438: The Capone's Vault Fiasco w/ William Hazelgrove

Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

Erik Rivenes

History, True Crime, Education

4.7 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2026

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1986, The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults drew a larger audience than the Super Bowl or David Frost’s interview with Richard Nixon. The special was intended as a comeback for journalist Geraldo Rivera, built around the dramatic opening of a "vault" beneath Chicago’s Lexington Hotel, rumored to contain Al Capone’s riches. But when the vault was finally opened live the moment didn’t deliver what millions of viewers were expecting. My guest is William Hazelgrove, author of Capone’s Vault: The Real Story of the Biggest Disaster in Television History. His book traces how the idea came together, combining Rivera’s career arc with the mythology of Capone’s hidden fortune, and reconstructs the broadcast itself along with its fallout, showing how the event became a defining example of live television gone wrong. The author's website: https://www.williamhazelgrove.com/ The author on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@williamhazelgrove 30% off sitewide at Batch! Go here and support the show: ⁠⁠⁠hellobatch.com/NOTORIOUS⁠⁠⁠ and use the code NOTORIOUS at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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1:19.5	slash visit Scotland. Welcome all to another episode of the most notorious podcast. I'm Eric. A quick word before we begin.
1:30.1	The events discussed in this interview mostly center around the year 1986, which is a little
1:37.2	late on the most notorious timeline. I try not to wander too deeply into the 1980s.
1:43.7	There are plenty of other podcasts that very ably cover more modern crimes.
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