The Halloween Shoot Out at the Faatz Hotel

Revised: February 14, 2014

Before Halloween night in 1921 was over, Bruno Nistico would be laying on the ground behind the Faatz Hotel, on the old Cicero plank road, dying from a bullet wound to his head. Ironically it had all started as a trick that went bad. Bruno had promised a treat but delivered a trick. When Bruno tried to play the game one more time the trick was on him and he wound up dead.

Bruno Nistico was a 23 year old bootlegger, living with a brother in the city of Syracuse. The trick Bruno played around town was selling barrels of water while passing them off as whiskey. The marks quickly figured out the game and so Nistico had to move quickly. A man named Harry Beam had been taken in by Nistico’s little game and he was determined to get even.

Beam sought the help of a former Prohibition enforcement agent named Hannon to help set up what would be called a sting operation today. In this case Bruno Nestico was to be the sole target of the sting. Beam got Timmins to set up another buy from Nestico, for two barrels of whiskey for $1000. The whiskey was to be delivered on Monday evening, October 31^st (Halloween) at the rear of the Faatz hotel, on the Cicero plank road. Hannon was to play the role of the proprietor of the Faatz Hotel and would be the customer for the whiskey.

Hannon, Timmins and Nistico, the bootlegger, drove out to Faatz’s earlier in the day as a practice run. They agreed that Bruno should arrive at Faatz’s Hotel between 7 and 8 o’clock that evening. The truck was to be unloaded in the barn at the rear of the hotel.

Hannon contacted two current Prohibition enforcement agents: Stapleton and Van Tassel. The agents went along with the plan and picked up two city motorcycle policemen who were just going off duty to help out and they headed out to Faatz’s Hotel. The policemen: Snow and Kulas, claimed that they were not aware that the operation was a setup.

Everyone gathered at the hotel and the actual proprietor, William Corey, was going along with the plan but it was against his will. I suspect that the former prohibition agent, Hannon, probably had something on Corey and used it to assure his cooperation. Beam's friend Timmons, who had set up the buy, would wait out by the road to flag Nistico in when he arrived. Beam and Hannon were supposed to wait inside. After the truck was stopped in the rear of the hotel the policemen were to go out the front door and go left and right around the sides and head to the back of the hotel. Their function was to prevent the bootleggers from escaping. The prohibition enforcement agents would rush out the rear door and arrest the bootleggers. As with all good plans, they are only good until the first shot is fired.

Nistico fired twice and jumped from the truck and headed toward Van Tassel. Fearing for the life of his fellow agent Stapleton fired once and hit Nistico in the head. Spoto was the driver of the truck and he had stayed there while another passenger in the truck escaped as soon as the shooting had started. I don’t believe this third man was ever found. He was unknown to the driver but had to be an acquaintance of Nistico, however Nistico wasn’t talking anymore.

Open and shut, right? That would be too simple. The investigation went on for five days just to determine who had actually shot Nistico. The links to the transcriptions of the various newspaper stories published during that investigation are interesting to read since you now know who dunnit.

“…the killing, which so far is a mystery without precedent in Onondaga County.”

– The Syracuse Journal, Syracuse, NY, Saturday, November 5, 1921.

Name	Alias	Occupation
BOOTLEGGERS
Bruno Nistico		Bootlegger who was killed.
Joseph Spoto		Owner and driver of truck
Dominick DePolo		3^rd man on truck who disappeared

INSTIGATORS
Harry Beam	Harry Yates	Taken by Nistico’s scam. Main instigator in setting up the Faatz Hotel buy.
John Timmins	Timmins or Timinski	Friend of Beam. Set up buy with Nistico.
William F. Hannon		Former Prohibition Enforcement Agent. Played role of proprietor of Faatz’s Hotel and purchaser of Nistico’s “whiskey.”

LAW ENFORCEMENT
James A. Stapleton		Prohibition Enforcement Agent. Shot Nistico
Arthur Van Tassel		Prohibition Enforcement Agent
Louis Snow		Syracuse Motorcycle policeman
John Kulas		Syracuse Motorcycle policeman

INTERROGATORS
James Malpass		District Attorney
Martin L. Cadin		Chief of Police
Edward G. Ten Eyck		County Sheriff
S. Ellis Crane		Coroner
Claude Lecaron		Federal agent working from the national prohibition headquarters at Washington
John R. Baker		Federal agent working from the national prohibition headquarters at Washington

EXTRA PLAYERS
Michael H. Stapleton		Head of the Prohibition Enforcement Department in the Syracuse district. Cousin of James A. Stapleton.
William E. Corey		Actual proprietor of Faatz’s Hotel

Date	Transcriptions
1921-11-01	BOOTLEGGER SLAYING INVOLVES OFFICIALS OFFICIALS SEE BOOTLEGGER MURDERED
1921-11-02	IDENTITY OF BOOTLEGGER’S SLAYER STILL A MYSTERY
1921-11-03	BOOTLEGGER TRAGEDY FACTS STILL HIDDEN JOURNAL GETS FIRST EYE-WITNESS STORY OF KILLING
1921-11-04	SHERIFF LEADS RAID ON FORMER HOME OF NISTICO
1921-11-05	STAPLETON CONFESSES KILLING
1921-11-06	PROHIBITION OFFICER KILLED BOOTLEGGER