Forty years after Geraldo Rivera's televised opening of "Capone's vault" became branded as the biggest disaster in television history, a new book reveals what truly happened and argues the spectacle mattered far beyond the empty vault. William Elliott Hazelgrove's "Capone's Vault," releasing April 16, 2026, uses new documents, interviews with Rivera and the original producers, unpublished photos, and eyewitness reporting to unpick the media circus, the myths about Al Capone, and the Chicago forces that made the stunt possible.
On April 21, 1986, at nine fifteen Eastern time, Geraldo Rivera gave the signal at the midpoint of the live special to blow open a subterranean vault in the Lexington Hotel with dynamite. The broadcast promised to reveal the great secrets of infamous gangster Al Capone to an audience of thirty million viewers. A medical examiner was present to examine any bodies, and IRS agents stood ready to catalog Capone's rumored millions. After men in hardhats blasted through a wall, Rivera burst into the chamber only to find a single, lone bottle of bootleg gin. The event was immediately labeled the greatest catastrophe of modern television.
Hazelgrove's investigation moves past this punchline to explore the deeper significance of the event. The book examines the media frenzy it created and the enduring myths surrounding Al Capone that the broadcast both challenged and perpetuated. It also details the specific Chicago political and cultural forces that enabled such a televised spectacle to occur at the historic hotel site. The work positions the broadcast not merely as a failed treasure hunt but as a pivotal moment in television history that reflected America's enduring fascination with crime, celebrity, and live, unscripted drama.
The importance of revisiting this event lies in understanding how a perceived media failure can illuminate broader cultural truths. The vault opening, while a ratings success initially, became a benchmark for televised anticlimax. Hazelgrove's research suggests the event's legacy is complex, influencing how live television events are produced and consumed, and serving as a case study in the collision of history, entertainment, and journalism. For the media industry, the story offers lessons about the risks and rewards of high-stakes, live broadcasting that seeks to blend news with spectacle.
The author, William Hazelgrove, is a national bestselling author of numerous fiction and nonfiction titles. His previous works have received starred reviews in major publications and have been optioned for film. More information about the author and his work can be found at https://www.williamhazelgrove.com. "Capone's Vault" promises to reframe a notorious pop culture moment, arguing that its true value was not in what was found, but in what the event itself revealed about American media and society at a specific point in time.
