Catching a Killer

Nonfiction PROBL
SOLUT EM/
ION

Al Capone met his

AL CAPONE THE LAW

match in Eliot Ness
(top), Herbert Hoover
on the city of Chicago. The many illegal activities in which
(bottom), and Frank
he was known to be involved included bootlegging (the
Could anyone stop America’s illegal sale and distribution of alcohol), gambling, bribery,
A top-notch team finally put J. Wilson (left).

most vicious gangster? racketeering (getting money through the use of force or Capone behind bars.

S E
threats), and drug trafficking—not to mention murder.
carface. Snorky. The Big Fellow. Maybe these Capone was the head of a powerful organization of liot Ness was going to bring down Al
nicknames sound a little silly to you, but don’t criminals during the era known as Prohibition (1920- Capone, or he was going to die trying.
laugh. Each of them once belonged to Al 1933). During Prohibition, it was illegal to produce, sell, It was as simple as that.
Capone, and you don’t want to make Al Capone or transport alcoholic beverages in the United States. For years, Capone had been robbing,
angry. Bad things happen to people who make Al Capone People still wanted alcohol, though, and criminal gangs killing, and running millions of dollars worth of
angry. Really bad things. Found-at-the-bottom-of-a- like Capone’s quickly took over the alcohol industry. illegal businesses in Chicago. The whole country
river-with-a-hole-in-the-head kinds of things. Competition among the gangs was fierce and violent; knew about it, but no one seemed able to stop him.
Well, OK—Capone has been dead since 1947. But when Capone’s rivals had a habit of turning up dead. Herbert Hoover, who became President in 1929, found but another team of federal agents.
he was alive, Capone was not the type of guy to cross. Between 1925 and 1930, Capone’s income was the situation appalling. He decided it was time for the At the same time that Ness’s unit was going after
During the 1920s, this notorious gangster held a tight grip reportedly $100,000,000 a year—a stunning amount of federal government to step in and finally stop Capone. Capone for bootlegging, a team headed by Frank J.

CAPONE: ©TOPHAM/IMAGE WORKS; PAPER: COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION; MUGSHOTS: ©BETTMANN/CORBIS.

money at that time. The public, as well as law-enforcement A special unit was formed to close down Capone’s Wilson was gathering evidence against Capone for tax
In 1930, Chicago officials, was well-aware of Capone’s activities. For multimillion-dollar bootleg business and to prosecute evasion, or not paying taxes. Wilson proved that Capone
declared Capone example, he was widely believed to be behind the brutal Capone for violating the Prohibition laws. Ness was had made millions and millions of dollars and never
“Public Enemy

NESS: ©HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; WILSON: ©THE GRANGER COLLECTION, NEW YORK;
shootings of seven members of a rival gang on February chosen to be its leader. He was a young Bureau of paid a single cent in taxes—a major crime.
Number One.”
14, 1929. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, as it became Prohibition agent with a reputation for honesty and On October 17, 1931, Capone was sentenced to 11

HOOVER: ©BETTMANN/CORBIS; NEWSPAPER: ©THE HISTORICAL NEW YORK TIMES.

known, made national headlines—though neither Capone reliability. He also had a lot of guts. years in prison. When a new prison opened on Alcatraz
nor anyone else was ever arrested for the murders. Through painstaking investigative work, Ness and Island in the middle of San Francisco Bay in 1934,
So how did Capone get away with it all? his team began to uncover Capone’s beer and liquor Capone was transferred there. Alcatraz was designed
For one thing, he bribed the police and other public businesses—and to shut them down. Capone was to be the ultimate prison, a place for America’s worst
officials. Capone was also very good at making sure his furious, but he had his ways of dealing with problems criminals. And that—despite his official crime of tax
name never appeared on any document linked to his like Ness. First, he tried bribing Ness. That failed, so evasion—was exactly what Capone was. •
illegal activities. He did not hold bank accounts or sign Capone ordered his henchmen to follow the agents and
checks. In cases of murder, Capone always had an alibi. tap their phones. He stationed gangsters outside Ness’s
He was not able to avoid the law forever, though. parents’ house. Ness refused to be intimidated. He PROBLEM /SOLUTION
In 1931, he was sentenced to 11 years in refused even after Capone murdered one of Ness’s best
prison. He was released after 8 years, at friends, and even after Capone tried—three times—
which time he was very sick. His reign of to have Ness himself murdered.
crime was over and he died, quietly, 8 years Ness severely damaged Capone’s business. What
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after being released. • finally brought Capone down, though, was not Ness,
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