James Belcastro

James "Mad Bomber" Belcastro (1895-August 23, 1945) was a Black Hand gang member, extortionist, and later chief bomber for the Chicago Outfit during Prohibition.

King of the Bombers

Known as "King of the Bombers", Belcastro was highly skilled at constructing improvised explosive devices. He used these skills to extort money from business owners in Chicago's Little Italy district during the 1910s. In the early 1920s, Johnny Torrio and Al Capone formed the Chicago Outfit and put the Black Hand gangs out of business. However, Capone invited Belcastro to join the Outfit and he soon became a prominent member. During the mid to late 1920s, Belcastro was suspected of causing over 100 deaths while bombing saloons that refused to buy alcohol from Capone.

During the 1927 Chicago primary elections, to be called "The Pineapple Primary", Belcastro launched a bombing campaign against then Mayor William Hale Thompson. He primarily attacked voting stations in Thompson's strongest wards, killing at least 15 people. On April 10, 1927, Belcastro chased one Thompson supporter, lawyer Octavius Granady, by car and then killed him. Arrested in October 1927 for Granady's murder, Belcastro was later acquitted after key witnesses recanted their statements. By the end of the 1920s, the Chicago Crime Commission had listed Belcastro on its famous "public enemies" list.

Later Years

On January 11, 1931, Belcastro was shot five times in the head and body during a shootout, but later recovered from his wounds. Later in 1931, Belcastro was considered a suspect in the murder of bootlegger Matt Kolb, but was never charged.

Throughout the 30's and 40's, Belcastro continued to rise in the Outfit and ultimately became one of its top enforcers. On August 23, 1945, James Belcastro died of heart disease (although other accounts mistakenly claim his date of death on October 13, 1933).

In popular culture

Belcastro would later be portrayed by Peter Mamakos in the 1959 television movie "The Scarface Mob" as well as on "The Untouchables" TV series.

Further reading

*Flowers, R. Barrie and H. Loraine Flowers. "Murders in the United States: Crimes, Killers and Victims of the Twentieth Century". Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2001. ISBN 978-0-7864-2075-9
*Kobler, John. "Capone: The Life and Times of Al Capone". New York: Da Capo Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-306-81285-9
*Johnson, Curt and R. Craig Sautter. "The Wicked City: Chicago from Kenna to Capone". New York: Da Capo Press, 1994. ISBN 978-0-306-80821-0
*Schoenberg, Robert J. "Mr. Capone". New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992. ISBN 978-0-688-12838-8

References

*Kelly, Robert J. "Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States". Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-313-30653-2
*Sifakis, Carl. "The Mafia Encyclopedia". New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-8160-5694-1

External links

* [http://homdev.northwestern.edu/database/9601/?page=62 Homicide in Chicago 1870-1930: Interactive Database]
* [http://www.suntimes.com/special_sections/roti/37280,cst-nws-familyhistory22.article Chicago Sun Times: One family's rise, a century of power] , details on his career in the Chicago Outfit.
* [http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:sceFncgkSUgJ:www.deadoralive.net/moranphp/phpBB2/viewtopic.php%3Fp%3D2668%26sid%3Df5182672d4de2a627cea161349d4ce11+%22James+Belcastro%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=9 Bugs Moran Online - Tony "Mops" Volpe & James Belcastro]