Reply #7: Well, back then we were still pretty rural...

[krispos42]

That might have been part of it. People were poor, but they were spread out. But back then a lot of people were moving around looking for work, so if he or she were killed by some angry locals, the police might never know.

Part of the Great Depression occured during Prohibition as well, so the homicide rate was higher than normal.

The country was bigger, too, in the sense getting around was much harder. Notice how nowadays when people ask how "far" a place is, the answer is often given in terms of time? "How far is it to Chicago?" "About 9 hours."

The time it takes to travel a distance is more relevent than the actual physical distance. Back then, running a major crime syndicate was much more complex than today, what with interstate highways and cellular phones.