Walter Stevens

Who was Walter Stevens?

Walter Stevens was a freelance enforcer and "hitman," popularly known as, "dean of the Chicago gunmen," during Prohibition. Although having the reputation of violent gangster, credited with the deaths of at least 60 men, Stevens was a devoted husband to an invalid wife and his three adopted children. Stevens was uncharacteristically cultured compared to his fellow contemporaries, refraining from drinking and reportedly quoted classical literature from authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson and poet Robert Burns.

A long-time Chicago gangster, Stevens first gained prominence as a labor slugger alternating between labor racketeer, Maurice "Mossy" Enright, and other rivals often committing assault and murder-for-hire for as much as $50 and, on orders from Enight, murdered rival gunman Pete Gentleman, in 1919.

During the early 1910s, Stevens began to develop political connections and, as seen during 1919 embezzlement trial of Illinois State Treasurer Len Small, Stevens was able to help win Small's acquittal through bribery and intimidation of the jury. Small, who eventually became governor, pardoned Stevens after his conviction of murdering an Aurora police officer. in October 1918.