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Geraldo Rivera uncovered ‘The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults’ on live television 40 years ago

Geraldo Rivera poses on the stairs heading down to the Lexington Hotel’s basement, where Al Capone supposedly kept a hidden vault. Forty years ago, millions of Americans tuned in to watch Rivera’s two-hour live television special revealing the contents of the “vault.” Steve Kagan / Getty Images
April 24, 2026

On April 21, 1986, television reporter Geraldo Rivera completed his final on-air shot in a live broadcast from the Chicago hotel where Prohibition-era Mob boss Al Capone supposedly had an underground vault. With 30 million viewers watching, the vault contained not much more than a couple of decades-old bottles and a cloud of dust. Afterward, sensing that critics would pounce, Rivera went on a bender, convinced his career was over. “He said he got tequila drunk across the street,” William Elliott Hazelgrove told The Mob Museum. Hazelgrove is the author of the newly released book, Capone’s Vault: The Real Story of the Biggest ...

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Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar killed 30 years ago this month

Warning: This blog contains graphic images that some readers may find disturbing. Thirty years ago this month, the bloody reign…

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Ninety Years Ago Today, Prohibition Ended at 2:32 p.m. Pacific Time

On Tuesday, December 5, 1933, the unprecedented repeal of a constitutional amendment went into effect, officially relegalizing intoxicating liquors in…

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Artifact Spotlight: Frank Gusenberg’s Colt .38 Special Revolver

This Colt Detective .38 Special was the only firearm found at the crime scene of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. This snub-nosed revolver was the go-to sidearm for lawmen and lawbreakers alike.

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John Gotti’s takedown detailed in new Netflix series

A three-part docuseries now available on Netflix examines the dramatic rise and fall of Gambino crime family boss John Gotti…

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Eighty-two years ago this month, Murder Inc.’s Abe Reles took a mysterious fall

Abraham “Kid Twist” Reles’ damning testimony assisted in taking down some of the most vicious Mob enforcers during the sensational…

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Mobsters blamed for Election Day violence in New York City 90 years ago

Before a hotly contested battle for the New York mayor’s office culminated in a big win for a “law and…

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Classic Mob movie ‘Mean Streets’ celebrates 50th anniversary

Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets, released in October 1973, is regarded as a classic crime drama, depicting a New York City…

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