Untouchable Eliot Ness: The Man, The Myth, The Legacy

Eliot Ness

He was America’s Number One Prohibition Agent, famous for nabbing gangster Al Capone on tax evasion and enforcing the anti-alcohol laws of Prohibition. But was he really responsible for Capone’s arrest? And how true was his autobiography, “The Untouchables”?

Eliot Ness was born in Chicago in 1903. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1925 with a degree in economics, but returned to pursue a degree in criminology. His brother-in-law, a Bureau of Investigation (forerunner of the FBI) agent, helped get Ness hired, and by 1927, Ness was working with the Bureau of Prohibition in Chicago.

Busting Stills

These "Prohibition agents" were to stop people from selling or drinking alcohol and that was usually done by breaking up illegal bootlegging rings and raiding stills, breweries, and popular nightclubs around Chicago.

Al Capone

This put Ness head-to-head with gangster Al Capone who ran most of the speakeasies and breweries in the “Crime Capital of the World.” After refusing bribes from Capone, Ness and his 8-man team, dubbed “The Untouchables” (for refusing bribes) were prepared to bring Capone in on over 5,000 provable charges of bootlegging.

Capone in Court

But prosecutors knew the charges wouldn’t stick; the public loved drinking but not tax cheats, so Capone was prosecuted on charges of tax evasion, an area Ness had not been involved in.

Eliot Ness

Capone was tried and sentenced to 11 years in prison

while Ness was promoted to Chief Investigator of the Prohibition Bureau for Chicago. When Prohibition ended in 1933, Ness worked as an alcohol tax agent in the “Moonshine Mountains” of Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio. By 1935, Ness was working as the safety director in Cleveland, vowing to end police corruption in the city.

Ness and the Cleveland Police Force

Ness spent seven years in Cleveland, cleaning up the 2,000-man police force by ferreting out corrupt police officials and battling against local Mafia and crime lords. It was during this time that he began to develop his style of policing with science: what today we consider a part of forensic science. He also created a professional police force that served under rigorous moral codes. Ness also helped improve conditions for the Cleveland Fire Department, and promoted traffic safety.

Torso Killer Victim Found

But then Ness began to falter: a serial killer known as the Cleveland Torso Murderer was loose in the city; at least a dozen people had died. Ness indicated in his journal that he knew who the murderer was but could never get him convicted. Personal problems also took a toll and he began to drink and carouse. His first marriage ended in divorce.

In 1942, he resigned his position as Public Safety Director, remarried and moved to Washington D.C. to work for the federal government in the battle against prostitution and vice. By 1947, he was remarried and was living back in Cleveland where he ran for the office of Mayor. He lost the election, sank into debt, and started drinking heavily. In 1953, he took a job with North Ridge Industrial Corporation, a paper company from Cleveland, and moved his family to the new headquarters in rural Pennsylvania.

Oscar Fraley

It Never Happened

Ness decided to write his autobiography but soon realized he needed a ghostwriter. He hired Oscar Fraley, a reporter, to collaborate with him. Fraley ended up writing the book, creating events and characters that were totally fictitious. Fraley painted Ness and his men as fearless agents who were mysteriously ‘untouchable,’ when in fact it was the careful, methodical planning on Ness’s part, the integrity of his team, and sheer gut instinct that kept most of the men from being gunned down.

Eliot Ness's Grave

The book, “The Untouchables” was published in June 1957. Ness never knew that his myth and legend had been secured: Eliot Ness died of a massive heart attack on May 16, 1957, one month before the book came out. He was 54 years old. Eliot Ness was buried at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.

1960's TV Show

But the Capone/Ness crime-fighting legacy continued. Several television programs, movies, novels, and comic books (Dick Tracy was said to have been modeled after Eliot Ness.) have been made about Elliot Ness’s life as an American hero. 

The Untouchables Movie

Eliot Ness

But what is the true story? Fifty-seven years after Ness’s death, it’s hard to decipher between what he really said and did, and the Hollywood version: a highly fictionalized story of a super-hero lawman.

ATF Building

In January, it was proposed that the headquarters of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Washington D.C. be named after Ness. But several authors and a Chicago Alderman opposed the resolution, inferring that Ness's legacy was not representative of who the man really was.

Now, almost 60 years later, it appears that Eliot Ness has indeed become “untouchable” but not in the way he had hoped …

~ Joy

The St Valentine’s Day Massacre

February, 1929

It was February 14^th 1929.  Now, eighty-four years later, people are still mesmerized by the events and the stunned by the brutality of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

North Clark Street

What began as a quiet morning on the North Side of Chicago turned into one of the most atrocious  mob hits in gangland  history.  It was an incident that would become associated with gang violence and killings for decades to come.

SMC Cartage Garage

Four men, posing as police officers conducting a routine raid, entered the SMC Cartage garage at 2122 North Clark Street.  The building was being used to store bootleg liquor.

St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Seven men were gunned down.  Six of them were part of George “Bugs” Moran’s North Side Irish gang. They had waged a continuous gangland battle against Al Capone for control of the bootleg liquor in the city of Chicago.  At the start of the year, Moran had one of Al “Scarface” Capone’s South Side Italian gang members murdered.  Capone vowed revenge on Valentine’s Day. 

George "Bugs" Moran

Moran received a call on February 13th that a special shipment of bootleg whiskey would be coming in the next day, February 14^th, to the garage on North Clark.  Moran agreed to be there when it arrived.

The next morning around 10:00, six of Moran’s men met at the garage to wait for him.  They were:

James Clark

James Clark, Moran’s brother-in-law, and second in command. 

Frank Gusenberg

Peter Gusenberg

Frank Gusenberg and his brother, Peter Gusenberg, both hit men for Moran.

Adam Heyer

Adam Heyer, bookkeeper for the gang.

Albert Weinshank

Albert Weinshank managed several ‘businesses’ for Moran.

Johnny May

Highball

Johnny May, the gang’s auto mechanic, was also there working on a vehicle.  Johnny had brought his dog, Highball, with him.

Ad for Reinhardt Schwimmer

And, hanging around, as usual, was local optometrist, Reinhardt Schwimmer.  Schwimmer enjoyed the thrill of being on the fringe of the gang.

As Moran’s car was approaching the garage, a police car pulled up in front and four men got out; two were in uniform, two were not.  Moran thought it was a raid and directed his driver to keep going. It wasn't until later in the day when he heard of the killings that he realized it had been a set up for him.

Guns Used in Killings

Aftermath

The “police” entered the garage and lined the seven men up against a wall.  They then pulled out Thompson sub-machine guns and opened fire. Over 70 rounds of ammunition were fired. All of Moran’s men were killed, along with Schwimmer.  Only the dog survived.

Crowd Watches

Shortly afterwards, the landlady of the adjoining building sent a boarder next door to see why the dog was barking and howling.  After discovering the murders, the police were summoned. 

Police Remove Bodies

Chicago police were stunned at the carnage.  Six men were dead, each sprayed with 15 to 30 bullets from the Tommy guns.  The seventh, Frank Gusenberg, was still alive.  He was rushed to a local hospital, but his injuries were too severe to survive.  Although he was questioned about who had shot him, Gusenberg replied, “Nobody shot me.”

Al Capone

Bugs Moran

When Moran was told about the killings, he immediately fingered Capon as ordering the hit.  When the media questioned Capone, he responded, "The only man who kills like that is Bugs Moran".

The public was shocked by the cold-blooded brutality of the murders. Chicago gangster, Al Capone was the prime suspect in the murders.  But Capone could not be linked to the killings.  He had an air-tight alibi - he was in Miami at the time.

Jack McGurn

Police arrested several men suspected of being gunmen, but only one was directly connected to Capone.  “Machine Gun” Jack McGurn was a member of Capone’s Outfit and said to be the mastermind behind the massacre.  He supposedly hired gang members from outside of Chicago, so that none would be recognized, if there were survivors. Those believed to be the triggermen were Albert Anselmi, Fred Burke, John Scalise, and Joseph Lolordo. 

John Scalise & Al Anselmi

Fred Burke

Jack McGurn also had a provable alibi.  Fred Burke was arrested, but before he could be tried, he was charged with killing a police officer and sentenced to life in prison.  John Scalise and Albert Anselmi were found dead on a back road in Indiana two months after the shootings.

Capone's Mug Shot

Although the St Valentine’s Day Massacre did end the North side gang’s control of the city, it also began Capone’s downfall.  The public felt that Capone had gone too far.  Once public sentiment turned against him, the police were able to step in and declare him “Public Enemy Number 1.”

2122 Clark Street,  Today

In the end, no one was ever tried or convicted for the murders. The garage was torn down in 1967. Forty-six years after the demolition of the garage, tourists still stop by the site, now an empty lot  – and remember that bloody Valentine's Day.

~ Joy

Al Capone – Chicago Gangster

 

Alphonse Gabriel Capone

January was always an interesting month in his life; it was one hundred fourteen years ago this month that he was born, ninety-three years ago that Prohibition was enacted, and sixty-six years since the death of Al Capone, Chicago gangster.

Al and his mother, Teresa

He was born Alphonse Gabriel Capone on January 17, 1899 in Brooklyn, New York.  His parents, Gabriele and Teresina Capone, were Italian immigrants.   Gabriele Capone worked as a barber, and Teresa was a seamstress. Capone was one of nine children.  He dropped out of school at the age of fourteen and was heavily influenced by New York gangster, Johnny Torrio.

Five Points Gang

Capone started with small time gangs but quickly moved up to Torrio’s Five Points Gang.  This group, made up of Italian-American men and boys, was based in the Sixth Ward (Lower Manhattan) of New York City.  It was during this time that Capone suffered the three slashes on his face that earned him the name, ”Scarface.”

Mae Josephine Capone

Capone's Chicago Home

Capone married Mae Josephine Coughlin on December 30, 1918, one month after their first son, Albert Francis Capone, was born.  Shortly after, Capone moved to Chicago. In 1923, he purchased a house for his family in the Chicago neighborhood of Park Manor.

Johnny Torrio

Johnny Torrio recruited Capone and moved him to Illinois in 1919 for potential Chicago “business opportunities.”  With Prohibition now law, Chicago offered gangsters a great opportunity for “bootlegging” – smuggling illegal alcohol - into the city. 

Al Capone "The Boss"

Downtown Chicago in the 1920's

Capone organized Chicago’s underworld and quickly made the town his own.  In 1925, Torrio handed over the reigns of “The Outfit” to Capone. During Prohibition, with Capone as the crime boss, the Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate, and the Chicago Mob, made over $100-million dollars per year in revenues from gambling, prostitution, racetracks, night clubs, and the sale of alcohol. (The Chicago Outfit is still in existence.)

Chicago Mayor, William Thompson

Capone’s gang operated casinos and speakeasies throughout the city with the bribed blessings of Chicago Mayor, William “Big Bill” Hale Thompson.

St Valentine's Day Massacre

The 1929 Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, where seven rival gang members were gunned down in a garage, has been attributed to Capone’s order, but facts to substantiate that were never proven.  When questioned, Capone had an alibi – he was at his house in Palm Island, Florida.

Soup Kitchen, courtesy of Capone

Capone understood the benefit of a good PR campaign. He acquired media attention by opening soup kitchens for the poor, and providing clothing to those who could not afford them, providing assistance at his expense.  The way Capone saw it; he was “just a businessman, giving the people what they want." And, because of the effects of Prohibition and the Great Depression, the public wanted to believe him.

In 1930, Capone was named as Chicago’s “Public Enemy Number One.”

Capone's Arrest Record

Capone's Mug Shot

Prohibition agent, Eliot Ness, was intent on convicting Capone on bootlegging charges, but never could.  In 1931, Ness settled on arresting Capone for income tax evasion.  Following a long and corrupt trial, Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison.  He was first sent to the Atlanta Penitentiary, and then moved to the Lincoln Heights Jail in L.A. On August 11, 1934 he was sent to "The Rock" - Alcatraz.

Capone's Cell

Alcatraz Sign

Capone spent the last year of his sentence in the prison hospital, dealing with the disabling effects of syphilis.  He was released from Alcatraz on January 6, 1939, and sent to the Federal Correctional Institution on Terminal Island in California to serve a one-year sentence for contempt of court.

Capone Before Release

Death of Capone Reported

Capone’s reign as Chicago’s lead crime boss was over.  Capone returned to his home on Palm Island, in Florida after prison.  His physical and mental health deteriorated to that of a 12-year-old child. On January 21, 1947, he suffered a stroke. The next day, January 22, 1947 Al Capone suffered a fatal heart attack and died. He was 48 years old.

Original Family Stone

Capone's Grave at Mt Carmel Cemetery

Capone was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery on Chicago’s South Side, along side his father and brother, Frank.  In 1950, all three were moved to Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillsdale, Illinois.

 

Al Capone was, and continues to be, one of the most notorious gangsters of the 20^th Century.

~ Joy