While absent without leave, Maloney worked briefly for a carnival in Florida before returning to Missouri. 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. While in prison, Gruender met and befriended Elmer Dutch Dowling and Isidore Londe, lieutenants of East St. Louis mob boss Frank Buster Wortman. When we would go in together to interview somebody, a prisoner or the warden or the guards, wed start off and they would be talking one way and the minute they found out about Joeand what his background wasit was like administering truth serum. 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. After his fourth escape from Boonville, juvenile authorities transferred him to Algoa, the states intermediate reformatory, where his behavior worsened. He would serve the next 13 years at the Missouri Penitentiary, in Jefferson Cityarguably the worst prison in the United States at the time. Maloney was 19 years old when he committed the crime. (Post-Dispatch), Morris Shenker, lead defense lawyer for Buster Wortman, addresses the judge during the trial in February 1962. Stabbings and killings, robberies and rapes were common. Sonnenscheins latest bust appears to have been part of a larger federal investigation into prostitution on the Eastside. 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. Log In. She kept her end of the bargain. Three River Quay nightclubs were soon torched or bombed, and the list of gangland hits rapidly grew. Tucked in a peaceful neighborhood, Paddock Village Apartments offers a quaint residential setting, complete with lush green spaces. The Kansas City Mafia wielded considerable economic cloutcontrolling several banks [and] owning ten percent or more of the taverns and nightclubs in the city. Meanwhile, Menn had interested Random House in publishing a book of Maloneys poetry. They registered at the St. Francis Hotel, at Sixth and Chestnut, under the name Mr. and Mrs. John Ducharme of Jacksonville, Fla. That evening Maloney, armed with a hunting knife, robbed the clerk at another downtown hotel. O'Brien knew the owner of the Paddock, Frank "Buster" Wortman, the East Side mob boss. Three River Quay nightclubs were soon torched or bombed, and the list of gangland hits rapidly grew. You can check, if they still have the records. 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. In later years he worked as a freelance writer and as an editor for the alternative press. Stelzer An earlier version of this story appeared in the St. Louis Journalism review in 2008 and Focus/midwest magazine in 2010. It was like he was from another planet. I was impressed that the literary editor of a famous newspaper would write to me. Maloney then married a former inmate of the girls reformatory at Chillicothe, and they moved to Alabamabut the marriage fell apart. But Richard Callow, the mayors longtime political consultant, does make a cameo appearance in the film. At the time, almost any local mobster was considered a suspect. Hinkley, a former St. Louis Globe-Democrat Woman of the Year, was an early advocate of prison reform and used her social standing to influence decisions of the Missouri Department of Corrections. The next year, Maloney ran away again. Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). View 2295 homes for sale in Paddock Lake Condominiums, take real estate virtual tours & browse MLS listings in Florissant, MO at realtor.com. By any measure, he had to be considered beyond salvation, a lost cause. Maloney frequented the mob hangouts at night to develop leads. 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. Wortman was vacationing in Michigan when he was subpoenaed to appear in an investigation of the murder of J. Fred Koenig, a bookmaker who allegedly was angry that Wortman had taken over his operation. 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. Before the details of that caper could be hashed out, however, the Ray brothers got jittery and split for Chicago. East Boogie created that same passion, drive and defiant spirit in the likes of a jazz musician by the name of Miles Davis and many achievers who dared to dream of success despite the negative. (Buel White/Post-Dispatch), Buster Wortman being driven away from the St. Clair County Courthouse in Belleville after a brief appearance before the county grand jury on July 2, 1955. Warden Nash committed suicide. . 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. 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? Before the details of that caper could be hashed out, however, the Ray brothers got jittery and split for Chicago. In later years he worked as a freelance writer and as an editor for the alternative press. Morris Shenker, the go-to lawyer for mobsters, expressed ritual disappointment. 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. Maloney joined the newspapers staff after being paroled in 1972. Wortman had died in Alexian Brothers Hospital in St. Louis five days before after undergoing throat surgery. It was the beginning of a long-term relationship carried out by correspondence. The story was based in part on the earlier research of Kay Drey. He is scheduled to be arraigned May 10. You never know for sure what is going to happen from day to day in prison. John Larry. She was 16 and insisted she would commit suicide before she was 21, because she had a fear of not being beautiful. Wortman's headquarters was his Paddock Lounge, at 429 St. Louis Avenue in East St. Louis. Jones agreed with them. 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. The judge put him on probation. Maloney, I realize you have a job to dobut do you have to be so intense?. (Lloyd Spainhower/Post-Dispatch), In 1956, workers began digging an oval lake and fashioning an island near South Mulberry Road southeast of Collinsville. After his return to Missouri, his parole officer committed Maloney to State Hospital No. When he made the demand for money, he and Thiemann began struggling, according to the confession Maloney later gave St. Louis police. As a result, the mayor does not appear in our documentary, The First Secret City. 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. But the mob kind of looked at Joe as a turncoat. They preferred a more cautious approach, advising that the coverage be focused more indirectly on corruption inside the citys liquor-control agency. Sam Reese, an older convict who had gained national recognition for his oil paintings and cartoons, served as his role model. He drew five years, but the conviction was reversed. By then, most of his running buddies from the joint were long dead, victims, for the most part, of their own malevolent ways. Maloney argued that the Star should immediately expose the Mafias infiltration of the River Quay. In 2000, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers oversaw a partial radioactive cleanup at the Spectrulite plant. His stepfather, Julius Dutch Gruender, an ex-con, became Maloneys less-than-sterling guardian. I had the connection.. He claims that his brother was then fronted an estimated $50,000. Instead, James Earl Ray appeared edgy and expressed apprehension about his future. He said, Youve saved my life, for the time being, anyway.. But his rise from convicted murderer to award-winning investigative reporter for the Kansas City Star is a feat unparalleled in the annals of American journalism. You never knew whom you might have trouble with. She kept her end of the bargain. By checking liquor-license applications, Maloney determined that mobsters or their relatives secretly owned several restaurants and bars in the River Quay. 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. Before his contract expired, the Star hired him as a full-time general-assignment reporter. 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. When we would go in together to interview somebody, a prisoner or the warden or the guards, wed start off and they would be talking one way and the minute they found out about Joeand what his background wasit was like administering truth serum. Maloney worked on his writing for as much as six hours every evening. In a sense, Maloney did respect their trade. The reasons for murder and mayhem made little sense to anyone except the convicts. Pendergast was long gone, but his machine was anchored in place. The next day, Maloney returned to the newsroom not as a guest but as an employee. Nash released Maloney from solitary and assigned him to the newly formed prison art class. Play "The Decider" and let your He had seen his share of bloodshed. The house remains a private residence. Despite his abominable record, the state had little choice but to parole him in January 1959, a few months after he turned 18. A subdivision now adjoins the lake, known today as Magin's Lake, named after Wortman's old bartender. Maloney, I realize you have a job to dobut do you have to be so intense?. Maloney ended up moving to the West Coast. In June 1964, at Hinkleys urging, Warden E.V. They are, from left, Morris Shenker, Murry L. Randall, Saul Cohn, Ray Foreman, James F. Nangle Jr. and Norman London. Joseph John Maloney Sr., a shoemaker by trade, walked out of his sons life in 1943, when he was 3 years old. 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. 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. Beckman was a bodyguard in Wortman's organization. Maloney moved back to Kansas City, perhaps drawn by memories of his glory days. He pitched various book proposals and collaborated on at least three different screenplay adaptations of his first novel, but none of the projects came to fruition. The housepainter soon introduced his young stepson to the underworld, taking Maloney with him on occasional visits to the Paddock Lounge, Wortmans bar in East St. Louis, which was a hangout for organized crime figures. Readmore storiesfrom Tim O'Neil's Look Back series. In subsequent tape-recorded telephone interviews with Maloney, Bonadonna said that the Mafia had also targeted him for execution. A running dispute during. John Larry. (Renyold Ferguson/Post-Dispatch), Douglas Keith, a fingerprint specialist for the Illinois State Police, takes picture of Melvin Beckman's car, in which he and Dutch Dowling presumably were shot before being dumped onto Wolf Branch School Road on the night of March 3, 1962. Less than two months later, Maloney pleaded guilty to murder and armed robbery, and Circuit Judge James F. Nangle sentenced him to four concurrent life sentences. Maloney expanded his connections in the literary world, writing to such luminaries as R. Buckminster Fuller, John D. MacDonald, William Buckley and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. After the breakout, John Larry Ray says, he picked James Earl Ray up and drove him back to St. Louis. 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. OBrien arranged for the Ray brothers to spend the night at a nearby apartment above an illegal gambling den also operated by Wortman. Among those standing near the bodies are Dr. C.C. He says he drove down from St. Louis in his cream-colored Thunderbird with a machine gun and other weapons in the trunk. Having been a convict, they thought he should have respected their trade a little more than he did.. Barbecue, Barbeque, Bar. Only in an institution can love hit that hard and that fast, Maloney wrote. The literary editor was with Maloneys mother on Sept. 25, 1972, when Maloney walked out of prison for the last time. For many of . He encouraged me to keep working on the poem, and asked me to stay in touch with him. When they parted, he watched his brother walk down the back alley alone. The Star published a verbatim transcript of his claims in its next edition. He also worked diligently to establish a national writers association for prisoners. Jones agreed with them. Gruenders association with these gangsters continued long after his parole. Dope was easier to get in prison than it was on the streets. 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. After Maloney punched Thiemann in the face several times, the old man agreed to hand over the cash. Maloneys own artwork took awards at state and county fairs and was exhibited at a gallery in Paris. I asked him if hed read the story, and if it had helped him any. The home, lake and surrounding land was on sale for $175,000. On the evening of Dec. 11, he picked up Rhodes in Columbia at an apartment she was sharing with another girl. Gruenders association with these gangsters continued long after his parole. John G. Rallo, also known as Johnny Roller for his long hours spent at the crap tables in Las Vegas, and fellow accomplice Sheila Sweeney were charged one week after Stenger pleaded guilty. He encouraged me to keep working on the poem, and asked me to stay in touch with him. He was a gutsy little guy. All of a sudden their stories would change. Bonadonna was one of Maloneys confidential sources. Less than two months later, Maloney pleaded guilty to murder and armed robbery, and Circuit Judge James F. Nangle sentenced him to four concurrent life sentences. Beckman was a bodyguard for Wortman and Dowling. In those days the Kansas City Star printed a poem on the editorial page every day, so I mailed the poem to the Star. Shortly before 8 p.m., Maloney dropped Rhodes off at the apartment of an acquaintance, then walked to a nearby confectionery, located at 1100 Lami Ave. Edith was a strangely magnetic girl. After the problem came to light, the company forced its union work force to strike, filed for bankruptcy, and then reorganized under a different name, selling half the business to a foreign conglomerate. Dows work caused radioactive debris to accumulate on overhead girders where it was ignored for decades. He had seen his share of bloodshed. Bartolottas defense attorney was reported in the Globe as Andrew Leonard. You never know for sure what is going to happen from day to day in prison. Wortman died in a St. Louis hospital Aug. 3, 1968, at age 63 after throat surgery. Hartmann Publishing, owned by Ray Hartmann, sold the newspaper to the New Times, a Phoenix-based chain, in late 1998. Six days after the verdict, Dowling and a bodyguard were found shot to death on a dark road north of Belleville. He was between jobs, collecting unemployment benefits. The prison series later won the Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association. He proved to be an invaluable ally. Maloney thought of Menn as the father he never had. An earlier version of this story appeared in the St. Louis Journalism review in 2008 and Focus/midwest magazine in 2010. The court also ordered Sonnenschein to pay a $250,000 fine and give $1 million to Eastside charities. On Dec. 19, 1945, at the age of 14, Maloney ran away from home for the first time.I was prepared, Maloney recalled later. Search the Largest Online Newspaper Archive Show article text (OCR) Save to Ancestry Clipped from St. Louis Post-Dispatch St. Louis, Missouri 05. It was like he was from another planet. Kevin Horrigan, a cub reporter at the Star in 1973, remembers Maloney as an affable colleague but one who stood apart. James Earl Ray subsequently fled north of the border, but there is no indication that he participated in such a caper. John Larry Ray, a convicted bank robber, spent more than a quarter-century behind bars himself. I asked him if hed read the story, and if it had helped him any. The brand varied with the decade: L&Ms or, later, Marlboro Lights. Given this evidence and other indictors, it is unclear why federal prosecutors in St. Louis did not now pursue the Stenger case under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which was crafted specifically to address such criminal enterprises. 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. Less than two years later, on April 10, 1985, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported on the federal trial of Bartolotta in East St. Louis. He had his demons, says Mike Fancher, an editor who worked closely with Maloney, but I know that for the time that he worked for the Star he did some absolutely amazing work that I dont think any other journalist could have possibly done.. The second incident earned him his first stint in the reformatory at Boonville. 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. Maloneys own artwork took awards at state and county fairs and was exhibited at a gallery in Paris. We drove across the river to the Paddock Lounge in [East St. Louis] Illinois and I introduced him to Jimmie OBrien, Ray says. The first, I Speak for the Dead, is a fictionalized account of Kansas Citys mob war, drawn straight form his clip file. Vintage Matchcover: The Paddock Lounge & Club Supper Room, East St Louis, IL | eBay The Paddock Lounge & Club Supper Room, East St Louis, IL. But John Larry Ray believes that his brother maintained contact with OBrien after their hasty departure. Mugshot of Mike Lacey courtesy of the Maricopa County Sheriffs Department. In his phone call he had asked his brother to pump OBrien for information. Ratings. Kim Gardner faces calls to resign, threat of removal, 4 killed, 4 critically injured in crash at South Grand Boulevard and Forest Park Avenue, What we know about the suspected driver in volleyball player crash in downtown St. Louis, Kim Gardner calls removal attempt a political stunt, defends handling of case, Brothers who did everything together, fashionista among victims in fatal St. Louis crash, Boeing to end F/A-18 Super Hornet production by 2025, Family of teen hit by driver in St. Louis leans on strength, asks for wave of prayers, Missouri attorney generals ultimatum to Kim Gardner: Resign or face removal from office. We worked on the fifth floor of the prison hospital, which is to say the psych ward. I dont know.. . Eventually, the government charged him with income-tax evasion. Everyone was shocked. Though he avoided further trouble with the law, Gruender acted as a courier for Wortman. 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. Morris A. Shenker, St. Louis, Mo., for defendants Frank Leonard Wortman and Elmer Sylvester Dowling. 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. Your mother tells me that if you give your promise to do something, you keep your word, Hinkley wrote. But back in Kansas City, a rift had developed among three branches of the local mob: the Cammisano, Spero and Bonadonna clans. 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. The FBI knew that the Rallo Construction Co. had alleged ties to the Chicago Mafia for decades. Google. Arizona law enforcement authorities ruled his death a suicide. Police never filed charges in the murders. During a short parole in 1957, Maloney was arrested in Kansas City on suspicion of burglary and carrying a concealed weapon. The Post-Dispatch ran the photograph because Wortman had refused to tell a federal grand jury where he lived. That, of course, was back in the day, when a lifer could still aspire to being released on parole. Over the next two years, eight more mob-related murders would go down before the violence subsided. 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. Sam Reese, an older convict who had gained national recognition for his oil paintings and cartoons, served as his role model. Stelzer, a St. Louis-based freelance writer, is working on a biography of the late J.J. Maloney. 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. 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. There were men in prison who were said to make more money each year from dope and gambling than the warden was paid. 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. This meant that senior editorial staffers such as Menn, who had accumulated large stock holdings in the company, could negotiate with management on a more even level. The delays in communications eventually killed his deal with Random House. Stelzer, a St. Louis-based freelance writer, is working on a biography of the late J.J. Maloney. Gruender used carpentry skills acquired in prison to rehab the old farmhouse, and he showered Maloney with gifts, including a motorcycle and a shotgun. The conviction was only the second for the often-arrested Wortman, who had muscled to the top in the late 1940s with help from the Capone syndicate in Chicago. Truth at Last is his intriguing but meandering account, a navigation of the uncharted waters of the two siblings lives. After his fourth escape from Boonville, juvenile authorities transferred him to Algoa, the states intermediate reformatory, where his behavior worsened. Talk about stares. I was impressed. Joseph John Maloney Sr., a shoemaker by trade, walked out of his sons life in 1943, when he was 3 years old. He brought him to Chicago. She also acted as Maloneys liaison with the outside world. John will tell you he brought him [James Earl Ray] to St. Louis, Jerry Ray says. All info on Romeos Lounge in East Saint Louis - Call to book a table. I had another change of clothes, a pound of fudge, a loaf of bread, 14 silver dollars, and my old mans .38 was buried in the bottom of the sack. Despite his preparations, Maloney was quickly apprehended after stealing a car and spent the night in the Montgomery County Jail. Having written it, my next problem was deciding where to send it. People [were] shot and blown up.. Sonnenschein, who headed the A to Z Development Corp., admitted to the court that businesses located on his property were engaged in prostitution. 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. Atty., East St. Louis, Ill., for United States. Its the smoking that eventually killed him. 1 in Fulton for psychiatric observation. Petzall, the mayors legal mentor, will celebrate his 86th birthday in June. When he made the demand for money, he and Thiemann began struggling, according to the confession Maloney later gave St. Louis police. 4.4. Talk about stares. On hearing the bad news, Maloney vowed to kill Moyer and tried to escape. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. 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. The prison series later won the Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association. He wrote to me as if I were just another person, another young writer.. On his death, in 1915, the founder of the paper, William Rockhill Nelson, had willed the Star to his employees. 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. The last time John Larry Ray visited New York City was in 1965. Maloney sensed that the feud was about to erupt into open warfare. Maloney also tagged along when his stepfather drove to Jefferson City to visit a friend still incarcerated at the penitentiary. Edith was a strangely magnetic girl. East Saint Louis, Illinois. On the evening of Dec. 11, he picked up Rhodes in Columbia at an apartment she was sharing with another girl. At the same time, dissension was brewing in the newsroom. 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. But when his brother arrived, he showed no interest in purchasing guns. The white convicts slept three to a cell (except for several hundred in one-man cells). . James Earl Ray also supposedly told his brother that the CIA had tapped him to be an intelligence asset. 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. An attorney of the same name Andrew Leonard was the longtime general counsel for Hartmann Publishing, the original owner of the RFT. 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. Wortman was 63. 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. [This story was first published in January 2, 2004.]. But Maloney became more devoted to writing as he matured. Missouri incorporation records show that Gerhard J. Petzall, a senior partner in the politically-connected law firm of Guilfoil Petzall & Shoemake, sat on the board of directors of Spectrulite for years and continued act as an attorney for the company until 2009. In the wake of the mob violence, the River Quay was all but abandoned, with only six liquor licenses remaining in the district, down from 28 a few years earlier. Its like the Mississippi River, says John Larry Ray. Yesterday (January 1, 2004), the St. Louis area massage parlor owner reported to federal prison to begin serving a one-year sentence for misprision of a felony, a charge similar to obstruction of justice. 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Arizona law enforcement authorities ruled his death a suicide dark road north of RFT!