![]() Ultimately, it was cardiac arrest on Jan. From syphilis rotting his internal organs to a sudden stroke allowing his weakened immune system to develop pneumonia, the man was a mess in the end. In the end, Al Capone died of a series of complications. If Capone was painted as a delusional blabbermouth, that could make the Outfit regret letting him live. Besides watching over her ailing husband, she made sure to keep him out of the public eye. It was there where Mae Capone served as a full-time caretaker. After his wife Mae Capone successfully managed to get him out of prison on physical and mental health grounds, he was released early for "good behavior." He spent the rest of his life quietly in Florida. Ullstein Bild/Getty Images Al Capone spent the last few years of his life having delusional chats with long-dead friends.Īt the same time, his untreated syphilis had begun to seriously damage his brain. Unable to prosecute him for the crimes that built his wealth, authorities were ultimately able to bring him down on the grounds that he hadn't paid income tax on that fortune. In 1931, the man responsible for untold murders and suffering finally found himself behind bars - for tax evasion. Meanwhile, his powerful connections within the city government and police made him seemingly untouchable - for a while at least. He was so ashamed of his disease that he refused to treat it and instead turned his attention to rising to the top in the Chicago underworld. While he was still a low-ranking thug, he contracted syphilis from a prostitute at a bordello where he worked as a bouncer. All but one of the unsuspecting 1920s gangsters were killed. It was this ruthless elimination of rival gang members that truly cemented the mobster as a force to be reckoned with. "All I do is satisfy a public demand."Īs for the mob hits orchestrated by Al Capone, perhaps the most infamous of all was the St. "I'm just a businessman, giving the people what they want," he'd say. It was there that he took advantage of the public demand for alcohol during Prohibition - and built a reputation as a sharply-dressed Robin Hood of sorts. He instead began slowly but surely rising in the ranks of the mob - but only after getting his face cut open by a young hoodlum at a brothel-saloon.Īfter accepting an invitation from fellow gangster Johnny Torrio to work for him in Chicago, Capone began making a name for himself in the Windy City. 1931.Īfter being kicked out of school at age 14 for hitting a teacher, Capone never went back to finish a formal education. 1" was likely not the initial goal - but it certainly came to that soon enough.Ĭhicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection/Chicago History Museum/Getty Images Al Capone smiling as he exits one of many courthouses. ![]() Of course, the fact that he would one day become the FBI's "Public Enemy No. ![]() Though they had a rather respectable, hardworking, and professional family, Capone was eager to make something more of himself than his father. Ultimately, Al would be the fourth out of nine children total. The resourceful barber and his wife, Teresa, had already been raising two sons - Vincenzo and Raffaele - when Frank Capone was born. His father, Gabriel, was part of the massive influx of Italian immigrants who arrived in New York just five years earlier. But before "Scarface" (a nickname he hated) became the leader of the Chicago Outfit, the young man had a relatively normal childhood.Ĭapone came into the world on Jan. ![]() The Most Shocking Facts About Al Caponeīorn in Brooklyn to working-class Italian immigrant parents, Capone eventually rose to the rarified air of American wealth and power. ![]() In terms of prominent mob figures from the 20th century, there was truly no one bigger, more boisterous, and historically mined than Al Capone. Unfortunately for him, he toiled in the Chicago underworld, was imprisoned for tax evasion, and died a delusional and syphilitic man at the young age of 48. Had he not built his fortune upon crime, Capone would have been a poster boy for the American dream. Through his various exploits, especially the sale of illegal alcohol during Prohibition, Capone and his gang pulled in mountains of cash and left trails of bodies in their wake.Įven more impressive than the estimated $100 million (nearly $1.5 billion today) that his illegal activities earned him is the fact that he amassed this enormous wealth in less than a decade. No American gangster in history has cemented his place in the public imagination quite like Al Capone - and the facts above prove it. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |