Bugsy's Siegel's Safe Cracked Opened

After 53 years, Gangster Bugsy Siegel's secret safe was opened for the first time on Wednesday in a Hollywood eatery .

The safe, which was sealed after Siegel was gunned down by
rivals in 1947, had languished forgotten for years in L.A.'s famous Formosa Cafe.

The cafe once housed a secret back office used by Siegel to run a Mafia prostitution racket while movie stars dined at the front. And more recently, a movie set for
"L. A. Confidential", reports CBS News Correspondent David Dow.

They drilled and drilled at Formosa, as a cluster of cameras zoomed in for the moment of truth. And what did the drillers find? "Rust, lots and lots of rust, not even a paper clip," said Carl Belknap, whose grandfather installed the safe more than 50 years ago.

But cafe owner Vince Juan was not dismayed. "It's a great plug for the restaurant," he said.

Siegel launched an era of plush gambling casinos in Las
Vegas when he opened the Flamingo Hotel in 1946. Six months
later he was murdered.

In 1986, a vault thought to belong to mob leader Al Capone
and found in the foundations of the Lexington Hotel in Chicago
was opened on live television. It contained nothing but empty
gin bottles.

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