Bar, Nightlife Hours: 601 S 10th St, East St Louis (618) 874-8447. Tucked in a peaceful neighborhood, Paddock Village Apartments offers a quaint residential setting, complete with lush green spaces. EAST ST. LOUIS The jury had been out five days when the courtroom buzzer sounded. Inside your new home, you will find window coverings, spacious walk-in closets . By then, the prison-bound poet and writer had been published in numerous other venues, including Focus/Midwest, a St. Louisbased magazine founded by Charles Klotzer, publisher of the Saint Louis Journalism Review. 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. He was a gutsy little guy. Gruender used carpentry skills acquired in prison to rehab the old farmhouse, and he showered Maloney with gifts, including a motorcycle and a shotgun. In the city of St. Louis, there were once twenty bars located between Bates on the north and the city limits on the south. You never know for sure what is going to happen from day to day in prison. The judge put him on probation. 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.. He also published two autobiographical crime novels. It was uncanny.. Bartolottas defense attorney was reported in the Globe as Andrew Leonard. 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. A running dispute during the seven-week trial in 1962 was whether he even owned the place. When he entered prison, Dwight Eisenhower was president; when he came out, the Watergate burglary had been committed. Beckman was a bodyguard for Wortman and Dowling. Its far-flung empire stretched all the way to Las Vegas, where the KC mob oversaw the skimming of millions of dollars from casinos. Maloney had reached his nadir. They are, from left, Morris Shenker, Murry L. Randall, Saul Cohn, Ray Foreman, James F. Nangle Jr. and Norman London. In May 1991, Stoneking informed the FBI that Berne had told him that the Rallo Construction Company belonged to the Chicago La Costa Nostra. Maloney had been in solitary confinement for nearly four months after his escape attempt when Hinkley contacted him. I was impressed. Five more years would elapse before Maloney finally made parole, during which time Menn continued to support and encourage his writing. Our community in Florissant, MO . There were men in prison who were said to make more money each year from dope and gambling than the warden was paid. His prison record over the next few years is a litany of major conduct violation:. #88 of 282 places to eat in East Saint Louis. Wortman's headquarters was his Paddock Lounge, at 429 St. Louis Avenue in East St. Louis. In 1956, he punched an Internal Revenue Service agent in the Paddock, intensifying the agency's interest in his unusual wealth. Wortman died in a St. Louis hospital Aug. 3, 1968, at age 63 after throat surgery. 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. 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. Maloney ended up moving to the West Coast. The house remains a private residence. They drove to Kansas City together and toured the Stars editorial offices. Tucked in a peaceful neighborhood, Paddock Village Apartments offers a quaint residential setting, complete with lush green spaces. In those days the Kansas City Star printed a poem on the editorial page every day, so I mailed the poem to the Star. Maloney also tagged along when his stepfather drove to Jefferson City to visit a friend still incarcerated at the penitentiary. (Post-Dispatch), Elmer "Dutch" Dowling arriving at the federal courthouse in East St. Louis in a light rain during the trial. Maloney was also keenly aware that local law-enforcement officials were hesitant to use the M-word. A neighborhood setting, within minutes of key places such as Emerson Electric, Boeing, Express Scripts and major highways 70, 270 & 367. The Riverfront Times publishes ads for the Eastside strip clubs and massage parlors every week. It was the beginning of a long-term relationship carried out by correspondence. That arrangement was still in place in 1972. The mob continued to influence the police department, city hall, the county courthouse and the state legislature. Competing mob interests were in the midst of fighting for control of the River Quay entertainment district. People started dying. Its the smoking that eventually killed him. Everyone figured Wortman took care of it. 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. 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. 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. View the menu, check prices, find on the map, see photos and ratings. In November, St. Louis Post-Dispatch staffer Michael Shaw reported that Sonnenschein was sentenced to a year in jail in federal court in East St. Louis. As a result, Maloneys letters to Menn started coming back undelivered. copyright 2021 by C.D. He rejected Maloneys poem but continued to correspond, providing him with professional advice and personal guidance. C. M. Raemer U.S. Maloney joined the newspapers staff after being paroled in 1972. Stoneking, the informant who testified against Bartolotta and dozens of other St. Louis mobsters in the 1980s, died of an apparent suicide in Maricopa County, Arizona a year ago (2003). As a result, the mayor does not appear in our documentary, The First Secret City. He claims that his brother was then fronted an estimated $50,000. After six weeks of observation at Fulton, Maloney was allowed by the parole board to enlist in the Army. Jesse Stoneking, the unnamed informant cited by the FBI in the report, died of a gunshot wound to the head in Arizona in 2003. Through her encouragement, elderly attorney Mable Hinkley began to correspond with Maloney. James Earl Ray subsequently fled north of the border, but there is no indication that he participated in such a caper. "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 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. He didnt bring him to St. Louis. Menn then sold the proposal to Cruise Palmer, the executive editor. 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? Pendergast was long gone, but his machine was anchored in place. 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. If they were surprised to hear the word "guilty," they didn't show it. By then the Star had been bought by Capital Cities, a media chain with a history of poor labor relations. Vintage Matchcover: The Paddock Lounge & Club Supper Room, East St Louis, IL | eBay The Paddock Lounge & Club Supper Room, East St Louis, IL. James OMara, the manager of Local 562, was the chairman of the St. Louis County Council at this time. We just went in there one night to sit and watch. John Larry. Frank L. "Buster" Wortman (December 4, 1904 - August 3, 1968) was an American St. Louis-area bootlegger, gambler, criminal gang leader, and a former member of the Shelton Brothers Gang during Prohibition.Wortman would eventually succeed the Sheltons, and take over St. Louis's gambling operations in southwest Illinois until his death. Beckman's shot-up car was ditched at a bowling alley in Swansea. Instead, James Earl Ray appeared edgy and expressed apprehension about his future. Sonnenschein, who headed the A to Z Development Corp., admitted to the court that businesses located on his property were engaged in prostitution. 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. Parking: Valet. The St. Louis mobster and federal informant died from a gunshot wound to the head. The Kansas City Mafia wielded considerable economic cloutcontrolling several banks [and] owning ten percent or more of the taverns and nightclubs in the city. Over the next two years, eight more mob-related murders would go down before the violence subsided. They preferred a more cautious approach, advising that the coverage be focused more indirectly on corruption inside the citys liquor-control agency. The second incident earned him his first stint in the reformatory at Boonville. Seated at right, facing Mrs. Dowling, are county sheriff's deputies Edward Kowalski (left) and Vincent Neuner. and the proprietorship known as Paddock Liquor Company, and the names (or identifying descriptions) of the books and records in which the alleged conspiracy sought to cause . He had publicly refuted the Stars story simply to keep from being killed. Printable Racing Calendar & Promotions Schedule Menn became his mentor, giving guidance and critiquing his poetry and prose. The plant at Weaver and College streets operates today as Magnesium Elektron of North America, a non-union company and a subsidiary of Luxfur Group of Great Britain. This time he made it as far as Hannibal before crashing a stolen car. Maloney also tagged along when his stepfather drove to Jefferson City to visit a friend still incarcerated at the penitentiary. Magin was a defendant in the 1962 tax case, but was acquitted. Atty., East St. Louis, Ill., for United States. Eunice Dowling, widow of Dutch Dowling, testifies during a St. Clair County coroner's inquest on March 6, 1962, investigating her husband's murder. If you will make these promises, I will ask the warden to take you out of solitary confinement.. [This story was first published in January 2, 2004.]. The prison series later won the Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association. It was curious, too, how they seemed to hate Joe more than me, although our names appeared together on stories. But as quickly as his cell door seemed to have started to creak open, the steel bars slammed shut again. The delays in communications eventually killed his deal with Random House. The revelation was allegedly made in October 1974, when the two brothers shared a cell at the Shelby County (Tenn.) Jail in advance of an evidentiary hearing to determine whether James Earl Ray should be granted a trial. 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. Gruender, a housepainter, had a string of arrests and convictions for car theft and burglary dating back to 1926. Its the smoking that eventually killed him. Three River Quay nightclubs were soon torched or bombed, and the list of gangland hits rapidly grew. The Star published a verbatim transcript of his claims in its next edition. In her first letter, Hinkley advised Maloney to seek divine guidance, but she also offered him a more down-to-earth deal. Asked why John Larry Ray would incorporate a stopover in St. Louis into his story, his brother replies: I guess to dramatize the book. Red Apple BBQ & Lounge - 2112 St Clair Ave, East St Louis. The blacks slept as many as eight to a cell. We worked on the fifth floor of the prison hospital, which is to say the psych ward. 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. He died of kidney failure and complications of liver disease at Nashville Memorial Hospital on April 23, 1998. 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. Joe, which is what his friends called him, and I shared a cell in C-Hall during 1965-66, recalls former inmate Frank Driscoll. 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. Though he avoided further trouble with the law, Gruender acted as a courier for Wortman. In a sense, Maloney did respect their trade. After returning to the United States, he occasionally talked to his brother by phone. He had seen his share of bloodshed. After Maloney punched Thiemann in the face several times, the old man agreed to hand over the cash. Dowling was convicted of assault in the case, but he won a reversal from the Missouri Supreme Court. Meanwhile, O'Brien was supposed to check with Wortman about a proposed diamond heist. Nash released Maloney from solitary and assigned him to the newly formed prison art class. On Aug. 26, 1961, Maloneys girlfriend, Edith Rhodes, was murdered near Huzzah Creek in rural Crawford County, Mo. At the time of his marriage to Maloneys mother, he had only been out of the Missouri Penitentiary for a year. After his mother suffered a nervous breakdown, the court remanded him to the custody of the St. Josephs Catholic home for boys in St. Louis, where he stayed for nearly a year. He was kind of fearless, says Jones. 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. Despite the low wages, the offer was priceless because it cinched his parole. 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. Maloney worked on his writing for as much as six hours every evening. (Buel White/Post-Dispatch), On March 3, 1962, six days after the jury verdict, the bodies of Elmer "Dutch" Dowling (left) and Melvin Beckman were found sprawled on the pavement of Wolf Branch School Board (now Huntwood Road), north of Belleville. Rainbow Wednesdays at Club Lush #121 of 282 places to eat in East Saint Louis. The two reporters began knocking on doors, talking to area business owners. The court also ordered Sonnenschein to pay a $250,000 fine and give $1 million to Eastside charities. But John Larry Ray believes that his brother maintained contact with OBrien after their hasty departure. You never know for sure what is going to happen from day to day in prison. . Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Thus inspired, the IRS began digging harder into Wortman's unusual financial world. On his death, in 1915, the founder of the paper, William Rockhill Nelson, had willed the Star to his employees. Born in St. Louis, Frank first worked as a molder for a steel casting plant in East St. Louis. (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. 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 next year, Maloney ran away again. 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. Maloneys prison record listed him as 5-foot-9 and 145 pounds. Maloney moved back to Kansas City, perhaps drawn by memories of his glory days. He also worked diligently to establish a national writers association for prisoners. English . Most are from the 1930's-1980's. This one is Condition is as pictured. By checking liquor-license applications, Maloney determined that mobsters or their relatives secretly owned several restaurants and bars in the River Quay. 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. He was too busy that sunny Sunday afternoon promoting some other well-intentioned environmental cause. He would serve the next 13 years at the Missouri Penitentiary, in Jefferson Cityarguably the worst prison in the United States at the time. Buster Wortman kept a close eye on the project, but never said anything about it. After his fourth escape from Boonville, juvenile authorities transferred him to Algoa, the states intermediate reformatory, where his behavior worsened. (Robert LaRouche/Post-Dispatch), The house that was built on the island. For those under 21 years of age, we offer sodas, teas, waters, Gatorades, Red Bull energy drinks, and Nescafe coffee. Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). In July 1976, David Bonadonna, the father of Fred Bonadonna, owner of Poor Freddies restaurant in the River Quay, became the first victim. A private drive connected the bridge to South Mulberry Road. A year after his parents divorced, a hit-and-run driver killed his brother, Bobby. Gerhard J. Petzall, a former law partner of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, was a director of Spectrulite Consortium Inc., which owned and operated an Eastside plant contaminated with radioactive waste. Moreover, Jerry Ray, John Larry Rays surviving brother, disputed John Larrys account in a telephone interview from his home in McMinnville, Tenn., in October. Circuit Court for the Southern District of Illinois. Prestige Lounge: By the time Lou Bonds shuttered the Prestige in the early '90s, the venue had already outlasted all of its peers in the surrounding Gaslight Square. I was glad to get out of there. Before they departed, Jones overheard the bodyguard to Carl Corky Civella threaten to rape Maloney. His stepfather, Julius Dutch Gruender, an ex-con, became Maloneys less-than-sterling guardian. 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. He had learned about it from his mobbed-up stepfather. 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