50 Photos of Real-Life Gangster Homes and Hideouts

Paul Ricca’s Chicago hideaway

Ricca served as underboss to Frank “The Enforcer” Nitti, but in reality, he called the shots. Nitti, who suffered from extreme claustrophobia, committed suicide in 1943 after he was pressured by Ricca and others to plead guilty to extortion charges to get them off the hook. Ricca then took over as leader of the Chicago Outfit and appointed Tony Accardo as underboss.

© Berg Properties

Paul Ricca’s Chicago hideaway

Like his suburban mansion, Paul Ricca commanded a veneer of responsibility, but nonetheless, he was just as cruel and ruthless as the other Mafia bosses. If he wanted to get rid of someone, he would simply whisper “make-a him go away” to one of his enforcers and consider the job done.

© Berg Properties

Paul Ricca’s Chicago hideaway

After a day’s work enforcing his iron rule, Ricca would return to his well-appointed home with its four fireplaces, parquet floors, handsome library and other splendid rooms. Like other Mafia mansions, the property has plenty of places to hide incriminating items, including a wardrobe with a secret door that opens to a concealed space.

© Berg Properties

Paul Ricca’s Chicago hideaway

Ricca was arrested in 1957 and subsequently charged with tax evasion. He was imprisoned in 1959 but only served 27 months of his nine-year sentence. When Ricca died of a heart attack in 1972, his former mansion passed to a professor at the University of Illinois who sold it in 2014 for $900,000 through Berg Properties.

© Berg Properties

Tony Accardo’s River Forest residence

Tony Accardo, AKA “Big Tuna”, allegedly took over from Paul Ricca in 1972 as the boss of the Chicago Outfit, having worked his way up from a small-time crook on Chicago’s South Side. Like his predecessor, Accardo ended up purchasing a magnificent mansion in the Chicago suburb of River Forest.

© Associated Press [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons/Jason Adrian Photography/Caporale Realty Gro…