6. Al Capone May Have Died From Syphilis
Nothing and no one symbolizes the work of the Italian mafia in the US quite like the notorious gangster, Al Capone. He was active during Prohibition, an era in the early 1900s in which the sale and consumption of alcohol were utterly illegal. Of course, the result was increased gang activity because people were desperate to get their hands on alcohol. Enter Al Capone, aka Scarface, who amassed a fortune estimated to be worth $100 million. He is believed to be behind the infamous Valentine Day Massacre, in which thugs dressed as police officers violently murdered members of a rival gang.
By the time he was released from Alcatraz prison in 1939, Al Capone was suffering from advanced syphilis and checked into a hospital in Baltimore under the alias “Mr. Martini.” The media soon found out that Mr. Martini was the notorious Chicago gangster, so the doctors covered for him by saying that he had a problem with his nervous system. Mr. Martini, aka Mr. Scarface, had deteriorating health that was not helped by his syphilis. His obituary mentioned that he suffered from paresis, a psychiatric problem that can be brought on by syphilis before a heart attack claimed his life. Syphilis, which is known to cause cardiac problems, may have had a hand in the heart attack.