Richard Cain (October 4, 1931 – December 20, 1973), also known as Richard Scalzitti, was a notoriously corrupt

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

police officer and a close associate of

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

boss

Sam Giancana Salvatore Mooney Giancana (; born Gilormo Giangana; ; May 24, 1908 – June 19, 1975) was an American mobster who was boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957 to 1966. Giancana was born in Chicago to Italian immigrant parents. He joined the 42 ...

Early life

Richard Cain was born to John and Lydia ( née Scully) Cain who were

Irish-American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

and

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

, respectively in

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

. Cain was raised in Chicago and

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

after his parents divorced. He joined the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

at the age of 17 and was stationed in the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

from 1947 to 1950. While there, he became fluent in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

. Before returning to Chicago in 1951, Cain worked as an investigator at the

Burns Detective Agency Burns may refer to: * Burn, an injury (plural) People: * Burns (surname), includes list of people and characters Business: * Burns London, a British guitar maker Places: ;In the United States * Burns, Colorado, unincorporated community in Eagle C ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. Despite his grandfather having been a prominent sewer contractor who was killed by the

Chicago Outfit The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, ...

Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are ...

, in 1928, Cain would later become a close associate of

. While Cain worked as an officer in the Chicago Police Department (CPD) during the mid-1950s, he served as a

bagman The term bagman (or bag man) has different meanings in different countries. One group of definitions centers on the idea of traveling. In British usage, "bagman" is a term for a traveling salesman, first known from 1808. In Australian usage, ...

between corrupt police officials and the Outfit.

Double deal and disgrace

Taking a leave of absence from the CPD in 1960, Cain was assigned as an investigator for Assistant U.S. Attorney

Richard Ogilvie Richard Buell Ogilvie (February 22, 1923 – May 10, 1988) was the List of Governors of Illinois, 35th governor of Illinois and served from 1969 to 1973. A wounded combat veteran of World War II, he became known as the American Mafia, mafia-fi ...

in his investigation of Outfit boss Anthony Accardo. Cain alluded to having been deported from Mexico in 1961 after helping train

Cuban-American Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cuban descent or ...

s for the

Bay of Pigs invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly fin ...

. After his death, "Washington sources" confirmed "off-the-record" that these claims were true. He also claimed to have worked with the U.S. State Department "tracing the flow of American money into Communist hands." Cain returned to Chicago in early 1962 to support Ogilvie in his campaign for

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

Sheriff. In 1962, Sheriff Ogilvie appointed Cain to be the chief investigator of the

Cook County Sheriff's Office The Cook County Sheriff's Office is the principal law enforcement agency that serves Cook County, Illinois. It is the second largest sheriff's department in the United States, with over 6,900 members when at full operational strength. It is hea ...

. During this time, Cain led the investigation that resulted in the Fun Lounge police raid. In 1964, Cain was fired for lying to a grand jury regarding his involvement in the recovery of stolen drugs. Cain was convicted of

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

. He served six months in prison concurrent with a four-year sentence from 1968 for being an accessory to a bank robbery. Cain was paroled in 1971.

Informant and murder victim

After parole, Cain made "frequent trips" to and from Mexico as Sam Giancana's courier and financial adviser. Cain became a key figure in Giancana's money skimming from casinos in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. During this time, conspiring to control the city's

illegal gambling Gaming law is the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law, ...

operations, he began working as an FBI informant for Agent William F. Roemer, allegedly muscling out his rivals by revealing their operations to federal authorities. Grave of Richard Scully Cain (1931–1973) at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Alsip, IL 1

Grave of Richard Scully Cain (1931–1973) at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Alsip, IL 1

On December 20, 1973, Cain was killed by masked gunmen in Rose's Sandwich Shop in Chicago. Witnesses reported that no more than 15 minutes before the attack Cain had been talking with four other men who were not present when the gunmen arrived. Two of these four men were reported to have left using a back door. At the time of the gunmen's arrival, Cain was seen talking with an unidentified woman in black. The gunmen carried a shotgun, a pistol, and a two-way radio that they used to communicate with an outside lookout. They ordered the shop's staff and patrons (including Cain) against the wall but did not speak directly to Cain. They asked several of them if they had any money and asked, "Who's got the package?" Cain was approached, pulled slightly away from the wall, and shot in the head with the shotgun. As he fell, the second gunman also shot him in the head. Cain's assailants reportedly removed an item from one of his pockets before fleeing. The unidentified woman apparently left at the same time as the gunmen. Cain was interred in the Scully family mauseoleum at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.

Possible murder motives

During the early 1970s, Cain became involved in a burglary ring masterminded by Outfit capo Marshall Caifano. It has been speculated that Caifano had learned of Cain's informant status and had received permission from Accardo to murder Cain. Caifano was reported to have been in Rose's Sandwich Shop only two hours before Cain's murder. After Cain's death, the ''Chicago Tribune'' reported that Cain had once bugged Caifano's bedroom. Cain was also reported to have been "arguing violently" with senior Outfit figure Gus Alex shortly before Cain's death over Cain's plans to organize 12-day gambling cruises for Chicago high-rollers off the Florida coast. Several ''Chicago Tribune'' articles printed in the days after Cain's death reported speculation by investigators that Cain's murder was in retaliation for the murder of

Sam DeStefano Samuel "Mad Sam" DeStefano (September 13, 1909 − April 14, 1973) was a Mobster who was associated with the Chicago Outfit. He was one of the organization's most notorious loan sharks and sociopathic killers. Chicago-based Federal Bureau of I ...

the previous April.

Alleged involvement in the JFK assassination

According to a biography of Sam Giancana written by his family, Giancana told his younger brother that it was Cain and

Charles Nicoletti Charles Nicoletti (; December 3, 1916 – March 29, 1977), also known as "Chuckie the Typewriter", was an American mobster of the Chicago Outfit, who served as hitman under boss Sam Giancana before and after Giancana's rise and fall. Nicoletti w ...

, not

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...

, who were in the Texas Book Depository on November 22, 1963. According to Michael J. Cain, there was no evidence to support the rumors that his half-brother was directly involved in the

assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...

as a gunman. Richard Cain was at the Criminal Courts Building 26th & California, Chicago, Illinois the day of the Kennedy assassination - per John J. Flood who worked with Richard Cain. According to historian

Lamar Waldron Lamar Waldron (born 1954) is an American writer and historian who often writes about conspiracies and cover-ups. Education Waldron studied at Georgia State University. He has two degrees from Georgia State, including a Masters in Counseling/Psyc ...

in his book ''The Hidden History of the JFK Assassination'' (2013), Richard Cain did not shoot the president but acted as an informant on behalf of mobster John Roselli for the Chicago assassination attempt planned for November 2, 1963.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cain, Richard 1931 births 1973 deaths 1973 murders in the United States American gangsters American police officers convicted of crimes Burials at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (Alsip, Illinois) Chicago Outfit mobsters Chicago Police Department officers Deaths by firearm in Illinois Federal Bureau of Investigation informants Male murder victims Murdered American gangsters of Irish descent Murdered American gangsters of Italian descent People associated with the assassination of John F. Kennedy Police misconduct in the United States People murdered by the Chicago Outfit People murdered in Illinois Unsolved murders in the United States