What al capone sold according to reports. Al Capone - biography, facts from life, photographs, background information. Lover of bloody massacres

On January 17, 1899, the famous gangster Al Capone, who terrorized Chicago in the 20s and 30s of the 20th century, was born. Under the guise of legal business, he was involved in bootlegging, gambling and pimping, and how many murders he had to his name is anyone’s guess. We remembered several facts from his biography

How did you get into the mafia?

Some time after his arrival in Chicago, Al Capone began working as a bouncer in the establishment of his uncle Torrio, the largest mafioso. Young Alphonse gained so much confidence in his relative that he soon became right hand Torrio. But then two attempts on his life and Torrio's serious wounding in a shootout forced him to retire. 26-year-old Al Capone took the business into his own hands. At that time, the gang numbered a thousand fighters and collected $300 thousand a week in income from prostitution and the underground sale of alcohol.

“This is virgin territory for brothels,” Capone said of the Chicago suburbs.

Personal life.

Capone's gangster "empire" brought him $60 million a year. He had many houses in Florida and Chicago, which were guarded around the clock, and armed bodyguards accompanied the boss everywhere. Capone had his own secret entrance to Chicago hotels. For example, in the Metropol 50 rooms were reserved for his retinue, then he purchased the luxurious Lexington. Capone was married to Irishwoman May from his youth (interestingly, he brutally dealt with the Irish mafia). The woman, of course, was in honorable exile, without stopping her husband from taking all kinds of pleasures from life. Capone kept many mistresses and selected more and more girls from his brothels. The famous mafioso fell ill with syphilis in his youth. He “rewarded” his son with this disease at birth.

The famous Cadillac.

Becoming leader of the organized crime group in Chicago, Al Capone ordered a personal Cadillac weighing 3.5 tons to protect himself. The vehicle had heavy armor, bulletproof glass and a removable rear window for shooting at pursuers. Interestingly, in 1933, US President Franklin Roosevelt visited Chicago. There, his car was fired upon - the president himself was not injured, but the mayor of the city, who was traveling with him, was mortally wounded. After this incident, the security service chose a more reliable car for the president. The armored Cadillac, confiscated two years earlier from Al Capone, began to perform honorable service. In addition to armor throughout the body and bulletproof glass, this car was equipped with hidden loopholes in the doors, and through the hinged rear window it was possible to fire even from a machine gun.

Valentine's Day Massacre.

In January 1929, Bugs Moran's gang stole Al Capone's trucks and blew up several of his bars. At the same time, the gangster's main militant - Jack McGorn, nicknamed Machine Gun - was ambushed and barely escaped alive. Al Capone decided to take revenge and show who was boss in Chicago. On February 14, one of Capone's men called Moran and said that he had stolen a truck containing contraband alcohol. Moran ordered the truck to be driven into the garage, which served as a secret warehouse for alcohol. When Moran's gangsters gathered to receive the cargo, a car drove up to the garage. Four people got out, two of whom were in police uniform. Moran's men were forced to face the wall and shot with machine guns. Six gangsters died on the spot, and another died from his wounds in the hospital. But Capone’s main rival, Moran, was late for the meeting and therefore survived. However, they could not prove the murders. Capone himself had an “iron” alibi for that day.

Business card.

Al Capone traded in smuggling, pimping and gambling, but business card gangster's job title was a very legitimate one - "furniture dealer". Of course, everyone knew about his illegal activities, but the intelligence services were unable to obtain evidence of this and were able to arrest Al Capone only on charges of tax evasion.

Racket.

It was Al Capone who introduced the concept of “racketeering”. Soon after Capone took over the business from his uncle, he became one of the five "owners" of the city. They divided Chicago into spheres of influence and began to control everything - from the election of the mayor to the sale of chewing gum.

“You can achieve much more with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone,” Al Capone used to say.

Laundering of money.

The concept of money laundering also appeared during the “reign” of Al Capone. After all, it was difficult for gangsters to spend ill-gotten money due to the constant attention of the special services to their persons. Therefore, the mafia created a huge network of laundries with very low prices. It was difficult to track the real number of clients who came to wash things, so almost any income could be written. This is how the expression “money laundering” came about.

Capone trial.

In the early 30s, Al Capone was sent to prison. True, not for murder and criminal business, but for tax evasion. To achieve this, American justice had to violate almost all democratic norms. This campaign was led by FBI Director Edward Hoover, who took office during that turbulent time. The court sentenced ordinary private entrepreneur Al Capone to 11 years in prison. Lawyers, bribed journalists and human rights activists raised a fuss and pointed out violations during arrest and pre-trial detention. But the servants of the “bloody Hoover regime” remained adamant.

Life in prison.

Al Capone's life in prison was not as sweet as one might expect. At Alcatraz, he was stripped of his privileges and forced to work as a janitor; prisoners began to call him “the boss with the mop.” And once he “ran into” a knife when he refused to take part in a prisoner strike. Capone was shot in the back. At the same time, the former mafioso’s memory began to change. A medical examination revealed that he had late stage syphilis. In 1939, Al Capone suffered a stroke. He was released early because he was partially paralyzed. Al Capone died on January 25, 1947 from a heart attack and pneumonia. Before his death, as befits a Catholic, he managed to confess and receive communion.

Famous phrase.

Capone is credited with the famous phrase:

- It's just business, nothing personal!

By the way, it was she who later became widespread after the release of the novel “The Godfather”.

Sex with a Greek prostitute 20 years later resulted in degradation and loss of status for Al Capone in the criminal world.

Started as a bouncer in New York, became an assassin. In the early 1920s, he moved to Chicago, amassed an army of militants and filled the streets with blood. He sat down, got out, sat down again, then disappeared somewhere... The stages of Al Capone's career are well known. But few people know that all this time the mafia boss’s body was suffering from syphilis.

Al Capone fishing on Palm Island, Florida. Undated photo: AP Photo/East News

Capone vs FBI

Alphonse Capone handed out business cards as an antique furniture seller, but everyone knew his real profession. By the age of 30, the scope of his activities and cruelty made the Chicago Italian the most famous gangster USA. His gang dealt with traitors and competitors without pity, killing about 700 people.

An annual income of $10 million (about 150 million modern dollars) allowed him to spend generously on security, bribes to police and prosecutors, charity and PR. Multiple arrests for alcohol smuggling, pimping, and gambling never brought the Italian to court. Witnesses disappeared or refused to testify, and Capone always had an alibi.

In 1929, the new head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Edgar Hoover, managed to imprison “Alya” for 10 months for illegally carrying weapons. He was not bored in prison: he resolved issues over the phone and received visitors. Then I took up the old one. The feds continued to dig: through Capone’s subordinate they got to the black accounting department and in 1931 they accused the gangster of tax evasion. Lawyers managed to destroy most of the charges, but the mafioso received a sentence of 11 years.

Al Capone after his arrest in 1931. Photo: United States Bureau of Prisons / Wikipedia Al Capone after 8 years in prison. Photo: Federal Bureau of Investigation/fbi.gov, January 7, 1939

Capone against Treponema

Al Capone contracted Lues at the age of 18 from a Greek prostitute. I didn’t go to the doctors, and when the disease became latent, I forgot about it. It later turned out that syphilis was transmitted to his only son Sonny - the infection was not discovered immediately and the boy became partially deaf. Both Capone and his wife May had to undergo treatment.

While serving his second term, the gangster tried to manage his criminal empire remotely, but his connections were quickly cut off. First they transferred him from a Chicago prison to Atlanta, and then to Alcatraz Island. There, Capone tried to behave exemplarily, and quickly slid down to a janitor in the prison hierarchy, where life-sentenced murderers ruled. Once, a former boss was stabbed in the back with scissors for refusing to give money “for the common fund” and ended up in a medical center. There, old diagnoses were discovered - syphilis and gonorrhea in an advanced form.

The disease, which was not treated with medicine at that time, progressed. Prisoner No. 85 began to lose his memory. Over time, convulsions, hallucinations, impaired speech and coordination of movements, and partial paralysis were added to the amnesia. After serving 2/3 of his sentence (the last year in the infirmary), Al Capone was released on bail in 1939. He could barely move his legs and did not recognize his family. For several months, Capone recovered his health in the hospital, and then hid in his mansion in Miami.

This is what syphilis was called in the 1930s.

Al Capone with his son Sonny at a baseball game, 1931. Photo: mafiascene.com Al Capone with his family after his release. Photo: RR Auction

Degradation to 12 year old child

Penicillin was introduced in the 1940s. Capone's property registered to relatives was not confiscated, and the family kept the money. His wife ensured that Alphonse was one of the first in America to receive the scarce drug. But the antibiotic did not help: brain decay had already led to dementia. The invited doctors diagnosed the “intelligence of a 12-year-old child.”

Hunched over like an old man, dressed in striped pajamas, Capone never left the house again. For some time, old friends visited the bandit and played cards. Then the patient got into the habit of discussing with long-dead people, some of whom he killed himself. His wife stopped allowing guests to see him, fearing that the mafia would decide to shut up the source of information. The rest of Capone's days amused himself by hunting butterflies and fishing in an empty pool.

Organs affected by syphilis were failing. In 1946, “Great Al” no longer left his wheelchair and could only breathe through an oxygen mask. A year later, at 48, Alphonse died of a stroke and pneumonia. A grave in a Chicago cemetery was trampled by tourists who were having a drinking party on the bones of an anti-Prohibition fighter. Relatives were forced to rebury the ashes in another place.

During Prohibition, Al Capone led a Chicago crime empire that raked in millions of dollars annually. He controlled bootlegging, gambling and other illegal activities. Below are eight amazing facts from the life of the famous mafia boss.

Capone became a member of a street gang as a child

The future mafia leader was born on January 17, 1899 in Brooklyn, New York. Alphonse Capone was the fourth of nine children in a poor family. His parents, Gabriel and Teresa Capone, immigrated from Italy. The boy dropped out of school in the sixth grade, joining one of the Manhattan gangs. As he grew older, he worked as a bouncer and bartender in an establishment owned by mafioso Frankie Yale. In 1918 he married May Coughlin. The couple was inseparable until Capone's death, they had The only son. In 1920, Capone moved to Chicago. There is a version according to which he went there to lay low after seriously wounding a member of a rival gang in a fight. In any case, Capone came to Chicago to visit Johnny Torrio, a former Brooklyn gangster.

He hated his famous nickname

In 1917, Capone's face was cut in a fight by other bandits because he insulted the sister of one of them. Three scars remain as a reminder of this incident. As a result, he acquired the nickname “Scarface.” The mafia boss preferred not to remember that long-ago incident and hated being called that. More often, his accomplices and friends called him Snorky, which means “doll” in slang.

The Mafia led by Capone raked in $100 annually.

Arriving in Chicago, Capone worked for Torrio, who was part of a criminal network led by a man named big Jim Colossimo. When he was killed (it is possible that he was “ordered” by Torrio and Capone), Torrio himself became the boss and made Capone one of his main assistants. In January 1925, Torrio was shot near his home in Illinois. He survived but left Chicago that same year, leaving the 26-year-old Capone in his place. The new “master” expanded the organization and subsequently became one of the leading American mafiosi. According to some estimates, his crime syndicate "earned" approximately $100 million a year, mainly through bootlegging, racketeering, as well as through the underground casinos and brothels it controlled, and other types of illegal activities. The boss loved talking to reporters. Capone never felt guilty about how he made his living. He claimed that he was doing " public service" in Chicago, declaring that ninety percent of the people of Cook County drink and gamble, and his whole crime is that he provides them with these amusements.

He was never accused of the Valentine's Day massacre

On the morning of February 14, 1929, seven men somehow associated with the George "Bug" Marana Foundation were shot and killed. The victims included five of Moran's accomplices, his auto mechanic and his optometrist; Moran himself was not there. The group of attackers consisted of at least four men, two of them wearing police uniforms. WITH light hand The crime became known to newspaper reporters as the "St. Valentine's Massacre." The authorities conducted a thorough investigation, but to no avail. In the end, it was assumed that Capone eliminated his rival by planning and organizing these murders and providing himself with an alibi (he himself was in Florida). Due to lack of evidence, no formal charges were brought

During the 14 years of Al Capone's reign, there were 700 mob murders in Chicago; of these, 400 were ordered by Capone himself.

Alphonse Fiorello Caponi is much better known by his nickname Al Capone. He was born, according to his own statement, in Naples in 1899 (according to another version, in Castelamaro four years earlier). In 1909, the Caponi family, like many other Italians, moved to New York in search of happiness. Richard (Richard) Caponi, the eldest son, became a policeman. His brother Alfonso (Al Capone) chose the opposite path. But he started out harmlessly enough - as a butcher's assistant in Brooklyn. However, he was soon drawn into the criminal environment.

To begin with, Al Capone worked in one of the local gangs as a help boy, but his abilities were soon noticed, and the guy was helped to retrain as a professional

onal killer. His first “wet case” was the murder of an obstinate Chinese who did not want to share the income from his restaurant.

Meanwhile, the struggle for the presidency in the “Sicilian Union” was unfolding in the country. During the struggle, Frank Aiello destroyed the head of the union, Big Jim Colosimo, in order to install Johnny Torrio in his place. Frank Aiello and Johnny Torrio invited Canone to Chicago in the mid-1920s. Capone, having gone through the stages of working as a bartender and bouncer, takes the nickname Al Brown and becomes Torrio's assistant. From now on, he is a bootlegger, that is, a person involved in the illegal sale of alcohol (Prohibition was in effect in the USA at that time). At the same time, Al Capone created a reliable group

at the combat cover.

The “Sicilian Union” of gangsters that emerged at the beginning of the century made the hitman profession a popular one. As part of the community of mafia clans in the 1930s, the so-called “Murder Corporation” was even created, uniting full-time criminals - executors of mafia death sentences.

When the police succeeded in getting some of the arrested Mafiosi to speak in 1940, it revealed, as Mafia scholars write, "a picture of a veritable death-for-hire industry - a gigantic killer enterprise that spread its tentacles throughout the country and operated on an incredible scale with punctuality, precision and extraordinary efficiency good quality

this mechanism..."

The stage for the creation of a kind of murder community was prepared during a meeting of underworld leaders in Atlantic City in 1929. At this meeting, in addition to Al Capone, Joe Torrio, Lucky Luciano, and Dutch Schultz were present. During the creation of the crime syndicate, the distribution of territories and sectors of activity, representatives of the top of the American criminal world swore to strictly implement the secret code that they developed and which from now on was supposed to regulate relations between various gangs.

Each leader of a gang of bandits had the right to control the life and death of his people within the established competence

tions. Outside the gang he led, even on his own territory, he was prohibited from holding court on his own. He should have mandatory bring the issue up for discussion by the highest council of the criminal syndicate, consisting of the most powerful leaders called upon to monitor the observance of order within the organization, consider everything controversial issues, threatening to lead to bloody skirmishes, and resolutely suppress any undertakings that could harm the syndicate.

The Supreme Council made a decision by a simple majority of votes after a kind of trial, where the accused, who was usually absent, was defended by one of the members of the Areopagus. Justified

A death sentence was passed very rarely; mostly the high council spoke in favor of using one punishment - death.

The execution of sentences was entrusted to the "Murder Corporation". Executioners for these purposes were supplied by gangs from different regions USA. Greatest success used by people from a gang called the Brooklyn Union.

Having become the leader of organized crime in Chicago, Al Capone gives orders to eliminate his opponents in the gangster environment - both real and potential. To protect himself, Al Capone ordered a personal Cadillac weighing 3.5 tons. The vehicle had heavy armor, bulletproof glass and a removable rear window for shooting at pursuers.

Al Capone waged war against his former benefactor, Frank Aiello, and his brothers. The Aiello family maintained an entire army of hired killers, but Al Capone's boys turned out to be more agile in this battle of octopuses. Frank Aiello and several of his brothers and nephews were killed. The surviving members of the Aiello clan hired a brilliant professional killer, 22-year-old Giuseppe Gianta, nicknamed Jumping Toad, and also bribed two people from Al Capone's entourage - Albert Anselmi and John Scalise.

“The trio, of course, would have completed the task,” the journalists write, “if the suspicious Al Capone, in front of everyone, had not beaten his most faithful assistant, Frank Rio, not without his consent

Certainly. The trick was a success, and Janta, without hesitation, offered Rio his help, believing that he would want to take revenge for the insult. Frank Rio haggled for a long time about the price of his betrayal, and then went straight to the boss and told him everything.

Capone, in a rage, literally crushed the Havana cigar, which at that moment was in his hands, with his thick ringed fingers. And, of course, it didn’t stop there. As the head of the largest criminal community, through the mediation of Rio, he invited all three to a large Sicilian reception as especially honored guests. Lunch was to take place in a separate room of the chic Auberge de Gammond restaurant. The Capone Who Never Stopped

poured in before the expenses, watched with disgust as the guests gorged themselves on delicacies prepared especially for the farewell dinner. Raising his glass of red wine, Al Capone made another toast:

Long life to you, Giuseppe, to you, Albert, and to you too, John... And success to you in your endeavors.

The guests chorused:

And success in your endeavors...

Due to the abundance of food and wine, many began to take off their jackets and unfasten their belts. Sang old songs native land. By midnight, the sated guests put down their plates. There was excitement at the end of the table where Capone was sitting. The owner again raised his glass and made another toast in honor of the trio sitting nearby, but instead

In order to drink, he threw the contents of the glass in their faces, smashed the glass on the floor and screamed:

Bastards, I will make you vomit what you swallowed here, because you betrayed the friend who feeds you...

With a swiftness surprising for a man of his size, he rushed at them. Frank Rio and Jack McGorn have already pointed their weapons at the traitors. Frank walked around them from behind, wrapped them in rope and tied them to the backs of chairs. He then forced all three of them to turn towards Capone. Those present remembered this scene for a long time.

Al Capone had a baseball bat in his hands. The first blow hit Scalise's collarbone. As the bat dropped, Satan's madness from Chicago to

grew. Foam appeared on his thick lips, he moaned with excitement, while those subjected to a barbaric beating screamed and begged for mercy.

They were not spared..."

On the orders of Al Capone, the famous massacre took place on St. Valentine's Day. In January 1929, Bugs Moran's (real name George Miller) gang stole Al Capone's trucks and blew up several bars he owned. Capone's main gunman, Jack McGorn, nicknamed Machine Gun, was ambushed and barely escaped alive. This forced Capone to liquidate the Moran gang.

On February 14, 1929, one of Capone's men called Moran and said that he had stolen a truckload of contraband liquor. Moran ordered the truck to be driven

to the garage, which served as a secret warehouse for alcohol. When Moran's gangsters gathered to receive the cargo, a car drove up to the garage, from which four people got out - two of them in police uniforms. The imaginary policemen ordered Moran's men to stand facing the wall, took out machine guns and opened fire. So six gangsters were shot, and another died from his wounds in the hospital, having managed to declare before his death: “Nobody shot at me.” Moran was late for the meeting and survived.

Capone himself, of course, had a strong alibi on the day of the massacre.

Capone's "Empire" brought him $60 million a year, but he also spent a lot. On horse racing alone he lost up to a million a year. His homes in Florida and Chicago were guarded

around the clock, and armed bodyguards accompanied the boss everywhere. He had his own secret entrance to Chicago hotels - first to the modest Metropole, where 50 rooms were reserved for his retinue, and then to the luxurious Lexington. Capone's Irish wife May, whom he married at a young age, was usually in honorable exile. He kept a bunch of mistresses and selected more and more girls from his brothels.

During the Wall Street crash and economic crisis, Al Capone was one of the first to establish soup kitchens for the unemployed to gain public favor. He was one of the first to put the matter of bribing the press on a grand scale. His public relations consultant

Chicago Tribune reporter Jack Lingle organized almost weekly articles praising Al Capone. Officially, Lingle received $65 a week at the newspaper, but his secret salary was $60,000 a year. Lingle was shot and killed on June 9, 1930, on the eve of a meeting with FBI agents looking for dirt on Capone.

During the 14 years of Al Capone's reign, there were 700 mob murders in Chicago; of these, 400 were ordered by Capone himself. 17 professional killers were formally charged, but it was rare that gangsters were put behind bars.

In the 1930s, when Edward Hoover headed the FBI, American justice developed new methods of fighting the mafia.

to her. Since it was extremely difficult to prove the involvement of mafiosi in murders, they were sent to prison on charges of lesser crimes. So, in 1929, Al Capone was convicted of carrying a weapon without permission; he spent 10 months in prison. However, even while in prison, he received whoever he wanted and freely used the telephone, running his empire around the clock.

For the second time, the boss of bosses received a sentence for non-payment of taxes in the amount of 388 thousand dollars. Al Capone's lawyers tried to bargain with the judge, but he was adamant. Then they took on the jury, but on the day of the hearing the judge replaced the jury with others. On October 22, 1931, the jury returned a guilty verdict, which allowed Su.

It is not possible to sentence the gangster to 11 years in prison.

While in local prison, Al Capone continued to lead his men, but when he was transferred to a federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia, this became impossible. And in 1934, Al Capone was completely shut off, sending him to the famous prison on Alcatraz Island. This meant the end of the king of gangsters' career.

In prison, Al Capone kept himself apart from others, but when he was stripped of his privileges and forced to work as a janitor, prisoners began calling him “the boss with the mop.” One day, when he refused to take part in a prison strike, someone stabbed him in the back with a pair of scissors.

Al Capone's memory began to change; his health

worsened. A medical examination revealed that he had late stage syphilis. In 1939, Al Capone was partially paralyzed and was released early.

Last years his life he lived in his home in Florida. Al Capone died on January 25, 1947 from a heart attack and pneumonia. Before his death, as befits a Catholic, he managed to receive Holy Communion. It is not known whether he spoke in his dying confession about the hundreds of people killed on his orders, and about the forty whom he killed with his own hand.

Al Capone was buried in the Mont Olivets cemetery in Chicago, but so many tourists came to his grave that the family was forced to move the gangster’s ashes to another cemetery.

The name of this man remains forever on the pages of history. This is a thief and criminal who lived in Chicago in the 1920-1930s of the last century, where he conducted his main activities. Al Capone is known only as “Scarface,” he is associated with any mention of a criminal gang, and stories are made about him in Hollywood. In this article we will try to figure out what the famous gangster is remembered for.

An ordinary child... or not?

It is difficult to say why a person chooses one path or another, especially if nothing portends anything bad. However, we can talk about this for a long time, but it is better to immediately turn to the story of Al Capone. The biography of this person is no different special facts, in particular, during his growing up period. He was born in Naples in 1899. Immediately after this, the entire family of little Alfonso Gabriel, including his hairdresser father and the other eight brothers and sisters, moved to America in search of a better life.

In Brooklyn, they first of all solved the main problem - where to get money for food. No one spoke about education; the poor had nothing left to do. last place on the list of essentials. There was no good work, I had to take on hard physical labor, which was at least somehow paid, but did not promise bright prospects. Therefore, Al Capone once and for all abandoned the idea of ​​getting an education. It is noteworthy that, having become a representative of organized crime in America, he last days remained illiterate.

Finding yourself

Without expecting help from anyone, young Alfonso was left to his own devices. Before becoming a gang member and starting patrolling the streets of Brooklyn, which had become his hometown, Al Capone tried several professions - he served as an assistant in a pharmacy, a candy store and a bowling alley. He admitted to himself that he was attracted night life, and also billiards, which was gaining popularity in the country. In this game, he was ready to defeat every opponent, this strengthened his persistent character and desire to go to the end, to trample the enemy. Al Capone, whose biography confirms many facts from the youth of the future gangster, was, for example, obese, which at one time allowed him to work as a bouncer in a bar. Researchers recall a sad story that occurred during the period when Capone showed interest in the sister of local gangster Frank Galluccio. During a street fight, he, using a knife, forever left a mark not only on Capone’s cheek, but also in history, since it was after this incident that Alfonso received his famous nickname.

Personality formation

Alfonso began training with weapons, especially knife fighting. The famous "Gang of Five Guns" noted Al Capone's good abilities and encouraged him to join their ranks. More than one and a half thousand people were engaged in robberies and racketeering, and their leader, Johnny Torrio, hired the young man as his personal assistant. Alfonso called this man father and teacher. Later, it was he who taught him dangerous tricks, which a few years later the gangster Al Capone began to actively use, rising higher and higher on the criminal ladder.

Personal life is not a hindrance to your career

In 1918, he married May Coughlin, an Irishwoman who was two years older than him. The couple has a son, Albert. Torrio is forced to move to Chicago, a quieter area where no one knew him. Capone himself was a suspect in the murder, but the court was unable to convict him because the witness lost his memory and physical evidence disappeared right from the judge’s office. Al Capone, whose photo was already hanging in police stations, quarreled with a representative of a rival crime clan and took his life in a street fight. A real raid was announced on him. Fleeing, he asks Torrio for help, and he, in turn, invites his entire family to his place.

Conquest of Chicago

The new city greeted the gangster neutrally. No one could have imagined that it would soon become Capone’s hometown, where his most terrible crimes would take place. Al Capone's life was gaining momentum - patron Johnny Torrio hired him as a bouncer in his tavern establishment. Night club VIPs visited, so the presence of a personal security guard affected the well-being of Torrio himself. So, in the basements of the establishment, on Johnny’s orders, reprisals were carried out against people he disliked, whose bodies were carried out through the back entrance. Capone did most of the menial work with his own hands.

When Torrio began to lose ground, it became clear who would take his place. Soon his successor was proclaimed the Don of the Chicago underworld. The peak of Al Capone's empire came at a time when every second official, including the police, judges and deputies, received not only a salary from him, but also personal instructions on how and what to do. In other words, the gangster became the first face of the city, a scarred face who was so feared that they did not dare to contradict him.

Al Capone's revenge was terrible. He did not like betrayal and any action that was not agreed with him. One day, a civil servant amended a bill without his approval. As a result, many of his colleagues and even ordinary passers-by watched the scene when Capone burst into his office and grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and literally beat him in front of everyone.

The other side of “success”

The title of “King of Chicago” also had negative sides, which the gangster knew about. Capone remained the enemy and number one target of many rival gangs. He was shot several times, his family was threatened, and they tried to poison him at the club. However, the ability to recognize enemies and their future actions made it possible not only to remain a leader, but also to get ahead of rivals and get them out of your way.

One of the most terrible massacres committed by Capone is associated with Valentine's Day. Ten of the gangster's best assistants disguised themselves as police officers and staged a raid on his main enemies, who were secretly plotting the destruction of Capone.

Fall of the Empire

Many wanted to catch the criminal, but it was extremely difficult to do so using his own methods. Surrounding himself with constant security, Al did not allow strangers to approach him. There was only one thing left to do - to develop a new plan that would not arouse suspicion.

The country's tax police introduced their agent, Eddie O'Hairy, into Capone's group, where he remained for a long time. During this period, Eddie collected information regarding the gangster's profits and the real turnover of his empire. This allowed him to be charged with tax evasion. He was put behind bars for 11 years. The property turned out to be registered in the names of dummies, which made it possible to keep his stolen fortune in the hands of his wife, son and family.

Last Resort in Alcatraz

Al Capone spent five years in the famous prison for the most dangerous criminals. He turned into a helpless patient. When the case was reheard, he was declared insane and his family was ordered to take him into their care. The assistants who remained loyal to him tried to revive the empire, but with his condition it was not possible to do this. Eddie O'Hairy was shot and killed in his own car. It was an act of revenge.

Capone died in 1947. His body was brought from Florida to Chicago. The funeral ceremony was held closed. As Capone himself bequeathed, he was buried under a gravestone. According to some sources, his grave had to be moved later due to the influx of numerous tourists.

Chicago remembers him as a ruthless mobster. During the 14 years of government, about 700 murders were committed in the city, most of which were carried out by his personal order.

Famous Al Capone Quotes

During his long gangster activity, he gained popularity throughout the city where he ruled. Biographers will find many interesting information and the secrets he hid for several years. This man was remembered not only as an angry killer who dealt with his enemies very cruelly.

He made a number of statements, the most striking of which are presented below:

Lover of bloody massacres

After the events of St. Valentine's Day, when Capone's gang riddled almost all of his enemies, he began to deal with them more practically. He didn't want this to be a pure revenge killing, he wanted his enemies (especially traitors) to see his anger and realize their mistakes before they died.

History tells another carnage, when Capone learned of a secret plot against him, but decided to remain diplomatic until the end. He himself did not hesitate to spend money if he had to show the scope of the generosity of the head of the criminal community. One day he gave a Sicilian reception for his “friends.” Al Capone (the phrases he said that evening were well remembered by the guests), with a glass in his hand, made a toast with the following content: “Long life to you, Giuseppe, to you, Albert, and to you too, John... And success to you in your endeavors.” .

And after some time he looked with contempt at them, gorging themselves on delicacies at his expense. Rising, he muttered through his teeth: “I will make you vomit what you swallowed here, because you betrayed the friend who feeds you...”.

The servants, still distinguished by their devotion, tied the enemies, who did not understand anything, with a rope to chairs. Further events unfolded with amazing speed, especially for a man of similar build as Al Capone (photo confirmation of this). Picking up a baseball bat that happened to be nearby, he struck them with fatal blows. According to the stories of the guests present, anger literally spilled out of his mouth, and he himself groaned with excitement, anticipating reprisals against those who asked for mercy.

Al Capone quotes are not limited to the examples above. This event gives rise to one of the most famous sayings gangster: “Feed and water your enemy before you kill him.”

The phenomenon of crime in cinema

The image of the most famous mafioso is often used in art. Yes, he can be found in computer games Nocturne and “Chicago, 1932”, as well as in the musical direction, where his name is mentioned in the songs of the groups Paper Lace, Queen, Bad Balance and Mr. Credo.

The greatest use of the image of a notorious gangster is manifested in cinema. Al Capone, the 1959 film that became the first black-and-white biopic, told the story of a gangster's rise into the Chicago criminal underworld. Rod Steiger performed main role. The 1967 film “The St. Valentine's Day Massacre” restores the famous bloody events. In 1975, a new biographical adaptation entitled “Capone” was released. Ben Gazzara appeared as a gangster, and Sylvester Stallone played one of his first roles.

Cinema knows other examples of films dedicated to Al Capone. The 2002 film “Al Capone's Boys” tells the story of three Englishmen who came to America. They have no choice but to adapt to criminal showdowns and underground betting. Soon they are moving closer and closer to the main mafioso of the city... The image of Capone was played by actor Julian Litman. Other examples of gangster paintings include:

• “Nitty Gangster” (1988).
• “Gangsters” (1991).
• “Dillinger and Capone” (1995).
• “Handsome Nelson” (1996).
• “Underground Empire” (TV series, 2010).

Robert De Niro most vividly recreated the image of the criminal on screen. Al Capone became the main antagonist in the 1987 film. “The Untouchables” tells about the confrontation between American FBI agents and a gangster’s empire. Events take place in the 1930s. The story involves Eliot Ness, a Treasury Department agent who helped expose and indict Capone. He also wrote an autobiographical book, which partially formed the basis of the film. In “The Untouchables” he was played by Kevin Costner, for whom this role is one of the best in the initial career of an actor.