Al Capone is one of the most notorious gangsters in American history, known for his involvement in organized crime during the Prohibition era of the 1920s and 1930s. One of the most enduring myths surrounding Capone is that he beat men with a baseball bat, but how much truth is there to this story? Firstly, …
Vic Ferrari’s colorful and unique storytelling style entertains and enlightens simultaneously.
Gary tells about Giancana’s Villa Venice. In the Chicago suburb of Northbrook, Sam Giancana opened a fancy supper club called the Villa Venice. This club opened to great reviews at Christmas time, 1962. The club sold out for a week because Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Frank Sinatra put on a floor show. The …
Why did the Rat Pack open Giancana’s Villa Venice? Read More »
If you ever saw the film, L.A. Confidential, then you know a little bit about this story. In James Ellroy’s fictional book and film, LA Confidential, two men, known as the “Two Tonys”, Tony Brancato and Anthony Trombino are shot to death in a 1951 Oldsmobile coupĂ© parked off Sunset Boulevard. This mob hit was …
Convicted skyjacker Martin J. McNally, told me the story of his attempted prison break. He said that a young woman named Robin Oswald attempted to hijack a plane and force the release of McNally and Gordon Trapnell. Mac had nothing to do with this attempt, except he was invited to go along by Trapnell. In …
Ken Eto or Tokyo Joe was an unusual dude in the world of the Sicilian Chicago Outfit. The only Japanese American to be in any position of trust with the Chicago Outfit or any other family. He was Japanese-American born in 1919. In 1942 the feds placed his entire family in a Japanese Internment Camp. …
Dean O’Banion was born on July 8th, 1892 in Maroa Illinois. His father, Charles O’Banion was an Irish Immigrant. Charles was a house painter and took his family to Chicago and lived in a neighborhood known as Kilbubbin. Like Hell’s Kitchen in New York, it was called Little Hell because of its poverty and crime. …
John “Brother John” Lazia (spelled Lazio on the tombstone) was born in New York in 1895. He dropped out of high school in the eighth grade. By 1915, Lazia had moved to Kansas City. Lazia’s first known arrest was in 1916, after robbing a man on the street. In an exchange of gunfire, Lazia was …
When researching organized crime murders, sometimes there are clues that tip us off to what may have really happened. We recently discussed the Wild Bunch, a crew of Chicago Outfit hitmen in the 1970s, and that touched back to an earlier series on Wild Bunch member and notorious killer Harry “The Hook” Aleman. Let’s look …
This program starts on Saturday November 24 with a 1:00 PM screening of Gangland Wire, the story of the River Quay Mob War followed by a 3:45 panel discussion with Kansas City Mob historians Bill Ouseley, Terence O’Malley and Gary Jenkins. This panel discussion will be followed by a screening of the Kansas City Mafia …