Louis Capone | |
|---|---|
 Capone 1936 mugshot | |
| Born | September 5, 1896 Naples, Campania, Italy |
| Died | March 4, 1944(1944-03-04) (aged 47) Sing Sing Prison, New York, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Execution by electrocution |
| Resting place | Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn, U.S. |
| Other names | Lou Capone |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Allegiance | Murder, Inc. |
| Conviction | First degree murder (1941) |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
Louis Capone (September 5, 1896 – March 4, 1944) was a New Yorkorganized crime figure who became a supervisor forMurder, Inc. Louis Capone was not related toAl Capone, the boss of theChicago Outfit. Capone was convicted of murder in 1941, and sentenced to death. He was electrocuted atSing Sing Prison on March 4, 1944.
Capone was born inNaples, Italy, and moved to New York City with his family as a child, where he grew up in theConey Island section ofBrooklyn. As an adult, Capone moved toBrownsville, Brooklyn.
Capone was described as a suave, well-groomed man who projected sympathy. He had watery blue eyes and a broken nose.[1]
Capone's legitimate business was apasticceria (an Italian-style cafe serving coffee and pastries) in Brooklyn. Thepasticceria became a popular hangout for teenagers, including future street gang leadersAbe Reles andHarry Maione. Capone built up a rapport with the boys by giving them free food. These young men soon became Capone's protégés in crime.[2]
Capone had strong connections with thePurple Gang ofDetroit, and was operating loansharking operations in both Detroit and New York. He was also involved in labor racketeering with the local Plasterers Union and had close ties with mobsterJoe Adonis.[2]
With the end of theCastellammarese War in 1931, Reles' and Maione's gangs developed into a network of contract killers that became known asMurder, Inc.Albert Anastasia, a patron of Capone's restaurant, persuaded the two gang leaders that they could make a lot of money by working together for theCosa Nostra. Anastasia would send Cosa Nostra murder contracts to mobsterLouis "Lepke" Buchalter, the boss of Murder, Inc. Capone would recruit the individual hitmen from the Reles and Maione gangs. These hitmen were mainly Jewish andItalian-American hoodlums fromBrooklyn.[3] By 1934, all the Cosa Nostra families were using Murder, Inc. As time progressed, Capone spent considerable energy mediating disputes between the two gang leaders.[2]
In 1936, Capone participated in the murder of Joseph Rosen. Buchalter had previously ruined Rosen's trucking business and was now afraid that Rosen would implicate him in criminal activity. To protect himself, Buchalter ordered Rosen's murder. On September 13, 1936,Harry Strauss, Emanuel Weiss andJames Ferraco shot Rosen 17 times in his Brooklyn candy store, killing him instantly.[4] Capone identified the victim and worked out a plan for the gunmen.[1]
In 1939, Capone allegedly participated in the murder of Irving Penn. Buchalter had ordered Capone to plan the murder of Philip Orlovsky, a mobster who was cooperating with the government in an investigation of Buchalter. Capone gave the job of identifying the target to mobster Jacob "Kuppy" Migden. On July 25, 1939, Migden mistakenly identified Penn, a publishing executive, to the alleged hitmanGioacchino "Jack the Dandy" Parisi, who then shot and killed Penn in front of his home in the Bronx.[5]
In 1940, Reles became a government witness and helped break up Murder, Inc. In jail on a pending 1933 murder charge, Reles gave in to pleas from his wife and agreed to help prosecute Capone and the rest of the organization. In early 1941, as a result of Reles' assistance, Capone was indicted in the Penn murder. However, Capone never went to trial on these charges.[5]
On November 30, 1941, Capone and the other defendants were convicted of first degree murder in the 1936 Rosen killing. At that time, New York state law mandated the death penalty for this offense.[4] Over the next two and a half years, Capone and his co-defendants filed a series of legal appeals that culminated in a case review by theUnited States Supreme Court. After their legal appeals were exhausted, the condemned men submitted clemency petitions to the governor of New York, which were all denied.
On March 4, 1944, Louis Capone went to theelectric chair atSing Sing Prison inOssining, New York. Capone had no final words. He was followed in the chair by Weiss and Buchalter.[6]
Capone was buried inHoly Cross Cemetery inBrooklyn.[7]
In the 1960 filmMurder, Inc., Capone was portrayed byLou Polan.
Louis Capone.
