The infamous gangster Al Capone’s older brother, Frank Capone, was an American mobster. Born and reared in Brooklyn, New York, he eventually moved to Chicago, Illinois, for work, along with his brothers. According to historians, Frank was the most attractive and showed the greatest promise out of the seven Capone brothers. Because of his impeccable suit and polite demeanor, he gave off the impression of being a respectable businessman. Some mafia historians, however, contend that Frank was a merciless man who killed without hesitation in order to achieve his goals. They added that Frank had ordered the deaths of almost 500 people in his brief career. Frank was put in charge of handling the town officers when the South Side gang moved to Cicero. In order to safeguard the gang’s interests, he attempted to seize control of the town council primary elections in April 1924 and spread fear by attacking the opponent’s headquarters, attacking opposition campaign staff, and attacking disobedient voters. Unmarked automobiles carrying a battalion of plainclothes officers were dispatched, and during the ensuing gunfight, Frank Capone was shot and killed. He was given a lavish funeral.
Early Life & Childhood
On July 16, 1895, Frank Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to Italian immigrants Teresina Capone (née Raiola), a seamstress, and Gabriel Capone, a barber. There were two sisters and seven brothers among the nine siblings. In the organized crime group known as the “Chicago Outfit,” Frank, his older brother Ralph, and the younger brother Al Capone collaborated.
The Capone family initially relocated to Fiume from Italy, then took a ship to the US, where they settled in Downtown Brooklyn’s Navy Yard neighborhood. Frank Capone was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York.
Later, he and his brother Al became connected with the mafia boss of the “Five Points Gang,” a group of Italian-American criminals based in Manhattan, New York, as well as John Torrio, who was also an Italian-American. Frank and Al were encouraged to come to Chicago with Torrio when he moved there in 1918. Torrio founded the “Chicago Outfit,” a criminal organization, by 1920. This American mob was also referred to as the “South Side Gang” since it was based on Chicago’s south side.
The Chicago Group
The South Side gang quickly gained wealth and influence during the 1920s prohibition era by operating illegal liquor businesses, gambling establishments, brothels, etc. William Dever, who had just been elected mayor of Chicago in 1923, was committed to cleaning up the operations of Torrio, Capones, and the “Chicago Outfit.” The mafia was forced to relocate, and they did so to Cicero, a Chicago suburb. By putting them on the gang’s payroll, the Capone brothers won over the town committeemen and Joseph Z. Klenha, the city manager of Cicero.
The organization’s public face in Cicero was Frank Capone, who was tasked with interacting with the town council. The police and town council members in Cicero ignored the “South Side gang’s” illegal gaming, speakeasies, and brothels.
But in the course of the primary elections in April 1924, the Democratic Party started to garner momentum in order to forge a formidable opposition against the dishonest Republican Party officer Klenha. Frank Capone terrorized the Democrats to protect their own interests and their political hold on the town. William Pflaum, the Democratic candidate running for town clerk, was intimidated by his men, and his office was destroyed. They were not stopped by the police since it was thought that some of them were being paid by the gang.
Capone dispatched his gang members on April 1, 1924, election day, bearing submachine guns, baseball bats, and sawed-off shotguns to ensure that voters cast their ballots exclusively for Klenha and the Republican Party candidates. When a voter refused to cooperate, the gang members took their ballots, marked them for the Republic candidate, and escorted them to the voting booth. The armed thugs at the polling places were too strong for the unarmed poll workers to stop. The officers who refused were taken hostage and prevented from attending the polls.
After being shot in both legs, an opposition Democratic Party campaigner and eight of his coworkers were brought to a hotel in Chicago. In addition, Frank Capone attacked the Democratic campaign staff and destroyed the opposition’s campaign headquarters.
When the Cicero residents made the decision to band together to fight this gang menace, they went to County Judge Edmund K. Jareki, who promptly dispatched 70 plainclothes officers from the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to manage the situation at the elections. Leading a convoy of unmarked sedans akin to the gangsters’, the police, commanded by Sergeant William Cusack, pulled up to the Cicero Avenue polling place.
A few blocks away from a structure, Frank Capone, Charlie Fischetti, and another gangster were seen. Uncertain, Frank Capone most likely believed that the individuals dressed in civilian clothes belonged to the opposing North Side gang. Guns discharged as the police officers got out of the cars and started to walk. Although the identity of the initial fire starter was unclear, the police claimed at the inquest that Frank Capone was the one who ignited the gunfire. They claimed it was Frank’s firearm and turned in a handgun with three rounds missing. Sergeant Philip J. McGlynn took Frank Capone out in the ensuing crossfire.
Robert St. John, an editor of a newspaper, revealed an eyewitness description of Frank Capone being shot multiple times before he could pull his gun from his back pocket and fall to the ground. The thugs did not fire, according to additional witnesses. The jury determined that Capone was slain during his resistance to arrest.
Fischetti attempted to flee, but was apprehended by the authorities and turned himself in. The third mobster, a stocky, short man, tried to shoot back before fleeing. Police subsequently identified him as David Hedlin, although at first they thought he was Al Capone. But Klenha, the Republican nominee, prevailed in the elections.
On April 4, 1924, Frank Capone’s burial took place, and it was a lavish occasion worthy of a gang leader. The $20,000 worth of flowers that surrounded the silver-plated casket were transported by a motorcade consisting of about 150 automobiles. In the “Mount Carmel Cemetery” outside of Chicago, he was laid to rest. During the two hours of the funeral, all of the South Side gang’s businesses remained closed.
Net worth of Frank Capone
The estimated net worth of Frank Capone is about $1 million.