Maloney ended up moving to the West Coast. We stayed all night at the Catmans in South St. Louis, says Ray, referring to Jack Catman Gawron, a criminal associate of the Ray brothers. Thiemann died as a result of the wounds he sustained in the fracas. Double Deuce Lounge. But Maloney became more devoted to writing as he matured. (Renyold Ferguson/Post-Dispatch), Elmer "Dutch" Dowling in 1938, when he was 32 years old and a suspect in the attempted murder of a prospective trial witness. Sonnenschein, who headed the A to Z Development Corp., admitted to the court that businesses located on his property were engaged in prostitution. After returning to the United States, he occasionally talked to his brother by phone. On one occasion Jones accompanied him to the Three Little Pigs, an after-hours caf that was a favorite of the Mafia. Before his contract expired, the Star hired him as a full-time general-assignment reporter. 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. Though he avoided further trouble with the law, Gruender acted as a courier for Wortman. Maloneys formal education had ended in the ninth grade, but Menn recognized raw talent when he saw it. Log In. People [were] shot and blown up.. We just went in there one night to sit and watch. 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. The Post-Dispatch ran the photograph because Wortman had refused to tell a federal grand jury where he lived. Joe, which is what his friends called him, and I shared a cell in C-Hall during 1965-66, recalls former inmate Frank Driscoll. 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. He had learned about it from his mobbed-up stepfather. I was impressed that the literary editor of a famous newspaper would write to me. 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. You cant stop one place and jump to another place.. A year after his parents divorced, a hit-and-run driver killed his brother, Bobby. His editors opposed the idea. Latest reviews, photos and ratings for Double Deuce Lounge at 601 S 10th St in East Saint Louis - hours, phone number, address and map. Driving the car, and trying to hide his face with a handkerchief, is Dutch Dowling. You have permission to edit this article. It was like he was from another planet. Maloney worked on his writing for as much as six hours every evening. Or you may simply say the wrong thing to the wrong person. Books sent to him for review were screened by the prison administration and sometimes rejected.Instead of zip guns or knives, Maloney fought back with the law as his weapon. Menn then sold the proposal to Cruise Palmer, the executive editor. Back home, he shoved aside the Sheltons, mainly through murder. 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. The Detroit and St. Louis Mafia families are related. He proved to be an invaluable ally. The Riverfront Times publishes ads for the Eastside strip clubs and massage parlors every week. 539 were here. Star reporter Harry Jones Jr. had hatched the idea of hiring him as a temporary consultant for an in-depth series of stories on prison systems in Missouri and Kansas. (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. After Maloney punched Thiemann in the face several times, the old man agreed to hand over the cash. When the verdict went wrong, Wortman wanted the money back. Gruenders association with these gangsters continued long after his parole. In 1952 the family moved to a farm in New Florence, Mo., a small town 65 miles west of St. Louis. Maloney also tagged along when his stepfather drove to Jefferson City to visit a friend still incarcerated at the penitentiary. It might have been recycling. In July 1976, David Bonadonna, the father of Fred Bonadonna, owner of Poor Freddies restaurant in the River Quay, became the first victim. More Info. She sent money, clothing, food, stamps and other items. At left is Dr. C.C. Aside from representing the mayor, Callow has also been a local spokesman for Republic Services, the giant waste disposal company that owns the radioactively-contaminated West Lake Landfill Superfund site in North St. Louis County. Meanwhile, Menn had interested Random House in publishing a book of Maloneys poetry. 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 1956, workers began digging an oval lake and fashioning an island near South Mulberry Road southeast of Collinsville. 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. He encouraged me to keep working on the poem, and asked me to stay in touch with him. Tucked in a peaceful neighborhood, Paddock Village Apartments offers a quaint residential setting, complete with lush green spaces. 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. The same year, Maloneys byline disappeared from the pages of the Star when he quit the paper in a dispute over overtime pay. He died of kidney failure and complications of liver disease at Nashville Memorial Hospital on April 23, 1998. Don't sit on the sidelines. In the mid-70s, some Star editors were even reluctant to print the word Mafia, Maloney later wrote. He said, Youve saved my life, for the time being, anyway.. (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. 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. Our community in Florissant, MO . This time he made it as far as Hannibal before crashing a stolen car. 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. More than a decade earlier, a federal probe linked RFT sex ads to the Eastside rackets. (Lloyd Spainhower/Post-Dispatch), In 1956, workers began digging an oval lake and fashioning an island near South Mulberry Road southeast of Collinsville. Wortman began his career hijacking liquor trucks for the old Shelton gang in East St. Louis. The next day I called Bonadonna, Maloney recalled later. The Paddock closed in 1967. The next day I called Bonadonna, Maloney recalled later. 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. Despite the low wages, the offer was priceless because it cinched his parole. Moreover, Jerry Ray, John Larry Rays surviving brother, disputed John Larrys account in a telephone interview from his home in McMinnville, Tenn., in October. He said, Youve saved my life, for the time being, anyway.. Red Apple BBQ & Lounge - 2112 St Clair Ave, East St Louis. Live Racing. Maloney moved back to Kansas City, perhaps drawn by memories of his glory days. His editors opposed the idea. Their stories ran as a four-part series in April 1973. You can check, if they still have the records. 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. Scheduled for completion in the fall of 2003, it will be shared by East St. Louis Community College, Southern Illinois University and the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Maloneys formal education had ended in the ninth grade, but Menn recognized raw talent when he saw it. Edith was a strangely magnetic girl. When he entered prison, Dwight Eisenhower was president; when he came out, the Watergate burglary had been committed. 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. But Richard Callow, the mayors longtime political consultant, does make a cameo appearance in the film. He says he drove down from St. Louis in his cream-colored Thunderbird with a machine gun and other weapons in the trunk. Wortman later moved into a home built upon the island, reached by a wooden bridge -- and always guarded by gunmen. His prison record over the next few years is a litany of major conduct violation:. He is scheduled to be arraigned May 10. 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. Entering the store, he pulled a hunting knife and demanded money from Joseph F. Thiemann, the 74-year-old store owner. Shopping, dining, and entertainment are all close by. He died of kidney failure and complications of liver disease at Nashville Memorial Hospital on April 23, 1998. The Chicago mob had allegedly put a $100,000 contract out on Stonekings life after he became an informant. After his return to Missouri, his parole officer committed Maloney to State Hospital No. The judge put him on probation. Maloney, I realize you have a job to dobut do you have to be so intense?. 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 . Maloney had reached his nadir. East Saint Louis, Illinois. I asked him if hed read the story, and if it had helped him any. James OMara, the manager of Local 562, was the chairman of the St. Louis County Council at this time. (Renyold Ferguson/Post-Dispatch), Frank "Buster" Wortman in a St. Louis police mug shot in 1933, when he was 28 years old and member of the Shelton gang on the East Side. Maloney added to his underworld knowledge in prison, where he befriended fellow inmate John Paul Spica, a St. Louis Mafia soldier. They drove to Kansas City together and toured the Stars editorial offices. A private drive connected the bridge to South Mulberry Road. After his return to Missouri, his parole officer committed Maloney to State Hospital No. Post-Dispatch artist Albert Schweitzer made this drawing of the courtroom because no cameras were allowed inside. Instead, James Earl Ray appeared edgy and expressed apprehension about his future. The St. Louis mobster and federal informant died from a gunshot wound to the head. Stelzer, a St. Louis-based freelance writer, is working on a biography of the late J.J. Maloney. voice be heard! poultry; chicken; meat . An earlier version of this story appeared in the St. Louis Journalism review in 2008 and Focus/midwest magazine in 2010. Asked why John Larry Ray would incorporate a stopover in St. Louis into his story, his brother replies: I guess to dramatize the book. Maloneys good fortune was twofold: He had belatedly benefited from the prison-reform movement of the 1960s and also from the unique ownership structure of the Kansas City Star, then employee-owned. 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. Rays late brother James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to Kings murder in 1969 but quickly recanted his confession. In 1956, he punched an Internal Revenue Service agent in the Paddock, intensifying the agency's interest in his unusual wealth. (Robert LaRouche/Post-Dispatch), The house that was built on the island. 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. He was between jobs, collecting unemployment benefits. His stepfather, Julius Dutch Gruender, an ex-con, became Maloneys less-than-sterling guardian. 1 in Fulton for psychiatric observation. That, of course, was back in the day, when a lifer could still aspire to being released on parole. Joe, which is what his friends called him, and I shared a cell in C-Hall during 1965-66, recalls former inmate Frank Driscoll. 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. His stepfather, Julius Dutch Gruender, an ex-con, became Maloneys less-than-sterling guardian. After his fourth escape from Boonville, juvenile authorities transferred him to Algoa, the states intermediate reformatory, where his behavior worsened. 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. You never know for sure what is going to happen from day to day in prison. We drove across the river to the Paddock Lounge in [East St. Louis] Illinois and I introduced him to Jimmie OBrien, Ray says. He rejected Maloneys poem but continued to correspond, providing him with professional advice and personal guidance. On the basis of this anecdote, co-author Barsten speculates that James Earl Ray was subjected to the CIAs behavior-modification program known as MK-Ultra. Gruender used carpentry skills acquired in prison to rehab the old farmhouse, and he showered Maloney with gifts, including a motorcycle and a shotgun. Mayor Slay leaves office next week, after serving an unprecedented four terms. John Larry Ray, a convicted bank robber, spent more than a quarter-century behind bars himself. She corresponded. O'Brien knew the owner of the Paddock, Frank "Buster" Wortman, the East Side mob boss. Nash released Maloney from solitary and assigned him to the newly formed prison art class. When he made the demand for money, he and Thiemann began struggling, according to the confession Maloney later gave St. Louis police. They preferred a more cautious approach, advising that the coverage be focused more indirectly on corruption inside the citys liquor-control agency. There were men in prison who were said to make more money each year from dope and gambling than the warden was paid. 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. They both concluded that their fears were unfounded, says John Larry Ray. Given where hed come from, its easy to figure out why.. 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 brand varied with the decade: L&Ms or, later, Marlboro Lights. Maloney had reached his nadir. Although the property was listed in his estranged wifes name, Linda Sonnenscbein wasnt charged, either. 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