June 19, 1975
Momo Salvatore Giancana (more familiarly known as Sam) was a real operator, rubbing elbows with Sinatra and the Kennedys and working on contracts to assassinate Fidel Castro. Giancana liked jet-setting and publicity and all the trappings that went with them. This high-profile existence didn’t sit too well with the rest of the Chicago Outfit though, especially mob boss Anthony “Big Tuna” Accardo, who tended to play his cards close to the chest. To Accardo the only good publicity was no publicity. It was only a matter of time then before Accardo’s patience with Giancana would wear out.
Giancana was the street boss for the Chicago Outfit. Having worked his way up through the ranks for years, he basically became the face of the Chicago mob in 1957. The real power at that time, though, lay in the hands of Accardo and Paul “The Waiter” Ricca, who controlled things from within the shadows, remaining well insulated.
This didn’t mean that Giancana didn’t have any authority, far from it. He was one of the most powerful mobsters in the country—a godfather. But on matters of great importance Giancana would defer to the decisions of people even more powerful—Ricca and Accardo. It was how the Outfit operated.
It’s part of the Giancana legend that he’d fixed the votes in Chicago during the Federal election of 1960, a strategy that gave John F. Kennedy the presidency that year. Then when the Kennedys didn’t play ball as Giancana had expected—calling off the Federal investigation into organized crime—he came up with a supplementary arrangement, one that took place in Dallas, November 22, 1963. Who can say whether this is true? Countless books have been written on the assassination of JFK but no conclusive proof has ever been found.
But there are files in existence (the Family Jewels Documents) that detail how, as part of their Cuban Project, the CIA approached Giancana with the offer of a contract. The Agency wanted some assistance with the elimination of the Cuban president, Fidel Castro, and who better to take on a job like that than the Mafia?
Several attempts to poison the leader were made (apparently at the instigation of Giancana), but all in vain. Castro survived, and any further cracks at his life were kiboshed by the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Things changed rapidly for Giancana after this, though, and in 1965 he received a year in prison for contempt of court. On his release, he found it advisable to lie low for a while and headed to Mexico, where he made a fortune operating casinos. Unfortunately, he didn’t see fit to share any of his gambling profits with the Outfit at this time, which was not a smart move.
The good times couldn’t last forever and in 1974 Giancana was deported from Mexico and arrived back in Chicago again. What’s more, he was also called to appear before a Senate Committee investigating the Castro contract that the CIA had put out.
By now Accardo had had enough. It doesn’t matter who did it really, which friends of Giancana’s were conscripted to pull the trigger. In the end, the go-ahead to kill him must have come from Accardo. So on June 19, 1975, Sam Giancana was assassinated while frying up some peppers and sausages in his basement.