I was impressed that the literary editor of a famous newspaper would write to me. We visited every institution of correction for adults and juveniles in both Missouri and Kansas, plus Leavenworth and Marion in Illinois, which at the time was the Alcatraz of the [federal] system, says Jones. A neighborhood setting, within minutes of key places such as Emerson Electric, Boeing, Express Scripts and major highways 70, 270 & 367. He was a gutsy little guy. Your mother tells me that if you give your promise to do something, you keep your word, Hinkley wrote. The literary editor was with Maloneys mother on Sept. 25, 1972, when Maloney walked out of prison for the last time. When the verdict went wrong, Wortman wanted the money back. Hartmann Publishing, owned by Ray Hartmann, sold the newspaper to the New Times, a Phoenix-based chain, in late 1998. Latest reviews, photos and ratings for Spanky's Lounge at 1434 Piggott Ave in East Saint Louis - view the menu, hours, phone number, address and map. Its the smoking that eventually killed him. The records show that Petzall continued to be listed as a director of the corporation until 2003, and his name still appeared as a counsel for the by-then non-existent company until 2009. The Star published a verbatim transcript of his claims in its next edition. (Renyold Ferguson/Post-Dispatch), Workers build a bridge to the mysterious island. Jones and Maloney collaborated for months on the prison project, sharing the reporting and writing duties. Menn patiently waited until 1967 before publishing one of Maloneys poems in the Star. So hundreds of men carried a knife or had one they could get to one in an emergency. Over the next year and a half, Maloney was put in solitary confinement dozens of times for attempting to escape, instigating a riot and other infractions. Stenger was introduced to Rallo by federal felon Sorkis Webbe Jr. in 2014, according to the federal indictment. More Info. People started dying. Maloneys prison record listed him as 5-foot-9 and 145 pounds. East St. Louis Community College Center. A subdivision now adjoins the lake, known today as Magin's Lake, named after Wortman's old bartender. English . The home, lake and surrounding land was on sale for $175,000. We visited every institution of correction for adults and juveniles in both Missouri and Kansas, plus Leavenworth and Marion in Illinois, which at the time was the Alcatraz of the [federal] system, says Jones. Will you make a promise (and keep it) not to try and run awayto obey the rules of the prison and try to do whatever work is assigned to you? He was assigned to the Army Signal Corps School at Fort Gordon, Ga. His military career lasted just three months: He went AWOL on Nov. 3, 1959. Maloney then married a former inmate of the girls reformatory at Chillicothe, and they moved to Alabamabut the marriage fell apart. (Post-Dispatch), Elmer "Dutch" Dowling arriving at the federal courthouse in East St. Louis in a light rain during the trial. The two reporters began knocking on doors, talking to area business owners. He was kind of fearless, says Jones. Maloney argued that the Star should immediately expose the Mafias infiltration of the River Quay. By checking liquor-license applications, Maloney determined that mobsters or their relatives secretly owned several restaurants and bars in the River Quay. Jones agreed with them. Bonadonna disappeared in 1978, presumably into the federal witness-protection program. In 1948, he equipped it with the novel luxury of air-conditioning. At the time of his release, he had served 13 years of a life sentence for killing a South St. Louis confectionery owner during an attempted robbery. Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). I dont know.. If the remark bothered Maloney, he didnt show it. Parking: Valet. The two returned to St. Louis early the next morning on a Greyhound bus. His replacement, Harold R. Swenson, imposed extreme restrictions on all communications with editors and publishers to stop a book from being published by another prisoner, a notorious escapee. Because of their advance legwork, Maloney, Jones and staff reporters Bill Norton and Joe Henderson uncovered developments in the midst of the mayhem sometimes before federal and local law-enforcement authorities.At one point Joe Cammisano called Maloney and said: Mr. Wortman died in a St. Louis hospital Aug. 3, 1968, at age 63 after throat surgery. While confined at the hospital, Maloney met and fell in love with a fellow patient, 16-year-old Edith Rhodes, who had been transferred from Chillicothe. The first, I Speak for the Dead, is a fictionalized account of Kansas Citys mob war, drawn straight form his clip file. We offer freshly baked cookies for dessert, and fries or chips for a quick snack option. Through her encouragement, elderly attorney Mable Hinkley began to correspond with Maloney. Fact-checking the claims on case related to St. Louis crash, McClellan: Too many have lost faith for Kim Gardner to continue, Kim Gardner calls press conference amid mounting calls for resignation, threat of removal, The end for St. Louis top prosecutor? He was one of those guys who was constantly fidgeting, or his knee was pounding up and down. He had publicly refuted the Stars story simply to keep from being killed. In Dowling's pocket were notes scrawled on napkins that bore the names of jurors and things they'd said in secret deliberation. Maloneys own artwork took awards at state and county fairs and was exhibited at a gallery in Paris. Thiemann then reached into his back pocket as if to get the money and came out with a revolver and fired one shot, which apparently went over his [Maloneys] head. Maloney reacted by stabbing the storeowner in the stomach. Thiemann died as a result of the wounds he sustained in the fracas. poultry; chicken; meat . The woman at left is Kane's secretary. After the Star ran a story implicating Cammisanos brother William Willie the Rat Cammisano in the Bonadonna slaying, members of the two families demanded to rebut the allegation, which was based on an FBI affidavit. For those under 21 years of age, we offer sodas, teas, waters, Gatorades, Red Bull energy drinks, and Nescafe coffee. Barbecue, Barbeque, Bar. You cant stop one place and jump to another place.. But Maloney became more devoted to writing as he matured. Sam Magin, former manager and bartender at Wortman's Paddock Lounge in East St. Louis, told investigators and reporters that he was in charge of the project and that it was being built for a boys' club. While there, he remembers, Malcolm X was murdered. But the mob kind of looked at Joe as a turncoat. She corresponded. Maloney sensed that the feud was about to erupt into open warfare. Bartolottas defense attorney was reported in the Globe as Andrew Leonard. Though he avoided further trouble with the law, Gruender acted as a courier for Wortman. Sam Magin, former manager and bartender at Wortman's Paddock Lounge in East St. Louis, told investigators and reporters that he was in charge of the project and that it was being built for a boys' club. As a result, Maloneys letters to Menn started coming back undelivered. In November, St. Louis Post-Dispatch staffer Michael Shaw reported that Sonnenschein was sentenced to a year in jail in federal court in East St. Louis. Most are from the 1930's-1980's. This one is Condition is as pictured. He was one of those guys who was constantly fidgeting, or his knee was pounding up and down. The same year, Maloneys byline disappeared from the pages of the Star when he quit the paper in a dispute over overtime pay. Over the next two years, eight more mob-related murders would go down before the violence subsided. 4.9. Truth at Last is his intriguing but meandering account, a navigation of the uncharted waters of the two siblings lives. By the time we were cellies, Joe had straightened up his act and was staying out of trouble, working on his parole. C. M. Raemer U.S. In addition to the failed escape attempt, the prison administration cited Maloney for stabbing another inmate, manufacturing zip guns, using stimulants and committing sodomy. I heard he was in Florida someplace., They sipped beer together for a couple of hours, says John Larry Ray. Case Closed: Crime scene photo of the interior of the 1995 Ford Crown Victoria occupied by Jesse Stoneking on Jan. 19, 2003. In that role, Callow has acted to tamp down public concerns about the severity of the environmental and health problems related to the troubled landfill. It didnt take very long for that to happen. Double Deuce Lounge - 601 S 10th St, East St Louis. A few days later I received a letter from Thorpe Menn, literary editor of the Star, who rejected the poem but said he liked the last four lines. But Richard Callow, the mayors longtime political consultant, does make a cameo appearance in the film. On March 3, 1962, Dowling and a bodyguard were found murdered on a rural road north of Belleville. After going bankrupt in 2003, Spectrulites owners sold the company, but continue to hold a stake in the operation and the property itself. It might have been recycling. Callow, however, is not the only link between the mayor and the radioactive waste that has plagued the region since it first began piling up as a byproduct of Mallinkcrodt Chemicals work on the Manhattan Project. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. David Moyer, who confessed to the slaying, first told authorities that the girl shot herself and he had fired a second shot to end her pain. Dowling and bodyguard Melvin Beckman met the mystery man in Belleville, who apparently decided to shoot first. A day after he escaped, he was in Chicago that night, and I met him and John a day afterward at the Fairview Hotel on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.. Maloney excelled as a feature writer but eventually became better known as an investigative journalist covering a wide range of issues, including labor racketeering, white-collar crime, drug trafficking and mental health. Mayor Slay leaves office next week, after serving an unprecedented four terms. Investigators developed a keener interest in the project after Buster Wortman allegedly slugged an IRS agent in the Paddock Lounge, a 429 St. Louis Avenue in East St. Louis on July 1, 1956. We are also conveniently located near shopping, dining, and . She seemed fragile and shy, yet she wasnt. (Post-Dispatch), Morris Shenker, lead defense lawyer for Buster Wortman, addresses the judge during the trial in February 1962. There were men in prison who were said to make more money each year from dope and gambling than the warden was paid. Maloney sensed that the feud was about to erupt into open warfare. In 1956, workers began digging an oval lake and fashioning an island near South Mulberry Road southeast of Collinsville. On the evening of Dec. 11, he picked up Rhodes in Columbia at an apartment she was sharing with another girl. In a sense, Maloney did respect their trade. Oddly enough, Spectrulite remained an active corporation in Missouri with Petzalls name appearing in its annual reports long after the business had filed for bankruptcy in federal court in East St. Louis, Ill. In 1956, he punched an Internal Revenue Service agent in the Paddock, intensifying the agency's interest in his unusual wealth. (Edward Burkhardt/Post-Dispatch), Buster Wortman's home at on Grandview Drive on the western outskirts of Collinsville in February 1954. Wortman was acquitted in retrial in 1966. He died of kidney failure and complications of liver disease at Nashville Memorial Hospital on April 23, 1998. Red Apple BBQ & Lounge - 2112 St Clair Ave, East St Louis. Dope was easier to get in prison than it was on the streets. At the time, almost any local mobster was considered a suspect. Latest reviews, photos and ratings for Double Deuce Lounge at 601 S 10th St in East Saint Louis - hours, phone number, address and map. The mob continued to influence the police department, city hall, the county courthouse and the state legislature. Six days after the verdict, Dowling and a bodyguard were found shot to death on a dark road north of Belleville. Bonadonna disappeared in 1978, presumably into the federal witness-protection program. As a result, he was put in solitary four times and sentenced to the hole another 18 or 20 times. He filed suit against the Department of Corrections, arguing that his constitutional rights under the First Amendment had been violated. The housepainter soon introduced his young stepson to the underworld, taking Maloney with him on occasional visits to the Paddock Lounge, Wortman's bar in East St. Louis, which was a hangout for organized crime figures. She had eloped from the state mental hospital in Fulton and gone on another crime spree, this time with a 22-year-old hoodlum from Flat River. Shopping, dining, and entertainment are all close by. You never know for sure what is going to happen from day to day in prison. (Buel White/Post-Dispatch), On March 3, 1962, six days after the jury verdict, the bodies of Elmer "Dutch" Dowling (left) and Melvin Beckman were found sprawled on the pavement of Wolf Branch School Board (now Huntwood Road), north of Belleville. Wortman was acquitted at retrial, but he spent his last years hunkered in his island home, protected by gunmen. He wrote to me as if I were just another person, another young writer.. There is no doubt now that John Larry Ray helped James Earl Ray escape from the Missouri State Penitentiary, but the devil is in the details. Stoneking had been a top lieutenant of East St. Louis racketeer Art Berne in the 1980s, when he was working undercover for the FBI. In the first installment of the series, Maloney gave a lengthy first-person account of life inside the Walls in Jefferson City. For many of . The photo caption doesn't identify individual pall bearers, but the accompanying article says they included mob big shots John Vitale, Art Berne, Tony Giordano and Louis Shoulders Jr. (Post-Dispatch), The defense team poses for photographers on Feb. 22, 1962, the day the jury began deliberations. The first, I Speak for the Dead, is a fictionalized account of Kansas Citys mob war, drawn straight form his clip file. Instead, James Earl Ray appeared edgy and expressed apprehension about his future. Exposure to art ignited Maloneys innate creative streak. In subsequent tape-recorded telephone interviews with Maloney, Bonadonna said that the Mafia had also targeted him for execution. On Aug. 26, 1961, Maloneys girlfriend, Edith Rhodes, was murdered near Huzzah Creek in rural Crawford County, Mo. Instead, James Earl Ray appeared edgy and expressed apprehension about his future. Maloney then wrested the gun from his victim and fled. Warden Nash committed suicide. Welcome to Ivy Ultra Lounge, the premier upscale night life attraction located in downtown East. O'Brien knew the owner of the Paddock, Frank "Buster" Wortman, the East Side mob boss. Maloney had reached his nadir. I was even more impressed that he did not ask why I was in prison, or for how long. He had learned about it from his mobbed-up stepfather. In those days the Kansas City Star printed a poem on the editorial page every day, so I mailed the poem to the Star. In 1952 the family moved to a farm in New Florence, Mo., a small town 65 miles west of St. Louis. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, Liberty High student killed in St. Charles shooting could heal you with a smile, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol slams ump C.B. Nash released Maloney from solitary and assigned him to the newly formed prison art class. When he entered prison, Dwight Eisenhower was president; when he came out, the Watergate burglary had been committed. Wortman was 63. Maloney, I realize you have a job to dobut do you have to be so intense?. Don't sit on the sidelines. Much of the authors personal knowledge of his brothers exploits is limited to involvement in James Earl Rays escape from the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City in April 1967, a year before Kings murder. Just minutes from highways 367, 170 and I-270, the commute to great St. Louis employers like Boeing, Express Scripts, and Emerson Electric is easy. Given where hed come from, its easy to figure out why.. John Larry Ray, a convicted bank robber, spent more than a quarter-century behind bars himself. Maloney had been in solitary confinement for nearly four months after his escape attempt when Hinkley contacted him. A version of this story appeared in Illinois Times, April 2, 2008. His stepfather, Julius Dutch Gruender, an ex-con, became Maloneys less-than-sterling guardian. Entering the store, he pulled a hunting knife and demanded money from Joseph F. Thiemann, the 74-year-old store owner. Maloney owed his freedom to Thorpe Menn, the Stars literary editor, who had supported his parole and helped him get his job at the newspaper. He was between jobs, collecting unemployment benefits. O'Brien arranged for the Ray brothers to spend the night at a nearby apartment above an illegal gambling den . That, of course, was back in the day, when a lifer could still aspire to being released on parole. Once an adult (21 years old or older) has finished racing for the day (we have a strict anti-drinking and driving policy), they can enjoy a wide selection of beer and . By then, newspapers called it "Wortman's Island." Three River Quay nightclubs were soon torched or bombed, and the list of gangland hits rapidly grew. 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