Revolver from St. Valentine’s Day Massacre lands in Las Vegas museum
Valentine’s Day in 1929 Chicago is remembered for carnage, not love, and the Mob Museum has acquired another artifact from that historic day.
The museum has a .38-caliber Colt Detective Special revolver recovered Feb. 14, 1929, at 2122 N. Clark St. in Chicago, the site of the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in which seven men were gunned down by rival gangsters.
The bullet-riddled wall that they stood in front of while being executed already is part of the museum’s collection.
"The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre is one of the most chronicled events in organized crime," said Kathy Barrie, curator of the Mob Museum, which is formally known as the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement.
"The irony of the date is not lost and only adds to the intrigue, mystery and nefarious activity surrounding what is considered one of the bloodiest mob battles of all time," she said in a statement.
On that day, four men dressed as police officers entered what was then a garage and found members of a gang headed by George "Bugs" Moran, who was feuding with Al Capone’s gang. The fake police officers lined up the seven men in the room against a wall and killed them. Investigators later documented 70 machine gun bullets and two shotgun blasts.
No one was prosecuted for the killings.
The revolver is believed to have belonged to Frank Gusenberg, a Moran gunman. After being shot, he reportedly crawled toward the door seeking help and the gun fell out of his pocket. He later died. Photographs of the crime scene show the gun on the floor, according to the museum.
The acquisition includes the revolver, the original Chicago Police Department property envelope and paperwork establishing the gun’s ownership trail.
The gun is on loan from its owner, Richard Bronstein of Chicago.
The museum, which is under construction in the historic post office building on Stewart Avenue downtown, is expected to open by the end of this year.
Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@review journal.com or 702-229-6435.
