Al Capone's Arrival

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The source describes the historical conflict between Hymie Weiss and Al Capone during the Prohibition era. Weiss, who took his name from Henryk Wojciechowski after emigrating from Poland in 1901, became a leader of the North Side Gang alongside Dean O'Banion and George "Bugs" Moran. Following O'Banion's murder on November 10, 1924, Weiss led a campaign of revenge against Capone and Johnny Torrio. The text notes that Weiss was known as "the only man Al Capone feared." It details specific attacks, such as the January 1925 shooting of Capone's car and the September 20, 1926 ambush on Capone's Hawthorne Hotel in Cicero where over 1000 rounds were fired. Weiss was terminally ill with cancer at the time, which reportedly made him heedless of his own safety during these bold attacks against Torrio's gang.

In Their Own Story

On October 11, 1926, Hymie Weiss met his end on State Street in Chicago while leaving a murder trial for Joe Saltis. Accompanied by bodyguard Sam Pellar, gangster Paddy Murray, attorney William W. O'Brien, and investigator Benjamin Jacobs, the group parked on Superior Street to cross toward their headquarters at Schofield's Flowers. Two gunmen hidden in a nearby rooming house opened fire with a submachine gun and shotgun. Weiss and Murray were fatally wounded by the first burst of gunfire. As Weiss collapsed onto the sidewalk, his panicked bodyguard Sam Pellar fired instinctively, unintentionally hitting Weiss again. While police credited Jack McGurn with the tommy gun work and Frank Nitti with masterminding the machine-gun nest, a witness named Charles E. McKibben accused the injured survivors, Pellar and Jacobs, of shooting Weiss. Weiss was succeeded as leader by Vincent Drucci.

Reader's Guide

The source establishes that Weiss was born in Sieradz, Congress Poland, and arrived in Buffalo, New York, in 1901 with his parents. He earned the nickname "The Perfume Burglar" after a botched burglary. His criminal organization controlled bootlegging in northern Chicago. Weiss is credited with inventing the "one way ride," first used on Steve Wisniewski in July 1921. In popular culture, James Cagney based his character in The Public Enemy (1931) on both Weiss and Dean O'Banion. Will Janowitz portrayed Weiss in Boardwalk Empire seasons three and four. The source confirms that Weiss was buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois, the same location as Al Capone and Dean O'Banion.

Did You Know?

• Earl J. "Hymie" Weiss was born Henryk Wojciechowski in Sieradz, Congress Poland, before his family emigrated to the United States in 1901.
• Weiss earned the nickname "The Perfume Burglar" after upsetting a fragrance shelf during a botched burglary as a youth.
• He is credited with the first known use of the organized crime practice called the "one way ride," which he used on Steve Wisniewski in July 1921.
• Despite his Jewish-sounding surname, Weiss was a Polish Roman Catholic who always carried a rosary alongside his gun.
• Weiss's assassination occurred on October 11, 1926, after gunmen fired over 1000 rounds into Capone's Hawthorne Hotel just weeks prior.