Free The Purple Gang: Organized Crime in Detroit, 1910-1945 by Paul R. Kavieff Page A

that the murders had been pulled
off by five gangland assassins, two masquerading as police.
    However,
spotters had mistaken one of the men in the garage for "Bugs"
Moran. The target was still alive. The killers had failed.
    The
massacre captured the public's imaginations, the brazen public
slaughter enraging citizens. An investigation was immediately
launched by the Chicago Police
Department in conjunction with the State Attorney General's office as
agents promised to move heaven and earth to apprehend the killers and
clean up Chicago.
    Across
the street from the garage were two rooming houses. They had housed
some very interesting young tennants. Mrs. Michael Doody, who owned
one, told police that approximately ten days before the massacre two
young men wanted rooms.
    Mrs.
Frank Orvidson, who ran the other boarding house, rented a room to a
third man the same day. All three said they were cab drivers who
worked nights. They insisted on rooms that faced the front of the
building.
    On
the morning of the massacre these men mysteriously vanished. The
Purple Gang was already suspected in the massacre. When the
landladies were shown photographs of sixteen Purple's, they
identified Harry and Phil Keywell, and Eddie Fletcher. Both
landladies stated that when they entered the men's rooms to clean
them they would often find one or the other seated by the window.
    The
police speculated that the three had been used as spotters for the
assassination team, a strategy typical of the Capone mob. Incredibly,
the Detroit police never arrested them for questioning. Detroit
Inspector Henry Garvin stated to the press that he didn't believe the
Purple Gang could be involved in something this ruthless.
    This
was said in the aftermath of the Milaflores Massacre. Garvin's
obstruction of justice not only revealed his corruption but allowed
the gang to continue on their invincible violent path. The Purple
Gang is suspected of having beaten the rap in hundreds of unsolved gangland
murders probably due to such extensive political ties.
    There
are two theories for the reason behind the St. Valentine's Day
Massacre. The first involved Capone. For more than a year prior to
the killings Al Capone had a loose business relationship with the
Detroit mob, as the Purples distributed quality Canadian whiskey
called Old Log Cabin.
    Capone
had always had a shaky relationship with Moran's gang, but gave him a
deal to sell Purple Gang supplied whiskey in his part of town. Moran
didn't like the price he was paying for it. When offered a cheaper
supply by another hijacking outfit, Moran decided to terminate his
arrangement with Capone, vis a vis
the Purple Gang.
    He
peddled the cheap booze for the same price as Old Log Cabin while
pocketing the difference. But customer's began to complain about the
quality of the new whiskey. Moran was forced to go to Capone to beg
for his consignment back, whereupon Capone cheerfully told Moran that
the it was already spoken for—he had been selling off Moran's
supply.
    Moran
decided to solve his supply problem by hijacking whatever Old Log
Cabin he needed. The Purple gang shipments were hijacked constantly.
When Old Log Cabin began turning up at Moran-supplied Chicago
speakeasies Capone and the Purples knew they needed a plan.
    An
agent gained Moran's trust by selling him cheap loads of "hijacked"
Old Log Cabin from Purple Gang shipments." The day before the
St. Valentine's Day Massacre, the agent baited Moran with a large
shipment. Moran agreed to pick up the whiskey personally at the
Garage. According to one account, it was Purple Gang boss Abe
Bernstein who placed the fatal call.
    The
second theory is that the massacre was all about revenge. Moran sent
men to kill one of Capone's principal lieutenants, "Machine Gun"
Jack McGurn. For years the Northside gang had been trying to kill
Capone, and eliminating this top enforcer might make it easier.
    The
Gusenberg brothers caught McGurn in a phone booth and blasted away.
Leaving him