You see a simple, flat headstone nestled among the manicured lawns. It’s a bit underwhelming, wouldn’t you say, for the resting place of perhaps the most infamous mobster of the 20th century? This, my friends, is Al Capone’s Gravesite. It’s a little piece of history in the Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois.
It’s hard to believe this modest stone marks the end of the gangster empire, but it’s true. Al Capone’s career was a whirlwind of violence and extravagance. He was the top dog in Chicago, a city he ruled with a ruthless iron fist, but it was a tax fraud charge that finally brought him down. He was incarcerated for eleven years, spending some of that time on notorious Alcatraz Island. When Capone finally walked free, his health had been ravaged; he succumbed to complications caused by syphilis in 1947.
The inscription on the headstone is simple, but it carries a powerful message: ‘My Jesus Mercy’. It is a testament to the complex legacy of Al Capone – even in his final moments, the man who ruled Chicago with fear sought solace in faith.
The truth is he’s not buried in the original spot. He was originally interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Chicago but his body was exhumed years later and moved here to Mount Carmel, mainly due to the vandalism of his original grave.