Jesse Stoneking, the unnamed informant cited by the FBI in the report, died of a gunshot wound to the head in Arizona in 2003. Your mother tells me that if you give your promise to do something, you keep your word, Hinkley wrote. Their stories ran as a four-part series in April 1973. Maloneys prison record listed him as 5-foot-9 and 145 pounds. More important, Maloney understood that the roots of the problem ran deep in the Kansas City political establishment and business community and that there was a kind of mass denial regarding corruption. In 1952 the family moved to a farm in New Florence, Mo., a small town 65 miles west of St. Louis. Magin was a defendant in the 1962 tax case, but was acquitted. They also interviewed city and federal law-enforcement authorities and pumped confidential sources for information. Bonadonna was one of Maloneys confidential sources. In those days the Kansas City Star printed a poem on the editorial page every day, so I mailed the poem to the Star. 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. But John Larry Ray believes that his brother maintained contact with OBrien after their hasty departure. In late 1967, the parole board indicated the possibility of Maloneys being released early the next year. Edith was a strangely magnetic girl. East Side mob boss Frank "Buster" Wortman and sidekick Elmer "Dutch" Dowling awaited the verdict with stiff-jawed scowls, just as tough guys should. I dont know.. Maloney sensed that the feud was about to erupt into open warfare. Maloney expanded his connections in the literary world, writing to such luminaries as R. Buckminster Fuller, John D. MacDonald, William Buckley and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. By then the Star had been bought by Capital Cities, a media chain with a history of poor labor relations. The Kansas City Mafia wielded considerable economic cloutcontrolling several banks [and] owning ten percent or more of the taverns and nightclubs in the city. Despite the low wages, the offer was priceless because it cinched his parole. In 1948, he equipped it with the novel luxury of air-conditioning. He wrote to me as if I were just another person, another young writer.. At the same time, dissension was brewing in the newsroom. His prison record over the next few years is a litany of major conduct violation:. John will tell you he brought him [James Earl Ray] to St. Louis, Jerry Ray says. Latest reviews, photos and ratings for Romeos Lounge at 787 N 53rd St in East Saint Louis - view the menu, hours, phone number, address and map. Given where hed come from, its easy to figure out why.. In June 1964, at Hinkleys urging, Warden E.V. Instead, James Earl Ray appeared edgy and expressed apprehension about his future. Pendergast was long gone, but his machine was anchored in place. More than a decade earlier, a federal probe linked RFT sex ads to the Eastside rackets. He would serve the next 13 years at the Missouri Penitentiary, in Jefferson Cityarguably the worst prison in the United States at the time. Gerhard J. Petzall, a former law partner of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, was a director of Spectrulite Consortium Inc., which owned and operated an Eastside plant contaminated with radioactive waste. Nash released Maloney from solitary and assigned him to the newly formed prison art class. The only thing his real father ever gave him was his name. 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 addition to the failed escape attempt, the prison administration cited Maloney for stabbing another inmate, manufacturing zip guns, using stimulants and committing sodomy. Sonnenschein, who headed the A to Z Development Corp., admitted to the court that businesses located on his property were engaged in prostitution. There was just something there, and it didnt fit in with everybody else, says Horrigan, now an editorial writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Meanwhile, O'Brien was supposed to check with Wortman about a proposed diamond heist. We drove across the river to the Paddock Lounge in [East St. Louis] Illinois and I introduced him to Jimmie OBrien, Ray says. voice be heard! In prison he preferred Camels, when he could afford them. After Maloney punched Thiemann in the face several times, the old man agreed to hand over the cash. In the mid-70s, some Star editors were even reluctant to print the word Mafia, Maloney later wrote. A prison psychiatrist who evaluated Maloney shortly after his arrival characterized him as a socially diffident individual who seems to take a half-humorous rejection of the whole affair. If Maloneys initial demeanor seemed inappropriately aloof given the circumstances, it didnt take long for his mood to turn into a malevolent rage. Ray says his brother gave him approximately half the money and requested that he hold $10,000 of it in case he was arrested and needed to post bond. It was the beginning of a long-term relationship carried out by correspondence. The jurors were dragged back for a grilling, but no one drew suspicion. John will tell you he brought him [James Earl Ray] to St. Louis, Jerry Ray says. A short time later, he went to federal prison for slugging a liquor agent during a raid on a still near Collinsville. He filed suit against the Department of Corrections, arguing that his constitutional rights under the First Amendment had been violated. . I heard he was in Florida someplace., They sipped beer together for a couple of hours, says John Larry Ray. 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. The FBI knew about an alleged connection between the Chicago Mafia and Rallo Construction Co. of St. Louis as early as 1991, according to a classified FBI report released under the Freedom of Information Act. He was always writing somethingstories, critiques, opinion pieces and, yes, poetry.. These days there are less than a dozen. Maloney sensed that the feud was about to erupt into open warfare. He was Wortman's right-hand man when they were convicted together in the income-tax case in 1962. He wrote to me as if I were just another person, another young writer.. Wortman later moved into a home built upon the island, reached by a wooden bridge -- and always guarded by gunmen. At the time of his marriage to Maloneys mother, he had only been out of the Missouri Penitentiary for a year. In his phone call he had asked his brother to pump OBrien for information. Morris Shenker, the go-to lawyer for mobsters, expressed ritual disappointment. He had seen his share of bloodshed. Over the next two years, eight more mob-related murders would go down before the violence subsided. Before his contract expired, the Star hired him as a full-time general-assignment reporter. The Riverfront Times publishes ads for the Eastside strip clubs and massage parlors every week. For Sale on 1stDibs - "Paddock" Pars 1969, 20th Century oil on canvas by Spanish Artist E. Grau Sala, Canvas, Oil Paint by Emilio Grau Sala. Ray, a 75-year-old resident of Quincy, is giving media interviews in New York to promote the release of his memoir, Truth at Last, co-authored by Lyndon Barsten. Solitary confinement involved long-term segregation, whereas the hole was a short-term punishment, usually a 10-day stint, during which prisoners were deprived of cigarettes, bedding and sometimes clothing. That arrangement was still in place in 1972. Moreover, Jerry Ray, John Larry Rays surviving brother, disputed John Larrys account in a telephone interview from his home in McMinnville, Tenn., in October. You never know for sure what is going to happen from day to day in prison. The next year, Maloney ran away again. He rejected Maloneys poem but continued to correspond, providing him with professional advice and personal guidance. Despite his abominable record, the state had little choice but to parole him in January 1959, a few months after he turned 18. His second novel, The Chain, is based on his years behind bars, including his incarceration at the Missouri Penitentiary and the old St. Louis City Jail. The FBI knew that the Rallo Construction Co. had alleged ties to the Chicago Mafia for decades. She corresponded. See restaurant menus, reviews, ratings, phone number, address, hours, photos and maps. At a tape-recorded meeting held in the Stars conference room, Fred Bonadonna refuted any possibility that Willie Cammisano had had anything to do with the death of his father. In subsequent tape-recorded telephone interviews with Maloney, Bonadonna said that the Mafia had also targeted him for execution. He wasn't convicted again until Feb. 26, 1962, when a federal jury in East St. Louis found him guilty of conspiracy to avoid income taxes on his gambling operations. On one occasion Jones accompanied him to the Three Little Pigs, an after-hours caf that was a favorite of the Mafia. In the first installment of the series, Maloney gave a lengthy first-person account of life inside the Walls in Jefferson City. Beckman was a bodyguard in Wortman's organization. By then the Star had been bought by Capital Cities, a media chain with a history of poor labor relations. He also worked diligently to establish a national writers association for prisoners. Dope was easier to get in prison than it was on the streets. He had publicly refuted the Stars story simply to keep from being killed. Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). When Berne died in 1996, he was a paid security consultant for Pipefitters Local 562, which Stoneking had also fingered as being connected to the Chicago Outfit. Given where hed come from, its easy to figure out why.. Last chance! Beckman's shot-up car was found in the parking lot of a bowling alley in Swansea. Webbes father had been convicted of income tax evasion in Nevada in 1983 related to his interests in the Aladdin Casino in Las Vegas, which was then controlled by the Detroit Mafia. The second incident earned him his first stint in the reformatory at Boonville. Hal Goldsmith, the prosecutor in the Stenger case, previously served as an Assistant U.S. attorney in East St. Louis in the 1990s, which was Bernes territory. . 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. At the same time, dissension was brewing in the newsroom. Wortman did not like having his picture taken, but couldn't avoid it during the seven-week trial. He drew five years, but the conviction was reversed. If you are young and good looking, you can count on being confronted again and again. The Post-Dispatch ran the photograph because Wortman had refused to tell a federal grand jury where he lived. We worked on the fifth floor of the prison hospital, which is to say the psych ward. Spectrulite never operated its manufacturing plant in Missouri. When I went to the Missouri Penitentiary at Jefferson City, in February 1960, there were 2,500 men inside the walls, Maloney later told readers of the Kansas City Star. 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. Gruender used carpentry skills acquired in prison to rehab the old farmhouse, and he showered Maloney with gifts, including a motorcycle and a shotgun. After his fourth escape from Boonville, juvenile authorities transferred him to Algoa, the states intermediate reformatory, where his behavior worsened. Before his contract expired, the Star hired him as a full-time general-assignment reporter. He died of kidney failure and complications of liver disease at Nashville Memorial Hospital on April 23, 1998. Bar, Nightlife Hours: 601 S 10th St, East St Louis (618) 874-8447. Most are from the 1930's-1980's. This one is Condition is as pictured. Maloney was 19 years old when he committed the crime. 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. Prosecutors said Wortman evaded $50,793 in taxes due from glitzy gambling halls and smoky bookie joints. (Edward Burkhardt/Post-Dispatch), Buster Wortman's home at on Grandview Drive on the western outskirts of Collinsville in February 1954. He was too busy that sunny Sunday afternoon promoting some other well-intentioned environmental cause. There were men in prison who were said to make more money each year from dope and gambling than the warden was paid. Talk about stares. No charges were filed against Wortman. He had learned about it from his mobbed-up stepfather. 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. In later years he worked as a freelance writer and as an editor for the alternative press. Dows work caused radioactive debris to accumulate on overhead girders where it was ignored for decades. Back home, he shoved aside the Sheltons, mainly through murder. After he testified against Berne and other St. Louis area organized crime figures in federal court, the Chicago Mafia allegedly put out a $100,000 contract on his life. All info on Romeos Lounge in East Saint Louis - Call to book a table. Maloney had reached his nadir. Gruender, a housepainter, had a string of arrests and convictions for car theft and burglary dating back to 1926. In the book, John Larry Ray asserts that his brother revealed to him that he had been ordered to shoot and kill a black soldier in postwar Germany while serving in the Army. In a sense, Maloney did respect their trade. Maloney ended up moving to the West Coast. The last call he received from his brother before the assassination came on March 29, 1968: He was concerned about what was going down on some type of job. James Earl Ray subsequently fled north of the border, but there is no indication that he participated in such a caper. . He claims that his brother was then fronted an estimated $50,000. Stoneking, the informant who testified against Bartolotta and dozens of other St. Louis mobsters in the 1980s, died of an apparent suicide in Maricopa County, Arizona a year ago (2003). I was impressed. Paddock Lounge burns arson suspected. Arizona authorities ruled it a suicide. By any measure, he had to be considered beyond salvation, a lost cause. Among those standing near the bodies are Dr. C.C. 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. As it turns out, Gerhard J. Petzall the mayors former law partner has past ties to the now-defunct Spectrulite Consortium Inc., a company that owned a plant in Madison, Illinois contaminated with radioactive waste from the Cold War. Gruenders association with these gangsters continued long after his parole. In advance of his release, Tom Eblen, then the Stars city editor, had written a letter to Maloney, offering him a three-month contract at a monthly salary of $550. All of a sudden their stories would change. Before the details of that caper could be hashed out, however, the Ray brothers got jittery and split for Chicago. James Earl Ray worried that Kings presence in the city might somehow block his getaway plans, his brother says, and he never provided any clues about what else was making him so uneasy. A long-buried FBI report raises questions as to why the FBI and U.S. Justice Department ignored damning allegations by a now-very dead informant. It didnt take very long for that to happen. 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