Al Capone: Prohibition and Wisconsin

(clock ticking) - When my mother passed, it took me two years to go through a century of papers.

That's the land use.

- Oh, yeah.

- That was his grandfather.

I was finding things from the early 1800s.

to up until she had passed.

I was sitting at this table and found two of the letters, and one of 'em was, "Dear my friend Bill," and basically asking him for the bootlegger that was up there.

"The whiskey was really good.

Do you think you could have him send me some more?

Your friend, Al."

And that's how he signed them.

That was quite a unique find.

(dramatic music) - Everywhere I go, somebody tells me the story of their grandfather having a still for Al Capone or Al owning a piece of a hotel, a restaurant, a tavern.

(liquor splashing) (glasses clinking) - For better or for worse, alcohol is a huge part of Wisconsin history.

- Big commerce, big industry, a lot of people moving around, a lot of money.

And vice goes along with money.

(liquor splashing) - When you look at prohibition, not only was it a failure, but it drove things underground.

(door creaking) - [Guy] Given the limited federal criminal laws, Wisconsin's a haven.

(door slamming) - We can't deny the connection between Al Capone, the Chicago outfit, and Wisconsin completely.

There's clearly evidence that they owned property in the Lake Geneva area and in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

There are many gangster stories, again, some which cannot be proved, but many which can.

- [Lisa] They realized that it's hollow back here.

(knuckles tapping) These are the bottles that they found in the storage space.

- See, this is the side of the building where Capone, where those shots were with the gun and things like that over here.

- And as I grew up, I'm thinking, "This guy was a gangster."

Al Capone ate dinner with them, cooked dinner in my grandmother's kitchen.

- We always were raised to keep a low profile.

I'm the only one who's still alive who could tell the story.

(ice clinking) (soft music) (child laughing) Papa was a wonderful, wonderful grandfather.

The few memories I have of actually playing with him in the garden, walking with him in the garden, were heavenly.

I only remember him with a big, warm smile on his face and twinkly eyes, just an extremely loving grandfather.

My name is Diane Patricia Capone.

I am the second oldest granddaughter, and now the oldest living granddaughter of Al Capone.

(suspenseful music) More and more, I became aware of how many stories about my grandfather's personal life that were untrue.

And I just, I couldn't bear it.

I'm the only one who's still alive who could tell the story.

(suspenseful music continues) My grandfather was a very complicated man.

There were many things that happened in his life that were very unfortunate.

He lived in an era when there were not an awful lot of opportunities, especially for someone who was Italian descent and with very little education.

And so, he did what he had to do in order to get ahead.

A lot of that involved a lot of violence.

(gunshots booming) But also, he craved the attention and the power that came with being in the role he was in.

(melancholy music) His father had died, and when his father died, his mother was left with the younger children.

The family was quite poor, and even as a little boy, his mother really relied on him.

His birthday was January 17th, and he turned 21 on the same day, January 17th, that prohibition became the law of the land.

(alcohol splashing) (melancholy music continues) I don't know an awful lot about his ties to Wisconsin.

It does make sense, since Milwaukee is the brewers' city and there were lots and lots of people who enjoyed beer.

It's not surprising that he had a lot of contacts there.

(upbeat music) - Prohibition was another opportunity for organized crime to take what they do best, which is find a niche that's illegal, but desirable, and step into that.

- So, Frank and Ralph Capone expanded their mission out of Chicago.

And throughout the state of Wisconsin, they have little bastions of what they did.

Al Capone was Public Enemy No.

1 and Ralph was Public Enemy No.

3.

And then, as he expanded out from Chicago, it wasn't just one directional thing.

Al Capone was a businessman, and this is how they expanded, and expanded their territories as well.

And Wisconsin is huge fodder.

(upbeat music continues) - And so, the whole prohibition thing, once again, drives it underground.

But it becomes profitable for men like Al Capone.

Why?

Because they control that, and they control the distribution, the shipping, and the movement.

- He also scoffed a bit at the people who very hypocritically referred to him as a gangster, because he said, "These are some of my best customers."

- Al Capone bristled at the title of gangster.

His business card would've read, "Businessman."

And he believed he was supplying a product and a service that people wanted.

There are still places up north where it's very hard to say a bad word in Northern Wisconsin about Al Capone.

(snow crunching) - See, this is the side of the building where Capone, where those shots were with the gun and things like that over here.

Al Capone, he was after what many folks are after here in the Northwoods.

He was seeking a place of rest and relaxation, vacation, having fun in the woods, with some assurances that he wouldn't be discovered, if you know what I mean.

And Winchester was very remote.

(upbeat music) The Northwoods in the 1920s was just being accessed by automobiles, which was the preferred means of transportation by gangsters because trains can be confining and leave an individual exposed.

And that is also right when Prohibition starts.

The moonshining that took place up here was very pervasive.

Many of them were suffering through the Agri-Depression in the 1920s and then the Great Depression from '29 into the 1930s.

And in that time period, moonshining was a way to make business.

(upbeat music continues) In my opinion, Capone came up here initially just for a holiday, and he befriended Bill Sell who he quickly had confidence in as a liaison in the Northwoods.

The first Capone letter to Bill Sell was in June of 1924: Dear Bill, just a few lines to let you know that I'm feeling fine and hope to hear the same from you.

Well, Bill, I want you to find that bootlegger that sold me the wine and whiskey when I was there and tell him that I want him to come right away to Chicago, because I have a big order for him.

So, our correspondence is when he was a lieutenant in the Chicago outfit, and he was probably a bit more relaxed in the way that he operated.

(clock ticking) - These were when he worked with the forestry.

(sinister music) How Al Capone got to know my grandfather, I'm not exactly sure, other than probably through real estate, knowing that he sold property.

My grandmother, I remember her telling me the story of her serving him on her Spode dishes and how one of the women that were brought up, I don't know who she was, "Why would you do this?

Why would you serve us like this?"

And her response was, "That's how we serve guests."

(sinister music continues) Al Capone was coming up for a particular reason, to look for property.

So, my grandfather overlooked, to an extent, overlooked his business end and looked at this as a opportunity, one, to sell property, but also looked at it as a friendship.

That was a secret that was kept and it was kept because of my grandparents.

So, I think that shows to who they were and why he felt as he did, to come up north with his friends and felt safety.

- And then, in 1925, we get a letter two days after the assassination attempt on Al Capone's life where he survived.

"Friend Sells, no doubt you'll be surprised to hear from me.

Well, pal, things have been so darn exciting that I haven't had time to change this.

Well, Sells, old boy, how are you doing, and how is the missus and your dear little slugger?

Your pal and friend, Al Capone."

(soft music) - There's the old cabin.

- Well, as a child, in hearing the stories from my mother, I mean, she idolized him.

He was somebody who came to the house and would take her fishing.

I think part of it is getting to know who my grandparents were, that they would invite somebody in like Al Capone into their home.

I think you can be a real estate agent and not be a friend with somebody.

And yet, they were friends.

It was always, "My friend, Bill."

Al Capone sent rocking horses to my uncle, even said in one of the letters that wished he could be my uncle's baseball manager.

At the age of five, he said, "That little slugger all grew up."

So, there was a friendship there.

- My grandfather was a very generous man.

He was raised in poverty and he never forgot that.

As soon as he had money, he was extremely generous with people.

- I think we've all been groomed on the stories of Al Capone and the violence that's associated with him, which is all very real.

But in a real sense, these are the marks of a deep and meaningful relationship, and in my mind, probably to a time of peace and fun in Al Capone's life.

(sinister music) Capone then writes in 1929 from prison in Pennsylvania: Say, Bill, I'm writing to you in regards to that big house that was being built on that island.

Please let me know if it is for sale.

If not, let me know of something else within 200 or a thousand acres with plenty of water, something out of the way.

Sincerely yours, Alphonse Capone.

(sinister music continues) Capone is gonna be caught up in other issues and escalations by the law enforcement and Eliot Ness.

Probably made much of his vacationing and plans up here hard to realize.

He couldn't get the property he wanted in Winchester.

Ironically, his brother, Ralph Capone, moved up here and had a property in Mercer, Wisconsin on Lake Martha, which is only one township away.

So, the Capones' affinity for the area was quite strong.

- For a long, long time, the name Capone always had to do with violence and gang wars and all the terrible things that went on during that prohibition era.

(melancholy music) It wasn't the best name to grow up with.

I know my father was very, very guarded, and always insisted to my sisters and I that we be beyond reproach.

(melancholy music continues) I didn't even tell my next-door neighbors what my maiden name was.

I think that one of the things that the public is not aware of, though, is that he was very capable of compartmentalizing his life.

His relationship with my grandmother was absolutely the most important thing in his life, and the thought of losing her was something he would never have been able to bear.

As long as he had her in his life, a good little Irish Catholic girl, he felt like he was a hero.

(melancholy music continues) My grandmother and papa's mother used to go to Mass together every day, and they'd pray for my grandfather.

They would pray for his safety.

At one point, he was called the most shot-at man in Chicago.

(sinister music) - In Chicago, it wasn't just about prohibition.

The different warring factions, they were also fighting over prostitution territory, union racketeering, and any number of other rackets.

The gang-on-gang violence in Chicago largely stood within the Chicago borders.

It very rarely would find its way into Wisconsin.

Jack Zuta remains probably the most prominent, most famous incident of what was clearly a Chicago mob hit taking place in Wisconsin.

(gunshots booming) Jack Zuta came into the criminal world through vice, but he would go from being allied with Al Capone to being allied with his arch-nemesis, Bugs Moran.

(sinister music) What gets him in trouble down the line is he becomes a chief suspect in the murder of Jake Lingle, a very close friend of Al Capone.

(upbeat music) Summer in rural Waukesha, Wisconsin.

With over 20 lakes in the region, it has become known as Lake Country.

It's a popular spot for families to have summer residences, especially Milwaukee and Chicago elites.

A guest arrives to Lakeview Hotel and checks in under the name J.H.

Goodman of Aurora, Illinois.

(bell ringing) (bright music) On the evening of August 1st, the dance hall in the Lakeview Hotel Annex was hosting couples' dancing.

Guest J.H.

Goodman begins laying a pocket full of nickels on top of a mechanical piano, inviting the nearest dancers to drop a new one in the slot whenever the music stopped.

(car doors slamming) Outside, a big sedan stops, and five men walk into the annex.

(bright music) The men scan the crowd and eventually set their sights on guest J.H.

Goodman.

(bright music continues) He's made to sit in a chair in front of the piano, where a machine gun is turned on him.

(gunshots cracking) (dancers screaming) He's shot down in the Lakeview Hotel dance hall while 20 couples look on.

The men then flee in a car bearing Illinois license plates.

Investigators determine that J.H.

Goodman is actually the body of a Chicago gangster with the North Side Gang.

Jack Zuta had been put on the spot.

(gunshot booming) It is believed that he fled to the Wisconsin resort to escape further attempts on his life.

(sinister music) - [Kenneth] One reason Chicago criminals liked to come to Wisconsin is you had very few federal criminal laws back then.

You don't even have an FBI until 1933.

- [Reporter] The 1930s were a challenging time for law enforcement.

Gang wars spawned during prohibition continued with bloody shootouts like this reenactment of the Kansas City- - During prohibition, you have all these jurisdictional issues where you can cross a county line, or more likely, a state line, and the law enforcement really can't come get you.

(soft music) - [Stephen] This entire area was very familiar as a stomping ground to Al Capone.

On Brookfield Road, he had his home.

It was occupied by a Polish immigrant couple whose names were on the deed, but it was really Al Capone's property.

(soft music continues) - That was very much a conscious decision, not put his names on anything.

I think he probably knew that at some point, somebody may come after him, and he didn't want there to be anything that they could take, thinking it was his.

- The front of the house was more like the house for them, where the back was more of the distillery.

(switch clicking) At the time, this is the pipes, and it was a compressor to keep all of the whiskey cold.

(sinister music) There was a lookout tower, which was about 40 feet.

This used to be all outside.

And so, they had about a 40-foot watchtower that they would keep someone here 24 hours a day.

(sinister music continues) And so, the people who lived here right before us, when they were taking off some of the shingles, they realized that it's hollow back here.

(fingers tapping) These are the bottles that they found in the storage space.

(sinister music continues) It's a piece of history.

So, I never forget that it's our home, but it's also more than just our home.

It's something that should be here forever.

(sinister music continues) I mean, you can see it doesn't really look like much.

This was all bricked up when we moved here, but then when we remodeled, we found the actual tunnel that was here.

And so, then we had it opened up.

There was lighting in there.

It was these huge cinder blocks.

They weren't messing around.

And it went all the way over to where they had a barn so that they could get away.

(sinister music continues) - Al Capone was never convicted of any of his bootlegging activities.

He did eventually go to federal prison, serve time in Alcatraz, but for income tax evasion.

Because of course, without admitting what he was doing, there was no way for him to explain where all the money came from.

(sinister music) - My grandfather was put in Alcatraz when he was 34 years old.

While there, there were many attacks made on his life, and papa was put in solitary on a couple of occasions.

(keys rattling) And on one of those occasions, he started to pray, and he was asking God to give him another chance, not to let him die.

He was terrified that he was not going to get to come home to his wife and my father.

And he kept saying, "Please God, don't let me die.

Don't let me die."

(melancholy music) He had an experience which he described much later to my grandmother after he was home.

He believed that somehow, he had had some kind of a conversion experience, that all of a sudden, it was like he was awakened from a terrible dream and he believed that he was going to be given another chance.

He lived out the rest of his life as a very devout man who was trying to make amends for the life that he had lived.

(melancholy music continues) In the final days of his life, he went to Mass almost daily.

I remember very distinctly being lifted up onto his bed so that I could kiss him.

And I can remember his words, "I love you, baby girl."

And I remember saying, "I love you more."

And that was the last time I saw him.

He died within a matter of hours or so of that time when I kissed him goodbye.

(melancholy music continues) And ultimately, this man who had been so well-known and so feared dying in a pool of blood on the street with bullets throughout his body, ultimately died in his bed in his home, surrounded by his family.

So, he died a happy man.

(gentle music) To see the transformation that occurred in my grandfather, from trying as hard as he could to make something of himself, to make money, and gone down a very dark path through several years of his life, to had such a complete epiphany occur and a transformation occur, I think that's the most hopeful story I could possibly share with anybody.

(gentle music continues) - You look at today and how they're trying to change history, good or bad.

I think this history needs to be preserved, good or bad.

It's not about gangsters coming up and shooting up areas.

They actually went fishing.

They actually liked to cook in the kitchen of family members.

They actually enjoyed spending time with the little children that were in the area.

So, there was a human side to them.

- There has always been a fascination with that.

Those who are outside the mainstream doing things their way and screwing over the government, I'll put it that way.

(laughs) And you see them and they had the things that many people during that time did not have, but were striving to have.

We see a lot of people now with that gangster mentality.

And you gotta remember, times are totally different now.

- My grandfather made a fortune in a very short time, and he spent the fortune or gave it away.

Just as quickly as it came in, it went out.

And so, unfortunately, I wish there was a little package in the backyard with my name on it, but there isn't.

(laughs) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (bright music)