Capricorn Criminals

Al Capone, also known by the nickname Scarface, was one of the most notorious American gangsters who controlled the organised crime in Chicago between 1925 and 1931. He was known for violence and cruelty in eliminating rival gang members, the most infamous incident being the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. His life inspired numerous books and films.

A mobster and drug dealer most wanted by India, Dawood Ibrahim heads the organized crime syndicate popularluy known as D-Company. He was named No.3 on The World's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives by the FBI in 2011. He is wanted on the charges of terrorism, murder, targeted killing, extortion, and drug trafficking among other crimes.

One of history’s most infamous serial killers, Harold Shipman was a British GP who is believed to have killed over 200 patients before being nabbed by the police. He was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment for 15 murders but later committed suicide in prison. The case led to grave concerns about powers and the responsibilities of the Britain’s medical community.

Israel Keyes was a serial killer, rapist, and burglar, who had killed at least three people. He previously owned a construction business and had served the U.S. army. Israel was fond of Ted Bundy and committed suicide while awaiting trail in the case related to the murder of Samantha Koenig.

Hideki Tojo headed the Imperial Japanese Army and was the Japanese minister of war, apart from being Japan’s prime minister from 1941 to 1944. His tenure witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor. After Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers, Tojo was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death.

Arnold Rothstein, or the Brain, was a racketeer, gambler, and businessman who later became a leader of New York’s Jewish crime circuit. He had reportedly fixed the 1919 World Series. He inspired several fictional characters, including Meyer Wolfsheim in The Great Gatsby. He was murdered for declining a poker-related payment.

Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and injured 29 others in the infamous Virginia Tech shooting on April 16, 2007. He was a South Korean-born immigrant who studied at the university and had been known to suffer from mental issues. He committed suicide before the police could reach him.

John Muhammad was an American criminal, most infamous for the D.C. sniper attacks which he carried along with a juvenile partner, killing 10 people in 2002. Born John Williams, he changed his surname and was believed to be an admirer of Osama bin-Laden. He was executed with a lethal injection. He had also faced charges of abuse by his ex-wife.

Italian-American crime boss Joseph Bonanno was the leader of the Bonanno crime family for almost four decades. Introduced to organized crime as a child, he proceeded to become one of the youngest-ever bosses of a crime family at just 26. He successfully evaded arrest for many decades. He lived a long life and became a writer in his later years.  

James Stacy was an American actor remembered for his portrayal of Johnny Madrid Lancer in the CBS Western series, Lancer. In 1973, he lost his left arm and leg when his motorcycle was hit by a drunk driver. He made a comeback in 1975, earning a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for playing a double-amputee veteran in the movie Just a Little Inconvenience.

Omar al-Bashir is a Sudanese politician who served as the seventh president of Sudan. A former military officer, he is the founder of the National Congress Party that remained the dominant political party in the country until 2019. He was deposed in a coup d'état the same year and subsequently arrested and convicted on multiple corruption charges.

Mutsuhiro Watanabe was an Imperial Japanese Army soldier in World War II. Following Japan’s defeat, he was classified a war criminal for his mistreatment of prisoners of war (POWs) by the US Occupation authorities. However, the US authorities could not capture him. In his later years, he became an insurance salesman and grew wealthy.

Joe Masseria was an Italian-American Mafia boss who controlled the Genovese crime family from 1922 to 1931. He was killed in the Castellammarese War, which was fought for control over illegal activities in New York City. Since his death, Joe Masseria has been portrayed in several films like The Valachi Papers, Lucky Luciano, Mobsters, and Lansky.

Randall Woodfield is a serial killer and rapist linked to a total of 18 murders and is suspected of having killed up to 44 victims. He was dubbed the I-5 Killer or the I-5 Bandit by the media. He began committing sexual assaults and robberies in 1975 and started murdering people in 1980. He was finally arrested in March 1981.  

Frank James was an American Confederate soldier turned outlaw. He was a good student and once aspired to be a teacher. He served in the American Civil War and was later pushed into the world of crime. He became a part of the James-Younger Gang and participated in many robberies. He eventually quit crime to work other jobs. 

Edward Bunker was a convicted felon who later pursued a respectable career as a writer of crime fiction. He had a difficult childhood and became involved in crimes as a teenager, participating in activities like bank robbery and drug dealing. He later worked on rebuilding his life and pursued a career in writing. He was also an occasional actor. 

Ralph Capone, older brother of infamous gangsters Al and Frank Capone, was a mobster in his own right. He followed his brothers to Chicago, where he formed his own legitimate soft drink business, earning the nickname “Bottles.” His business was once second only to Coca-Cola in the non-alcoholic beverage market.

Elmer McCurdy was a bank and train robber. Born to an unwed teenage mother, he struggled a lot in his early life and took to a life of crime. He was a heavy drinker and often sabotaged his gang’s robberies. He was killed in a shootout after robbing a Katy Train in Oklahoma in October 1911. 

Karl Brandt was a German physician. He served as a Schutzstaffel (SS) officer in Nazi Germany and became Adolf Hitler's personal doctor. He organized and administered the Aktion T4 euthanasia program, in which between 275,000 and 300,000 people were killed in psychiatric hospitals. He was later executed for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

Ahmad Suradji’s dead father apparently asked him to collect the saliva of 70 women to gain invincibility, in a dream. This made him kill 42 girls and women, and then bury their bodies in a sugarcane plantation. The Indonesian serial killer was eventually convicted and executed by a firing squad.

While he was diagnosed with mental illness as a child, French physician Marcel Petiot or Doctor Satan, allegedly killed almost 60 people later. He targeted Jews fleeing Nazi-occupied France, injected them with poison, stole their belongings, and hid their bodies in his basement. He was guillotined for his crimes.