Edward "Spike" O'Donnell was the leader of the Southside O'Donnell's with brothers Steve, Walter, and Tommy O'Donnell.
Prior to Prohibition Edward, including his brothers, were wanted for crimes including armed robbery, pickpocketing, bombing, and murder. Edward was eventually arrested and convicted for the robbery of $12,000 from the Stockyards Trust & Savings Bank where he was sentenced to Joliet Prison in 1917.
In 1923 Edward was released by Governor Lennington Small and other Chicago aldermen returning to Chicago as the leader of one of the most powerful bootlegging gangs in the city. Edward quickly began expanding the O'Donnell's territory where he would come into conflict with Joseph Saltis and Frank McErlane. Refusing to back down from the Capone supported Saltis-McErlane Gang, Edward prepared for war against the Saltis-McErlane Gang eventually becoming involved in the Chicago bootleg wars later involving the Sheldon Gang. Unable to fight both gangs the gang began dissolving by early-1925. Shortly after being severely wounded in a drive by shooting on September 25, 1925 by Frank McErlane, Edward O'Donnell retired from bootlegging leaving Chicago soon after.
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