February 15, 1936
Jack McGurn was Al Capone’s top bodyguard, and one of his chief enforcers. Nicknamed “Machine Gun” because of his use of the Thompson submachine gun during jobs, McGurn’s real name was Vincenzo Antonio Gibaldi; and it was Gibaldi, reputedly, who was the brain behind the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
McGurn had started out as a professional boxer, but with one thing and another, he gravitated to the Capone franchise mob, the Circus Gang. With his cool professionalism and willingness to pull the trigger, McGurn was quick to catch the attention of Capone, who welcomed him into his inner circle. McGurn proved invaluable to Capone and uncovered several assassination plots against the mobster’s life, heading off would-be killers before they could pull the trigger.
McGurn was part-owner of a speakeasy—the Green Mill Jazz Club—and there’s a story about how he dealt with a performer who wanted to work for another joint. Comedian and singer Joe E. Lewis was offered a better deal at another club and decided it was time to pick up stakes. McGurn suggested Lewis should think again. But Lewis went anyway and McGurn sent over some thugs to have a little talk with the comedian. Though the mobsters slit Lewis’ throat and removed part of his tongue, Lewis miraculously survived. It would be several years, however, before he was able to speak or entertain again.
This gruesome incident aside, McGurn’s greatest claim to fame was as the architect of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Probably one of the triggermen in the legendary hit, McGurn was charged with seven counts of murder, but was able to beat the rap. He’d spent the entire day with his girlfriend, Louise Rolfe, or so he said. Rolfe’s corroborating statement got McGurn off the hook and ever after that she was known as McGurn’s Blonde Alibi.
After Capone went to prison, though, McGurn’s clout began to diminish. Named Public Enemy Number Four in 1930, he was becoming a risky commodity. The Outfit’s new boss, Frank Nitti, found it advisable to distance the gang from McGurn, who was drawing too much attention to the mob. Nitti didn’t like McGurn anyway.
With no underworld assignments to support him, McGurn turned to professional golf for a while, but his days were numbered. There’s really no such thing as a retired gangster, and he had started to hit the bottle pretty hard. Who could tell what valuable information he might give away?
On February 15, 1936, McGurn was gunned down while spending the day bowling at the Avenue Recreation Bowling Alley. A Valentine card had been left in McGurn’s name at the front desk of the alley. Because of this card there has been some speculation that the murder was in retaliation for the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, a hit that went down exactly seven years and one day before Jack’s death. It’s more likely, however, that Frank Nitti had McGurn rubbed out to keep him from talking and the Valentine’s card was just colourful camouflage.