1986. Geraldo Rivera, as part of his Mystery of Al Capone’s Vault TV special, takes us back to the 1920s in Chicago, an era when the criminal underworld in that city was growing especially powerful. This clip starts with the bloody history of Al Capone and those of his ilk, we then hear from some of those who knew him personally. The clip continues with names and faces of early 1920s Chicago; Big Bill Thompson is finally ousted as mayor and crime boss Al Capone is forced to move his operations to nearby Cicero, a suburb of the city, due to increased interference from the new mayor and police chief. Finally we learn about his conflict with other criminal gangs for control of the lucrative Chicago market, and how his bloody consolidation of power resulted in Capone controlling 10s of millions of dollars of illegal business at age 26.
Alphonse Capone was boss of the ‘Chicago Outfit’ from 1925-1931, before he was sent to prison in Atlanta in 1932. He was moved to Alcatraz in 1934, before being released due to bad health in 1939. After a long struggle with illness Capone died at his home in Florida in 1947.