On this day, June 19, in 1975, Chicago mobster Sam Giancana was shot to death shortly before he was to testify before a United States Senate committee investigating Mafia involvement in a failed CIA plot to assassinate Fidel Castro.
Giancana rose to power by taking over the black lottery game in South Side Chicago, earning millions for “The Outfit.”
Giancana had several mistresses, including two women who have been romantically linked to President John F. Kennedy. One of the women later claimed she unwittingly passed information along from Kennedy to Giancana.
Giancana and other mobsters had been recruited by the CIA during the Kennedy administration to assassinate Castro.
Giancana, who once said that the CIA and the Mafia were “different sides of the same coin,” suggested using a pill to poison Castro’s food.
Thirty-four years ago today, Giancana was frying Italian sausage and peppers in his home in Oak Park, Ill., when he was shot in the back of the head. He was turned over and shot six more times in the face.
His killer was never found.
