The most known story of his death goes like this: While passed out at a bar, Lovett was shot several times before Sicilian assassin Willie "Two-Knife" Altieri killed him with a meat cleaver.
The facts are that Lovett drunkenly stumbled into the back room of an abandoned store with an old gang associate and fell asleep.
[citation needed] When three local Irish girls entered the club escorted by their Italian dates, Lonergan chased them out supposedly yelling at them to "Come back with white men, fer chrissake!".
[citation needed] Police suspected visiting Al Capone, who had been forced to leave New York in 1921 after an altercation with a White Hand gang member, but there was no evidence and the case was dropped.
[citation needed] Without strong leadership, the White Hand disappeared, and by 1928, the Mafia completely controlled the waterfront.