37 Facts About Joe Aiello

Joe Aiello was best known for his long and bloody feud with Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone.

Joe Aiello was killed after Capone gunmen ambushed him as he exited a Chicago apartment building where he had been hiding out, shooting him 59 times.

Joe Aiello was born on September 27,1890, in Bagheria, Sicily, to father Carlo Sr.

In July 1907, at the age of 17, Joe Aiello immigrated to the United States to join family members already residing there.

Joe Aiello was the co-owner of a cheese importing business with a fellow Sicilian, Antonio "Tony the Scourge" Lombardo, an ally of organized crime figure Al Capone.

In Chicago they made a small fortune selling sugar and other home-cooked alcohol components to the Genna crime family, and Joe Aiello earned enough money to buy a three-story mansion in Rogers Park.

An infuriated Joe Aiello, who had wanted the position himself, believed Capone was responsible for Lombardo's ascension and he resented the non-Sicilian's attempts to manipulate affairs within the Unione.

Joe Aiello severed all personal and business ties with Lombardo and entered into a feud with him and Capone, essentially ending a Chicago gang peace treaty that had been in force since the 1926 murder of Capone rival Hymie Weiss.

Joe Aiello allied himself with several other Capone enemies, including Dean O'Banion, and the trio of Billy Skidmore, Barney Bertsche and Jack Zuta, who ran vice and gambling houses together, although they became less receptive to Joe Aiello after Capone personally approached and threatened Skidmore.

Joe Aiello plotted to eliminate both Lombardo and Capone, and starting in the spring of 1927 made several attempts to assassinate Capone.

Joe Aiello eventually offered a $50,000 reward to anyone who eliminated Capone.

In November 1927 Joe Aiello organized machine-gun ambushes across from Lombardo's home and a cigar store frequented by Capone, but those plans were foiled after an anonymous tip led police to raid several addresses and arrest Milwaukee gunman Angelo La Mantio and four other Joe Aiello gunmen.

Joe Aiello pleaded for mercy and promised to sell his possessions and leave Chicago with his family if they let him go, but Campagna refused the request.

When released, Joe Aiello was given a police escort out of the station to safety.

Joe Aiello later failed to make a court appearance after his attorney claimed he suffered a nervous breakdown.

Joe Aiello disappeared with some family members to Trenton, New Jersey, from whence he continued his campaign against Capone and Lombardo.

Joe Aiello briefly allied himself with former Capone employer and friend Frankie Yale, meeting with him regularly in New York City and plotting Capone's overthrow, until Yale himself was murdered.

Joe Aiello was said to have fled to Wisconsin under the protection of the Milwaukee crime family, and briefly took refuge in Buffalo with his ally there, crime family boss Stefano Magaddino.

Joe Aiello returned to Chicago in the summer of 1928 and approached Moran, whose relationship with Capone had degenerated even further, making him much more receptive to an active alliance with Joe Aiello.

Joe Aiello was believed to have masterminded the murder of Pasqualino "Patsy" Lolordo, Lombardo's successor as head of the Unione, who was killed in his home on January 8,1929.

When police later questioned Lolordo's widow, she screamed when she was shown a photo of Joe Aiello, but refused to explain why she was afraid and would not answer questions about him.

Shortly afterwards Joe Aiello persuaded Capone killers Albert Anselmi and John Scalise to betray their employer and convinced Joseph "Hop Toad" Giunta, the new head of the Unione Siciliana, to support Joe Aiello in eliminating Capone and taking control of the North Side of Chicago following the departure of Bugs Moran.

The violent retaliation against Joe Aiello indirectly led him to finally become head of the Unione.

However, Joe Aiello's accession coincided with Capone serving a year in prison for carrying a concealed weapon, which Joe Aiello saw as an opportunity to take control of some of Capone's territory and scheme yet again for his assassination.

The offer infuriated Joe Aiello, who threatened Masseria and ordered him to leave the city.

In turn, Masseria spread false rumors that Joe Aiello attempted to kill Masseria, giving him a pretext to support Capone in retaliation.

Joe Aiello offered territory to Milazzo if he betrayed Aiello, an offer Milazzo rebuffed and considered insulting.

Joe Aiello hoped to leave Capone vulnerable by depleting his security, and Capone began to suspect Joe Aiello had spies within the Chicago Outfit because he seemed to have inside knowledge about where his targets would be and when.

In 1930, upon learning of Joe Aiello's continued plotting against him, Capone resolved to finally eliminate him.

Joe Aiello moved in on October 13,1930, and rarely left the apartment.

Joe Aiello was said to have been shot at least 13 times before he toppled off the building steps and moved around the corner, attempting to move out of the line of fire.

Joe Aiello's body was loaded into the taxicab and taken to Garfield Park Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Joe Aiello was shot more times than any single victim of the St Valentine's Day Massacre.

Joe Aiello was charged as an accessory before the fact of Aiello's murder, a charge filed against John Sorce, an employee of Aiello's importing company.

One month after Joe Aiello was killed, police discovered an abandoned machine gun nest, manned by alleged Capone gangsters, in a house opposite the home of four of Joe Aiello's former henchmen.

Joe Aiello's death left Capone effectively unchallenged in his control over Chicago, and brought 70 years of peace to the city in terms of the Chicago Outfit leadership.

Joe Aiello was believed to have been responsible for the deaths of at least 24 people throughout his life, according to the Chicago Tribune, which described him as "the toughest gangster in Chicago, and one of the toughest in the country".