The Tommy Karpeles Story

May 8, 1931. The special U.S. mail train, coming from Rock Island, is stopped by emergency flares on the tracks in Hillsdale, Illinois. Gangsters wearing Army gas masks lob tear gas grenades into the train; they shoot a postal clerk and make off with a million dollars in negotiable securities. 3 months later, ""Tough"" Tommy Karpeles, former big-time Chicago hoodlum, is arrested for complicity in the case; his 2 accomplices were not caught. With his previous record as an ex-con, who had done 5 years for robbery, he was found guilty and sentenced to life in the State Pen. Since crimes involving the U.S. Postal Service are a federal offense, Eliot Ness and his Untouchables are on the case. Ness thinks Karpeles is innocent; the thought that the real killer is on the loose bothers Ness, so he visits Karpeles in prison.
Karpeles tells Ness he was nailed on a bum rap. Karpeles had 3 witnesses who testified he was at Mendy's bar that night; his daughter works there. Ness thinks it's odd

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S02E12 - The Big Train (1)