He suspects that the payoff was passed through Wortmans organization by the Chicago mob in advance of a Canadian jewel robbery in which his brother was slated to take part. People started dying. Warden Nash committed suicide. Maloney, I realize you have a job to dobut do you have to be so intense?. The next day, Maloney returned to the newsroom not as a guest but as an employee. Wortman made his bookmaking network pony up $20,000 for the deal. He drew five years, but the conviction was reversed. He chain-smoked. 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. Shopping, dining, and entertainment are all close by. Talk about stares. Police never filed charges in the murders. Maloney joined the newspapers staff after being paroled in 1972. They both concluded that their fears were unfounded, 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. If you are young and good looking, you can count on being confronted again and again. That arrangement was still in place in 1972. Brokered by Platinum Realty of Saint Louis LLC . He had learned about it from his mobbed-up stepfather. An earlier version of this story appeared in the St. Louis Journalism review in 2008 and Focus/midwest magazine in 2010. All of a sudden their stories would change. Joseph John Maloney Sr., a shoemaker by trade, walked out of his sons life in 1943, when he was 3 years old. So hundreds of men carried a knife or had one they could get to one in an emergency. Meanwhile, OBrien was supposed to check with Wortman about a proposed diamond heist. Maloney had garnered the editors attention in 1961 through a poem he had submitted to the Star, which then printed verse on its editorial page each day. I asked him if hed read the story, and if it had helped him any. Among those standing near the bodies are Dr. C.C. He was kind of fearless, says Jones. 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. He said, Youve saved my life, for the time being, anyway.. But the bankrupt, Illinois-based company, which had been sold to a foreign concern, remained an active corporation in Missouri for six years after its apparent demise; proof that there is life after death at least in the legal world. By the time we were cellies, Joe had straightened up his act and was staying out of trouble, working on his parole. When newspaper tycoon Mike Lacey, former owner of the St. Louis Riverfront Times, was busted for pimping in California this week, his arrest was long overdue. In subsequent tape-recorded telephone interviews with Maloney, Bonadonna said that the Mafia had also targeted him for execution. Entering the store, he pulled a hunting knife and demanded money from Joseph F. Thiemann, the 74-year-old store owner. Maloney then wrested the gun from his victim and fled. 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. The house remains a private residence. Paddock Lounge Melvin Beckman Mystery Man Wolf Branch School Road Shelton Gang Collinsville Look Back Tim O'neil Larry Coyne As featured on A Look Back Two mobsters found guilty in East. 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 the late 1990s, shortly before his death, he established a Web site, crimemagazine.com, which is maintained by his friend J. Patrick OConnor, former owner of the New Times, a now-defunct alternative weekly in Kansas City. In September 1983, Post staffer Ronald Lawrence reported that one of Sonnenscheins business associates was Fernando Nando Bartolotta, a made member of the St. Louis mafia family, then under the leadership of the late Matthew Trupiano. The Department of Energy conducted the first radiological testing at the facility in March 1989, which showed elevated levels of Uranium-238 and Thorium-232. 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. Dowling was convicted of assault in the case, but he won a reversal from the Missouri Supreme Court. All of a sudden their stories would change. In the ensuing fight, the pistol fired a second time, striking Thiemann in the leg. Wortman began his career hijacking liquor trucks for the old Shelton gang in East St. Louis. 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. James OMara, the manager of Local 562, was the chairman of the St. Louis County Council at this time. Gruender, a housepainter, had a string of arrests and convictions for car theft and burglary dating back to 1926. If they were surprised to hear the word "guilty," they didn't show it. Its the smoking that eventually killed him. (Post-Dispatch), Morris Shenker, lead defense lawyer for Buster Wortman, addresses the judge during the trial in February 1962. His prison record over the next few years is a litany of major conduct violation:. In 1975, Maloney and Jones teamed up again to cover the corruption and violence surrounding a power struggle among factions of the Kansas City Mafia. A year after his parents divorced, a hit-and-run driver killed his brother, Bobby. 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. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, U.S. . He rejected Maloneys poem but continued to correspond, providing him with professional advice and personal guidance. . Shenker got the convictions reversed. The Star published a verbatim transcript of his claims in its next edition. In addition to the failed escape attempt, the prison administration cited Maloney for stabbing another inmate, manufacturing zip guns, using stimulants and committing sodomy. Jesse Stoneking, the unnamed informant cited by the FBI in the report, died of a gunshot wound to the head in Arizona in 2003. 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. 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. 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. In the ensuing fight, the pistol fired a second time, striking Thiemann in the leg. She sent money, clothing, food, stamps and other items. He is scheduled to be arraigned May 10. Your mother tells me that if you give your promise to do something, you keep your word, Hinkley wrote. It was the beginning of a long-term relationship carried out by correspondence. While in prison, Gruender met and befriended Elmer Dutch Dowling and Isidore Londe, lieutenants of East St. Louis mob boss Frank Buster Wortman. But John Larry Ray believes that his brother maintained contact with OBrien after their hasty departure. The St. Louis mobster and federal informant died from a gunshot wound to the head. Otherwise, he rolled his own from pouches of Ozark-brand tobacco, manufactured and distributed for free at the Missouri Penitentiary. He wrote to me as if I were just another person, another young writer.. In 1956, workers began digging an oval lake and fashioning an island near South Mulberry Road southeast of Collinsville. After six weeks of observation at Fulton, Maloney was allowed by the parole board to enlist in the Army. The convicted assassin spent the rest of his life in the Tennessee prison system. In the first installment of the series, Maloney gave a lengthy first-person account of life inside the Walls in Jefferson City. The court also ordered Sonnenschein to pay a $250,000 fine and give $1 million to Eastside charities. Last month, the U.S. Attorneys Office in St. Louis issued a three-count indictment against St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger for his role in steering lucrative contracts and property deals in return for campaign contributions from John G. Rallo, a former shareholder in one of the family-owned construction companies CMR Construction Inc. CMR was formed 1989 by Charles N. Rallo and Michael J. Rallo, grandsons of the of founder of C. Rallo Contracting Co., which was incorporated in 1947. In a sense, Maloney did respect their trade. Maloney thought of Menn as the father he never had. If you are helpless, there are people who will try to make a reputation at your expense. 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. 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. He was always writing somethingstories, critiques, opinion pieces and, yes, poetry.. Meanwhile, Menn had interested Random House in publishing a book of Maloneys poetry. Three River Quay nightclubs were soon torched or bombed, and the list of gangland hits rapidly grew. 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. After going bankrupt in 2003, Spectrulites owners sold the company, but continue to hold a stake in the operation and the property itself. Sonnenscheins latest bust appears to have been part of a larger federal investigation into prostitution on the Eastside. Before his contract expired, the Star hired him as a full-time general-assignment reporter. No charges were filed against Wortman. 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. Tasty dishes in East Saint Louis. Kane, county coroner. But Maloney became more devoted to writing as he matured. 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. . Ratings. The Paddock Lounge & Club Supper Room, East St Louis, IL. But the mob kind of looked at Joe as a turncoat. A version of this story appeared in Illinois Times, April 2, 2008. In late 1967, the parole board indicated the possibility of Maloneys being released early the next year. Maloney had garnered the editors attention in 1961 through a poem he had submitted to the Star, which then printed verse on its editorial page each day. Stelzer, a St. Louis-based freelance writer, is working on a biography of the late J.J. Maloney. View 2295 homes for sale in Paddock Lake Condominiums, take real estate virtual tours & browse MLS listings in Florissant, MO at realtor.com. Thiemann died as a result of the wounds he sustained in the fracas. Having written it, my next problem was deciding where to send it. Kevin Horrigan, a cub reporter at the Star in 1973, remembers Maloney as an affable colleague but one who stood apart. While there, he remembers, Malcolm X was murdered. He says he warned his brother about the dangers of dealing with the Mafia: I told him dont be the one floating in the Mississippi.. The second incident earned him his first stint in the reformatory at Boonville. If you have money, there will be people who want it. Kevin Horrigan, a cub reporter at the Star in 1973, remembers Maloney as an affable colleague but one who stood apart. It was uncanny.. Only in an institution can love hit that hard and that fast, Maloney wrote. John Larry Ray, a convicted bank robber, spent more than a quarter-century behind bars himself. Martin Luther King Jr., who died in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968. Pendergast was long gone, but his machine was anchored in place. 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. Rays late brother James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to Kings murder in 1969 but quickly recanted his confession. His defiance dashed his hopes of gaining parole and put him at odds with the prison administration for the remainder of his sentence. Bar, Nightlife. I asked him if hed read the story, and if it had helped him any. 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. 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. 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. This was the town of Tom Pendergast, one of the most powerful Mafia/machine bosses in U.S. history, Maloney wrote. By any measure, he had to be considered beyond salvation, a lost cause. The white convicts slept three to a cell (except for several hundred in one-man cells). The Detroit and St. Louis Mafia families are related. Maloney then wrested the gun from his victim and fled. Edith was a strangely magnetic girl. 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.. Meanwhile, OBrien was supposed to check with Wortman about a proposed diamond heist. Wortman, Dowling and a third man were found guilty Feb. 26, 1962, of conspiracy to avoid income taxes. 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. An attorney of the same name Andrew Leonard was the longtime general counsel for Hartmann Publishing, the original owner of the RFT. The last time John Larry Ray visited New York City was in 1965. So hundreds of men carried a knife or had one they could get to one in an emergency. I remember telling him, Joe, lets just wait until they start killing each other, says Jones. Google. Wortman died in a St. Louis hospital Aug. 3, 1968, at age 63 after throat surgery. Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). He had seen his share of bloodshed. Over the next two years, eight more mob-related murders would go down before the violence subsided. Although the property was listed in his estranged wifes name, Linda Sonnenscbein wasnt charged, either. 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. 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