Capone took over the Chicago mob aged just 26, making
$40million a year
But despite evading rival gangsters, he was taken down by
syphilis
The sexually transmitted disease eroded his mental faculties
over years
He spent final years 'talking to' dead men - some of whom
he'd had killed
And doctors said he had the mental age of a 12-year-old
His wife Mae kept his condition a secret, knowing the mob
would kill him
He eventually died in 1947 due to a pneumonia-caused heart
attack
By James Wilkinson For Dailymail.com
PUBLISHED: 09:15 EST, 16 October 2016 | UPDATED: 10:17 EST,
16 October 2016
In the 1920s Al Capone was one of the most feared men in the
United States of America - a criminal kingpin who rose to the head of the
Chicago mob aged just 26 and whose campaign of extortion and murder touched the
world of politics.
But despite being shrewd and security-conscious, Capone was
ultimately taken down by an unstoppable foe: A syphillis infection that left
him with the mental age of a 12-year-old, doctors said.
His shocking story and pitiful end are the focus of a new
book, 'Al Capone: His Life, Legacy and Legend' by Dierdre Bair, the NY Post
reported.
Mobster: Al Capone was the feared boss of the Chicago mob.
But despite being careful to guard against rival gangsters, he was felled by
the sexually transmitted disease syphilis
Last days: The gangster lived out his last days at this
mansion with his family. But the disease has ravaged his mind, and he would
'talk' to dead men, including some that he'd had killed
Capone - nicknamed 'Scarface' after an attack as a teenager
that left him with a marked left cheek - had made his fortune as the vicious
leader of the Chicago Outfit.
The Outfit, which had tendrils across the US, ran
bootlegging and smuggling operations, and Capone would bomb the stores of those
who resisted their protection rackets.
That power turned Capone into a major target, but the wily
crook was careful to surround himself with security and shield himself from
arrest.
He was also famous for his parties and life of excess, which
earned him headlines across the world and fascinating a population hungry for
scandal.
But in 1932, Capone, then 33, was imprisoned on tax evasion
charges, and prison doctors immediately diagnosed him with the sexually
transmitted diseases syphilis and gonorrhoea.
By the time he was paroled in 1939, Capone was in the midst
of late-stage syphilis, and as his mind began to unravel he would be seen
talking to himself.
At least, that's how it appeared from the outside, but
inside Capone's head he was having in-depth conversations with men who were
long-dead - some of whom he'd had killed.
Capone was given a 'pension' of just $600 a week by the
Chicago Outfit - a huge step down from his former life of luxury, in which the
mobster, rumored to make $40million a year would wear expensive jewelry and
drink fine liquor.
In danger: Had the mob learned Capone was senile, they would
have had him killed
Instead, he would walk around his mansion in his pajamas,
trying to collect butterflies with his granddaughter.
'It was, in many ways, an ideal, middle-class
Italian-American household where family came first,' Bair told the NY Post.
That mansion was sold for $7.4million in 2014 and is now
being rented out for movies and private functions.
Capone was fiercely protected by his wife Mae, who knew that
if the reporters who camped out on their lawn found out he was talking about
old business, the Outfit would have him killed.
And if his syphilis caused him to lash out, he would be
determined to be breaking his parole and be hauled back into the slammer.
But Mae kept her husband safe with the emotional fortitude
of any number of Capone's former heavies, and he lived out his final days in
the mansion, dying in 1947, aged just 48, after a stroke, heart attack and
pneumonia.
It was a muted end for the vicious mobster who fascinated
America - and proof that all the henchmen in the world can't protect you from
yourself.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3841142/Al-Capone-s-fall-criminal-kingpin-syphilis-riddled-madman-explored.html#ixzz4VIHDZ1Ek
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