1942 display newspaper - The notorious Gang of Irish-American mobsters, the ROGER "Terrible" TOUHY GANG is CAPTURED or KILLED by the FBI - inv # 3Y-303 

SEE PHOTO-----An ORIGINAL NEWSPAPER, the Oregon Journal (Portland) dated Dec 29, 1942. This newspaper has a headline and photos with news of the CAPTURE and KILLINGS of the members of the "TERRIBLE" ROGER TOUHY GANG of mobsters by the FBI.

Roger Touhy (September 18, 1898 – December 16, 1959) was an Irish-American mob boss and prohibition-era bootlegger from Chicago, Illinois. He is best remembered for having been framed for the 1933 faked kidnapping of gangster John "Jake the Barber" Factor, a brother of cosmetics manufacturer Max Factor, Sr. Despite numerous appeals and at least one court ruling freeing him, Touhy spent 26 years in prison. Touhy was released in November 1959. He was murdered by the Chicago Outfit less than a month later.

By 1929, Al Capone was ordering hundreds of barrels of beer a week from Roger Touhy. Envious of the stranglehold Touhy had on the northwest suburbs and unwilling to pay Touhy the high per-barrel cost of his quality beer, Capone wanted to take over Touhy's organization. That year, he sent Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn and Louis "Little New York" Campagna to Touhy's headquarters in Schiller Park. Touhy refused to be intimidated.

In 1931, Capone sent two more of his men, Frank Rio and Willie Heeney, to demand that Touhy once again hand over control of his operations. Touhy himself had no armed men among his gang members. Realizing that Capone would try to use force after his refusal, Touhy approached local law enforcement officers and others to ask for their support. He explained that he simply wanted to sell beer, while domination by the Capone gang would bring lawlessness, gambling and prostitution. Local leaders agreed to help him. Merchants refused to use Capone's gambling punchboards or buy his own low-quality beer. When Rio and Heeney met with Touhy, off-duty police and local farmers were lounging about in the building. This show of force unnerved Capone's gunmen, who reported that Touhy's gang must have had hundreds of armed men.

Capone continued to send men to talk to Touhy, but he also began to test Touhy's strength. Sporadic gun battles between Touhy's and Capone's men took place in rural Cook County over the next few years. When Touhy won the support of Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, the increasingly frequent attempted hits began happening inside the city limits as well. It was during this time that Touhy gained his unlikely nickname, "Touhy the Terrible".

In October 1931, Capone ordered Matt Kolb killed. After that, open war broke out between the now-armed Touhy Gang and the Chicago Outfit.

On May 5, 1932, Touhy and three others held nearly a hundred people hostage at Teamsters headquarters in Chicago. Several Chicago-area union leaders had paid Touhy $75,000 in cash to help them rid their unions of the Capone mob's influence. After three hours, Touhy and his gunmen left— taking with them two union leaders who were part of Capone's operation. The men were released unharmed two days later, but a mob war between Touhy and Capone's associate Murray "The Camel" Humphreys also began.

In 1933, Capone had corrupt law enforcement officers arrest Touhy for the kidnapping of William A. Hamm, the brewery heir. In fact, the kidnapping had actually been committed by the Barker brothers, working with gangster Alvin Karpis. The FBI already had substantial evidence that the Barker-Karpis gang had kidnapped Hamm (who was freed unharmed four days later after payment of a $100,000 ransom), and nothing but hearsay linked Touhy to the crime. Nevertheless, Touhy and three others were indicted on kidnapping charges on August 12, 1933. They were found not guilty on November 28.

Framed for Factor kidnapping

While awaiting release after the Hamm kidnapping trial, Touhy was arrested again on December 4, 1933 — this time for the kidnapping of John "Jake the Barber" Factor, brother of cosmetics mogul Max Factor, Sr.

The Factor kidnapping was a frame-up. Factor and Al Capone had arranged to fake the kidnapping and produce evidence implicating Touhy in order to eliminate him, so as to assume control over his organization. The plan was risky: Factor himself was a known mobster, and was on the run from British authorities who were seeking him on mail fraud charges. Capone had also already contrived to have Touhy indicted on the Hamm kidnapping, and Touhy was under close police watch at the time of the Factor kidnapping. Nevertheless, on June 30, 1933, Factor was abducted by four men on a Chicago street corner. Factor later claimed at trial that he was tortured during his imprisonment, and that the kidnappers took pictures of themselves which showed him in their clutches. Factor's wife paid a $75,000 ransom, and Factor was freed on July 12. During Touhy's trial for the kidnapping of William Hamm, Touhy was put in a secret police lineup and positively identified as one of the kidnappers by Factor.

Roger Touhy and three of his top aides went on trial for the John Factor kidnapping on January 15, 1934. Several eyewitnesses proved remarkably unreliable during the trial, and later evidence showed that many prosecution witnesses perjured themselves in the attempt to convict Touhy. At least one juror refused to report for duty midway through the trial, while another juror admitted he had perjured himself during voir dire. A mistrial was declared on February 2.

A second trial began on February 13, 1934. Once more, witnesses for the prosecution perjured themselves on a massive scale. Despite unreliable testimony from Factor himself, the jury convicted Touhy and his three associates on February 22. Touhy was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He was incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center.

On October 9, 1942, Touhy and six other men escaped from Stateville prison. After a month, Touhy and the others were discovered living in a Chicago boarding house. Touhy and three others surrendered peacefully. The remaining two escapees tried to fight their way out and were killed. Touhy re-entered Stateville on December 31, 1942, and was sentenced to an additional 199 years in prison for the escape.

This issue is the complete 24-page front news section only, NOT the entire newspaper. Great for display purposes  !!!

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