3, 1927, (after the murder of at least one witness and much changed testimony), McErlane would be acquitted of Fancher's murder. At the 1920s closed, Joe Saltis was acquitted of the murder of John "Mitters" Foley and eventually moved to Wisconsin. McErlane pretty much kept out of sight until January 28, 1930, when he was rushed to the hospital after being shot in the left leg; the bullet had struck above the knee and fractured the leg. Frank claimed that he had accidentally shot himself while cleaning a revolver, but police suspected that his common-law wife Elfrieda Rigus, aka Marion Miller, may have shot him. They had quite a stormy relationship and often had high-decibel, alcohol-fueled fights. Another possible suspect was gangster John "Dingbat" Oberta (sometimes spelled "O'Berta"), with whom McErlane had been feuding. On the night of February 24, McErlane was propped up his hospital bed with his healing leg still in traction when two or three gunmen barged in and opened fire. Frank yanked an automatic from under his pillow and returned their fire. While his shots missed, they scared his assailants off; one of them dropped a .45 automatic in his flight. McErlane had been winged three times in the melee and shrugged off questions as to who shot him. Frank said cryptically, "I'll take care of it." Just after McErlane was released from the hospital, on March 5, Oberta was found shot to death in his car on the outskirts of Chicago. The dead body of Oberta's driver, Sam Malaga, lay face down in an icy puddle of water some feet away. The .45 left in McErlane's hospital room had been traced to Malaga. Frank had, indeed, "taken care of it". McErlane's behavior continued to worsen. Years of excessive consumption of Prohibition-era booze had taken its toll on Frank's mental state. On June 8, 1931, an intoxicated McErlane swept a South Shore Drive block with shotgun blasts, shooting at imaginary foes. Police ultimately filed a total of five simultaneous charges; drunk and disorderly, carrying a concealed weapon, firing a shotgun indiscriminately around his neighborhood, driving with forged license plates, and biting his sister on the cheek. On October 8, 1931, McErlane was driving his car with common-law wife Elfrieda Rigus and her two German Shepherds in the back seat. Police later determined that both were extremely drunk and arguing with each other. At one point, Frank