Al Capone’s Ghost
photo taken from bcsheriff.org
Alphonse Capone is one of the most notorious gangsters in the history of organized crime in the United States. He was born in 1899 in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, New York where he completed school up until only the 6th grade. Al was an Italian-American, having family from Naples and Salerno in Italy. After dropping out of school, he joined different gangs and eventually became a member of the infamous Five Points Gang. He was heavily-influenced by gangster Johnny Torrio to get involved in organized crime. Eventually, this would be the reason why he moved to Chicago around 1920. Torrio took an operation in Cicero, Illinois around that time and invited Capone to join him.
From then on, Capone became the king of Chicago, and basically controlled the city during the Prohibition Era. His most famous move as a gangster was the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, where he eliminated all of his enemies in 1929. No one was able to take-down Capone until Elliot Ness and his “untouchables” got him on charges of tax evasion which sentenced him to 11 years in prison. He was originally sent to a federal prison in Atlanta, but was later transferred to Alcatraz two years later. It is said that Capone didn’t adjust well to Alcatraz at all, completely breaking him down to the point of insanity.
Capone received a banjo from his wife which he played all day in his cell. He stopped eating and talking, and spent the last portion of his sentence in the hospital-ward due to treatments for syphilis. Al was never the same after he was released, and was considered to have gone crazy. He then died in 1947 at his house in Florida. Prison guards at Alcatraz have reported that after his death, they could still here the sound of a banjo playing from Capone’s old cell. Also, while imprisoned, Capone had complained non-stop that a ghost was haunting him. He said the ghost was James Clark, who was one of the victims of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
Could the ghost of James Clark be the reason why Al went crazy, or could this just be a simple manifestation of guilt created in his mind? It is said that he even contacted a psychic to rid the spirit away from him. I guess we will never know whether or not Capone was haunted towards the end of his life, but I think we can all conclude that he must have a truly-restless spirit and could certainly be roaming the earth today. He is one of the most evil men in history, being responsible for the deaths of over 500 people, and the mastermind behind other vicious crimes. If you walk around the streets of Chicago or even go to his gravestone in Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois, you just might see, sense, or feel his presence.
This is actally very intresting. i might just visit his grave to find out for myself.
I was always led to believe that Al was at war with ‘Bugs’ Moran and that he hoped he would be among those killed in the massacre,but not being versed in American gangland history I might be wrong. J Lawrie Edinburgh U.K.
technically that depends on what you find evil is. just cause he killed 500 people doesn’t mean that he is an evil person. there really is no evil or good at all, it’s just what seems humane. I’m not saying that it’s ok that he killed all those people but if he really was that “evil” the ghost of some guy he killed wouldn’t have even bothered him. but it is an interesting story. I find it most likely it was just guilt.
Yea man, taking the life of another person is evil.
Not letting another human being live out his life purpose is evil.
There’s no way getting around that debate, that’s just some mental gymnastics you just pulled off.
I’ve never been a great reader of books only a fan of films both old and new, since I started to write books I’ve become more fascinated in old crimes and quite frankly I always thought Al Capone died in prison it seems I was wrong but there is one thing I’m definately not wrong about and that’s the fact, anyoe killing another person unless it is in self defence such as someone attacking you in your home or wherever I would call willful killing of another human being a crime which should be fitting with a death penalty for them with no exceptions as to how old the killer is or what sex they are, its a crime and it should be dealt with as such. John Reeson U.K.
That is interesting. where is Al Capone’s grave?
@Taylor
A dog was said to have been killed by the gunmen at the Valentine’s day massacre. Today dog walkers near the site on Clark St. claim that their dogs are spooked when they go near the site of the killings.