Alfred Liddle : Biography

On 9th June, 1930, Alfred Liddle, a crime reporter working for the Chicago Tribune, was walking down Randolph Street, in Chicago, on the way to catch a train to the racetrack. A well-dressed man moved up behind him and calmly took out a revolver shot him in the head. Liddle died immediately and at first it was assumed that it was an attempt to stop the city's newspapers from investigating well-known crime figures.

Newspaper owners got together and offered $55,000 to anyone who provided information that led to the arrest and conviction of the killer. However, when fellow journalists began to investigate the case, they discovered that although Liddle was only earning $65 a week, he lived the life of an extremely wealthy man. Further research revealled that the reason for this was that he had an annual income of $150,000. Journalists were unable to discover who was paying him this money, but it was possible to trace several expensive gifts back to gang bosses such as Al Capone.

The police eventually arrested Leo Brothers for the murder. Although Brothers had no money of his own, someone paid for him to be defended by a team of five of the most expensive lawyers in Chicago. During the trial Brothers refused to say why he killed Liddle. Brothers was convicted but surprisingly received only a short sentence of fourteen years.