ST VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE
AIRED: Season 7, Episode 3
THE DETECTIVE: Elyse Luray
THE PLACE: Chicago, Illinois
THE CASE:
History Detectives stares down the barrel of a shotgun for clues that one of Al Capone’s men fired it in a Chicago gang massacre that shocked the nation.
The gun came to our contributor’s family after it was handed down through two generations of prominent Chicago families. It’s a Western Field single-barreled repeating action 12-guage shotgun. The barrel and the stock were once shortened just the way the Capone gang liked its guns: easy to conceal and with more destructive force.
History Detectives tests the gun’s firepower, consults with ballistics experts, and combs through physical evidence to see if the gun can be placed at the scene of the crime.
Feature: St Valentine's Day Massacre
Elyse speaks to historical author Art Bilek about the role prohibition played in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
Think you have a case for the History Detectives? Send us your mystery here. 