GEORGE MORAN (MOBSTER)

(Redirected from Bugs Moran)


'George Clarence "Bugs" Moran' (August 21, 1893 – February 25, 1957) was a Chicago Prohibition-era gangster born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Moran, an Irish-Polish descendant, moved to the north side of Chicago when he was 19 and ran with several gangs while being incarcerated three times before turning 21. The moniker "Bugs" came from those who thought he was ludicrous, misguided, illogical or just plain "buggy."

Contents

Younger Years

Battling Johnny Torrio

Battling the Gennas

Moran vs. Capone

After Prohibition

External links

Younger Years

George Clarence Moran was born on August 21, 1893. He was born to Irish and Polish parents. When Moran entered his teens, he quickly engaged in a life of crime. Once he turned 19, he moved into Chicago and earned his popularity there. He would be jailed three times while he was only 20 years old.
Moran ran with many criminals and his fiery temper became known to all people. His temper earned him the nickname “Bugs”, because people thought he was crazy or what a source tells us; “buggy”.
Moran quickly befriended four people; Dean O’Banion, a colorful but violent Irishman, Earl "Hymie" Weiss, a polish gangster who real name was Earl Wojciechowski but shortened it to Earl Weiss, and Vincent Drucci, an Italian. The four quickly became close friends and did criminal activities together. They would rob and mug drunk customers outside the establishment where O’Banion worked as a bouncer. They quickly formed a group with O’Banion as their leader.
Their popularity and fame attracted the attention of political and higher crime bosses, increasing their strength and brutality. The group would then establish their position in Chicago. They quickly dispatched all rival gangs and claimed the 42nd and the 43rd Wards or the North side of Chicago as their territory. O’Banion would soon recruit new members and would form an Irish mob of Chicago. (There were also German members.) They were the largest mob of Chicago. But soon, prohibition would be enacted and others would come.
Prohibition was put into effect in 1918. This made the distribution of all alcoholic products illegal. It was meant to improve society; however, the plan backfired when criminal enterprises sprang up to smuggle liquor. They got it and sold it at high prices for great profit. The popularity of alcohol and lack of legal competition ensured lots of customers. This smuggling of alcohol was called bootlegging. Soon, the criminals and gangsters were in their prime, including O’Banion and his Irish gang.
John Torrio and his lieutenant, Al “Scarface” Capone, moved to Chicago and took a piece of the action for themselves. They moved into the Southside of Chicago, absorbed the Southside O’Donnells (an Irish group of brothers that held a piece of the Southside and claimed it as their turf), and took over the Southside. They quickly gathered followers and were the “Italian family” of Chicago since a majority of their group was Italian. Torrio, a peacemaker and one who did not like violence, quickly moved to establish a borderline for each gang’s territory.
Torrio tried to establish a partnership between himself and O’Banion, and it worked for quite some time. But the Gennas (a Sicilian group of brothers who owned a piece of the Southside territory and were partners of Torrio/Capone) wanted to extend their interests into other territory. They moved their liquor into O’Banions territory and sold it for half as much as what O’Banion sold it for. He was being cheated in his own territory. He quickly went to Torrio and requested help. Torrio managed to talk the Gennas down in the interest of peace. But O’Banion wasn’t pleased and decided to strike back instead. He started hijacking the Gennas shipments and selling them himself.
He then would provoke the Italians even more by directly insulting them, calling them “greaseballs” or "dagos”. This act angered the Italians even more.
Moran and O'Banion would also never pass up a chance to insult Capone to the press usually by calling him "Scarface" or "the Behemoth".
Two events would trigger the assassination of O'Banion. First event was between O'Banion and the Gennas. Torrio was on vacation and left Al Capone in charge of the operations. O'Banion came to collect a 30,000 dollar debt from Angelo Genna, the Genna family leader.
Capone explained to O'Banion that Angelo could not pay the debt and maybe he should pass it on as good faith to keep the peace. O'Banion refused and later called up Genna and stated that he had better pay up the debt in a week 'or else'.
The next event would be the setting up of Torrio in a police raid. O'Banion contacted Torrio and stated he wanted to retire from the business and sell some of his profits to Torrio. Torrio, excited that there would be no more problems between them, leapt at the idea and met O'banion at the warehouse. They started talking and shared a few jokes, but then the police burst in and arrested both men for prohibition-related charges. O'Banion started to laugh, but Torrio panicked. He knew that this was his second offense and he could do jail time.
Both men posted bail and got out. Torrio then learned O'Banion had knew about the raid all along, and it was a setup. "I guess I rubbed that pimp's nose in the mud" O'Banion stated.
It was from here the Italians passed a vote to kill O'Banion. They hired outside killers to do the job and waited for Mike Merlo, the boss of all their operations, to die because Merlo who was also a man of peace refused to allow O'Banion to be killed.
The killers were Frank Yale, John Scalise and Alberto Anselmi. They tracked O'Banion to his flower shop and entered. O'Banion, expecting flowers for Merlo's funeral to be picked wasn't suspicious of the men or their intentions.
Yale outstretched his for O'Banion to shake. O'Banion obliged. Scalise and Anselmi then drew their pistols and shot O'Banion dead.
The killers got away. When word hit the Northsiders, it was a shock. They had lost their leader and good friend. Capone and Torrio thought that O'Banion's death might end their troubles.
Moran and the rest of the group went to O'Banions lavish funeral. It was a sad time and he shed tears for his fallen boss.
Also there was Capone and Torrio. Moran and Weiss glared at both men. Capone and Torrio knew it wasn't over.
The Northsiders waited until O'Banions funeral was over. Then, they made plans of their own: it was time for revenge.

Battling Johnny Torrio

Earl "Hymie" Weiss took control of the North Side Gang and Moran became underboss. They were ready to strike back.
On January 25, 1925, Weiss and Moran ambushed Torrio on the front lawn of his house, shooting him several times. However, when Moran attempted to deliver the coup de grace to Torrio, the gun misfired; out of ammunition. Moran, infuriated, was forced to flee the scene with Torrio still alive, but unconscious. After this abortive hit, the terrified Torrio elected to retire and pass the operations of the Chicago Outfit to his protégé, Al Capone.

Battling the Gennas

Now that Torrio was gone, it was time to go after an old rival -- the Gennas, who were the cause of O'Banion's and Torrio's broken partnership.
Moran first went after Angelo. The Gennas took their leader, it was time for Moran to do the same. Moran (along with Weiss and a few others) ambushed Angelo and engaged in a dangerous car chase with the Sicilian leader. After Angelo crashed into a building, Moran's car pulled to a halt next to Angelo's and Moran blasted away, killing the crime leader. This was a terrible setback for the Gennas. Much of their power and influence had died with Angelo.
The Gennas mourned the loss of the brother and quite possibly knew their business was going downhill. Next Mike "the devil", a Genna brother, went and engaged in a fierce gunbattle with the Northsiders, but failed to take out his rivals. Not long after, he himself was gunned down by police in a vicious shootout.
Then, Samuzzo "Samoots" Amatuna, a Genna family backer, was gunned down by Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci.
Finally, Tony Genna was shot to death. However, it was rumored that it was Capone, not the Northsiders, who did in Tony. Capone allegedly ordered Tony's murder to finally destroy the weakened Genna Family.
Their power destroyed, the rest of the Gennas fled Chicago.

Moran vs. Capone

The bootlegging operation of Earl Weiss and Bugs Moran continued to pose a significant challenge to Capone's Chicago Outfit. Moran and Capone then lead a turf war with each other that cost both of them their friends and cost Capone his freedom. Moran’s hatred of Capone was apparent even to the public; he told the press that "Capone is a lowlife." Moran was also disgusted that Capone engaged in prostitution. Believing himself a better Catholic than Capone, Moran refused to run brothels.
Moran and his gang did two events to strike back at Big Al. The first was the first attempt on Capone's life. Moran (possibly with Drucci and Weiss) were driving around town searching for Big Al. They found his car parked along side the curb and saw old "Scarface" getting out. They let loose a volley of shots. Capone and his men hit the ground while their driver was injured and the car pelted with bullets. Although startled, Capone survived the attack and would only be driven around in an armored car after that.
Second, Moran would himself eliminate Capone's personal security. He kidnapped one of Capone's most trusted bodyguards. Moran tortured him with wire and cigarettes before finally executing him and dumping the body.
On September 20, 1926, Moran again attempted to hit Capone. This time in Cicero, Illinois, the base of Capone’s operations. A fleet of cars, with Moran in personal command, drove by the lobby of Capone's hotel. Capone and his bodyguard were drinking downstairs when the Moran boys opened fire on the lobby. The attack left Capone cowering on the floor, but unhurt; his restaurant was reduced to shreds. Although Capone escaped unharmed, the hotel attack traumatized him; Al called for a truce. However, the truce did not last and Chicago plummeted further into urban warfare.
Weiss was then gunned down weeks later after the Hawthorne attack. The two sides then traded bombings and killings before everybody decided enough was enough. A peace conference was held to hopefully sort everything out. Moran grudgingly appeared, along with Capone and the rest of the gang bosses. Capone stated "they were making a shooting gallery of a great business" and Chicago "should be seen as pie and each gang gets an individual slice". Everybody agreed and peace had finally arrived.
For the first time in years, there was peace. No killings were connected to other gangs or turf wars. Drucci himself was killed but as a result from a brawl with cops. Both Capone and Moran attended his funeral. Moran now realized that his pals (O'banion, Weiss, Drucci) were gone and he was the sole leader of the gang. Capone realized this too, which is why he didn't attack first because he knew a turf war with Moran would result in great bloodshed, such as Moran's way.
Both sides kept a close watch on each other after that. Moran would regularly annoy Capone by hijacking his shipments and selling them for his profit. Capone of course retaliated by burning Moran's dogtrack. However, Moran never let an attack go by him without getting retribution and burned Capone's own dogtrack soon after.
Moran also killed numerous friends and gang members of Capone, which both angered and saddened him. It also frightened him into having 15 (or more) bodyguards around him, and never going anywhere without looking over his shoulder. Moran further wore down Capone, both physically and mentally, by agreeing to truces, only to break them within hours.
Moran again tried have Capone killed. This time he tried to feed him poisonous acid in his meal. However, the chef alerted Capone to this and the plan didn't go through. It did however make Capone regret he ever came to Chicago. "If I knew I was gonna deal with this, I'd never would've left Five points" he stated.
Moran then decided to order the death of Antonio Lombardo and Pasqualino "Patsy" Lolordo. Both men were personal friends of Capone as well as the head of the Unione Siciliana, the rock of Capone's power. Capone went into mourning after their murders and his hatred for Moran grew even more. Moran also decided to up the war even more by bombing Capone's businesses regularly. The Sheldon Gang, who were supposed allies of Capone, were suspected of supplying liquor Moran. Capone's own allies were aiding Moran.
In 1929, Capone tried to strike a decisive blow against Moran with the notorious St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Gunmen dressed as cops lined up a number of Moran associates against the wall in a Chicago warehouse and executed them. However, the main target of the “hit”, Moran, narrowly eluded death by arriving after the gunmen had fled. Moran then would continue a turf war with Capone (but to a lesser extent) and also manage to thwart a territory takeover by Frank McClane and wound him in a gun battle.
Despite what some had said, Moran managed to keep control of his territory and what remained of his gang through the end of prohibition and through the early 30's. But with the repeal of prohibition (the very thing that put the gangsters in their prime) and his power decreased, the North Side gang declined along with many other gangs and Moran decided to leave Chicago after a few years. However, Capone did not go unpunished either. After the massacre, the government and the public were through with gangland killings and shootouts. With the government coming at him from all sides and Moran still in Chicago now larger than life, Capone himself started to decline. The government managed to get Capone for tax Evasion and haul him off to prison in 1932.
In April 1930, Frank J. Loesch, chairman of the Chicago Crime Commission compiled a "Public Enemies" list of 28 people he designated as corrupting Chicago. Capone topped the list and Moran ranked sixth. The list was published widely and ensured Moran's notoriety.

After Prohibition

When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, (as stated before) the Chicago gangs and Bugs Moran began to decline. In 1936, Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn, who helped orchestrate the Valentine's Day Massacre for Capone, was found murdered on Valentines day. A note was left in his hand that included a joke. Since Moran treasured pranks, a legacy of his mentor Dion O'Banion, it was commonly assumed Moran committed the murder in retaliation for the slaughter of his gang. However, the Chicago Outfit, now headed by Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti, soon acquired the rest of Moran's gambling institutions.
After the Valentine's Day Massacre, Moran was quoted in the press as saying, "Only Capone kills like that!" This remark was an unforgivable breach of the gangster code of absolute silence and helped accelerate Moran's downfall.
In July 1946, Moran was arrested in Ohio for robbing a bank messenger of $10,000, a paltry sum compared to his lifestyle during the Prohibition days. He was convicted and sentenced to ten years in the Ohio Penitentiary. Shortly after his release, Moran was again arrested for an earlier bank raid. Moran received another ten years and was sent to the Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary . Bugs Moran died in prison of lung cancer on February 25, 1957 and received a pauper's burial in the prison cemetery.

External links

★ BugsMoran.net

★ FBI bio -(Birth recorded as: October 21, 1896)

★ George "Bugs" Moran at Find A Grave