12/4/08
Eliot Ness - What happened after "The Untouchables"
Everyone knows the story of Eliot Ness and how he and his group of US Treasury Agents known as "The Untouchables" took down Chicago Mafia head Al Capone. But what happened to Ness after those events. Here is the true story:
A few years after Capone went to prison, Eliot Ness moved to the city of Cleveland, OH and became the Head of Public Safety...basically the police chief. He was very good at his job and introduced alot of improvements into the Cleveland police force. For example, his was the first department to have radios in squad cars. He was so popular that he decided to run for mayor of Cleveland. At about the same time a srial killer called the "Torso Killer" started terrorizing the city. This guy basically killed people, chopped of their arms, legs and head and left the torso in the street. Despite his best efforts Ness and his police department were never able to capture this criminal. Because of his failure Ness not only lost his bid for mayor, but was asked to step down from his post as chief.
He then went to work for a company that made bank checks. His job was to make the checks more secure from forgers, a job his previous treasury experience made him an expert at. After being at that job for a while, he was invited by his boss to fly with him to a convention. He went along, and while they were there his boss ran into an old friend who was a writer. This writer was working on a book about crime in the Prohibition era. Keep in mind that Ness and his gang of agents were only in their early 20s when the events of the "Untouchable stories took place. Al Capone was in his late 20s. So basically these were a bunch of kids shooting eachother up over booze.
But back to the story, the boss says to this writer, "See that guy over there at the bar. That's Eliot Ness. He was a Treasury Agent and was the main guy responsible for sending Capone to prison." So the write goes over and starts talking to Ness. Ness tells him a few stories and the guy says, "This stuff is really incredible but do you have anything to back it up?" And Ness says, "Well I have a scrapbook." This scraobook had everything from photos to newspaper clippings and old business cards. So the writer says he'd love to have it and when Ness get's back home he sends the guy this scrapbook.
A little time goes buy and Ness dosn't hear anything, so he figures oh well whatever. ness is middle aged now, and he and his family are going through a little financial hardship at this time and he's thinking the extra money woulda been nice but it wasn't meant to be. A little more time goes by and Ness is sitting at home one night when het gets a phone call. It's the writer. He basically says that the scrapbook was a goldmine. There's gonna be a book, a movie maybe even a TV show. And he tells Ness that he will never have to worry about money again. Ness hangs up the phone and goes into the livingroom. He tells his wife what happened and finishes by saying, "You know what, I feel pretty good tonight." Then he goes into the kitchen for a drink and drops dead on the floor from a heart attacl. He never saw the book, thhe movie, the TV show, never saw himself become the American Legend that we know him as today.
And that is the true story of Eliot Ness.
Everyone knows the story of Eliot Ness and how he and his group of US Treasury Agents known as "The Untouchables" took down Chicago Mafia head Al Capone. But what happened to Ness after those events. Here is the true story:
A few years after Capone went to prison, Eliot Ness moved to the city of Cleveland, OH and became the Head of Public Safety...basically the police chief. He was very good at his job and introduced alot of improvements into the Cleveland police force. For example, his was the first department to have radios in squad cars. He was so popular that he decided to run for mayor of Cleveland. At about the same time a srial killer called the "Torso Killer" started terrorizing the city. This guy basically killed people, chopped of their arms, legs and head and left the torso in the street. Despite his best efforts Ness and his police department were never able to capture this criminal. Because of his failure Ness not only lost his bid for mayor, but was asked to step down from his post as chief.
He then went to work for a company that made bank checks. His job was to make the checks more secure from forgers, a job his previous treasury experience made him an expert at. After being at that job for a while, he was invited by his boss to fly with him to a convention. He went along, and while they were there his boss ran into an old friend who was a writer. This writer was working on a book about crime in the Prohibition era. Keep in mind that Ness and his gang of agents were only in their early 20s when the events of the "Untouchable stories took place. Al Capone was in his late 20s. So basically these were a bunch of kids shooting eachother up over booze.
But back to the story, the boss says to this writer, "See that guy over there at the bar. That's Eliot Ness. He was a Treasury Agent and was the main guy responsible for sending Capone to prison." So the write goes over and starts talking to Ness. Ness tells him a few stories and the guy says, "This stuff is really incredible but do you have anything to back it up?" And Ness says, "Well I have a scrapbook." This scraobook had everything from photos to newspaper clippings and old business cards. So the writer says he'd love to have it and when Ness get's back home he sends the guy this scrapbook.
A little time goes buy and Ness dosn't hear anything, so he figures oh well whatever. ness is middle aged now, and he and his family are going through a little financial hardship at this time and he's thinking the extra money woulda been nice but it wasn't meant to be. A little more time goes by and Ness is sitting at home one night when het gets a phone call. It's the writer. He basically says that the scrapbook was a goldmine. There's gonna be a book, a movie maybe even a TV show. And he tells Ness that he will never have to worry about money again. Ness hangs up the phone and goes into the livingroom. He tells his wife what happened and finishes by saying, "You know what, I feel pretty good tonight." Then he goes into the kitchen for a drink and drops dead on the floor from a heart attacl. He never saw the book, thhe movie, the TV show, never saw himself become the American Legend that we know him as today.
And that is the true story of Eliot Ness.
posted by Michael Schaffer at 2:18 PM
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