July 1, 1928
Brooklyn, New York
Crime boss Frankie Yale (born Francesco Ioele) is murdered as he drives home
Directly before his death, Yale received a phone from an anonymous caller claiming Yale’s wife, Lucy, was in trouble. Yale rushed home in his new car which had been outfitted with armored plating. It did not, however, have bulletproof glass. When a sedan carrying four men with guns approached Yale, he immediately understood the danger. The sedan chased after Yale, catching up with him and opening fire. One blast from a shotgun hit the right side of Yale’s head while a bullet from a submachine gun penetrated his brain; both wounds on their own were fatal. Yale’s car then crashed into a brownstone house’s stoop.
It was long-suspected crime rival and former-subordinate Al Capone had ordered the hit on Yale. Forensic ballistics tests linked the submachine used in Yale’s murder to the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre — carried out seven and a half months later — which was also considered to have been orchestrated by Capone.
