PROHIBITION INDICTMENT: CHE, June 13, 1931 (“5,000 CRIMES INDICT”). CT, June 13, 1931 (“INDICT CAPONE; 5,000”). NYT, June 13, 1931. “5,000 Violations of Dry Law Cited in Bill,” n.p., n.d., in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. “Crime: U.S. v. Capone,” Time, June 22, 1931, p. 17 (“We never indict”). Spiering, Man Who Got Capone, pp. 150–152 (151–152, “If the guilty”).
ROUNDING UP DEFENDANTS: CDT, June 20, 1931 (“belligerent Capone henchmen,” “At any rate”). “U.S. Brings ‘Chief Foe’ to Bar Upon Two Charges,” n.p., n.d., in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1.
JOHNSON PRAISES UNTOUCHABLES: CHE, June 13, 1931. CT, June 14, 1931 (“They worked at,” “The average age”). WP, June 15, 1931 (“Untouchables,” “Seven of the”). “$2,000 A Year Drys Break Up Rich Beer Ring,” n.p., n.d., in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. See also “Capone ‘Landed’ After Difficult Work By U.S.,” n.p., n.d.; “Capone’s Power Is Destroyed by Fearless Eight,” n.p., n.d.; “Hail Two South End Men for Overthrow of Alphonse Capone,” n.p., n.d.; “Eight Dry Agents in Chicago Inquiry Receive ‘Rewards,’ ” The Herald, n.d.; The Evening Star, June 15, 1931, all in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1.
Regarding the ages and educations of the Untouchables, Robert Sterling had a business degree and Maurice Seager had gone to chiropractor school. The rest ranged from one year at college (Paul Robsky) to a fifth-grade education (Warren Stutzman). (Questions Respecting Personal History, January 5, 1931, in Bernard V. Cloonan OPF/ATF. Application for Position of Prohibition Agent, January 26, 1927, in Lyle B. Chapman OPF/ATF. Application for Position of Federal Prohibition Agent, September 13, 1924, in Marion A. R. King OPF/ATF. Personal History, May 28, 1928, in Martin J. Lahart OPF/ATF. Questions Respecting Personal History, December 16, 1931, in Joseph D. Leeson OPF/ATF. Personal History, December 1, 1928, in Paul W. Robsky OPF/ATF. Personal History, June 8, 1928, in Samuel M. Seager OPF/ATF. Application for Position of Federal Prohibition Agent, July 9, 1920, in Robert D. Sterling OPF/ATF. Application for Position of Federal Prohibition Agent, October 17, 1920; George E. Golding to the Commissioner of Prohibition, April 15, 1929, both in Warren E. Stutzman OPF/ATF. See also Perry, Eliot Ness, p. 87.)
NESS BECOMES FAMOUS: 1920 U.S. Census Record for Priscilla Higinbotham; 1930 U.S. Census Record for Priscilla Higinbotham. “The First Class in Scientific Crime Detection Held in Chicago,” The American Journal of Police Science, vol. 2, no. 2 (March–April 1931), p. 180. CHE, June 15, 1931 (“Ness is only,” “just a ‘workout’ ”). The Evening Star, June 15, 1931; William E. Jayce to Eliot Ness, June 16, 1931; Boston Traveler, June 16, 1931; Hollywood Daily Citizen, June 17, 1931 (“No soldier on”); Derwin H. Clark to Eliot Ness, June 17, 1931; Birmingham Age-Herald, June 17, 1931 (“One of the”); George H. Parkinson to Eliot Ness, June 17, 1913 [1931] (“This is an”); Miami Daily News, June 18, 1931; A. W. Becker to Eliot Ness, June 18, 1931 (“God bless you”); Halbert Louis Hoard to Eliot Ness, June 24, 1931 (“I am a”), all in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. NYT, June 19, 1931. Doherty, “Twilight of the Gangster,” pp. 5–9 (6, “A well fed”). Potter, War on Crime, p. 138. Mappen, Prohibition Gangsters, pp. 119–121. “Priscilla Higinbotham (1909–1952),” Find a Grave, January 25, 2010, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=grandamp;grid=47181477andamp;ref=acom (accessed May 25, 2016).
CHESTER GOULD AND DICK TRACY: Chester Gould told MAC that Ness served as his inspiration for Dick Tracy in a private conversation c. September 1980. Manchester, Glory and the Dream, p. 113. Powers, G-Men, p. 29. Maeder, Dick Tracy, pp. 7–16 (9, “I’m capable and,” “YOUR PLAINCLOTHES TRACY”). Bergreen, Capone, p. 529. Smith, The Colonel, p. 247 (“This name is”). Collins and Masterson, “Chester Gould Speaks.” Collins, introduction to Complete Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy. Collins and Masterson, “Chester Gould Speaks, Part II” (“I was a”). Collins, “Shoot First.”
No evidence supports author Ted Schwarz’s claim (Cleveland Curiosities, pp. 8, 10–12) Ness knew he’d been the model for Dick Tracy. Ness was almost certainly unaware of this fact.
JOHNSON MEETS WILKERSON, FINALIZES DEAL: William D. Mitchell to George E. Q. Johnson, June 25, 1931, in Box 1, “Records Relating to Indictment and Sentencing (2 of 12)” folder, RRPAC. 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. CT, June 17, 1931. NYT, June 17, 1931. Calder, Origins and Development, pp. 150–152.
CAPONE PLEADS GUILTY: “United States of America vs. Alphonse Capone,” June 16, 1931, JIG (Green-Capone-Larue exchange). CEA, June 16, 1931 (“Yeah, it is”). CHE, June 17, 1931 (“I’ll be able”). CT, June 17, 1931. NYT, June 17, 1931 (“hoped everybody was”). WP, June 17, 1931 (“hoped everybody was”). Ward, “Man Who Got,” p. 9 (“There’s a bad”). Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 246–247. Lindberg, Return to the Scene, p. 383. Merriner, Grafters and Goo-Goos, p. 120.
Precisely dating the incident described in Lindberg and Merriner, when Capone asked to see Ness among the crowd, is impossible, though this seems the most likely occasion because Capone and Ness would not have been together in court very often.
FEDS CELEBRATE: Dwight E. Avis to George E. Q. Johnson, June 17, 1931, in Box 1, “Correspondence (3 of 12)” folder, RRPAC (“Personally, I do not”). NYT, June 17–18, 1931 (June 18, “There seems to”). “A Gangster King Surrenders,” The Bureau Bulletin, vol. 1, no. 10 (June 20, 1931); “Capone ‘in Bag’, U.S. Turns Guns on N.Y. Gangs,” n.p., n.d., both in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. IRS-1, p. 8. IRS-2, pp. 1, 27–28, 51. IRS-3. CDN, February 27, 1936. Irey and Slocum, Tax Dodgers, pp. 16–17, 35–42. Frank J. Wilson, “Mysterious Mike Malone,” CT Magazine, March 26, 1961, pp. 13, 15. Wilson and Day, Special Agent, pp. 33–35. Schoenberg, Mr. Capone, pp. 295–297. Eig, Get Capone, p. 300.
Wilson, Irey, and other sources have greatly embellished the length, depth, and extent of Michael Malone’s undercover work on the Capone case, as well as its importance to the outcome of the trial. Irey attributes to Malone (or “Pat O’Rourke,” as Irey refers to him) many actions more likely taken by E. J. O’Hare. IRS memos (see notes to Chapter Nineteen) make clear Malone’s undercover work began in March 1931 and wrapped up in June. Wilson notes in IRS-2 (p. 51): “Considerable of [sic] the work in locating witnesses was performed at night in and around the hang-outs of the Capone organization by special agents Tessem, Malone, Converse and Sullivan and the agents were facing danger in the event their identity was discovered by the gangsters.” This seems to have been Malone’s primary contribution to the tax case.
JOHNSON, WILSON, AND HOOVER IN SPRINGFIELD: CT, June 15, 1931; June 18, 1931. CHE, June 18, 1931 (“After all, I’m,” “I don’t want,” “Capone must have”). NYT, June 18, 1931 (“The president was”). Wilson and Day, Special Agent, p. 19 (“a fine job”). Public Papers 1931, pp. 315–318 (317, “There can be”).
PLEA DEAL UNRAVELS: CEA, June 16, 1931 (“the result of”). WP, June 17, 1931 (“The most frequently”). CHE, June 18, 1931. “U.S. Plans to Wipe Out Gangs,” n.p., n.d., in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1 (“the czar of”). William D. Mitchell to George E. Q. Johnson, June 25, 1931, in Box 1, “Records Relating to Indictment and Sentencing (2 of 12)” folder, RRPAC (“It was, no,” “very exaggerated ideas,” “with some misgivings,” “the reaction would”). Frank J. Loesch to Herbert Hoover, June 29, 1931 (“a very distinct,” “I hope that”); Herbert Hoover to Frank J. Loesch, July 1, 1931 (“Some time when”), both in Presidential Personal Series, Box 169, “Loesch, Judge Frank J.—1931–32” folder, HHPL. Untitled statement (“This is statement I had Prepared if plea of Guilty had not been withdrawn”), n.d. [c. July 1931], in Box 1, “Pre-Trial Notes and Argument (8 of 12)” folder, RRPAC. Undated memo, in Box 1, “Correspondence (4 of 12)” folder, RRPAC. Shepherd, “Can Capone,” pp. 16–17, 44 (“easy out”). 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. Irey and Slocum, Tax Dodgers, p. 61. Schoenberg, Mr.
Capone, p. 311. Calder, Origins and Development, pp. 152–153 (153, “A judge would”).
Chapter Twenty-Five
SENTENCING HEARING: CT, July 30–31, 1931 (July 30, “A rumor being”; July 31, “The collar that,” “only when it,” “manifestly distressed”). CHE, July 30–31, 1931 (July 31, “No, boys, none,” “The smiling underworld,” “Capone picked up”). Transcript of hearings in United States of America vs. Alphonse Capone, July 30, 1931, in Box 1, “Trial Records (7 of 12)” folder, RRPAC (Wilkerson, Ahern, and Johnson quotes). Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 246–247 (246, “I seethed inwardly”).
WILKERSON DISMISSES PROHIBITION CASE: CHE, June 6, 1931; June 13, 1931; August 1, 1931 (“A letter of”). CT, August 1, 1931 (“a much heavier,” “merely for the,” “I would just,” “There is a”). North Tonawanda Evening News, August 7 [?], 1931, ATF (“for a real”). Calder, Origins and Development, p. 153.
NESS BEFORE GRAND JURY: CT, August 1, 1931 (“link[ing] Capone with”). “Capone Liquor Deals Bared to Grand Jury,” n.p., n.d.; “Grand Jury Gets [1]0-Year Story of Capone Rum,” n.p., n.d., both in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 247–249.
CT cites “special Prohibition agents who developed the conspiracy case,” which can only mean the Untouchables.
UNTOUCHABLES KEEP RAIDING: CT, May 15, 1931 (“Raids on Capone’s”); June 21, 1931; March 31, 1932. NYT, June 13, 1931 (“virtually insolvent”). “Missing ‘Clink’ of Coin Bares Liquor Cache,” n.p., n.d.; CEA, July 17, 1931 (“Prohibition agents, aided”), both in ENPS, Roll 1, Folder 1. “12,000 Gallons of Iced Beer Seized in Raid,” n.p., n.d.; “Dry Flips A Half Dollar; Uncovers $15,000 Rum!” n.p., n.d. (“Well, boys”), both in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. CPD, September 19, 1934. Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 233–237.
THE KID FINISHED: Ness MS., pp. 15, 19–20, in ENPS, Roll 1, Folder 2 (19, “the gang was,” “This was a,” “turn up seizing,” “his automobiles kept”; 20, “and take a”). See also Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 138–139, 154–155, 163–167.
Ness’s manuscript remains silent on the Kid’s fate, while the book (probably in one of Fraley’s embellishments) suggests that the Kid and his wife lived happily ever after.
VANDERBILT INTERVIEW: Sullivan, Chicago Surrenders, pp. 204–205 (204, “merely regards himself”; 205, “Prohibition is a”). CT, August 27, 1931. Vanderbilt, “How Al Capone,” pp. 18, 20–21 (18, “Us fellas has”; 20, “I guess I’m”; 21, “crooked bankers,” “Do you think,” “undermining this country,” “When the prohibition,” “I think we”). Vanderbilt, Farewell to Fifth Avenue, pp. 168–175 (169, “If I am,” “strange things were”; 173, “You are very,” “Why should I,” “kick out state,” “Coming from a,” “Oh, they are,” “Mr. Capone, there,” “What is it,” “Do you have,” “Well, believe it,” “And your men”; 174, “They kill only,” “Police Headquarters”). NYT, July 8, 1974.
UNTOUCHABLES BEGIN TO BREAK UP: Service Record Card, n.d., in Marion A. R. King OPF/ATF. Service Record Card, n.d., in Martin J. Lahart OPF/ATF. Eliot Ness to J. Leland Acuff, August 29, 1931, in Lyle B. Chapman OPF/ATF.
NESS/UVA CHASE: CEA, September 5, 1931, in “Newspaper Clippings (Photocopies) Circa. 1930–1970” folder, DMM. CT, September 6, 1931. “Nab Frank Uva in Chase; Capone Truck Wrecked,” n.p., September 8 [?], 1931, in ENPS, Roll 1, Folder 1.
WILKERSON REJECTS REPORT: CT, September 6, 1931; September 11, 1931. CHE, September 11, 1931 (“I am interested,” “I have nothing”).
E 25TH ST RAID: CEA, September 22, 1931; CEP, September 22, 1931, both in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. “Agents Raid Capone Plant; Six Arrested,” n.p., September 22, 1931, in ENPS, Roll 1, Folder 1 (“some very well-known”). Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 92–93.
IMPACT OF UNTOUCHABLES’ RAIDS: CHE, September 26, 1931 (“The word that”); “College Men Help U.S. in Capone Ruin,” n.p., n.d.; “Rah, Rah Prohis Hit ‘Scarface,’ ” n.p., n.d.; “Capone Nemesis Costs Fortune,” n.p., n.d., all in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. NYT, September 28, 1931. LAT, September 28, 1931. WP, September 28, 1931. Untitled clipping, in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. W. S. Murphy, Report on Eliot Ness, November 15, 1933, p. 6, in FBI-ENA (“that members of”).
PARADE OF TRUCKS: “Capone’s Nemesis Costs Fortune,” n.p., October 1, 1931, in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1 (“nemesis”). Parsons, Gay Illiterate, p. 108. Potter Enterprise, September 27, 1956, PCHS (“for something interesting”). Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 200–209. “Ness Called ‘Mild, Quiet’ in Real Life,” n.p., February 11, 1962, in “Newspaper Clippings (Photocopies) Circa. 1930–1970” folder, DMM (“Capone was so”). SLS, personal interview with ABS, September 13, 2016.
Dating this incident with any precision is impossible, though the fall of 1931 (around the time of Capone’s tax trial) is easily the best bet. Enough trucks must have been seized to make a spectacle, while the parade could have happened no later than Capone’s incarceration in October 1931.
Because the truck parade apparently failed to make the papers at the time, some sources doubt it happened (see Tucker, Eliot Ness and the Untouchables, p. 22). Scott Sroka has spoken with the daughter of Marty Lahart, however, who confirms she heard the story from her father before Ness’s book was published. Lahart told his daughter he came up with the idea and the men wore pearl-gray hats to further the joke.
A 1960s interview with Prohibition agent William Connors also corroborates the basic details of the incident, though Connors misremembered the Lexington as the Metropole (“Ness Called ‘Mild, Quiet’ in Real Life,” n.p., February 11, 1962, in “Newspaper Clippings (Photocopies) Circa. 1930–1970” folder, DMM).
Additional confirmation comes from Chris Kauffmann, the grandson of Albert Mayer, a former Tribune photographer who worked throughout Illinois in the 1930s. Kauffmann recalls watching the two-part Untouchables pilot with his grandfather when it first aired on TV, and hearing Mayer remark that although much of the show had been embellished, “the thing with the trucks going past Al Capone’s hotel . . . that really happened, that one’s true. . . . That was a good one.” (Chris Kauffmann, telephone interview with ABS, February 11, 2016.)
Ness’s third wife, Elisabeth, referred to the truck parade in a 1959 interview, and claimed it “was Eliot’[s] idea.” But it’s unclear from her comments whether he told her about it, or whether she referenced the Ness-Fraley book. (CPD, October 17, 1959.)
Chapter Twenty-Six
JURY-FIXING PLOT AND SWITCHING JURIES: CT, October 7, 1931 (“lean and lawyerlike,” “What is the,” “Not guilty,” “Is the defendant”). NYT, October 7, 1931 (“Well, who wouldn’t”). “Crime: Who Wouldn’t Be Worried?” Time, October 19, 1931, pp. 12–13. Sacramento Bee, December 8, 1931. Washington Star, December 8, 1931, in FBI-AC. Hearings . . . on the Nomination of James H. Wilkerson, p. 252. IRS-2, pp. 55–56 (“an underhand method”). Arthur O. Prochno, “I Was a Capone Juror,” CT Magazine, May 10, 1936. Wilson and Whitman, “Undercover Man,” pp. 82–83 (82, “We will sit”; 83, “Leave the rest”). Casey and Douglas, Midwesterner, pp. 153–154 (154, “Take this entire”), gives the other judge’s name as “Woodward,” but Dwight Green (in Sacramento Bee, December 8, 1931) and juror Arthur Prochno (in CT cited above) both gave the judge’s name as Barnes, and we have modified the quote accordingly.
As usual, Wilson told this story multiple times in multiple ways, once claiming an undercover agent (probably Michael Malone, though Wilson used a different name) gave him the list of jurors. (Frank J. Wilson, “#7 Re Capone Efforts to Reach Jury,” n.d., in Box 7, “Manuscript—Capone Case (F. 255)” folder, FJW.) Given that Malone’s undercover work had apparently wrapped up by this time (see above), O’Hare passing along the information is much more likely.
CAPONE’S LAWYERS / JURY SELECTION: CHE, October 7, 1931 (“don’t feel right,” “It seems to”). CT, October 7, 1931. “Crime: Who Wouldn’t Be Worried?” Time, October 19, 1931, pp. 12–13. Prochno, �
��I Was a Capone Juror” (“To hell with,” “Like other newspaper,” “the limit”). Runyon, Trials and Other Tribulations, pp. 226–229 (226, “fragrant whiff of”). Busch, Enemies of the State, pp. 200–202. Schoenberg, Mr. Capone, p. 318. Okrent, Last Call, pp. 118, 240–241. Bair, Al Capone, pp. 233–234.
DAY TWO: CHE, October 8, 1931 (“even the most,” Grossman-Shumway-Fink-Wilkerson exchange beginning “Now you stated”). CT, October 8, 1931 (“the owner of,” Ahern-Bragg exchange). NYT, October 8, 1931 (“a drab, bald-headed”). David Morgan witness transcript, n.d., in Box 1, “Transcripts From U.S. v. Al Capone (Various Witnesses) (2 of 2)” folder, USvAC (7, Green-Morgan-Fink exchange). Ross, Trial of Al Capone, pp. 42–52. Busch, Enemies of the State, pp. 203–207. Schoenberg, Mr. Capone, p. 317. Record for Leslie Shumway, U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2011).
DAY THREE: CHE, October 9, 1931 (“CAPONE CONFESSION BARED!,” “Congress doesn’t want,” “To prove an,” “When a man makes”). CT, October 9, 1931 (“confession letter,” “most damning,” “It is human,” “And what is,” “No, I don’t,” “It is an,” “It might well,” “Was the man,” “This is the”). Ross, Trial of Al Capone, pp. 53–62. Runyon, Trials and Other Tribulations, pp. 229–232. Busch, Enemies of the State, pp. 207–210. Schoenberg, Mr. Capone, pp. 318–319 (318, “without prejudice,” “bona fide offers”). Trespacz, Trial of Gangster Al Capone, p. 73.
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