by PolackTony » Mon Mar 10, 2025 10:01 am
Cosmik_Debris wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 6:20 am
In Russo's The Outfit book, he talks about Murray Humphrey's handling the "pension" system for retired wives and widows, which the specific mention of Mae and Sonny Capone.
As always with Russo, he fails to provide citations for his claims (this should be a major red flag for anyone picking up his book).
He got this, however, from a 1963 FBI report that stated that Humphreys had been recorded discussing financial responsibilities to Capone’s family. I’ve read the actual transcripts of these recordings; they’re vague and in no way support the notion that there was anything like a general “pension system” for wives and widows.
It was in a 1959 conversation with Battaglia. Humphreys was drafting a letter responding to Sonny Capone, who had apparently asked for money to cover his debts (totaling over $20k), and Humphreys was informing Sonny that his request was being “rejected”. Humphreys went on to tell Battaglia that before Ricca “went away” (1940s), he had informed Humphreys that they had been taking care of Mae and Sonny (from other comments Humphreys made, it would seem that after Ricca went away, Guzik had actually been responsible for dealing with them — “she used to drive Jack crazy” — which would make sense given his close personal relationship to Capone). Humphreys also related that at some point, Ricca had cut Sonny off, apparently for womanizing or spending the money on women (Humphreys said that he had disagreed as he was more “broad minded” when it came to personal mores).
It’s possible that after Guzik, Humphreys may have taken on the responsibility of actually dealing with Mae and Sonny. Humphreys went on to say that once Giancana and Ferraro took over (“Joe is not here, and Paul is not here”), they cut off support, with Gus Alex apparently supporting that decision. Humphreys further related that he felt that it should have been Ralph Capone’s obligation to take care of his relatives, as he had no kids and significant income from his pinball machines (while brother Mimi Capone had been “trying to help” Sonny, Humphreys remarked that Matt Capone was a “drunken bum”), and that he had tried to convince “other Italians” help Sonny out, including Joe Fischetti (which makes sense, again given the close relationship between the Fischetti and Capone families and the fact that he lived in Miami near Sonny).
Humphreys also made a point of noting that Giancana and Ferraro didn’t go back to the Capone days and thus didn’t feel the same personal responsibility towards Capone’s family. Again, some guys and their families I’m sure got taken care of, at least at some times, but this was ad hoc and personal. A new boss comes in, and might not care to maintain such arrangements.
[quote=Cosmik_Debris post_id=290682 time=1741612847 user_id=6924]
In Russo's The Outfit book, he talks about Murray Humphrey's handling the "pension" system for retired wives and widows, which the specific mention of Mae and Sonny Capone.
[/quote]
As always with Russo, he fails to provide citations for his claims (this should be a major red flag for anyone picking up his book).
He got this, however, from a 1963 FBI report that stated that Humphreys had been recorded discussing financial responsibilities to Capone’s family. I’ve read the actual transcripts of these recordings; they’re vague and in no way support the notion that there was anything like a general “pension system” for wives and widows.
It was in a 1959 conversation with Battaglia. Humphreys was drafting a letter responding to Sonny Capone, who had apparently asked for money to cover his debts (totaling over $20k), and Humphreys was informing Sonny that his request was being “rejected”. Humphreys went on to tell Battaglia that before Ricca “went away” (1940s), he had informed Humphreys that they had been taking care of Mae and Sonny (from other comments Humphreys made, it would seem that after Ricca went away, Guzik had actually been responsible for dealing with them — “she used to drive Jack crazy” — which would make sense given his close personal relationship to Capone). Humphreys also related that at some point, Ricca had cut Sonny off, apparently for womanizing or spending the money on women (Humphreys said that he had disagreed as he was more “broad minded” when it came to personal mores).
It’s possible that after Guzik, Humphreys may have taken on the responsibility of actually dealing with Mae and Sonny. Humphreys went on to say that once Giancana and Ferraro took over (“Joe is not here, and Paul is not here”), they cut off support, with Gus Alex apparently supporting that decision. Humphreys further related that he felt that it should have been Ralph Capone’s obligation to take care of his relatives, as he had no kids and significant income from his pinball machines (while brother Mimi Capone had been “trying to help” Sonny, Humphreys remarked that Matt Capone was a “drunken bum”), and that he had tried to convince “other Italians” help Sonny out, including Joe Fischetti (which makes sense, again given the close relationship between the Fischetti and Capone families and the fact that he lived in Miami near Sonny).
Humphreys also made a point of noting that Giancana and Ferraro didn’t go back to the Capone days and thus didn’t feel the same personal responsibility towards Capone’s family. Again, some guys and their families I’m sure got taken care of, at least at some times, but this was ad hoc and personal. A new boss comes in, and might not care to maintain such arrangements.