Richard Cain

This article is about the corrupt Chicago police officer. For the U.S. congressman from South Carolina, see Richard H. Cain.

Richard Cain
Richard Cain
Born	Chicago, Illinois, USA
Died	December 20, 1973(1973-12-20) (aged 42) Chicago, Illinois, USA
Police career
Country	United States
Department	Chicago Police Department Cook County Sheriff's Department
Service years	1951–1960 1962–1964
Rank	Sworn in as an officer: 1951 Chief Investigator: 1962

Richard Cain (October 4, 1931 – December 20, 1973) was a notoriously corrupt Chicago police officer, made man in the Chicago Outfit, and a close associate of Mafia boss Sam Giancana. Several conspiracy theorists have claimed that Cain was directly involved in the 1963 assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

Early life

Richard Scully Cain was born to John and Lydia (née Scully) Cain, who were Irish-American and Italian-American, respectively, in Chicago. Cain was raised in Chicago and Michigan after his parents divorced. He joined the U.S. Army at the age of 17 and was stationed in the United States Virgin Islands from 1947 to 1950. While there, he became fluent in Spanish. Before returning to Chicago in 1951, Cain worked as an investigator at the Burns Detective Agency in Dallas.<ref-name=game>"Cain played mob game and lost big", Chicago Tribune, 21 December 1973, pp. 1, 8.</ref>

Despite his grandfather having been a prominent sewer contractor who was killed by the Outfit in Little Italy, Chicago, in 1928, Cain would later become a made man and a close associate of Sam Giancana. It has been alleged that Giancana arranged for Cain to become an officer with the Chicago Police Department during the mid-1950s. While a policeman, Cain served as a bagman between corrupt police officials and the Outfit.

Double deal and disgrace

Taking a leave of absence from the police department in 1960, Cain was assigned as an investigator for Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Ogilvie in his investigation of Outfit boss Anthony Accardo.

Cain alluded to having been deported from Mexico in 1961 after helping train Cuban-Americans for the Bay of Pigs invasion. 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."<ref-name=game/>

Cain returned to Chicago in early 1962 to support Ogilvie in his campaign for Cook County Sheriff. Upon Ogilvie's taking office, Cain was appointed Chief Investigator in the Sheriff's Department. 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. 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.<ref-name=game/> Cain became a key figure in Giancana's money skimming from casinos in Central America and Iran. During this time, conspiring to control the city's illegal gambling 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.

On December 20, 1973, Richard 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 which 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.

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 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, not Lee Harvey Oswald, 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 involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

See also

• Operation 40

Further reading

• Ashman, Charles. The CIA-Mafia Link. New York: Manor Books, 1975.
• Cain, Michael J. The Tangled Web: The Life and Death of Richard Cain—Chicago Cop and Mafia Hitman. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-1-60239-044-7.
• Giancana, Sam and Chuck. Double Cross: The Explosive, Inside Story of the Mobster Who Controlled America. New York: Warner Books, 1992. ISBN 0-446-51624-4.
• Furiati, Claudia. ZR Rifle: The Plot to Kill Kennedy and Castro. Melbourne, Australia: Ocean Press, 1994. ISBN 1-875284-84-2.
• Hinckle, Warren and Turner, William W. The Fish Is Red: The Story of the Secret War Against Castro. New York: Harper & Row, 1981. ISBN 0-06-038003-9.

External links

• Richard Cain at Find-A-Grave