Sam Giancana — June 19, 1975

“We took care of Kennedy.”

Did Sam Giancana help win the 1960 election for JFK? Was he involved in the Kennedy assassination? Did the CIA use him to try to kill Castro? He was shot dead the night before he was due to answer those very questions before a Senate committee. No one has ever been charged with his murder. The FBI surveillance watching his house around the clock was mysteriously absent that night.

Who Was Sam Giancana?

Salvatore Giancana was born on June 15, 1908, in the Little Italy neighbourhood of Chicago. He grew up on the streets of the Taylor Street neighbourhood, fell into crime as a teenager, and by his twenties was working as a driver and enforcer for the Chicago Outfit. He came up under the tutelage of Tony Accardo — the most enduring and capable boss the Outfit ever had — and rose steadily through the organisation’s ranks.

He became boss of the Chicago Outfit in 1957, a position he held until 1966. Where Accardo had been careful, understated and almost invisible to the public, Giancana was the opposite. He craved the limelight. He was photographed with celebrities. He had a well-documented relationship with Judith Exner, who was simultaneously involved with President Kennedy. He socialised with Frank Sinatra and moved in Hollywood circles. He was exactly the kind of mob boss that Accardo had always told his people not to be — and Accardo eventually forced him out because of it.

The CIA Connection — Operation Mongoose

In the early 1960s, Sam Giancana became involved in one of the most extraordinary episodes in American intelligence history. The CIA, seeking to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro whose 1959 revolution had closed the mob’s enormously profitable Havana casino operations, approached the Mafia for help. Their reasoning was straightforward: the mob had both the motivation and the operational capability that the CIA lacked for this kind of work.

The approach was made through intermediary Robert Maheu — a former FBI agent working as a CIA contractor. Maheu contacted Johnny Roselli, who brought in Giancana. A CIA officer later recalled that Giancana was offered $150,000 for Castro’s assassination. Giancana reportedly declined the money, saying he would do it as a patriotic act.

Various plots were developed — poison pills slipped into Castro’s food, an exploding cigar, a contaminated diving suit. None of them worked. Castro survived every attempt. The operation continued into the Kennedy administration and was eventually shut down after the Bay of Pigs disaster.

None of this became public knowledge until 1975 — when the Church Committee, a Senate investigation into intelligence abuses, began investigating CIA assassination plots against foreign leaders. The committee wanted to hear from Sam Giancana. He was scheduled to testify on June 20, 1975.

Forced Out — The Years Before His Death

Giancana’s relationship with the Outfit had deteriorated badly in his final years. Accardo had effectively forced him out of the boss position in 1966, unable to tolerate his public profile and his refusal to operate the way the Outfit demanded — quietly, invisibly, profitably. Giancana relocated to Mexico, where he ran his own gambling operations without cutting in the Chicago bosses. This was a serious breach — he was taking Outfit money without sending a share back.

He was eventually extradited back to the United States in 1974 and spent a year in prison on contempt charges for refusing to testify before a grand jury. When he was released in 1975 he returned to his Oak Park home — under FBI surveillance and with the Senate committee waiting to question him.

June 19, 1975 — The Last Supper

On the evening of June 19, 1975, Sam Giancana was in the basement kitchen of his home at 1147 South Wenonah Avenue in Oak Park. He was cooking — sausages with peppers and beans. He had let a guest into the house. There was no sign of forced entry. Whoever killed him was someone he knew and trusted enough to admit to his home on the night before one of the most significant days of his life.

He was shot once in the back of the head. Then, as he fell, the gunman fired six more times into his face and jaw — the classic mob execution pattern, the additional shots designed to ensure death and send a message. He was found in his kitchen by his daughter Bonnie, who had come to the house that evening.

The FBI, which had maintained continuous surveillance on Giancana’s home for years, was not watching that night. Their surveillance had been withdrawn. No satisfactory explanation for this has ever been provided.

No one was ever arrested for Sam Giancana’s murder. He never testified before the Church Committee. The questions about what he knew — about Kennedy, about Castro, about the CIA — died with him in that kitchen.

Who Killed Sam Giancana?

The identity of Giancana’s killer has never been established. Two main theories dominate. The first points to the Chicago Outfit itself — specifically to figures loyal to Tony Accardo, who had reasons to want Giancana silenced before he could testify about Outfit operations before the Senate committee. Giancana’s testimony could have implicated current Outfit leadership.

The second theory — which has never gone away — implicates elements of the CIA or other government agencies who wanted to prevent Giancana from revealing the full extent of the CIA-Mafia plots against Castro and whatever else he knew about the relationships between organised crime and American intelligence. The timing — the night before his Senate testimony, combined with the mysterious absence of FBI surveillance — has kept this theory alive for half a century.

In 1975, both theories were equally plausible. Neither has been proven. No one has been charged. The murder of Sam Giancana remains officially unsolved.

Frequently Asked Questions — Sam Giancana

How was Sam Giancana killed?

Giancana was shot dead on June 19, 1975, in the basement kitchen of his Oak Park home. A single shot to the back of the head was followed by six shots to the face — a classic execution. There was no forced entry. He had let his killer in. No arrest was ever made. The FBI surveillance normally watching his house was absent that night.

Why was Sam Giancana killed?

The motive has never been conclusively established. The leading theory is that he was silenced to prevent his testimony before the Church Committee Senate investigation into CIA assassination plots — he was due to testify the following morning. A second theory points to the Chicago Outfit itself, wanting to prevent him revealing operational details before the Senate. The timing — the night before his testimony, with FBI surveillance mysteriously pulled — has never been explained.

Was Sam Giancana connected to the CIA?

Yes — Giancana was recruited in the early 1960s as part of Operation Mongoose to assassinate Fidel Castro. The CIA approached him through intermediary Robert Maheu. Various plots were developed but none succeeded. His CIA involvement was exposed by the Church Committee investigation — which he was due to testify before when he was murdered.

Did Sam Giancana fix the 1960 presidential election?

Giancana is widely alleged to have delivered the crucial state of Illinois for JFK in 1960 by mobilising mob-controlled Chicago wards. The allegation is supported by Judith Exner, who was involved with both Kennedy and Giancana simultaneously. No definitive proof has been established, but the connection has been debated by historians for decades.

Was the FBI watching Giancana’s house when he was killed?

The FBI had maintained continuous surveillance on Giancana’s home for years — but on the night of June 19, 1975, the surveillance was absent. No satisfactory explanation has ever been given. Combined with the timing — the night before his Senate testimony — the absence has fuelled speculation about possible government involvement or foreknowledge of the murder ever since.