All of the major killings started the same time period, like Gentile said. Im not defending all of Gentile's testimony but he was spot on many things. Saying that "5 mafia members" being killed during the massacre, aint a big mistake. I dont believe in coincidence and I dont use Wiki, especially when it comes down to mob, that from 1928 until 1930/31 at least 6 or 7 important mobsters were killed, including Yale, Lombardo, Esposito, Lolordo, Aiello, Guinta and Toto Loverde. "Somebody" killed most of these people and it obviously wasnt Aielo nor Loverde. It was Capone. Gentile was also spot on when he mentioned Ricca as his closest associate, who in turn later was also Capone's successor. This can be also confirmed with the help of another Italian member who in 1940 listed Ricca as the representative for the Chicago family.

On top of that, Capone was Riccas best man at the wedding, and during those days Ricca still worked for Esposito, who in turn (according to Gentile) was a made member of the Mafia in Chicago, besides being a mainlander. When Capone and Ricca orchastrated Espositos murder, later they inherited large part of the West Side area, especially the Near West Side and Melrose Park areas. Now, why would Gentile lie regarding Esposito being a made guy? I dont see the point. Also there was no retaliation for the Lombardo and Esposito killings, and in fact there was only one retaliation regarding the murder of Lolordo, obviously because he and his brother were with Capone. In fact Lolordos brother was also involved in the St Valentines day massacre.

Also, if Capone was first recognized by Maranzano as "representate" for the Chicago family, and Maranzano being the alleged hardcore traditional Sicilian Mafioso that he was, then I still strongly believe that Capone went through traditional induction ceremony. As I previously said that the induction ceremony mightve changed during the following decades, but Capone went through a traditional one. What about Torrio who later went to the Genoveses? He probably went though some type of induction ceremony and probably became a member under Luciano and Vito. In 1954 Torrio and Ricci came to Chicago to settle the dispute between Ricca and Accardo, meaning he was still quite respected.