to demonstrate, rather accurately, that a number of newsmen on other papers were "on the take" from the underworld. Still, there was little doubt that the
Tribune
needed an arrest to cool things off. A special investigative committee was formed headed up by Charles E Rathbun, a
Tribune
lawyer, and Patrick T. Roche, chief investigator for the State's Attorney's office, with the Tribune agreeing to cover all expenses beyond what the county could afford. Working with the group was a
Tribune
reporter, John Boettiger, who other newspapers would complain had the job of seeing to it that McCormick and the
Tribune
were cast in the best possible light.
|
About a half year after the Lingle murder the Rathbun-Roche-Boettiger group was instrumental in capturing and charging one Leo Vincent Brothers, alias Leo Bader, with the crime· Brothers, 31, was from St. Louis, where he was wanted for robbery, arson, bombing and murder. Of 14 witnesses who had seen the murderer leaving the scene, seven identified Brothers while seven did not. The
Tribune
nevertheless congratulated the investigative team and itself. A number of opposition newspapers were not as convinced on the solution and intimated that Brothers was a frame-up victim, either innocent or one who allowed himself to take the fall for money.
|
There were negotiations between Capone and a representative for the Rathbun-Roche-Boettiger team. Details of a released conversation revealed:
|
 | | Capone: "Well, I didn't kill Jake Lingle, did I?"
|
| | Unidentified representative: "We don't know who killed him."
|
| | Capone: "Why didn't you ask me? Maybe I can find out for you."
|
It is almost certain Capone did know who killed Lingle. In a conversation overheard by Mike Malone, a federal agent who had infiltrated the Capone ranks, Big Al told his top aide, Greasy Thumb Guzik, he did not intend to deliver the real murderer.
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Then Brothers was arrested. He was convicted, but the jury found the evidence against him less than overwhelming. He was found guilty on charges that brought him only a 14-year sentence. Brothers was elated. He announced: "I can do that standing on my head."
|
The trade publication
Editor and Publisher
ran a story, stating:
|
| | The verdict ... brought a torrent of denunciation upon Chicago courts in newspaper comments from other cities
.
|
| | The very fact that Brothers received the minimum sentence has given critics a basis for charges which have persisted since the announcement of the arrest. The utter certainty of officials that Brothers was the man who killed Lingle and the fact that not one witness testified he saw Lingle slain, presents at least a groundwork for the ugly rumors that have been circulated
.
|
| | ... it is held unreasonable that a jury, finding a man guilty of the cold-blooded murder of Lingle, could impose the minimum sentence on the evidence presented
.
|
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