Was the ' hump' really one of the 4 big shots of Chicago -1930's- death.

Back when I could only rely on my local UK library for mob books/ info, so maybe 2 books a year.

The outfit by Russo was one of my favourites. Nice and detailed.
Accardo, Ricca, Roselli and Humphreys were the 4 main people covered.

But Hump seemed to get the most attention from the author and was made out to be some kind of criminal genius.

So what do the Chicago experts/ people think of Murray's standing?
Sitting with AA + PR?


Edit: just seen TooDooped's Accardo thread and noticed MH get a few mentions.

Although of Welsh descent, "The Camel" was a real pezzanovante in The Outfit. He started under Capone as thief and occasional hit man (Capone biographer John Kobler called him a "robbery expert), but he advanced steadily in the ranks. When Jack Guzik died in '56, Humphreys became The Outfit's chief political fixer and labor racketeer.

Thats true, he was a kidnapper and murderer and all he knew was extorting unions and corruption. Even he himself once said that he didnt know anything about gambling and loan sharking. There's also one myth where most of the commercial media says that it was Capone who had a hand in creating the grade A milk, but the reality was that it was Humphreys, since the whole thing occurred after Capone's imprisonment.

Also, the non-Italians used to have their own seat or representative on the Outfit's "board of directors" and they had their own vote regarding certain matters. It started with Guzik, who in turn was replaced with Humphreys and it ended with Gus Alex, and if sometimes they werent available, they usually sent some of their "deputies" like Ralph Pierce, Les Kruse or Eddie Vogel.

He was so criminally underrated.

Over the years Chicago has been called home by many immigrant groups and cultures, the Welsh included.

The Welsh in the early history of Chicago
Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen,whose grandparents were from Wales, is considered "The True Founder of Chicago". He became the first president of the town of Chicago in 1833, and is responsible for sub-dividing the city into sections and towns. In early Chicago history, some of the city's mayors were of close Welsh heritage.

Chicagoans of Welsh descent have made their presence known in many arenas of entertainment and public service. To name a few: Secretary of State Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, comedian and actor Robin Williams, Chicago news reporter and host of 190 North Janet Davies, actress Denise Richards and architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Chicago Alderman Brian K. Hopkins of the 2nd Ward, has Welsh paternal ancestry from both Aberdare, Glamorganshire and Llangurig, Montgomeryshire.

Chicago’s most infamous son of Wales is probably Murray the Hump, Al Capone’s chief lieutenant. Once America’s Public Enemy Number One, he was born in Chicago to Welsh parents from Llanidloes, Mid-Wales.

Humphreys also knew a lot regarding the Mob's inner workings and even about the national commission, and always followed protocol. He also sat on the Outfit's round table in 1956, together with Ricca and Accardo, when Giancana was being elected as the new boss. The same situation occurred later when Battaglia was being elected as Giancanas successor, and both Ricca and Accardo allegedly waited for Humphreys' vote (the battle for the throne was between two candidates Cerone and Battaglia).

Just searched, there is a 1985 book on the Hump.

Going to order it although like I already said, Humphreys got plenty of coverage in the Russo book.

Another thing I recall from the book ( been a long time since I read it) was how much pressure he was always under from law enforcement. State and federal.

Didn't the stress end up causing ( multiple??) heart attacks?
Which killed him.
Think he was the first to die out of Accardo, Ricca and Roselli.
Not sure age difference of these guys .

I think he died from a heart attack during a police raid in his apartment or shortly after it, something like that. Before his death, he was paranoid as fuck. Humphreys was very powerful but if you ask me, Alex was the prime example on how high can one non-Italian go up within Chicago's Mafia. Btw, Roselli wasnt a leader and never went higher than soldier, and the "golden era" of his criminal career was only during Giancana's reign when Roselli transferred his membership from LA to Chicago.

You think Roselli was murdered solely because he was due in front of some committee?

If so, what made the bosses think he wouldn't ' stand up' and do the right thing. Only Chicago guy due in front of the inquiry or others involved?

This guy's also got a book about him , when I've not seen one about Aiuppa/ Cerone them 70s top guys.

During the late 60's Roselli began losing his stature within the Outfit mainly because of problems with the law which brought a lot of attention on his position as the mob's rep in Vegas, his connections to high profile individuals and also the whole Outfit in general, and also because of his interference within the LA crime family, especially regarding LA's candidate-boss Fratianno and I also think that even Roselli himself wanted to become leader of that same family. The problem was the neither Ricca or Accardo ever heard of Fratianno and so they completely stopped Roselli's unsanctioned actions. Roselli's protector was always Ricca, since he was the one who sent young Roselli to LA back during the late 1920's/early 30's, but later Roselli obviously disappointed his mentor and boss, especially with his CIA connections and the problems with the LA fam. The hearings regarding the Mob-CIA plots were just a "cherry on top" on all of Roselli's problems at the time and according to one or two informants, during the early 1970's or especially after Ricca's death in 1972, Roselli was considered a "nobody" within the Outfit and was instantly replaced by Spilotro as their new rep in Vegas, followed by guys like Les Kruse who in turn oversaw the money flow from Vegas to Chicago.

Btw the way did you read my last article on Joey Aiuppa? Its almost like a book....

Gus Alex was the most powerful Greek gangster ever very underrated, The Greeks are going way back in the drug trade, don't know if Alex was invovled in heroin.

John "Handsome Johnny" Roselli born Filippo Sacco was a friend of Capone I think he was born in Boston. Rosell met with Capone at the Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. In 1928, Capone invited Roselli to Chicago, offering him a role in his organization.

Never. Maybe he turned a blind eye to some of the international dope operations during the Giancana-Battaglia era which were headed by some of his crew members, but later he was one of the top three bosses that opposed drugs.

Heres one convo between Humphreys and Giancana's underboss Frank Ferraro regarding a problem with the Cleveland family, in which Humphreys stated that the situation should be brought in front of the mafia commission....this is just one of the many evidences regarding Chicago's non-Itals knowing the inner workings and protocols within the Italiam mob...followed by Alex's opinion regarding that same problem...

The top guys should never get involved with drugs themselves, but their people on the streets have to make a living also, there was a huge demand for drugs even in those days.

Yes thats true, since during the 70s the narcotics trade exploded around the country. But even before he became member of the Outfits ruling panel, Alex never touched the racket, or at least I personally never saw any information that indicates his involvement in the dope trade, or any of his top lieutenants like Briatta, Tornabene, Bertucci, Sam Alex, Pierce or Kruse. Although, as I previously mentioned, some of his other associates like the DiCaro bros, especially Charlie DiCaro who in turn was personal chauffeur and bodyguard for Pierce, or Hy Larner who answered to both Alex and Ed Vogel, were a different story. In fact, I always wondered on why Alex, Humphreys or Ferraro never asked for the lives of those same individuals, but it seems that the dope dealers were directly instructed by some of the leading bosses such as Giancana, and so Alex and the rest of the leaders were forced to turn a blind eye to whole situation. Maybe thats why some of those guys later ended up in Frank Caruso's crew who in turn was a known financier of narcotics by using the African-American criminal element for distribution and usage. According to the feds, Alex was even known for punishing some of his underlings for being degenerate gamblers and he allegedly hated that a lot. Alex's punishment was stripping them from their lucrative operations and giving them someone else. So, imagine if one of his cohorts snorted coke right beside him or sold dope in his presence?! DEAD! Lol

Thx amigo. Good you mention Hyman Larner another enigma lol. (November 4, 1913 – October 12, 2002)

You're welcome buddy. Ten years ago I wrote one quite large article on Larner named as "Chicago's "Meyer Lansky"" and he was probably one if the smartest and richest associates in the Outfit's history. He possibly started under Matt Kolb but later learned the rackets under one of the Outfit's most profitable bosses Eddie Vogel who in turn almost had a monopoly of vending machines around the Midwest and West Coast. Later, Larner answered to Alex and when the Outfit made an alliance with the CIA, he was one of the most elusive "agents" and became one of the most important international gangsters, especially around Central and South America. When the FBI was looking for him during the early 90's, Larner faked his death with the help of corrupt Panamanian newspapers. In the end, his case was shut down probably because of his secret government and Zionist connections and died as a free man in the U.S. and was buried in Waukegan.