Adam Frank Heyer, a 39-year-old male of Caucasian ethnicity, was killed on February 14, 1929, during the infamous Saint Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago, Illinois. Heyer worked as an accountant for the Moran gang, a rival faction to Al Capone's Chicago Outfit. On that fateful day, Heyer was among seven men lined up against a wall in a garage on North Clark Street and shot by four assailants, two of whom were disguised as police officers.
The massacre was part of the ongoing gang
violence during Prohibition, as the North Side Gang and the Chicago Outfit fought for control over the lucrative bootlegging market. Despite extensive investigations, the perpetrators of the massacre were never conclusively identified, although former members of the Egan's Rats gang, who were working for Capone, were suspected of involvement.
Heyer's death, along with the other victims, shocked the nation and highlighted the brutal nature of gang warfare in Chicago during the 1920s. The massacre also led to increased efforts by law enforcement to combat organized crime, with President Herbert Hoover making crime fighting a priority of his administration.
Heyer's body was found with about 15 bullet wounds, and his dog, "Highball," was tied up in the garage and began barking frantically, alerting people to the carnage. Heyer was buried in Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois.
The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre remains one of the most infamous events in the history of organized crime in the United States, and the mystery surrounding the identities of the killers has never been fully resolved.
