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Today in Chicago History: ‘Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults’ — with host Geraldo Rivera — seeks gangster’s riches

Excavators Tom Kasper, left, and Dan Constantino dig out the sand fill after the walls were blasted away at Chicago's Lexington Hotel, linked to mobster Al Capone, during a TV telecast on April 21, 1986. The only thing the dig turned up was old bottles and a sign. (John Swart/AP)
Excavators Tom Kasper, left, and Dan Constantino dig out the sand fill after the walls were blasted away at Chicago’s Lexington Hotel, linked to mobster Al Capone, during a TV telecast on April 21, 1986. The only thing the dig turned up was old bottles and a sign. (John Swart/AP)
By | krumore@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune
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Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on April 21, according to the Tribune’s archives.

Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.

Front page flashback: April 22, 1967

One of the worst tornado outbreaks in the state happened on April 21, 1967, when 10 tornadoes passed through northern Illinois. Three were violent F4s on the Fujita scale, which produced devastating damage. (Chicago Tribune)
One of the worst tornado outbreaks in the state happened on April 21, 1967, when 10 tornadoes passed through northern Illinois. Three were violent F4s on the Fujita scale, which produced devastating damage. (Chicago Tribune)

1967: At least 10 tornadoes touched down in northern Illinois. The most severe of them hit Belvidere, Oak Lawn and Lake Zurich. It was the worst such storm in the area’s history: Fifty-eight people were killed, including many children, and more than 1,000 were injured.

A front-page story in the Chicago Tribune the next day captured the anguish of most Chicagoans: “O, God, why did this happen.”

Vintage Chicago Tribune: Tornadoes that left an impact on the area

Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

  • High temperature: 88 degrees (1985)
  • Low temperature: 27 degrees (1986)
  • Precipitation: 1.08 inches (1973)
  • Snowfall: 0.6 inches (1903)

Chicago’s Lager Beer Riot proved immigrants’ power

1855: One person was killed and 60 more were arrested during the Lager Beer Riot, which protested a 600 percent increase in tavern license fees and Sunday closings. It was considered Chicago’s first civil disturbance.

Deborah Marie and Christine Mary Andrews were described as "very pretty" by the nurses who attended them during an almost five-hour operation to separate them on April 21, 1955. (Chicago Tribune)
Deborah Marie and Christine Mary Andrews were described as "very pretty" by the nurses who attended them during an almost five-hour operation to separate them on April 21, 1955. (Chicago Tribune)

1955: Conjoined 8-month-old twin girls, Deborah Marie and Christine Mary Andrews, were separated during an almost five-hour surgery performed by Mercy Hospital neurosurgeon Harold Voris.

Flashback: Mercy Hospital’s major milestones

It’s considered the first successful separation of twins who were joined at the head.

A press conference is held in a decaying room of the old Lexington Hotel, the onetime headquarters for Al Capone, on Dec. 19, 1985. The press were given a tour of the hotel, including the newly discovered vault found in the basement of the hotel. (Walter Kale/Chicago Tribune)
A press conference is held in a decaying room of the old Lexington Hotel, the onetime headquarters for Al Capone, on Dec. 19, 1985. The press were given a tour of the hotel, including the newly discovered vault found in the basement of the hotel. (Walter Kale/Chicago Tribune)

1986: Geraldo Rivera hosted “The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults” deep inside the former Lexington Hotel in Chicago.

Spoiler alert: There weren’t any jewels, money or cars inside — just a few old bottles and a sign. The real riches of the legendary boss of Chicago’s organized crime syndicate were more than 2,000 miles west in northern California, quietly occupying the homes of his four granddaughters — Veronica, Diane, Barbara and Theresa.

By beating the Washington Bullets 103-93 on April 21, 1996, the Chicago Bulls made history by becoming the first team to win 72 games during a regular season. (Chicago Tribune)
By beating the Washington Bullets 103-93 on April 21, 1996, the Chicago Bulls made history by becoming the first team to win 72 games during a regular season. (Chicago Tribune)

1996: The Chicago Bulls (72-10) extended their NBA single-season record for victories — 72 — while closing out the regular season with an impressive 33-8 record on the road, second-best in league history, behind the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers. (The Golden State Warriors finished 73-9 during the 2015-2016 season.)

The Bulls won their fourth NBA championship in six years on June 16, 1996, beating the Seattle SuperSonics 87-75.

Heather Mack, of Chicago, center, is escorted by police officers as she arrives for her sentencing hearing at a district court in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on April 21, 2015. (Firdia Lisnawati/AP)
Heather Mack, of Chicago, center, is escorted by police officers as she arrives for her sentencing hearing at a district court in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on April 21, 2015. (Firdia Lisnawati/AP)

2015: In a unanimous verdict, a three-judge panel in Denpasar District Court convicted Heather Mack and boyfriend Tommy Schaefer in the slaying of Sheila von Wiese-Mack.

Mack was sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing her mother, while Schaefer, who admitted fatally beating von Wiese-Mack but claimed self defense, received an 18-year prison term.

Mack served about seven years of a 10-year sentence in Indonesia, only to be arrested by the FBI when she landed at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in 2021 on a federal indictment that had been filed under seal in 2017.

She pleaded guilty in June 2023 to one count in the federal murder conspiracy case against her in Chicago federal court, and was sentenced to 26 years in federal prison. Records show she’s serving her time at a medium-security facility in West Virginia and is eligible for release in March 2044, when she’ll be 48 years old.

Schaefer was released from prison in Indonesia in February 2026 and entered a plea of not guilty through an attorney in a federal courtroom.

The Bali ‘suitcase murder’: Heather Mack’s murder conviction, Indonesian imprisonment, deportation

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Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@chicagotribune.com and mmather@chicagotribune.com

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