Chicago's Most Gruesome Mob Murder: The Sickening Torture and Murder of William "Action" Jackson
In August 1961, Outfit debt collector William "Action" Jackson was abducted, brutally tortured, and murdered by the organization that he worked for
Background
Were it not for the horrific details of his torture and murder, the life and criminal career of low-level Chicago Outfit associate William “Action” Jackson would likely have been lost to history.
However, it is exactly because of the unbelievably cruel and savage method in which Jackson was tortured and killed that he is still remembered today.
Even within the treacherous and often violent world of organized crime, the merciless killing of “Action” Jackson stands apart from traditional mob “hits.” Those involved in Cosa Nostra understand that “The Life,” as it is often referred to, comes with inherent risks, including long prison sentences, or even the possibility of being murdered.
Mobsters can be killed for a variety of reasons. If your superiors think you may be stealing or holding back money. Or, they believe you might be an informant. There could also be an internal power struggle going on, and you just happen to become a casualty.
Those associated with the mob, as well as those who have taken the oath, understand and accept these risks as part of “the life.”
However, there is also an understanding that most mob hits are done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Often, the victims are shot in the back of the head and are dead before they even realize what happened.
Even a crew of killers as vicious as Roy DeMeo and the Gemini Crew shot their victims in the head before dismembering them.
For whatever reason, though, when it comes to organized crime, Chicago has always been a different animal. Much smaller in numbers than their New York counterparts, what the Outfit lacked in size, they more than made up for in brutality.
There has been some speculation and debate over the years as to what Jackson’s actual transgression was (I will touch on this below), but one thing that is not debated is that the murder of William “Action” Jackson is always at or near the top of any list of the most brutal mob murders in American history.
Who Was Action Jackson
William “Action” Jackson was a career criminal associated with the Chicago Outfit. His nickname Action was a reference to the fact that he was a “juice” or debt collector for the mob.
Weighing in excess of 300 pounds, Jackson had an intimidating presence, which he used to his advantage while dishing out punishment to those who were short on or attempted to abscond from their debt.
Jackson had a reputation as a bruiser and a bully and, by the early 1950s, had already racked up arrests for robbery, assault, and rape. By the mid-1950s, he had become associated with members of organized crime, acting as a juice loan collector and leg breaker under notorious Outfit associate and killer Sam “Mad Sam” DeStefano.
“Mad Sam”
Having come up through the ranks of Chicago’s legendary Forty-Two Gang, which produced many future Outfit heavyweights like Sam Giancana, DeStefano became a force to be reckoned with, eventually becoming a mentor to up-and-coming Outfit soldier Tony Spilotro.
DeStefano ran a large and lucrative loan sharking operation and was also known to be politically connected. It was for these reasons that the Outfit tolerated his eccentric and often bizarre behavior.
Though he did business with many high-ranking members of the Outfit, he was never seriously considered for membership because of his psychotic behavior.
Several people who knew him reported that Sam deliberately took on high-risk loan customers who would likely have great difficulty paying back the loan. This then gave Sam a reason to torture the unfortunate victim.
There are numerous stories about DeStefano’s manic behavior. From frothing at the mouth during an intense torture session to showing up to court in pajamas while shouting through a bullhorn to urinating in the coffee cups of FBI agents.
He has been described as having been extremely emotional and temperamental. He was also said by some to have been a devil worshipper. This is the man that William Jackson worked for.
Abduction, Torture, and Murder
In early August of 1961, Jackson was abducted and taken to a meat rendering plant on Chicago’s south side.
Though there has been some debate over the reason for Jackson’s torture and murder, the prevailing thought is that some people close to the Outfit, including DeStefano, believed he was an informant cooperating with the police.
Inside the plant, Jackson’s enormous frame was suspended about a foot off the ground on a meat hook through his rectum. He endured horrific torture as he was subjected to beatings with baseball bats, stabbed numerous times with ice picks, burned with a blowtorch, and had his penis and testicles repeatedly shocked with a cattle prod.
Supposedly, during the entire ordeal, the mobsters were accusing Jackson of being a rat and telling him to admit that he was talking to the police. Despite the unimaginable pain he was in, Jackson denied ever cooperating, which likely only further infuriated his captors.
An FBI wiretap would later pick up two of the participants in the crime, James “Turk” Torello and Fiore "Fifi" Buccieri, recounting some of what happened:
Torello: “Jackson was hung up on that meat hook, he was so heavy he bent it. He was on that thing three days before he croaked.”
Buccieri then cuts in; “You shoulda seen the guy. Like an elephant he was, and when Jimmy hit him with that electrical prod…”
Torello then chimes in: “He was floppin’ around on that hook Jackie. We tossed water on him to give the prod a better charge, and he’s screamin’…”
This tiny audio snippet gives us a window into the kind of person who can brutally torture and kill someone and later laugh about it as if they were recalling an amusing vacation story.
Once Jackson’s interrogation was over, the mobsters left him to die on the meat hook.
Possible Alternative Motives
On August 12, 1961, a Chicago police officer discovered the badly beaten and tortured body of William Jackson stuffed inside the trunk of his 1957 Cadillac.
The car had been left on the lower level of Wacker Drive in Downtown Chicago. Meaning that the people who left the car there intended for it to be found.
They must have also known that the details of the crime would be reported by the media. Therefore, the horrific details of Jackson’s torture and murder would serve as a warning to others within the underworld that crossing the Outfit had severe consequences.
Though the consensus is that Jackson was tortured and killed due to suspicion that he was cooperating with law enforcement, others have offered up some possible alternative motives.
The first being that he was shorting his bosses on his loan collections. Of course, in the money-centric world of Cosa Nostra, this is reason enough to be killed.
The other competing theory is that Jackson had raped the wife of an Outfit-connected burglar who was locked up at the time of Jackson’s murder. The theory goes that although the burglar himself could not have directly participated in the murder, he could have conceivably reached out to some of his Outfit connections.
Depending on who he was connected to and how close they were, this could explain the ferocity of Jackson’s torture and murder.
Whatever the reason for Jackson’s murder, whether real or perceived, his body was intentionally left to be discovered in order to send a message. It is likely safe to say that whoever that message was intended for received it loud and clear.
Sources:
“Seek 3 Top Hoodlums For Murder Quiz.” Chicago Tribune, 13 August 1961, p. 9, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/374749699/?
Loughran, Robert T. “Death of Action Jackson puts squeeze on Chicago’s police.” Redlands Daily Facts [Redlands, California], 23 August 1961, p. 11, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/article/redlands-daily-facts-upi-story-on-the-mu/845538/
Smith, Sandy. “Ward Begins Probe Of Mob Loan Sharks.” Chicago Tribune, 17 August 1961, p. 7, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/197713989/?match=1&terms=william%20action%20jackson
In The Godfather, when they have the big meeting after Sonny is killed, mobsters come from all over the country - except Chicago. When Don Corleone is asked why not, he says that they are animals who cannot be civilized. That bit came to mind as I was reading about Action Jackson's death.