Two bullets and shell casings fired from the ‘Tommy’ guns used in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. The two .45 ACP rounds were fired in 2008 by the Quartermaster of the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department and Charles Schauer, a Thompson collector and historian. Rounds are framed against a print with a graphic printed description of the event to an overall size of 9 x 19. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Schauer which states, in part: “This certifies that the .45 caliber ACP bullets and shell casings…were fired from the two Thompson Submachine Guns identified as having been used in the St. Valentine’s Day massacre…The accompanying rounds were fired at the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department Firing Range in Coloma, Michigan on 09 April 2008.” Also accompanied by a typed letter from Schauer stating the bullets were fired into a 55-gallon barrel of water. In fine condition. Intriguing and particularly chilling relics connected to one of the most vicious gangster crimes of all time.
The guns had originally been seized from the house of Fred ‘Killer’ Burke, then hiding under the alias Frederick Dane, after he had killed a policeman in St. Joseph, Michigan, in December, 1929. At that time their test-fired bullets were found to match those recovered in ‘Bugs’ Moran’s S-M-C Cartage Co. garage following the Massacre. Both Thompsons remain in the possession of the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department, which had led the raid on Burke’s house. They were recently fired by Chuck Schauer, a former police officer in a Chicago suburb, and given to recognized gangland historian Bill Helmer. Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Helmer and a signed copy of his book The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
RR Auction COA.
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