoted as saying “when judgement day comes and them three graves are open, there’s gonna be hell to pay in this cemetery.”
If only he’d known that eventually the cemetery would also contain Weiss and Capone….and a couple more Gennas.
Within six weeks, their reign would be over…