MORE ON THE CAPONE AND LINDBERGH CASES

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V21 2018 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 21, Number 7, February 18, 2018, Article 14

MORE ON THE CAPONE AND LINDBERGH CASES

Did anyone watch the "Strange Inheritance" episode mentioned last week? An E-Sylum reader submitted these notes regarding the Treasury Agent stories. Thanks. -Editor

On both the Capone and Lindbergh cases the lead agent was Frank J. Wilson, who later took over as Chief of the Secret Service and supervised the 1933 double eagle case.

On Agent Mike Malone
Regarding Malone, here is how Wilson described him in his autobiography “Special Agent”:

“My other undercover man on the Capone case was my “secret weapon,” our own “Mysterious Mike Malone,” with whom I had worked on the McConnell case and who I thought then, and still think, was the greatest natural undercover worker the Service has ever had. Five feet, eight inches tall, a barrel-chested, powerful two hundred pounds, with jet black hair, sharp brown eyes underscored with heavy dark circles and a brilliant, friendly smile, Mike could pass easily for Italian, Jew, Greek, or whomever the occasion demanded.” (p. 33)

On the Lindbergh Kidnaping
Frank Wilson was the man who suggested recording the serial numbers of the ransom (“A dozen of [J.P.] Morgan Company’s bookkeepers stayed up most of the night recording….”). The kidnapper stipulated the ransom ($50,000) be $25,000 in $20s; $15,000 in $10s; and $10,000 in $5s.

Regarding the gold notes: “We purposely included $25,000 in gold certificates, because there were fewer of these bills in circulation and they could be spotted by bank tellers much more easily than other types of bills.” (p. 61)

These guys were all pretty amazing. Wilson shortly after the Lindbergh case took over the Secret Service (1936).

To read the complete article, see:
TREASURY LAW ENFORCEMENT ON STRANGE INHERITANCE (http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n06a22.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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