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Angelo "Bloody Angelo" Genna (; February 3, 1898 – May 26, 1925) was an Italian-born Chicago Rum-running and organized crime leader during the Prohibition era. A key member of the Sicilian Mafia crime family, primarily made up of his brothers, he was best known for his war with the North Side Gang leader, Dean O'Banion.
Genna and his brothers then fought the North Side's new leader, Bugs Moran. But, almost seven months later, in May 1925, Moran chased Angelo in a high-speed car chase and shot him to death. In June and July, two of Angelo's brothers were killed, while the other three brothers fled.
Genna was arrested and tried for the murder of Labriola. His defense attorney was a friend of D'Andrea. In 1922, Genna was prosecuted for the murder of Paul Notti, who had identified Genna on his deathbed. Genna was not convicted on either charge. In November 1922, Genna was sentenced to a year in prison after being convicted for the prostitution of a 15-year-old girl."La Cosa Nostra database: Genna Brothers" Brothers
On December 18, 1922, Genna was arrested by detectives after being named as a stolen goods fence for a gang accused of killing Joe Lanus. He is then released on $15,000 bonds.
They started selling their extra alcohol at cut-rate prices outside of their territory. This caused a problem with the North Side Gang leader Dean O'Banion, who went to John Torrio and Unione Siciliana boss Mike Merlo to get the Gennas to back down. When Torrio refused, O'Banion began hijacking shipments of alcohol belonging to the Genna brothers.
On November 3, 1924, Dean O'Banion inadvertently signed his own death warrant during an argumentative phone call to arch-rival Angelo Genna. Their disagreement originated at The Ship, the gambling casino that the North Side gang boss owned along with the Torrio Syndicate. On this day, O'Banion sat in with Al Capone, Frank Nitti, Frank Rio, and others to tally the week's profits. It was mentioned that Angelo Genna had dropped a large amount of cash, plus a sizable marker. Capone recommended that they cancel the marker as a professional courtesy. O'Banion, instead, got Genna on the telephone and demanded that he pay his debt within a week. With this personal insult, Angelo Genna and his family could no longer be restrained.Schoenberg, Robert J. Mr. Capone. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992. , pg. 116 Until then, Merlo and the Unione had refused to sanction a hit on O'Banion. However, Merlo had terminal cancer and died on November 8, 1924. With Merlo gone, the Gennas and South Siders were free to move on O'Banion.
Hitmen working on orders from Torrio and the Gennas killed O'Banion on November 10, 1924. Frankie Yale and two Genna hitmen—John Scalise and Albert Anselmi—entered O'Banion's flower shop, Schofield, and when Yale and O'Banion shook hands, Scalise and Anselmi shot two bullets into O'Banion's chest and two in his throat, and one of them shot a final bullet into the back of his skull as he was lying on the floor, face-down.
The North Siders took aim at the Genna brothers. On May 26, 1925, Moran, Vincent Drucci, and Hymie Weiss shot and wounded Genna numerous times during a high-speed car chase, causing Genna to crash his car into a lamp post at Hudson and Ogden Avenues. Angelo was rushed to the Evangelical Deaconess Hospital. When police asked Genna who shot him, he merely shrugged. He died shortly afterwards while his brother Sam, wife, and brother-in-law were at his bedside. He was buried on May 29, 1925, at the Mount Carmel Cemetery in Chicago.
The funeral home in which his funeral took place—Michael Larussi's Undertaking Establishment—was filled with pallbearers and members of Unione Siciliana. Included in mass of people were 50 policemen, politicians, lawyers, doctors, and labor union officials.
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