Chicago gangster 'Hymie' Weiss gunned down 100 years ago

The fatal shooting of Earl "Hymie" Weiss and Patrick Murray took place near Schofield’s flower shop, center right, and Holy Name Cathedral, left, in October 1926. The gunfire came from a window at 740 N. State St., also on the right. Three others were injured. (baiduhai historical photo)

Police show the apartment at 740 N. State St. in Chicago where gunmen took aim and shot Earl "Hymie" Weiss on Oct. 11, 1926. "Thirty-five empty .45 caliber shells were piled near the window," the Tribune reported. (baiduhai historical photo)

The fatal shooting of Earl "Hymie" Weiss and Patrick Murray took place near Schofield’s flower shop, top left, in October 1926. Machine-gun fire came from a window at 740 N. State St. Three others were injured in the shooting. (baiduhai historical photo)

Gangster Earl “Hymie” Weiss in an undated photo. (baiduhai archive)

The casket bearing Earl “Hymie” Weiss is carried out of the Sbarbaro & Co. chapel at 708 N. Wells St. in Chicago after his funeral on Oct. 15, 1926. Editor’s note: This historic glass-plate negative shows age damage. (baiduhai historical photo)

Relatives of Earl "Hymie" Weiss leave his funeral Oct. 15, 1926, at the Sbarbaro & Co. chapel at 708 N. Wells St. in Chicago. Cardinal George Mundelein denied the family a church funeral. (baiduhai historical photo)

A crowd of people surrounds the Sbarbaro & Co. chapel at 708 N. Wells St. in Chicago for the funeral of Earl “Hymie” Weiss on Oct. 15, 1926. (baiduhai historical photo)

Elaborate flower arrangements are displayed for the funeral of Earl “Hymie” Weiss on Oct. 15, 1926, in Chicago. (baiduhai historical photo)

A crowd surrounds the Sbarbaro & Co. chapel at 708 N. Wells St. in Chicago for the funeral of Earl “Hymie” Weiss on Oct. 15, 1926. (baiduhai historical photo)

Earl “Hymie” Weiss, bootlegger and Dean O’Banion’s successor as leader of the North Side Gang in Chicago, is laid to rest at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside on Oct. 15, 1926. O’Banion is also buried at the cemetery. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)

Lawyer Melton Smith, from left, lawyer W.W. Smith, gangster Sam Pellar (with face covered), legal investigator Ben Jacobs (with crutch, leaning on police officer) and Capt. Dan Murphy attend a hearing in the Earl “Hymie” Weiss murder at the South Clark Street Court in October 1926. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)

The Oak Park home of gangster Earl “Hymie” Weiss, circa 1926. (baiduhai historical photo)

Fred J. Weiss, seated at right, attends the coroner’s inquest held for his slain brother, gangster Earl “Hymie” Weiss, at the East Chicago Avenue police station on Oct. 12, 1926. “I saw him only once in twenty years,” the brother testified. “That was when he shot me three years ago.” (Chicago Herald and Examiner)

The men who shot Chicago gangsters Earl “Hymie” Weiss and Pat Murray on State Street in October 1926 would have looked out on this view from their nest. (baiduhai historical photo)

Deputy Coroner Charles Kennedy swears in the coroner's jury for the Earl “Hymie” Weiss inquest in 1926. Editor’s note: This glass plate negative shows age damage. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)

Josephine Libby Weiss, shown circa December 2026, went to court to claim she had married gangster Earl “Hymie” Weiss in secret and was the rightful heir to his estate, said to be $1.3 million. (baiduhai historical photo)

Food was left at an apartment at 1 W. Superior St. that was one of the hiding places used to lie in wait for Earl “Hymie” Weiss in October 1926. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)

A window that commanded a good view of everyone passing by at State and Superior streets in Chicago was one of the lookout points for the Earl “Hymie” Weiss murder in 1926. (baiduhai historical photo)

Mrs. Katherine Kottman, left, and Mrs. I.H. Cundiff, both of 740 N. State St., were witnesses to the gangland shootings in front of their homes on Oct. 11, 1926. (baiduhai historical photo)

Josephine Libby Weiss, who said she had been married to the late gangster Earl “Hymie” Weiss, sits with attorney John M. Lonergan, circa 1927. (Chicago Herald and Examiner photo)

North Side gangster Earl "Hymie" Weiss, circa 1925. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)