CHICAGO’S “EASTER MASSACRE”

CHICAGO’S “EASTER MASSACRE”

On April 20, 1930, three men linked to Al Capone's organization were shot to death in the Blue Hour saloon, located at 2900 South Wells Street in Chicago. Newspaper reporters, eager to sensationalize the event as another mob killing like the one on St. Valentine’s Day 1929, dubbed the murders the “Easter Massacre.” But with little evidence to go on and no suspects, the case was quickly forgotten and the murders remain a little-known event in Chicago crime history.

The bodies of the three men – Walter Wakefield, one of the partners in the saloon business; Frank Delray, the other partner; and Joseph Special, a waiter – were discovered at the saloon on Sunday, April 21, as priests at the church less than a block away were preparing for holiday services. Two usable bullets, fired from a .45-calber handgun by the assassin, were the only bits of evidence gleaned from the scene. They were examined by Chicago’s crime laboratory, but the clues never led to any suspects.

The police believed that the triple murder was linked to Al Capone’s attempts to take over the bread, yeast, and pie wagon driver’s union. His lead man in the takeover attempt was Walter Wakefield, one of the massacre victims. According to police, an unnamed informant stated that he had overhead that Wakefield would “be found dead in an alley.”

The saloon wasn’t an alley, but it was close enough. The murders, not surprisingly, were never solved.