Al Capone and His American Boys: Memoirs of a Mobster's Wife

26 Nitti’s Revenge

The average maximum age of a man who follows a criminal career is about thirty-five years, excepting of course, those who find safety and security behind prison bars. Naturally there are many men now living who have spent years in gangland activities, who are older. But this fact is more than offset by the hundreds of boys who fall victim to gangland guns each year. Racketeers and gangsters themselves realize that they have little reason to expect to reach a “ripe old age.” Ted Newberry was one of these. I often heard him say he was “living on borrowed time.” So in view of his failure to stamp out Nitti, I am sure he was aware that he was “due for a markdown.” GustoorealizedhegraduallywaslosinghisfighttosaveTed,butthe end came much sooner than either Ted or Gus expected. It was the evening of January 7, 1933, scarcely two weeks from the date on which Nitti was wounded, that Newberry was having dinner at our home on the fifteenth floor of an apartment house at 3300 Lake Shore Drive. It was an exclusive apartment house in an exclusive neighborhood , where we were known under Gus’ alias of Michaels. Newberry had an apartment on the thirteenth floor. Gus failed to come home for dinner, but about seven o’clock telephonedtheapartmentandtalkedtoTed .BeforeleavingthephoneNewberrysaidGuswantedtotalktome ,andwhenIansweredwasinstructed to go to Joe Bergl’s garage in Cicero and get the letters that had been sent to Gus at that address. 26 Nitti’s Revenge 159 160 al capone and his american boys After dinner Newberry went down to his apartment and I departed for Cicero. When I returned I went to the Newberry apartment to see if Gus had come there. He was not there, and neither was Ted, but I found RalphPierce,amemberofthesyndicate;SamHunt,aChicagohoodlum; Davie Goldblatt [elsewhere Davie is called Benny], who worked for Gus; “Willie”Weber,aNewYorktheatricalproducer[nottobeconfusedwith CountyCommissionerCharlesH.Weber,wholaterjoinedWinkelerina legal beer-distributing business]; a young man employed by Gus to pilot his plane; and another of Gus’ employees I knew only as “Red.” I thought it was odd that so many of Ted’s friends had assembled at the Newberry apartment while Ted was out, presumably alone. All were playing cards. A short time after I sat down to watch, Ted returned, and I showed him the letters, asking if he knew where I could find Gus. “Oh, he’s out with some of the Dagoes,” Ted said lightly, “he’s okay.” Then he turned to his guests. “Listen everybody,” he announced. “I’m expecting a call, and if the phone rings no one is to answer it but me.” The phone rang a minute later. After answering it Newberry said he was going out. As he left the thought again occurred to me that something was wrong. During the last few days Ted had never gone out alone, but here were his friends and employees, permitting him to venture out at night without escort. I had a peculiar feeling—the same sensation I often had when I realized that my husband was in danger. I felt so uneasy that I went up to our apartment and rehearsed everything I had seen and heard that day, trying to find a clue to Ted’s unusual behavior,Gus’failuretocomehome,andthenegligenceofTed’sfriends. My complete inability to discover any hint only added to my worry, which I extended to include my husband. I attempted to sleep, but my mind seethed and I gave up and tried to calm myself by reading. But my mounting worry over Gus’ safety caused me to abandon that, and by one o’clock in the morning I was pacing the floor and biting my nails. At five o’clock I was a nervous wreck, but the sound of Gus’ key in the door quieted my fears for him. One look at my husband told me something was wrong. He tried to act casual and asked me why I had not gone to bed, but I countered with the question: “Why didn’t you come home?” Nitti’s Revenge 161 He sat down and I noticed his face was tired and drawn. “I couldn’t,” he said simply. “The Dagoes wouldn’t let me. They practically held me prisoner and if I had tried to leave somebody would have found me all shot up this morning.” Just as I was going to question him he said: “If Nellie (Newberry’s girl) calls...