MURDERS  DURING  PROHIBITION

 

Peoria, Illinois:  A lot of Peorians, when they think of Prohibition here in Peoria, think it was like Chicago and the Al Capone gangster days.  It was not.  According to what reports you read well over 500 to 700 people were killed up there during Prohibition.  Here in Peoria we had 72 murders reported from 1920 thru  1933…ONE  That’s right ONE was connected in anyway with a “Bootlegging’ operation or shoot out.

 

1920         7                 1921       10         1922      9          1923      4

 

1924         4                 1925        2          1926     2           1927      3

 

1928         2                  1929        5          1930      9          1931      5

 

1932         9                   1933        1       

 

Prohibition is over    1934    we have  6   murders..

 

Total during Prohibition    72     that averages out to  5.5 murders per year here in Peoria, Illinois during the   13 years of Prohibition…..

 

1924 Detective Keene in attempting to stop the break in of one of his RR cars he was paid to protect was shot.  The body of a member of that gang was a man called HORN.  His body was in a field on Griswold Street…Ballistics at that time, according to police  showed that the slugs in Horn came from RR Detective Keene...the bullet in Keene came from the gun police found with Horn…believe that?  Well, that’s the official record.