Frank Capone

Frank Capone (1895-April 1, 1924) was a Chicago mobster and older brother of Al Capone.

Born Salvatore Capone, Frank arrived in Chicago with his brother Al during the start of Prohibition. Although Al Capone had been violent in his criminal career, Frank Capone was reportedly considered much more ruthless often resorting to violence unlike his brother who attempted to negotiate with an enemy before resorting to violence explaining "You never get no back talk from a corpse".

During the early 1920s, the Torrio-Capone organization based their operations in the suburb of Cicero, Illinois after being driven from the city by reform Mayor William Dever in 1923.

Within a year, local city manager Joseph Z. Klenha and the town committeemen were on the Torrio-Capone payroll and during the 1924 Chicago Primary, Frank Capone was with members of the Torrio-Capone organization arriving at polling booths with machine guns and sawed-off shotguns to see that local residents "voted right". With Klenha running against popular reform candidate William K. Pflaum, Frank Capone led an attack on Pflaum campaign headquarters ransacking his office and assaulting several campaign workers.

On April 1, Frank Capone blocked voters from booths until knowing who they were voting for with those voting for the opposition or refusing to answer being carried away. According to one incident, Democratic campaign worker Michael Gavin was shot in both legs and held against his will with eight other campaign workers until Election Day was over.

Upon hearing reports of election fraud, Cook County Judge Edmund J. Jareki brought in 70 Chicago police officers swearing them in as deputy sheriffs under the command of Detective Sergeant William Cusick. Arriving outside a polling booth near the Western Electric Plant, they encountered Frank and Al Capone, as well as cousin Charles Fishchetti and David Hedlin. Unsure wiether these were police officers or members of the North Side Mob, Frank Capone fired at police officers before police officers opened fire themselves killing the 29-year-old gangster where he stood.

Frank Capone was given an extravagant funeral, with $20,000 worth of flowers lining the casket, with the Chicago Tribune reporting that the event was appropriate for "...a fitting gentleman". Out of respect for Capone, the gambling dens and speakeasies of Cicero were ordered closed for two hours.

References

• Nash, Jay Robert. Encyclopedia of World Crime Vol. III (K-R). Wilmette, Illinois: CrimeBooks Inc., 1990. ISBN 0-923582-00-2
• Nash, Jay Robert. World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime. New York: Da Capo Press, 1992. ISBN 0-306-80535-9