CONSPIRACY CASE STRATEGY: Schmekebier, Bureau of Prohibition, pp. 80–81. Willebrandt, Inside of Prohibition, pp. 258–259. U.S. v. Alphonse Capone, et al., indictment, June 1931, Case No. 23256, in “Fusco, Joseph C. (Joe)” folder, Box 86, KC. CT, June 13, 1931; June 16, 1931; November 15–16, 1931. CHE, June 13, 1931. IRS-1, p. 7. William D. Mitchell to George E. Q. Johnson, July 24, 1931, Box 1, “Records Relating to Indictment and Sentencing (2 of 12)” folder, RRPAC. Shepherd, “Can Capone,” p. 42. “Rich Business Man Called Capone’s ‘Brains,’ ” n.p., n.d., in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. “Hunt ‘Playboy’ of Capone Gang As Beer Ring Aid,” n.p., n.d., in ENPS, Roll 1, Folder 1. Alexander Jamie, “Lifting the Curtain on the Crime Trust: How Organized Gang Lawlessness Has Become America’s Newest Big Business,” NEA Service, March 15, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook III (“Shrinking Violet”). Ness MS., p. 21, in ENPS, Roll 1, Folder 2.
The dates of various raids, liquor seizures, and other overt acts mentioned in the indictment conflict with those given in newspaper reports. Some articles, for instance, give the date of the Lexington Hotel meeting as June 12, 1928, even though the indictment dates it to 1930. Most confusing is the timeline of Capone-purchased trucks also tied to transporting liquor. News reports state that one truck was seized carrying beer on July 29, 1923, following its purchase by Capone on June 5, 1923 (CT, June 13, 1931). But the indictment states this truck was seized on July 24, 1922—before Capone is alleged to have bought it. Since the case never went to trial and the evidence was never presented in court, exactly which dates are accurate is impossible to determine, as is what the feds believed about the relationship between these acts.
WIRETAPPING, RAIDING SUGAR BUILDING: Eliot Ness to the Director of Prohibition, January 20, 1931, in William J. Gardner OPF/ATF (“After experiencing great,” “At the present”). CT, June 13, 1931. Dillard, “How the U.S. Gov’t,” p. 56. Ness MS., pp. 16–17, in ENPS, Roll 1, Folder 2 (17, “I, of course,” “In a short”). Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 102–105. John Larson, “Summary of Contacts with the Secret Six of Chiago [sic] and Elliott [sic] Ness,” n.d., in Carton 4, Folder 25 (“Clippings About—1947–1961”), John Larson Papers, BANC MSS 78/160cz, UCB (Ness-Larson-Jim Exchange, “an underground ‘death’ ”). Jedick, “Eliot Ness,” p. 55. Jedick, Cleveland, p. 41 (“They won’t be”). Bergreen, Capone, p. 345. Alder, Lie Detectors, pp. 90–102, 119–121.
Dating the sugar building incident is difficult, but it seems to have occurred after Larson’s return to Chicago in the spring of 1930. Similarly, the incident where Ness got the Outfit to move their sales office is impossible to date with any degree of certainty—especially since he recalls the involvement of one informer who probably didn’t contact him until later. Ness’s January 20, 1931, memo (cited above), however, strongly suggests the team had finished putting their wiretaps in place by mid-January. Ness, in his scattered recollections, may have confused one informer with another. What’s certain is it happened; the chronology can only be guessed at.
SQUAD FALLING APART: Eliot Ness to the Director of Prohibition, January 20, 1931 (“Mr. Seager and,” “Mr. Gardner recently”); Dwight E. Avis to Eliot Ness, January 22, 1931 (“I am also”); Dwight E. Avis to the Prohibition Administrator, New York, NY, January 22, 1931; Andrew McCampbell to the Director of Prohibition, January 28, 1931; D. H. Reichgut to Everett H. Kuebler, February 5, 1931; Everett H. Kuebler to D. H. Reichgut, February 5, 1931; William J. Gardner to Amos W. W. Woodcock, May 2, 1931, all in William J. Gardner OPF/ATF. E. A. Moore OPF/ATF.
Berard’s sparse personnel file (Ulric H. Berard OPF/ATF) offers no indications of when he left the Untouchables, though he must not have been with the squad long. He also went on to a long career with the Prohibition Bureau’s successor agency, the Alcohol Tax Unit, and later worked with Ness on an investigation in Akron, Ohio, so the split must have been amicable. (See A. W. W. Woodcock, Chief, Coordination and Special Agency Division, February 28, 1931, in Samuel M. Seager OPF/ATF; L. B. Connell to District Supervisor, September 20, 1935, in Joseph D. Leeson OPF/ATF. Akron Beacon Journal, June 26, 1935, in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. 1940 U.S. Census Record for Ulric H. Berard.)
WARREN STUTZMAN: Application for Position of Federal Prohibition Agent, October 17, 1920; Personal History, January 22, 1926; Ambrose Hunsberger to the Director of Prohibition, May 8, 1926; Herbert E. Lucas to Arthur A. Nichols, February 15, 1927; Stewart Wilson to William J. Calhoun, February 8, 1929; Samuel W. Gearhart to Alf Oftedal, February 13, 1929; Alf Oftedal to George E. Golding, February 15, 1929; George E. Golding to the Commissioner of Prohibition, April 15, 1929 (“not lacking in”); J. M. Doran to W. N. Woodruff, May 2, 1929; W. N. Woodruff to J. M. Doran, May 7, 1929; Charles L. Hurlbut, Memo to William N. Woodruff, October 4, 1929; J. L. Acuff to William N. Woodruff, December 16, 1930; J. L. Acuff to “Mr. Jones,” December 26, 1930; Questions Respecting Personal History, February 2, 1931; Personal History, February 2, 1931; W. E. Bennett to Chief, Coordination and Special Agency Division, February 4, 1931; Statement of Sylvan R. White, July 19, 1932, pp. 2–3 (“an untrained hunting,” “invariably would go”); W. B. Disney to the Director of Prohibition, August 9, 1932; Thomas M. Lee, memo to Chief, Intelligence Unit, “In Re: Warren E. Stutzman,” February 11, 1935, pp. 2–3; D. S. Bliss to George J. Schoeneman, May 15, 1935; H. J. Anslinger, memo to “Mr. Harper,” February 10, 1940 (“because of the”); V. B. Ferguson, memo to E. R. Ballinger, July 25, 1940 (“a youthful drunken”), all in Warren E. Stutzman OPF/ATF.
CHAPMAN TRIES TO LEAVE: E. E. Stone to Samuel M. Shortridge, February 10, 1931; Lyle B. Chapman to Dwight Avis, February 12, 1931; G. E. Chapman to W. E. Evans, February 12, 1931; Samuel M. Shortridge to Amos W. Woodcock, February 20, 1931; Dwight E. Avis to W. L. Ray, February 20, 1931 (“Climatic conditions on”); W. E. Evans to Amos W. W. Woodcock, with note to Dwight Avis by Woodcock, February 20, 1931 (“to use political”); A. W. W. Woodcock to Samuel M. Shortridge, February 27, 1931, all in Lyle B. Chapman OPF/ATF.
CLOONAN, FRIEL, LAHART: Application for Position of Prohibition Agent, December 6, 1928; Questions Respecting Personal History, January 5, 1931; Personal History, January 5, 1931; Oath of Office, January 5, 1931, all in Bernard V. Cloonan OPF/ATF. Employee’s Record, n.d.; Application and Personal History Statement, August 21, 1941; Employee’s Agreement and Record, n.d., Temporary Appointment, Transfer, Reinstatement, or Promotion, Etc., May 28, 1942; Employment Record, n.d., all in Thomas J. Friel OPF/ATF. Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 31–32.
Lahart’s personnel file (Martin J. Lahart OPF/ATF) offers no indications of when he joined the squad, but Ness’s memoir lists him as one of the first agents onboard (Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 28–30). The same is true of Friel, though his sparse personnel file doesn’t make clear whether he was even serving in Chicago during the Untouchables period. Ness almost certainly worked with Friel when they both served under Alexander Jamie, and Ness may have misremembered him as an Untouchable years after the fact. The details Ness gives about Friel in his memoir (Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, p. 31) match with the documents in Friel’s OPF, specifically his service as a Pennsylvania state trooper and his apparent difficulties with women (the file contains no evidence Friel ever married).
GARDNER’S RETURN: Eliot Ness to Lowell R. Smith, February 13, 1931; Andrew McCampbell to the Director of Prohibition, February 19, 1931; George S. Taylor to Everett H. Kuebler, February 27, 1931; J. L. Acuff, “Memorandum to Mr. Reichgut,” March 3, 1931; Eliot Ness to Chief, Coordination and Special Agency Division, March 3, 1931; William J. Gardner to Amos W. W. Woodcock, May 2, 1931; Dwight E. Avis, Memo to “Mr. Jones,” May 7, 1931; William J. Gardner to Webster Spates, May 15, 1931; Eliot Ness to Dwight E. Avis, May 16, 1931; Oath of Office, June 19, 1931; A. W. W. Woodcock to Prohibition Administrator, July 1, 1932; D. H. Reichgut to Prohibition Administrator, July 5, 1932, all in William J. Gardner OPF/ATF. Benjey, Doctors, Lawyers, Indian Chiefs, pp. 131–132. Tucker, Eliot Ness and the Untou
chables, pp. 98–99.
Perry (Eliot Ness, p. 81) claims Gardner was an alcoholic during the Untouchables period, and his frequent breaks with the service “were almost certainly drunken benders.” While Gardner clearly became an alcoholic in later life, nothing in his personnel file suggests he was a drinker while a Prohibition agent. Such behavior would hardly have slipped the service’s notice, especially because other agents (such as Lyle Chapman) got caught for even moderate drinking.
NESS LEARNING TO LEAD: CPD, February 27, 1937 (“Capone was a”); October 17, 1959. SLS, personal interview with ABS, November 17, 2017.
WILSON FINDS SHUMWAY: George E. Q. Johnson to G. A. Youngquist, Memo “In Re: Alphonse Capone,” December 31, 1931, Box 1, “Correspondence (3 of 12)” folder, RRPAC. Ward, “Man Who Got,” p. 7 (“underground channels,” “White Steel Company,” “Once we had,” “It took some”). IRS-2, pp. 6–7 (7, “the only other”), 57. Hynd, Giant Killers, p. 21. Wilson and Whitman, “Undercover Man,” pp. 80, 82. Irey and Slocum, Tax Dodgers, pp. 53–54. Miami News, May 1, 1949, in Box 18, “Scrap Book #1—Secret Service Stories,” FJW. Frank J. Wilson, Inside the Secret Service, pp. 42–43, in Box 12, “Manuscripts—Inside the Secret Service By Frank J. Wilson” folder, FJW. Frank J. Wilson, “#5 Shumway Insert,” n.d., in Box 7, “Manuscript—Capone Case (F. 255)” Folder, FJW. Wilson and Day, Special Agent, pp. 37–38.
Wilson later credited undercover agent Michael Malone with locating Shumway in Miami (Frank J. Wilson, “Women Kept No Secrets From Mysterious Mike,” CT, April 3, 1961), but this is likely another of Wilson’s embellishments. As outlined in the notes to Chapter Nineteen, Malone probably didn’t go undercover until March 1931, and how he could have learned of Shumway’s location while working in Chicago is unclear. O’Hare seems the safer bet.
SECRET INDICTMENT / RACING AGAINST TIME: IRS-3. IRS-4. George E. Q. Johnson to G. A. Youngquist, Memo “In Re: Alphonse Capone,” December 31, 1931, in Box 1, “Correspondence (3 of 12)” folder, RRPAC. Wilson and Whitman, “Undercover Man,” p. 82. Irey and Slocum, Tax Dodgers, pp. 54–55. Wilson and Day, Special Agent, p. 39. Calder, Origins and Development, p. 151 (“not because there”).
Chapter Twenty-One
MAFALDA WEDDING: CT, November 19, 1930 (“I’ve hardly seen”); December 15, 1930 (“the elect of,” “untoward event”). Schoenberg, Mr. Capone, pp. 301–302. Bair, Al Capone, pp. 205–206 (205, “Who would dare”).
PATTERSON INTERVIEW: CHE, January 18, 1931 (all quotes except “favor,” in Schoenberg, Mr. Capone, p. 304). Kobler, Capone, pp. 242–243. Schoenberg, Mr. Capone, pp. 303–304. Bair, Al Capone, p. 156.
WINCHELL: Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 31, 1931 (quotes). Gabler, Winchell, p. 120.
Bergreen (Capone, pp. 328–329) misdates the interview to 1929 or earlier; not only does Gabler provide evidence placing Winchell in Miami in early 1931, but the content of the story—specifically the references to Capone’s upcoming contempt trial—fix it firmly around that time.
MAYORAL PRIMARY / CERMAK: CT, February 22, 1931; February 25, 1931 (“The majority of,” “The chance of”). NYT, February 22, 1931 (“The real issue”). CHE, February 25, 1931 (“take the city”). Wendt and Kogan, Big Bill of Chicago, pp. 318–333 (“For Chicago”). Lyle, Dry and Lawless Years, pp. 259–265. Gottfried, Boss Cermak, pp. 3, 11–13, 15, 17, 48–50, 115, 137, 142–145, 199–287. Murray, Legacy of Al Capone, pp. 169–174. Johnson and Sautter, Wicked City, p. 348. Bukowski, Big Bill Thompson, pp. 233–237. Eghigian, After Capone, pp. 187–192.
WILKERSON: CHE, February 25, 1931. Shepherd, “Can Capone,” p. 16 (“righteous wrath”). CT, October 1, 1948. Schoenberg, Mr. Capone, p. 311. Cahan, Court That Shaped America, pp. 81, 85–86. Eig, Get Capone, pp. 325–327.
CAPONE CONTEMPT TRIAL: CHE, February 25–28, 1931 (February 26, “dog-eared and,” “Confined to bed”; February 27, “not serious,” “I didn’t want,” “When you used,” “I didn’t mean,” “But when you”; February 28, “with an attitude,” “Capone-y,” “Capone leaned nervously,” “have to do”). CT, February 26–28, 1931 (February 26, “the complacency of,” “A platinum watch,” “We don’t want”; February 27, “girl reporter,” “I wanted to,” “I wanted to,” “Why, I think”; February 28, “a flashy brown,” “If the judge,” “income tax investigators,” “If Mr. Johnson”). J. R. Burdge, Report on Alphonse Capone and Kenneth Phillips, March 23, 1929 (“for six weeks”); CEA, February 16–25, 1931 (February 25, “spent thousands of,” “Get your hat”); CDN, February 25–26, 1931 (February 25, “people who had,” “being trodden underfoot,” “white marble walls,” “It’s on the,” “Oh, I just,” “tried to make,” “I’ve been asked,” “I don’t belong,” “Can you fancy”); Evening Star, March 3, 1931; J. Edgar Hoover, undated memo (“Well of all”); R. C. Harvey to Director, Bureau of Investigation, February 27, 1931 (“The U.S. Attorney’s”); James H. Wilkerson, Opinion in United States v. Capone, February 27, 1931 (“glaringly false,” “it is to,” “Upon the record”), all in FBI-AC. Ross, Trial of Al Capone, pp. 13–34 (18, “to be in”). Bair, Al Capone, pp. 208–209.
CAPONE VAGRANCY HEARING: NYT, April 4, 1931 (“Couldn’t you find”). CT, April 4, 1931. Schoenberg, Mr. Capone, p. 307.
CAPONE MEETS RANDOLPH: St. Louis Times Star, November 22, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook IV, p. 17 (Randolph-Capone exchange). CT, May 5, 1932 (“I laid my”). Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 1, 1931, in RIR Scrapbook III. “ ‘Secret 6’ Head Urges Repeal of Dry Law,” n.p. [”Pittsburgh”], February 2, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook III. CP, March 8, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook III, p. 79.
Chapter Twenty-Two
CAPONE’S BEER BUSINESS: CT, February 27, 1931 (“Of course, that’s”). Randolph, “How to Wreck,” pp. 8–9. New Orleans States, January 12, 1931, in RIR Scrapbook II, pp. 136, 139. Detroit Free Press, January 31, 1931, in RIR Scrapbook II, p. 157. Rochester Evening Journal, October 14, 1931, in RIR Scrapbook III. Kansas City Star, November 1, 1931, in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. Cincinnati Times Star, November 15, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook IV, p. 16. St. Louis Times Star, November 22, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook IV, p. 17. “Chicago Crusader Urges Pittsburgh ‘Secret Six,’ ” n.p., February 2, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook III. Cincinnati Times Star, March 22, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook III, p. 100. Potter Enterprise, September 27, 1956, PCHS. Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, p. 65. Kobler, Capone, p. 246. Schoenberg, Mr. Capone, p. 73. Okrent, Last Call, p. 322 (“lousy”).
NESS’S STRATEGY: Randolph, “How to Wreck,” p. 9 (“slush fund”). NYT, June 18, 1931 (“We had to”). Dillard, “How the U.S. Gov’t,” p. 56. Alexander Jamie, “Jamie Tells How Voting Public Can Wreck Gang’s ‘Big Business,’ ” NEA Service, March 19, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook III (“Kill the revenue”). Ness MS., p. 10, in ENPS, Roll 1, Folder 2. Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 17, 59, 65, 72–73.
SEARCHING FOR BREWERIES / BARREL-CLEANING PLANT: CEA, March 25, 1931. Dillard, “How the U.S. Gov’t,” p. 56. Ness MS., pp. 10–12, in ENPS, Roll 1, Folder 2 (11, “We, of course,” “a souped-up”). Untitled clipping, n.p., n.d., in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. Potter Enterprise, September 27, 1956, PCHS. Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 66–68, 74–77.
The Ness MS. claims the two agents assigned to follow the barrels were Leeson and “Jim Seeley.” In the finished book, Seeley is never mentioned, and his role in the investigation is given to Seager (Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, p. 67). Some sources (such as Perry, Eliot Ness, pp. 62–63) follow the manuscript’s lead in listing Seeley as an Untouchable, even though no evidence suggests he even existed. Seeley is not mentioned in any known documents or newspaper articles related to the Capone case; Scott Leeson Sroka and Barbara Osteika made a search for his official personnel folder and came up empty. Given this lack of corroborating evidence, and given the Ness MS. frequently gets the spelling of names and other such details wrong (Seager’s first name, for instance, is given as “Ernest” [p. 13]), we believe that “Seeley” is an error on Ness’s part, which he and/or
Fraley corrected in the final book.
CICERO AVE RAID: CEA, March 25, 1931 (“an amber flood”). CDN, March 25, 1931. CDT, March 25, 1931 (“genuine Capone beer”). CEP, March 25, 1931 (“false face”). CT, March 26, 1931. CHE, June 15, 1931 (“It’s funny, I”). Kansas City Star, November 1, 1931, in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. Dillard, “How the U.S. Gov’t,” p. 57. Ness MS., pp. 11–15 (13, “The doors fell”; 14, “What did you,” “If the job”), in ENPS, Roll 1, Folder 2. Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 76–84, 89. Chicago American, February 20, 1960, in “Newspaper Clippings (Photocopies) Circa. 1930–1970” folder, DMM (“We entered the”).
Ness and Fraley (The Untouchables, pp. 79–80) give the time of the raid as 5:00 A.M., while the Ness MS. doesn’t specify. Press accounts make clear, however, that the raid took place at dawn, which occurred at 5:15 A.M. that day in Chicago (CT, March 25, 1931), validating Ness and Fraley’s claim.
Most sources (see Perry, Eliot Ness, p. 68), following Ness’s manuscript and the Ness-Fraley book, describe the raiders driving headfirst into the brewery doors with a specially equipped battering ram affixed to the head of their truck. But the CEP and CEA accounts of the raid (cited above) make clear the raiders decided to use the truck on the spot, and backed it into the doors. Apparently, Ness had the truck outfitted with a battering ram only after first seeing the vehicle in action during the Cicero Avenue raid.
Various spellings of Swoboda’s name exist; Ness’s manuscript, and many sources following from it, spell it “Svoboda.” We’ve elected to go with the spelling given in court documents. See U.S. v. Alphonse Capone, et al., indictment, June 1931, Case No. 23256; U.S. v. Alphonse Capone, et al., civil complaint, September 3, 1941, Case No. 3375, both in “Fusco, Joseph C. (Joe)” folder, Box 86, KC.
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