Charles "Trigger Happy" Fischetti (March 24, 1901 – April 11, 1951) was a

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

mobster, Al Capone's bodyguard and cousin.

Early life

Charles Fischetti was born on March 24, 1901. His mother was named Mary. He had a brother, Nicholas, who was a dentist, and two other brothers,

Rocco Rocco or Rocko is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: First name * Rocco Baldelli (born 1981), American Major League Baseball player and manager of the Minnesota Twins * Rocco Botte (born 1983), American actor a ...

and Joseph, who were alleged criminals. He was a cousin of Al Capone.son of Ralph Capone, Al Capone's brother, Federal Bureau of Investigatio
"Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts Release of Frank Sinatra File # 174-304", part 2b
page 14, accessed October 29, 2009

Career

Fischetti started his career as Al Capone's chauffeur in

South Brooklyn South Brooklyn is a historic term for a section of the former City of Brooklyn – now the New York City borough of Brooklyn – encompassing what are now the Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Park Slope, Windsor Ter ...

. In the 1920s, he helped Capone spread his business in

Cicero, Illinois Cicero (originally known as Hawthorne) is a suburb of Chicago and an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 85,268. making it the 11th largest municipality in Illinois. The town of Cic ...

. Fischetti attended the 1946 Havana Conference of

Cosa Nostra The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily ...

leaders and received the murder contract on

Bugsy Siegel Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was an American mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was not only influential within the Jewish Mob, but along with his childhood fri ...

. Fischetti was also good friends with singers Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, the former as early as the 1940s. Upon Al Capone's death in 1947, Fischetti reportedly inherited his mob investments. Fischetti was called a notorious Chicago gangster in the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

files.Federal Bureau of Investigatio
"Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts Release of Frank Sinatra File # 174-304", part 2b
page 14, accessed October 29, 2009 With his brother Rocco, he surrendered April 2, 1951, to the sergeant-at-arms of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

having been sought to testify before the Senate Crime Investigating Committee (

Kefauver committee The United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce was a special committee of the United States Senate which existed from 1950 to 1951 and which investigated organized crime which crossed state borders in the U ...

). Charles Fischetti died nine days later, before he could testify.

Personal life and death

Fischetti had a wife, Ann. They resided in Miami Beach, Florida. Fischetti died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

on April 11, 1951, in Miami Beach, Florida.AP (April 11, 1951) "Charles Fischetti, Gangland Overlord, Dies in Florida" ''Corpus Christi Times'' page 11, column 1 $30,000 worth of flowers in seven cars were sent to his funeral, which was held at Our Lady of Peace Roman Catholic Church at 561 Carroll Street in Brooklyn. It was attended by 1,500 relatives, most of them women. The ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' suggested they may have been the wives of organized crime associates. Meanwhile, there were also 12 policemen in uniform and 20 in plainclothes. Fischetti was buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York City.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischetti, Charles 1901 births 1951 deaths Place of birth missing People from Brooklyn People from Miami Beach, Florida American gangsters of Italian descent