Dion O'Bannion
On November 10, 1924, Chicago Mobster Dion O'Banion is murderd. He was born on July 8, 1892 in Maroa, Illinois and was an Irish-American bootlegger of the early 1920s, and organized crime boss. O'Banion was the leader of the notorious North Side Gang in Chicago, and was an arch rival of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone.
From a life of petty crime O’Banion rose during Prohibition to command the best distilleries and breweries in Chicago and dominated bootleg distribution on the North Side of Chicago, including the elegant Gold Coast, and among Chicago’s fashionable clubs and restaurants. His office was in a flower shop at 738 North State Street. On the morning of November 10, 1924, O'Banion was gunned down by agents of Al Capone at his flower shop. Three men entered the shop, ostensibly to pick up funeral flowers; one grasped his hand in greeting and held it while the other two drew pistols and shot him at close range. Some 15,000 persons attended his lavish funeral, including Torrio and Capone. O'Banion was buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois. His killing sparked a brutal five-year gang war between the North Side Gang and the Chicago Outfit that culminated in the killing of seven North Side gang members in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929.
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