2 – Angelo Genna
‘Bloody Angelo’ Genna was born in Sicily, Italy on February 3, 1898, and moved to Chicago in 1914 to join brothers. There was a total of six brothers involved in the Genna Crime Family, but Angelo was the most violent. The Genna’s aligned themselves with a Sicilian Mafia boss named Anthony D’Andrea who ran for the important position of alderman of the city’s 19th Ward which included Little Italy.
D’Andrea narrowly lost the election to John Powers in 1921 which angered the Genna family. By now, they had already gained a reputation as they had been involved in bootlegging since 1919. In March 1921, Angelo murdered one of Powers’ precinct captains, Paolo Labriola, probably on the orders of D’Andrea. It was the middle of the violent Alderman Wars, and two months later, D’Andrea was murdered outside of his apartment building.
Meanwhile, a witness claimed to have seen Angelo murder Labriola, and he stood trial. However, another man claimed that the witness was paid to lie about Angelo’s presence at the scene, so the case was eventually dismissed. Nicola Maggio was a close friend of the Genna family, but she was murdered, apparently by a man named Paul Notte. In typical fashion, Angelo retaliated in kind by shooting Notte on March 16, 1922. Notte identified Angelo as his killer while he lay on his deathbed. Although he did not name Angelo, Notte told a detective that it was the youngest of the Genna brothers.
Once again, Angelo walked free; this time because there was doubt over Notte’s mental state since he had been given medication before his death. Angelo was eventually sentenced to one year in prison for intimidating a waitress. After serving his time in Leavenworth, Angelo returned to Chicago intent on making money and avoiding violence if possible. However, his criminal activities ultimately led to his death. The Genna Family continued to sell bootleg liquor much to the chagrin of Dean O’Banion.
Angelo lost a lot of money at one of O’Banion’s casinos and instead of waiving the debt as a professional courtesy like Al Capone suggested, O’Banion spoke to Angelo on the phone and demanded that he paid his debt. The personal insult angered the Genna family, and Torrio agreed that they should kill O’Banion. On November 10, 1924, three hit men performed the deed.
The North Side Gang under Hymie Weiss demanded vengeance and went after the Genna brothers, Torrio and Capone. On May 26, 1925, Angelo was shot by three North Side Gang members and died in hospital. As he lay dying, he refused to name his shooters. Mike Genna was killed by police a few weeks later while Anthony Genna was murdered by the North Side Gang a couple of months later. Angelo’s brother-in-law, Henry Spignoli, was killed the following year, so the rest of the Genna’s returned to Sicily.