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. 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. (Robert LaRouche/Post-Dispatch), The house that was built on the island. During the conversation, John Larry Ray says, Kings name came up only in reference to the possibility of traffic congestion resulting from his visit to Memphis the next day. Before his contract expired, the Star hired him as a full-time general-assignment reporter. He was one of those guys who was constantly fidgeting, or his knee was pounding up and down. Last chance! Warden Nash committed suicide. In later years he worked as a freelance writer and as an editor for the alternative press. Joseph John Maloney Sr., a shoemaker by trade, walked out of his sons life in 1943, when he was 3 years old. 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. O'Brien knew the owner of the Paddock Frank "Buster" Wortman the East Side mob boss. (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. Red Apple BBQ & Lounge - 2112 St Clair Ave, East St Louis. But back in Kansas City, a rift had developed among three branches of the local mob: the Cammisano, Spero and Bonadonna clans. There were captains on the guard force who owed their souls to certain convicts. They both concluded that their fears were unfounded, says John Larry Ray. 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. #88 of 282 places to eat in East Saint Louis. Maloney then wrested the gun from his victim and fled. Wortman died in a St. Louis hospital Aug. 3, 1968, at age 63 after throat surgery. James Earl Ray also supposedly told his brother that the CIA had tapped him to be an intelligence asset. A judge cited him for contempt of court. On one occasion Jones accompanied him to the Three Little Pigs, an after-hours caf that was a favorite of the Mafia. He chain-smoked. They drove to Kansas City together and toured the Stars editorial offices. "We drove across the river to the Paddock Lounge in [East St. Louis] Illinois and I introduced him to Jimmie O'Brien," Ray says. In prison he preferred Camels, when he could afford them. 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. Having written it, my next problem was deciding where to send it. She was 16 and insisted she would commit suicide before she was 21, because she had a fear of not being beautiful. After returning to the United States, he occasionally talked to his brother by phone. In the first installment of the series, Maloney gave a lengthy first-person account of life inside the Walls in Jefferson City. If you have money, there will be people who want it. We just went in there one night to sit and watch. Meanwhile, Menn had interested Random House in publishing a book of Maloneys poetry. Romeos Lounge. But as quickly as his cell door seemed to have started to creak open, the steel bars slammed shut again. Arizona authorities ruled it a suicide. In late 1967, the parole board indicated the possibility of Maloneys being released early the next year. Beckman was a bodyguard in Wortman's organization. 787 N 53rd St, East St Louis, IL 62203 (618) 274-3168 Suggest an Edit. A running dispute during. Stabbings and killings, robberies and rapes were common. 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. A short time later, he went to federal prison for slugging a liquor agent during a raid on a still near Collinsville. That J.J. Maloney survived is remarkable. After Maloney punched Thiemann in the face several times, the old man agreed to hand over the cash. The home, lake and surrounding land was on sale for $175,000. On one occasion Jones accompanied him to the Three Little Pigs, an after-hours caf that was a favorite of the Mafia. Our community in Florissant, MO . While there, he remembers, Malcolm X was murdered. The delays in communications eventually killed his deal with Random House. Having written it, my next problem was deciding where to send it. The literary editor was with Maloneys mother on Sept. 25, 1972, when Maloney walked out of prison for the last time. But the mob kind of looked at Joe as a turncoat. He quickly became an important part of the gang that terrorized Southern Illinois in the 1920s and early. Morris Shenker, the go-to lawyer for mobsters, expressed ritual disappointment. no take-out . As a result, Maloneys letters to Menn started coming back undelivered. Maloney ended up moving to the West Coast. By any measure, he had to be considered beyond salvation, a lost cause. She visited. 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. 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. Instead, James Earl Ray appeared edgy and expressed apprehension about his future. The convicted assassin spent the rest of his life in the Tennessee prison system. Search the Largest Online Newspaper Archive Show article text (OCR) Save to Ancestry Clipped from St. Louis Post-Dispatch St. Louis, Missouri 05. Maloney had no way of knowing the significance that his verse would ultimately play in redirecting his life. There were men in prison who were said to make more money each year from dope and gambling than the warden was paid. She sent money, clothing, food, stamps and other items. The truck driver attributed his lung cancer to his occupational exposure to radiation in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His editors opposed the idea. She corresponded. But back in Kansas City, a rift had developed among three branches of the local mob: the Cammisano, Spero and Bonadonna clans. 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. He wrote to me as if I were just another person, another young writer.. At the time, almost any local mobster was considered a suspect. He said, Youve saved my life, for the time being, anyway.. 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. Bonadonna was one of Maloneys confidential sources. We worked on the fifth floor of the prison hospital, which is to say the psych ward. Bonadonna disappeared in 1978, presumably into the federal witness-protection program. Given where hed come from, its easy to figure out why.. 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. In later years he worked as a freelance writer and as an editor for the alternative press. 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.. In the first installment of the series, Maloney gave a lengthy first-person account of life inside the Walls in Jefferson City. There were men in prison who were said to make more money each year from dope and gambling than the warden was paid. C.D. The story was based in part on the earlier research of Kay Drey. Given where hed come from, its easy to figure out why.. 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. Stelzer, a St. Louis-based freelance writer, is working on a biography of the late J.J. Maloney. Maloneys prison record listed him as 5-foot-9 and 145 pounds. 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. The photo was taken in April 1958. 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. They both concluded that their fears were unfounded, says John Larry Ray. Maloney was also keenly aware that local law-enforcement officials were hesitant to use the M-word. Wortman was acquitted at retrial, but he spent his last years hunkered in his island home, protected by gunmen. Maloney argued that the Star should immediately expose the Mafias infiltration of the River Quay. (Post-Dispatch), Pall bearers carry the casket of Frank "Buster" Wortman into St. Stephen's Catholic Church in Caseyville for his funeral Mass on Aug. 8, 1968. O'Brien arranged for the Ray brothers to spend the night at a nearby apartment above an illegal gambling den . Kevin Horrigan, a cub reporter at the Star in 1973, remembers Maloney as an affable colleague but one who stood apart. 1 in Fulton for psychiatric observation. In June 1964, at Hinkleys urging, Warden E.V. While in prison, Gruender met and befriended Elmer Dutch Dowling and Isidore Londe, lieutenants of East St. Louis mob boss Frank Buster Wortman. He had learned about it from his mobbed-up stepfather. He had publicly refuted the Stars story simply to keep from being killed. Maloney then married a former inmate of the girls reformatory at Chillicothe, and they moved to Alabamabut the marriage fell apart. Maloney sensed that the feud was about to erupt into open warfare. 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. Atty., East St. Louis, Ill., for United States. The Post-Dispatch ran the photograph because Wortman had refused to tell a federal grand jury where he lived. Wortman had died in Alexian Brothers Hospital in St. Louis five days before after undergoing throat surgery. 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. It was curious, too, how they seemed to hate Joe more than me, although our names appeared together on stories. You never knew whom you might have trouble with. Sam Reese, an older convict who had gained national recognition for his oil paintings and cartoons, served as his role model. No charges were filed against Wortman. The Chicago mob had allegedly put a $100,000 contract out on Stonekings life after he became an informant. Martin Luther King Jr., who died in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968. A year after his parents divorced, a hit-and-run driver killed his brother, Bobby. The Kansas City Mafia wielded considerable economic cloutcontrolling several banks [and] owning ten percent or more of the taverns and nightclubs in the city. Latest reviews, photos and ratings for Spanky's Lounge at 1434 Piggott Ave in East Saint Louis - view the menu, hours, phone number, address and map. Beneath the outward generosity, however, Gruender was an angry and hardened man who drank heavily and sometimes abused his wife and stepson. Despite his abominable record, the state had little choice but to parole him in January 1959, a few months after he turned 18. The judge put him on probation. But his mother remained faithful: She never gave up. Bar, Nightlife. 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. Dowling was convicted of assault in the case, but he won a reversal from the Missouri Supreme Court. (Post-Dispatch), A close-up of a bullet hole in the front windshield of Melvin Beckman's car. John will tell you he brought him [James Earl Ray] to St. Louis, Jerry Ray says. When he visits the Big Apple this week, he will be discussing the assassination of another black leader, the Rev. Maloneys own artwork took awards at state and county fairs and was exhibited at a gallery in Paris. In June 1964, at Hinkleys urging, Warden E.V. So hundreds of men carried a knife or had one they could get to one in an emergency. In her first letter, Hinkley advised Maloney to seek divine guidance, but she also offered him a more down-to-earth deal. You never know for sure what is going to happen from day to day in prison. 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. Sonnenscheins latest bust appears to have been part of a larger federal investigation into prostitution on the Eastside. OBrien arranged for the Ray brothers to spend the night at a nearby apartment above an illegal gambling den also operated by Wortman. Everyone figured Wortman took care of it. . Until January, Sweeney headed the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, a county agency that was used to dole out the contracts to Rallo and other political contributors to Stengers campaign coffers. He also worked diligently to establish a national writers association for prisoners. But John Larry Ray believes that his brother maintained contact with OBrien after their hasty departure. They drove to Kansas City together and toured the Stars editorial offices. John will tell you he brought him [James Earl Ray] to St. Louis, Jerry Ray says. Maloney argued that the Star should immediately expose the Mafias infiltration of the River Quay. Wortman did not like having his picture taken, but couldn't avoid it during the seven-week trial. 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. Bar, Nightlife Hours: 601 S 10th St, East St Louis (618) 874-8447. Diligently to establish a national writers association for prisoners terrorized Southern Illinois in the face several times, the board... 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