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Mt Carmel 7: The North Side Gang

Al Capone often claimed to have visions of his long time north side nemesis Dion O'Banion and others as he languished at his man-made lake alongside of his lavish Miami estate that served as his semi retirement headquarters and at times; a convenient alibi ...He was of course in the late stages of syphilis and thus prone to delusional thinking, but many believe he was often accosted by the vindictive spirits of rivals such as Obanion and others that suffered a similar fate as the result of his volatile tenure as Chicago crime boss and often extemporaneous behavior that resulted in the blood of many on his hands...ironically the graves of Obanion and two of his high ranking henchmen Hymie Weiss and Vincent Schemer Drucci are all laid to rest not far from big al's grave ...Capone does share residency with with confidant and ally frank Nitto here at Mt Carmel and ironically they are both interred on the south side of the cemetery while Obanion, Weiss and Drucci of the North Side Gang are all buried north of the Bishop's Mausoleum in close proximity to each other ...I was unsuccessful located the tombs of Drucci and Nitti ...

Also, I have been perplexed with the Italian Bride from the onset of my coverage of this location and the photo of the unchanged body inside the rotted wooden coffin that was exhumed at her mother's behest following years of her having dreams and visions of her daughter being buried alive and finding her body unchanged and without any indication of the onset of decomposition (link below) ...So I included more shots of The her grave in addition to those of Obanion and Weiss

Capone had complained to many people that ghosts were bothering him. Many other authors have written that he had gotten down on the floor crying and pleading that these ghosts would leave him alone. Why was he behaving like this? What was going on here? The photo was taken at a home he once owned, some were in Florida. This man still exists in that house as well as other demonic apparitions. This house is definitely haunted, with apparitions even venturing outside the house, in broad-daylight; and so the theory of turning off the lights in the house to conduct a ghost investigation, is pure non-sense, since apparitions will manifest in broad-daylight.
source and fulll article:
http://alcaponesghost.com/

Dion O'Banion's casket cost $10,000, and the funeral procession to Mount Carmel was a mile long, with 26 cars and trucks just to carry the flowers. The procession and burial included 15,000 mourners. His grave was dug in unconsecrated ground, as Cardinal Mundelein refused to allow such a notorious criminal to be buried among good Catholics. Five months later, his wife finally was able to move O'Banion's remains to the cemetery proper, and erect a shaft reading "My Sweetheart". Cardinal Mundelein ordered the monument removed, but a later obelisk was allowed to remain.

Ironically, the man who had initially been refused burial in consecrated ground is now in the most prestigious part of the cemetery, only a few hundred feet from the Bishop's Mausoleum.

source and full article;
Wikipedia

Capone gunmen set up shop at 740 North State st. next to Schofield's flower shop, Weiss's headquarters and earlier scene of O'Banion's murder.Other gunmen rent a room at 1 Superior street. Weeks pass and finally on October 11,1926 at 4:00 pm Weiss and company emerge from a car next to Holy Name Cathederal. As they proceed to cross the street machinegun opens fire and rakes the sidewalks and church blocks as Hymie is pelted with .45 ACP rounds. He drops to the ground and is hit by a total of ten bullets.He is alive and is rushed to Henrotin hospital where he dies enroute saying nothing.Patrick Murray, a gangster allied with Weiss is struck by 7 shots and dies where he fell in front of Schofield's. W.W.O'Brien lawyer accompanying Weiss was hit in the arm,side and abdomen and was able to walk to a doctor eight doors away. Benjamin Jacobs ,a O'Brien hired investigator and Sam Peller, who was a Weiss chauffeur and bodyguard, are both hit. Jacobs is hit in the foot and Peller is struck in the abdomen. Pellar, who is next to Weiss, freaked upon hearing the gunfire erupt. In the frenzy, he whips out his gun and accidently fires a shot into Weiss. Both Jacobs and Pellar make a run to a doctor's office a block away. The thompson machine gun jams on the 39th bullet which is lodged in the barrel. The killers escape through the back way and toss the thompson in a back yard.
source and full article:

http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id89.htm

Francesco Raffaele Nitto, better known as "Frank 'The Enforcer' Nitti" (January 27, 1888(?) – March 19, 1943) was an Italian American gangster. One of the top henchmen of Al Capone, Nitti was later the front-man for the Chicago Outfit, the organized crime syndicate Capone created.

source and full article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Nitti

source and full article:
http://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/mtcarmel/obanion.html

Besides Bishops and Gangsters, the cemetery does in fact hold ordinary people and one such grave is Julia Buccola Petta or “The Italian Bride”. Julia died while in childbirth in 1921. She was only 29. During the next six years, her mother Filomena kept having dreams about her daughter. Eventually her mother was able to get permission to have her grave exhumed. Upon doing so, the coffin was found to be rotten and appeared to have gone through the six years of decay that it should have. Julia, however, was perfect in every way. She had not decayed a bit in six years. Well the gravesite has a life-sized statue depicting Julia on her wedding day, as well as two urns, all on top of a black pedestal. In the pedestal are two pictures; one showing Julia again on her wedding day and the other showing her after her grave was opened six years after she was buried. It shows her to be perfectly preserved although the coffin can obviously be seen to be decaying within the picture. Such bodies that don’t decay are suppose to be incorruptible, a condition that several Catholic Saints are said to have had. Julia is said to wander the cemetery particularly near her grave. Motorists and pedestrians have reported seeing her from Harrison Street. She wears a white wedding gown as she goes on her way. Julia’s tombstone can easily be found by entering the cemetery from Harrison Street and turning left. She will be the first tall statue of a lady on your right.

source and full article:
http://www.weirdca.com/location.php?location=72

Here are the unedited (compressed) photos from my latest visit to Mt Carmel 8-30-09 (112 total)....b
http://s905.photobucket.com/albums/ac253/HalfhandFiles/Mt%20Carmel%...