Louis Pioggi was a gangster who worked in association with Paul Kelly, a notorious Five Points underworld figure. This was an era that produced Monk Eastman, Kid Twist, Sam Tietch, the Sirocco gang and many more notorious hoodlums. Pioggi hung out at dives in Coney Island, Brooklyn and Manhattan. Until sometime in the spring of 1908 he had cohabited with Carril "Carrie" Terry, a showgirl. She aspired to be an opera singer. It was in mid May of '08 that jealousy, revenge or some other motive prompted Pioggi to shoot two rival gangsters. They had emerged from a Coney Island Italian restaurant, arm in arm with two finely dressed women.