Rise of the Milwaukee Mafia, 1892-1961

The Milwaukee crime family is an American Mafia outfit based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This crime family was considered a branch of the Chicago Outfit, as all big decisions went through Chicago. The family’s most influential boss was Frank “Mr. Big” Balistrieri, who was greatly involved in the Las Vegas casino-skimming rackets. Today the family is nearly extinct with the Chicago Outfit gaining control over the illegal rackets in the area.

While the term “Mafia” is technically incorrect, I use it here because this is how the FBI repeatedly refers to the Milwaukee hoodlums, and because it is the commonly used term for Sicilian crime families. More accurate terms would be “the mob”, La Cosa Nostra (LCN) or simply “organized crime”.

From Italy to America

The Italians came to America at various times on various ships and wound up in various cities, often neighborhoods of larger cities. In Milwaukee, they first settled in the Third Ward. This neighborhood was previously occupied by the Irish, but after the Third Ward fire of October 28, 1892, the Irish moved out and the Italians moved in. The fire had wiped out sixteen square blocks, burned 410 buildings, 215 freight cars and took five lives. Dozens more were injured, 2000 made homeless and the property loss was estimated at $84,500,000. Being a dirty, cramped area, this devastated ward was reserved for the latest wave of immigrants who had no money and spoke little English — the Italians.

In Milwaukee, the biggest group of Italian immigrants were the Sicilians. Around 1895, many Sicilians came to the Third Ward in Milwaukee from the province of Palermo. Cities represented were Sant’Elia, Porticello, Campofioritto, Chiusa, Termini, Ciminnia, Santa Flavia, Monte Maggiore, Balestradi, Ficuzza, San Carlo, Trappeto, Bagheria and Calasibetta. By 1900, the Third Ward population was roughly 6000 people, and was almost exclusively Italian.

The first “king of Little Italy” (there were three) was Dominic Barone. While Barone was not (to my knowledge) involved in any criminal activity, he was hugely influential in the Italian community. He operated the first tavern in the Third Ward, organized the Galilei-Galileo society for immigrants from Tuscany in 1883, and set up the first water carnival on the lake front in 1888.

Vito Guardalabene, son of Giovanni Guardalabene and Antonia D’Acquisto Guardalabene, came to America in 1903, already 52 years old at the time.

Nunzio Maniaci also arrived in 1903 from Palermo.

Giovanni “John” Alioto, a later mob boss, was born in Porticello di S. Flavia, Sicily either on August 25 or September 9, 1888 to Giuseppe Alioto and Francesca Orlando. Italian birth records do not match his American identification. He came in on the ship Liguria through the port at New York on March 20, 1904 (aged 15). He would become naturalized in Milwaukee on September 13, 1926 at the United States District Court (Eastern District of Wisconsin) and married Catarina “Catherine” Alioto (born either July 24, 1891 or November 11, 1892 in Sant’Elia, Sicily) at Our Lady of Pompeii Church on July 20, 1913. Together they would have several children, including Joseph and Angelo Alioto, and Antonina — who would marry future boss Frank Balistrieri.

Nicola “Nick” Fucarino was born November 25, 1896 in Priczi, Palermo, in Sicily to George Fucarino and Rose Lupo. He sailed to New York on the SS Mendoza and arrived October 3, 1913 in New York City. Fucarino finally petitioned for naturalization on April 16, 1947 and became a citizen on April 27, 1948.

Giuseppe “Joseph” Spero was born in Palermo on February 16, 1908 and was the son of (???) Spero and (???) Seidita, a sister of Joe and Frank Seidita. He came to Boston on March 15, 1921 on the SS Patria. He petitioned for citizenship March 11, 1937 with two redacted witnesses. January 10, 1938 he became a natural citizen in Milwaukee.

Frank LaGalbo was born in Bagheria, Sicily on April 3, 1908 to Joseph LaGalbo and Frances Crupi and entered the United States through Boston on October 30, 1913 aboard the ship SS Napoli. LaGalbo was naturalized on May 14, 1940.

The Earliest Days, Pre-1913

Italian-born Vincent Ferrara (listed as Joseph Ferrari on his death certificate), who had recently moved from Kenosha to Milwaukee, was shot July 4, 1907 by a sawed-off shotgun containing slugs, buckshot and pieces of a lead pipe. Ferrara was near the Milwaukee Country Club. Also hit in the attack — several minutes later — was another Italian, Dominic Morabid (or Moracad), who claimed not to know Ferrara or the attackers. Morabid said he was simply out for a walk and caught off guard. Inspector Riemer doubted Morabid’s story, saying, “Italians are sociable, and do not go into the country to walk alone at night unless they have a purpose.” Even more coincidental, Morabid had moved to Milwaukee from Kenosha only four months before. In Ferrara’s pockets were found a revolver, a stiletto and a razor. His body was moved into the street, where it was run over by a street car. When the police questioned other Italians in the Third Ward, none claimed to know Ferrara or Morabid. Italian Consul Conte said he did know Ferrara’s father in Italy, and he was the steward of an estate owned by a titled family.

The next night, Joseph Conley visited Morabid at the hospital, and confirmed to police that Morabid was from Kenosha. Conley had come to Milwaukee with John Ruffalo, who was looking for his brother Frank Ruffalo. After talking to police, the police believed that Ruffalo, Morabid and Ferrara all knew each other… and they suspected the men were luring Ferrara to his death, with Morabid’s injuries being accidental.

On January 21, 1908, Italian-born Giuseppe (Joseph) Arnone, 34, was playing cards with Peter Cakerello at 128 Huron Street when an argument erupted. The two men patched up their differences, but that night around midnight Cakerello fired a shotgun at Arnone, piercing his left side and putting him in the hospital. The pellets also continued on, going through a washboard and lodging into a picture of the Virgin Mary on the wall. Cakerello was taken to jail, claiming that he thought Arnone was a burglar. Arnone, son of Adam Arnone, died of his wounds February 11. Cakerello was sent to state prison for 25 years.

On July 27, 1908, the Milwaukee Police captured one of the leaders of the “Black Hand Society,” who was also accused of being a manufacturer of bombs, a murderer and a white slave agent. The suspect was Joseph Ruffino, who was soon shipped to Rochester, New York, to stand trial.

Joseph Faretta, 45, was shot three times by Fillipo Tomasello on November 27, 1908 — once in the groin, once in the base of the skull and once in the shoulder, which perforated his left lung. Fillipo and his brother Frank had been renting a cot from Faretta at 164 Detroit Street, when they got into an argument about Tomasello putting his dirty clothes on the cot (he worked in a tannery). After shooting Faretta, Tomasello fled and the police put out a search for him. Faretta, however, said he forgave Tomasello for his actions.

Santo Marino, 19, was arrested April 11, 1909 and at trial faced a hung jury. For his second trial, he plead guilty and was sentenced to one year in Leavenworth prison on March 21, 1910 for passing counterfeit silver certificates. At the time of his arrest, he lived at 130 Huron Street with his brother Nick and worked as a butcher. His parents, Joseph and Josephine Marino, lived in Italy. So did his siblings Salvatore, Tony, Vito, Anne and Jianta. His criminal associates were Angelo Brondo and Steven Zarcone. Brondo was sentenced to three years in prison and Zarcone escaped back to Italy after being bailed out by bondsmen Frank Damore of 129 Huron Street, Phillip Guzzette of 319 Jackson Street, Joseph Sarel of 186 Detroit Street, and Emanuel Lombardo of 309 VanBuren Street. The bondsmen were later sued for $2000 for failing to produce Zarcone.

While in prison, Marino received one letter a month from his brother and also sent one letter a month. Interestingly, he sent a letter to Vito Guardalabene at 162 1/2 Detroit Street on May 22, 1910. Numerous letters were also sent to various people at 470 Broadway, including May Owoski and Max Lewcke.

On August 3, 1910, Italian-born saloon keeper Leonardo Loffredo, 45, was shot and killed. Loffredo’s nephew Matthew Solasonda, 23, wrested the gun from the slayer’s hand and beat him unconscious. Laborer Anton Tonacila (or Antonio Basili), 34, was taken in for questioning, arrested but found not guilty. Apparently, the altercation began after Tonacila hit Leonardo’s 11-year old son Joseph with a fishing pole, and Loffredo confronted him about it.

On Tuesday morning, August 30, 1910, Italian-born Antonio Navetta, 23, had his throat slit from ear to ear in his boarding house room at 283 Jackson Street. As many as fifty Italians lived in the building. $500 was also stolen from his room, and he had only received the money a day before from an Italian bank after settling an insurance claim about a work injury (he was hurt June 4 while building a pier for the government). Navetta did not die without a struggle — chairs and a cot were tipped over, and a table was broken. When detectives arrived, the body was still warm. Police would later arrest butcher Vito Guardalabene (148 Detroit Street), Joe Lamonico and two unnamed “prominent Italians” in connection with the killing. No one was charged. The informant on Navetta’s death certificate was G. B. Guardalabene.

Nine gun shots went through the windows of a crowded Third Ward tavern on Sunday night, October 16, 1910. The tavern at 210 Detroit Street, owned by Arcanzelo Christoforo was damaged but the dozen patrons inside escaped unharmed. Police suspected the shots came from two men who had ordered drinks earlier in the evening — five months ago, Mrs. Christoforo and her brother-in-law were shot at by these two unidentified men.

On November 17, 1911, Italian-born Luigi Ragnetti, 24, and Anacleto Cascona (sometimes “Aldrande Cascrole”) were held up by two unidentified men while walking home from work at the Milwaukee Solvay Company and robbed of $250. Both men were stabbed and slashed and Ragnetti died of a skull fracture the next day.

On Friday, December 1, 1911, brothers Hugo and Paul Musa, ages 27 and 24 respectively, were found at the Eagle Hotel and brought in to the south side police station on suspicion of counterfeiting poorly made $5 gold pieces. They gave their names as George Elliott and Edward Simon. By Sunday, December 3, the police had found tools used for counterfeiting at 1196 First Avenue. When brought to the central police station, the men now said their names were Peter and John Miller. Unfortunately for them, their father, Anton Musa, came in to the station and identified them as his sons. P. G. Drautzberg of the Secret Service came to Milwaukee from Chicago to arrest the men, saying, “We don’t need a confession.” A third unidentified man was wanted for questioning. Complaints had been coming in to the police department since September from the Polish district of town, but the Musas remained hard to catch, switching addresses as many as 25 times in the last few months.

On February 23, 1912, Dominic Ciliberto, 26, of 258 Jefferson Street, was shot three times in front of 150 Detroit Street. Ciliberto had just been in the tavern at 140 Detroit, owned by Phillip Maino. He was still alive when he reached the hospital, but refused to name his assailant. Ciliberto died the next day.

On March 24, 1912, Gaetano Canizzo or Caiozzo (also known as Thomas Guy), 23, was stabbed twenty times (including five in the lung) with a two-edged stiletto and found in a vacant lot on Milwaukee’s South Side on 10th Street between Pierce and Park. Doctors declared he would not recover, and he soon died on March 27. Before his death, Canizzo told police that he was stabbed by his cousin, butcher Charles DiMaggio of 164 Detroit Street (same address as Pete Guardalabene). Police search DiMaggio’s home and find two .45 rifles, four revolvers, several stilettos and several boxes of cartridges.

The body of Italian-born Dominic C. Leone, 34 — Italian leader and superintendent of garbage collection — was found at 3:30am on Monday, June 17, 1912 in front of Michael Cesaro’s tavern at 222 Jefferson Street (aka Mike Vitucci’s tavern) by Patrolman Henry Bergen. Bergen had heard gunshots moments before, and Leone died almost instantly. He had been shot twice — once in the abdomen, and once in the right lung. Leone lived a block away, at 146 Huron Street, and was walking to work. Detectives said they expected more deaths to follow, as there was one prominent “secret society” among the Italians, but a new rival had recently surfaced. Police said that there had been five murders over the past six years in the Italian colony, but not a single conviction. In the Leone case, like the others, no suspect was known. Dominic’s cousin, Father Dominic Leone, was also baffled — he said Dominic was married, well-respected and had been in the country for eight years. He had connections but no enemies and no money. Later the same day, Joseph Sucha, 60, of 186 Jackson Street, was arrested in connection with the killing, but was not charged. The informant on Leone’s death certificate was G. B. Guardalabene. Father Leone was prominent in the Italian community, having pushed for the construction of Our Lady of Pompeii church in 1903-1904, which was founded by 120 families. After it was discovered that he aided police in his cousin’s death, he was scared out of town by the Black Hand.

The last week of July 1912, Dr. Vincent Badolati left Milwaukee for business in Gary, Indiana. The newspaper said he left because of threats from the Black Hand. On Monday, August 4, Badolati stressed that this story was a complete fabrication “without foundation.” He further said, “I know of no one who would have anything against me.

During three weeks in August 1912, Nicholas Sanmarco received three threatening letters from the Black Hand demanding money — first $500 and finally settling for $200. The letters said failure to pay would result in Sanmarco’s family being “blown to atoms.” The final letter read, “This is the last time we ask you for money. If you do not give it to us at once, we will blow you and your family into the air. It is better to be a poor live man than a rich dead one. La Mano Nera.” Sanmarco was a good friend of Dominic Leone, and police speculated that the same people may have been involved in the threats and Leone’s murder. Other people were not so lucky — the Anton Burgarina home on Detroit Street was hit by dynamite, as was the Movella residence on Jackson. An unidentified “well known Italian” told the newspaper that twenty people had received letters in the last month.

On Tuesday, December 17, 1912, Michele (Michael) Perricone, 36 went to the home of Vito Parlapiano, 40, 318 VanBuren Street. Perricone and Parlapiano were neighbors on VanBuren, and Perricone told Parlapiano that he would help the latter track down the source of extortion letters he had been getting, including one that tried to blackmail Parlapiano for $500. Parlapiano claimed to recognize the handwriting as Perricone’s and told the man so, causing Perricone to get upset. The alleged blackmailer tried to shoot him, but his gun jammed and Parlapiano was able to shoot first, getting off three rounds. Perricone died at the emergency hospital on Friday morning, December 20 from his wounds and Parlapiano was held for first-degree murder. Vito’s wife Mary went to the police station, crying hysterically for her husband to be let out for Christmas to see his son, but her request was denied.

Carmelo Sciano, 34, was killed on Monday, December 30, 1912 while stepping on to the porch of his home at 348 Cass Street. He was shot 14 times in the head. Police suspected the motive for his murder was revenge, and speculated that Sciano may have somehow been involved in the slaying of Dominic Leone. He left behind a wife, age 28, and three children — they were left destitute. Detective Harry Ridenour arrested Anton Maiolo in a tavern and he was found to have a revolver in his pocket, but there was no way to connect Maiolo to Sciano.

Vito Guardalabene: 1913-1921

A small bomb exploded on Saturday, January 25, 1913 at the home of Italian banker Vito Guardalabene, 164 Detroit Street. No one was harmed and the matter was not reported to the police.

The Ronzio Double Slaying

Gennaro “Jerry” Ronzio, 35, and his 60-year old mother Silomena were stabbed to death at 8:40pm, Sunday, February 10, 1913 in the kitchen of their home at 398 Barclay Street. Thomas “Tom” Turk (or Turck), who lived in another part of the double house (address 392), heard a scuffle but thought little of it. Patrolman Bruno Zillmer discovered their bodies the next day, slashed and stabbed repeatedly — Gennaro’s heart pierced three times. Zillmer was summoned by Turk after not seeing the Ronzios the next day. The Milwaukee Sentinel called the crime one of the “most horrible and utterly baffling murder mysteries”. Police initially suspected robbery as the motive. A nine-inch knife was found under Gennaro, leading police to think the killer wanted to make the scene look like a son killing his mother and then himself, but this ruse was quickly seen through based on Gennaro’s wounds.

By Tuesday, police considered the motive of revenge, noting that Gennaro’s wife Theresa Ronzio (alias Theresa Stagno), 24, had abandoned him and their three children (Anna, Louis and John) on July 9, 1912. The children were placed in the Home for Dependent Children in Wauwatosa after their father’s death. The police were also looking for a former boarder Andrew Stagno, 40, and a missing current boarder, 29, who went by the names of Sam Semsaicone and Albert Maggare / Maggiore. Semsaicone was a laborer with the Chicago and Northwestern railroad and was walking with a limp after getting into an automobile accident in St. Francis on December 30. Chief J. T. Jannsen personally took charge of the search.

The Ronzios had moved to Milwaukee from Scranton, Pennsylvania in October 1911. They obtained a small cottage at 375 Marshall Street with Gennaro finding employment with the Power and Mining Machinery Company in Cudahy. Gennaro was a member of the Tribe of Ben Hur (a mutual benefit society whose objectives were to provide life insurance benefits, to improve members socially, to provide entertainment, to aid in business and secure employment, to care for the sick, and to bury the dead).

By Wednesday, the police had still more clues. An unidentified attorney informed them that there were two more boarders they were not aware of also missing — men aged 40 and 28. Captain John E. Sullivan told the press, “We want the three men. There was some sort of meeting in the Ronzio home Sunday night, probably a secret society. Mrs. Ronzio undoubtedly retired previous to her murder. Probably she overheard something the others did not want her to hear, and was attacked. Then, probably, her son came to her defense and both were killed.” Men were picked up in Pewaukee, Sheboygan and Burlington believed to be connected to the crime.

Later on Wednesday, Captain Sullivan spoke to an informant who said he saw the missing boarder on Jefferson Street in the Third Ward on Sunday night, covered in blood stains. By Thursday morning, more suspects were arrested — this time in Minneapolis, Chicago and Buffalo. But Thursday evening had the police thinking about robbery again after a visit from the Ronzios’ landlord, Peter Cassel. Cassel, president and general manager of the Northwestern Metal Company, told the police of visiting the family on January 18 and seeing the old woman pay the rent from a brown wallet loaded with cash that she kept rolled up in a dirty towel. Cassel was with a carpenter and told the man “she was foolish to keep this amount of money in the house and that she would be murdered for it.”

Police released photos and descriptions on Friday, February 14, of Albert Maggiore and a new suspect, Giovanni (John) Severino, 21. Police elaborated on Maggiore, stating that he speaks only Italian and not a word of English. Circulars were mailed to every police department in the country. That evening, detectives Dolan and Arthur Burns were sent to Kenosha on the news that the two men had been seen there Tuesday and Wednesday. Half a dozen Italians in Kenosha, including a west side baker, verified that the men had been there. Maggiore was identified as a companion to an Italian man who was arrested in Kenosha in December for carrying a concealed weapon.

February 16 or 17, Kenosha officer Cyzak was involved in a shoot-out with Italians believed to be the Runzio killers. (The Milwaukee Sentinel is very faded… the Kenosha paper would be better for this part of the story.)

John Severino was arrested on March 10 and initially denied his guilt, saying he was at a movie theater during the murder. He had been hiding out at the home of Sam Perricone since the time of the murder. On June 23, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years in Waupun. Severino claimed he had killed Gennaro, Albert Maggiore killed the mother, and a third man, Sam Mineo, was also with them. The three had met earlier that evening with Frank Alioto at a Third Ward saloon. After the killing, the men fled to the Third Ward and slept in Frank Gagliano’s saloon on a pool table. His confession took up over 120 pages, covering his life, the crime and how he evaded the law after the fact. Rumor began circulating that he accepted the prison sentence when the real killers, a Black hand gang, threatened him with death.

On January 24, 1915, Severino was transferred to the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane after developing “demential praecox”, a violent form of insanity.

Mrs. Theresa Ronzio was finally found and arrested seven years after the murder, on Saturday, June 19, 1920. She was in Scranton, Pennsylvania using the name “Miller” and with a man who identified himself as “Ralph Izzo”. As there was no statute of limitations for abandonment, she was expected to be sent to Milwaukee for trial and questioning on the murder.

Joseph Molino Shot

Joseph Molino, 45, was shot at five times, with one bullet hitting him in the foot, while on the corner of Jackson and Buffalo on the night of Friday, April 4, 1913. The attackers were two men, whom Molino denied knowing, and he escaped by ducking into George Ehrle’s saloon at 171 Buffalo Street.

Felice Lazara, 27, of Waukesha was shot in the throat with buckshot on April 12, 1913 and collapsed on the floor of Teresa Corso’s grocery store at 160 Huron Street. He had just left the saloon owned by Frank Gagiano at the corner of Huron and Jefferon. Police made a raid of everyone in the vicinity and arrested 27 men, including Italian banker and “king of Little Italy” Vito Guardalabene, 62, and his son Sam, 35. Guardalabene was represented by attorney Erwin G. Wurster.

Wurster filed a write of habeas corpus in order to have Guardalabene freed, but the police did not comply with his action. This lead to contempt proceedings against Police Chief John T. Janssen, Captain of Detectives John T. Sullivan and Stationkeeper William Paulus. By April 18, the contempt proceedings were called off when Judge O. T. Williams ruled that the writ was not properly drawn and served.

John Sorce, 25, was shot on August 24, 1913 after being ambushed in front of his home at 156 Detroit Street. He was walking to the saloon of Joseph Balistrieri (corner of Jackson and Detroit) for a can of beer when he was shot. Speculation around town was that the murder was somehow connected to the killing of Dominic Leone, whom Sorce was a good friend with. After the death of Sorce, the police started a new method of investigation: all suspects, no matter how unlikely, were measured and photographed. Due to the Italian community’s reluctance to “rat” out their own people, the police found this the only way to keep on top of the endless violence.

Frank Maretta (sometimes written Manette), 21 or 23 years old, entered a Waukesha tobacco store on White Rock Avenue on September 7, 1913 while his friend waited in the car. When he exited, he saw his friend talking to three Italians, so he went over to join them. Somehow, a gunfight broke out and Maretta found himself in a duel where he was shot. Charles Schruth witnessed the shooting and chased the getaway car, but stopped when they fired upon him. He then informed the sheriff. Milwaukee police said they had no record of Maretta, and the likelihood of catching his assailants was quite improbable if they were as tight-lipped as everyone else in the Italian colony. Tony Cortoso, Maretta’s cousin who was with him at the time of the shooting, was held by Sheriff Gibson for not talking. Maretta, who was living at 307 Jefferson, died of internal hemorrhaging soon after. Milwaukee police speculated there may have been a connection between the Maretta murder and the murder of John Sorce.

G. B. Guardalabene and Michael Buso, 25, left Milwaukee to go hunting in Brown Deer on Thursday morning, September 18, 1913. They hunted for two hours and stopped in to Theodore Schweitzer’s saloon for lunch. They continued hunting after lunch, and while walking along the river Buso’s gun accidentally discharged, killing him instantly.

The first arrest of an alleged Black Hand member took place on Monday, January 5, 1914. Ernest Angelini, 109 Thirty-Fifth Street, was charged with misuse of the mails after sending a threatening letter to his landlord, saloon keeper Sam Debrozzo, demanding $500. The letter read, “We need gold. We must have it soon. You have been exempt until now. Five hundred dollars is the assessment placed against your name by the organization and unless we get it, beware. On the night of Jan. 5 place $500 near into the mouth of the big cannon at Juneau park. Place it there at 11 o’clock, and be careful to have no one with you. After you place it there walk south to Wisconsin street, then east to Milwaukee, then south to Huron street and your saloon. Members of our band will be watching you as you return, so speak to no one on the way. Above all, if you value the lives of your family and yourself, show no one this letter. The necessities of the Black Hand are dire and their vengeance is terrible. A Friend.” Debrozzo turned the letter into police, telling them he suspected Angelini. When Angelini was not home, the police entered his room and found handwriting samples — and also other letters he had written but not yet mailed. Angelini eventually confessed, but denied being part of a conspiracy and said he worked alone.

A bomb exploded around 11:30 on Tuesday evening, March 24, 1914 at the three-story residence and boarding house of Giusueppe Gardetto, 45, 217 St. Clair Street in Bay View. Children were thrown from their beds and 21 people in all were threatened. Mr. and Mrs. Gardetto, his mother and their two children (Dominic and Savino) were on the first floor. The remainder of the first floor was a saloon. Joseph Putolino, his wife and two children were on the second floor. Francesco Gambino, his wife and three children were also on the second floor. The second floor also contained single boarders Cognowzi Essio, John Zanetti and Charles Anselmno. And on the third floor was Joseph Zenobi, his wife and two children (Paul and Irene). Watchman Harry Comp at the Illinois Steel Company plant saw two men running away, and police had arrested three suspects, though they were expected to be released for want of evidence.

Gardetto, who came to Milwaukee in 1890 and was the second Italian to settle in Bay View (behind Carlo Basso), had previously received a letter in January 1912 from “Mano Nera” (black hand) demanding $1000 be placed under the Northwestern bridge over the Kinnickinnic River by February 5. He turned this letter into police. In March, another letter arrived demanding money by March 24, and this letter was also turned over to police. The letters had been mailed from substations on the north side of the city, leading police and the postal inspector to believe the threats came from Italians in the Third Ward.

The Italian community were celebrating Madonna del Lume on Sunday, August 9, 1914 when a gaspipe bomb went off, which was intended to signal the beginning of fireworks. Instead, too much black powder was used and a piece of shrapnel killed Giuseppe (Joseph) Pizzo, Jr., 23, 276 Jackson Street, who had been sitting on his front porch. The pipe was lodged in his abdomen. The sidewalk was also damaged. Anti-socialist Mayor Gerhard Adolph Bading, MD attended the festival as a personal guest of Vito Guardalabene. Guardalabene was the informant on the death certificate.

Italian-born Salvatore Sciortino, 26, of 202 Detroit Street, was ambushed and shot six times in the back on November 9, 1914. He had just purchased a stamp and mailed a letter at Frank La Piana’s drug store at 301 Jackson. Edward McCann, a switchman, saw the gunman step out from an alley near Rocco Coraggio’s saloon (corner of VanBuren and Detroit). He was young, wore a dark suit and a checked cap. An officer arrived in time to see the assailant flee, and fired two shots at him, but he escaped. Police said they did not think Sciortino was involved with the Black Hand. He had a brother in St. Louis and a mother in Sicily. Informant on the death certificate was Vito Guardalabene.

Around May 1915, Giuseppe Nenapali (using the alias Albert Scorsoni), Peter Randazzo, Tom Sarano and Sam Muchi robbed Charles Gabaj’s saloon at 820 St. Paul Avenue. The four were sentenced to a variety of terms from 12 to 25 years.

Italian-born Pasquale Brisca, 38, of 369 Cass Street (where he boarded with Mrs. Carmella Pizzino), was shot through the left temple three times at the southwest corner of Michigan and VanBuren on the early morning of July 19, 1917. Brisca was walking with his lunch from home to work at the Electric Company when he got in a struggle with one man, who held him still, while a second man shot him. This was witnessed by Mrs. Michael McCann, who lived on that corner. Thomas Brown, who lived on VanBuren, intercepted one of the men and struggled with him for a bit before he escaped. Police suspected the killing could be connected to a quarrel that resulted over the weekend due to a card game.

The residence and grocery store at 168 Buffalo Street was bombed 11pm Sunday, July 22, 1917. This was also the residence of Sam Latona and John Leonardo and their families. Windows were busted out at Charles O’Donnell’s saloon (172 Buffalo), Robert Sommers’ residence (171 Buffalo), the Catalano Company (167 Buffalo), Edward Gleisberg’s pool hall (164 Buffalo) and John Manela’s residence (166 Buffalo). “We never got any threatening letters, and we do not know who could have done it,” said Marie Latona. Charles O’Donnell said it was the loudest explosion he has heard in the ward, “But we expect little things like that every once in a while.” Police suspected the Latonas knew more than they were saying, because the bomb was placed under the building where ten gallons of kerosene was kept, and this was not likely a coincidence.

Hasso R. Pestolazzi, chief truancy officer for the Milwaukee school board, said that “if the decent element in the Third Ward would clean out a small gang of cowards who are causing all this trouble, Milwaukee wouldn’t have any more of these outrages. There are a whole lot of cowards in there, jealous and suspicious of each other, and fighting all the time; and if the police or the decent men in the ward would go in and clean out about fifteen leaders, such outrages would stop immediately.” Pestolazzi declined to name names.

Mariano “Mario” Alioto — relative of future mob boss John Alioto — was gunned down in 1917 by the Black Hand (also known as the LaFata gang, a forerunner of the Mafia) on Columbus Avenue in San Francisco while trying to fight the extortion racket. This had been a deadly year for the family. A few months earlier, Mario married Angelina Ingrassia, daughter of Gaetano Ingrassia, a successful masonry contractor. Gaetano had been gunned down by the same gang on Thanksgiving Day, 1916.

Joseph Scaffidi was arrested in Cudahy on January 21, 1919 for willful destruction of property and was placed on probation.

Nick Fucarino, under the alias of Nick Fort, was arrested in Omaha, Nebraska on November 22, 1919 for vagrancy, pimping and assault with intent to kill. He was identified by Mayor Edward Parsons Smith as the man who struck him over the head with a gun on September 28, 1919 during a race riot. He was held on $10,000 bond and released on bond December 8. What happened to him after that is unclear.

Federal Rubber Company employee James Scaffidi, Joseph’s father, was shot six times from behind on the evening of December 12, 1919. He was found lying in a ditch on Whitnall Avenue in the town of Lake (now the location of Mitchell Airport), his .38 revolver still in his shirt. John Medrow, Cudahy chief of police, investigated the murder for six months but never solved it. Scaffidi’s wife soon remarried. (James is listed as Vincent in his death certificate, residing at 626 Holmes Avenue in Cudahy and being 35, which seems too young.)

A gun and club fight broke out at the garbage incinerator on Erie Street on May 4, 1920. John B. Guardalabene, supervisor of garbage collection, was knocked unconscious. Charles Magisco was shot in the right hand. Guardalabene, Magisco, and Magisco’s brothers Frank and James were all arrested. All three Magisco brothers worked for Guardalabene, and told authorities they were threatened by Guardalabene and told they must pay a portion of their wages to him — $6 per day, on top of the $150 Guardalabene demanded of them in the first place to be hired on.

John B. Guardalabene had his preliminary hearing on Thursday, May 27, 1920 and was bound over for trial on charges of assault with intent to kill Charles Magisco, whose finger was shot off. Angelo Guardalabene was charged with bribery for his role in getting men hired to the garbage department. The prosecutors promsied that at trial, they would expose the Guardalabenes as taking bribes to put people on the city’s pay roll, taking “fees” for “services” at baptisms, and taking “commission” to have people’s funerals handled by certain undertakers.

Vito Guardalabene would rule as crime lord until his death on February 6, 1921 from nephritis at St. Mary’s Hospital, at age 75. He left behind his wife, Giuseppa Aliota Guardalabene. The informant on the death certificate was his son Angelo. The day before he died, the Milwaukee Journal noted that Guardalabene “has always been regarded as a political power.”

Giovanni B. “Peter” Guardalabene: 1921-1924

Peter, known as “the Prince of Little Italy” during his father’s reign, quickly asserted himself as a cagey and cable leader in his own right. Quickly separating himself from the sideshow manager he was in the early ’20s when he served as manager for John Giaginati, a moderately built coal shoveler known for his voracious appetite. Peter moved to strengthen his position and the organization he inherited from his father by surrounding himself with loyal and trusted aides like his brother Angelo and brother-in-law Matthew Deleano. Guardalabene insulated himself from the law by shielding his illicit activities behind a facade carefully constructed around the Monte Carlo club.

The Monte Carlo was a popular prohibition era nightclub known for its extravagant shows and extensive liquor selection. The Monte Carlo was frequently listed among the most flagrant violators of the law banning the sale of intoxicating liquors. On several occasions federal prohibition agents conducted high profile raids on the Monte Carlo failing at every turn to convince Milwaukee authorities to declare the place a public nuisance thereby banning it from operation. With each raid, the influence of the Guardalabene organization grew and the brothers continued to expand their operation through the 20s on into the early 30s.

Peter Cannalli was shot at his home, 266 Jefferson Street, on February 16, 1921. The bullet came in through the window and lodged in his neck. Nearby were his wife, young child and Mr. and Mrs. Frank Accetta. Cannalli survived, but they believed his left arm might have to be amputated at the shoulder. Police suspect the shooting was related to the recent death of Vito Guardalabene, speculating that there may now be a power struggle for influence over the Italian community.

Police busted up a lottery on Friday, April 8, 1921 run by Matt Delesano, 227 Bay Street, and the brothers Angelo and John B. “Pete” Guardalabene. They were raffling off a 391-acre farm, valued at $36,000 near Arena, Wisconsin. Posters had been displayed all over Bay View, as well as in the Third and Seventeenth Wards. Over $20,000 worth of tickets were found at the tavern of August Chiverotte at 300 Bishop Avenue. The Guardalabenes were told to refund all the money.

The Sentinel on July 5 and the Journal on July 7, 1921, reported that Milwaukee now had 4,022 foreign born Italians. This was a significant influx over the past ten years and largely explains why so many were preyed upon by the Black Hand. Not knowing English and being crammed into poor living conditions with little recourse makes for an entire community of perfect victims. In 1924, there were 6000 Italians in the Third Ward — that comes to six hundred per square block! Two years later, Italian consul Angelo Cerminara estimated that Milwaukee had 20,000 Italians with 80% (the Sicilians and South Italian) being in the the First and Third Wards and 20% (the North Italian) being in Bay View. The Third Ward Italians had begun the migration to the First Ward (the Polish District) in 1918, in search of better housing conditions.

Future mob leader Frank Balistrieri was born on July 28, 1921 to Joseph and Benedetta (nee Picciurro) Balistrieri.

Detectives Louis Dieden and Emil Hoppe were at Frank Vitucci’s tavern (222 Jefferson Street) on March 7, 1922 when they heard four gunshots. Running out the door, they found John Vacchiano with a still-smoking .45 in his hand, and he would not say why he had just fired his gun. Police arrested him, and Vacchiano pleaded with them, saying he had a wife and seven children at 170 Erie Street. Unknown to Vacchiano, Dieden spoke Italian and was able to overhear Vacchiano talking to his wife about killing junk dealer Nunzio Crispo in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Extradition was soon to follow.

After being free from Waupun for only two weeks, Giuseppe Nenapali, 34, was murdered on October 6, 1922. Nenapali was seated for dinner in the basement of Sam Alexandro’s boarding house at 208 Detroit Street when eight shotgun blasts came through the window and blew his head to pieces. Police questioned people in the neighborhood, but nobody claimed to know about the incident and some even claimed they never heard a shot.

“Papa” John Alioto started Alioto Gardens in the old Third Ward of Milwaukee in 1923 at the corner of Clybourn and Jefferson. It burned down in 1929.

Joseph Amato: 1924-1927

Joseph Amato succeeded Peter Guardalabene as boss of the Milwaukee crime family in 1924.

Nick Fucarino moved to Milwaukee in February 1924, where he took up employment at Migliaccio and Vallone Wholesale Grocers until 1930. (He became a self-employed grocer from 1930 until 1935.)

Pasquale Caruso shot Detective Emil E. Hoppe in the knee and neck on September 18, 1924 while being questioned in the tavern of Joseph Karlik at 696 Broadway. Caruso fled and would not be arrested until caught at Crown Point, Indiana in May 1930. After fleeing, the police searched Caruso’s room and found 11 shotguns and rifles and a barrel of moonshine. While in jail, Caruso sent a representative to Italian consul Angelo Cerminara, hoping Cerminara would be his attorney. The consul flatly refused, saying he did not approve of the detective being shot. At trial, Hoppe suggested Caruso get probation, which he did.

Prohibition officer Annen was slugged on December 13, 1924 while conducting a raid at Aiello’s butcher shop at 729 Van Buren. Those assaulting him were Vito Aiello, 16, who lived at the residence, and Sam Russo, 27, of Buffalo Street. One of them tripped Annen while the other started to beat him about the head, causing a broken nose and possible skull fractures. The two were sent to federal authorities for charges.

After being in America only four months, Sicilian war hero and tailor Alberto Speciale, 34, 750 Jackson, (cousin to Miss Angeline Marino) was shot by two gunmen on February 17 or 18, 1926 at the corner of Lyon and Jackson Streets. On his person were discovered letters from Antonio and Augustino Morici, two wholesale grocers from Chicago who had been murdered on January 27. Speciale left behind a wife, Anna, along with his parents Giovanni Speciale and Anna D’Amato Speciale. The informant on his death certificate was Bartolo D’Amato, who lived with Speciale. An anonymous tip came in that the killers were hiding out in the basement of 764 VanBuren. Upon raiding the place, owned by Charles Frankino, they discovered two 30-gallon stills, but no killers.

The Riveria resort near Delafield, owned by Angelo Guardalabene, burned down around 5am Sunday, July 11, 1926. Evelen employees sleeping on the second floor had to escape through the window in their pajamas. Miss Nelda Moll, 23, fractured her leg jumping from the roof. Waiters John Teggelman and William Welier were also minorly injured. The fire department responded, but it was too late. Guardalabene vowed to rebuild the resort.

Giovanni B. “Pete” Guardalabene, owner of the Monte Carlo Club was arrested on Friday, October 15, 1926 for liquor violations. Also arrested was his brother Angelo. The newspapers believed this was the “opening gun” by the feds to dry up the Third Ward, which was known for ignoring liquor laws, striking its most prominent member first rather than those who patronized his business. Guardalabene’s attorney was Roland J. Steinle, who would eventually become a judge and unsuccessfully run for US Senate as a Republican. Grace Lawson, 654 Jefferson Street, was also arrested. So was Mike Popp (address unknown) and Stanley Marzelek of the Town of Lake, who was found to have a 500-gallon still.

Mike Caruso was arrested November 17, 1926 by officers John Helz and George Radtke for burglary and grand larceny. He was sentenced to three years in the State Reformatory at Green Bay.

Federal agents raided 336 Jefferson Street on February 3, 1927. From there they chased an automobile and caught up with Nick Fucarino and Frank Ragusa. In their car was hidden 75 gallons of alcohol.

Joseph Amato, 231 Jefferson, ruled over the city’s underworld until his death at age 41 from double-lobar pneumonia at Mt. Sinai Hospital on March 28, 1927. He left behind his wife, Stephena, along with his parents, Antonio Amato and Giuseppa Pizza Amato.

Joseph Vallone: 1927-1949

It was during Vallone’s tenure that the National Commission, a governing body of La Cosa Nostra crime families, was formed. The criminal council decided that the Milwaukee LCN Family would answer directly to and remain under the influence of the Chicago Outfit. Vallone’s underboss was allegedly Joseph Gumina, who would remain in that role during the Ferrara and Alioto years. The capo decina under Vallone was Migele Mineo. (Few records of Gumina or Mineo exist.)

Peter Guardalabene was raided by Milwaukee and Chicago prohibition agents on July 15, 1927, and accused of being the owner of the Caldron Club, a night life establishment at 67 East State Street. On July 25, he was freed by court commissioner Harry L. Kellogg. “He may be guilty,” Kellogg said, “but all the evidence that has been introduced is consistent with his innocence.” Katie Miller, 70, a notorious night life figure known as Kittie Williams for 30 years, testified that she owned the building and leased it to Edward Grabenheimer, not Guardalabene. Miller and janitor Carl Laurosch testified that Guardalabene did pay a couple months’ rent, but he was a financial backer for Grabenheimer and not the owner.

Many “soda parlors” were raided and ordered to be padlocked on Saturday, July 23, 1927. One at 222 Jefferson Street was owned by Mike Vitucci and operated by his son, Frank. Other Italians involved in the raids were John Gigante, August DeStefano, Frank Spicuzza, Marie DePaolo, Frank and Tom Jennaro, Joe DePaolo, Tony and Josephine Gaglione, Rosario and Maria Mazza, Peter and Teresa Balestreri, and Frank Gingrasso.

Joe Pessin was raided December 23, 1927 on the second floor of 2329 Vliet Street. Agents found an alcohol cutting plant and a huge assortment of counterfeit liquor labels and bottles.

At some point in 1928, Nick Fucarino was arrested by federal agents for possession of unstamped liquor, and he served four months in the house of correction for this.

In mid-February 1928, eight men were arrested at 4747 North Robey in Chicago for planning a bomb campaign under the leadership of Joseph Aiello (who was not present). Recently, Judge John Sbarbaro’s undertaking parlor had been bombed. The men were Joseph Caminiti, Dominic (or Anthony) Lanza, Oliver Clemente, Tony Calafiore (or Scalofora), Joe Greco, Salvatore Cannalle (or Canelli), Salvatore Aiello (no relation to Joseph Aiello) and Tony Imburia. Police found a shotgun with ammunition at the meeting place, but no explosives. The name discrepancies here are because the article and the caption from the Chicago Tribune have two very different ideas on spelling.

Bootlegger Joe Pessin’s malt and hop shop had its windows shot out by a passing automobile in March 1928. Pessin suspected Teddy Azzarella, who had recently threatened him.

Angelo LaMantia and Josephine Aiello took out a marriage license on May 15, 1928 in Waukegan, Illinois. Josephine was the daughter of Isadore Aiello and the sister of Frank and John Aiello.

Joseph Costarella, 40, was shot on July 18, 1928 while parking his car in the alley at 401 Madison Street. The shotgun blast came from a basement window, went through the car window, and injured Costarella’s left arm, face and chest. The gun was fired by Frank Scufari, who ran to a nearby woodshed but was soon found by Patrolman Leo Walters. Scufari told police that he had received a letter from the Black Hand demanding payment of $100, and he thought Costarella was associated with them and came to kill him. He admitted, however, that he did not know if Costarella was a member or what his reason for being in the alley was. Scufari had been hiding in the basement, paranoid, ever since the letter arrived. Costarella denied he knew anything about it.

Lightweight boxer Frank Alioto, known professionally as Frankie Barry, was shot from a passing automobile and killed at the corner of 24th and State in Chicago on Sunday, August 19, 1928. Originally from New York, Alioto had been living in Milwaukee the last few months, working as the doorman for the Ringside smoke shop at 173 1/2 Second Street. He was in Chicago to avenge an insult to his wife, cabaret entertainer Emma Alioto. He had previously been shot in Chicago and Detroit, and once slashed with a razor by a barber in Milwaukee.

Wealthy bootlegger and cafe owner Anthony (Tony) Kuzmanovich, 43, (a Serbian emigre) was slain by a sawed-off shotgun near the corner of 65th and Wisconsin on August 28, 1928. He was heading home to 6508 Wells. Clayton Rogers, 538 Jefferson Street, heard the gunshot and turned to see a blue car with Wisconsin plates and two spare tires on the back. Police believed the car to be an Auburn. The cafe was the Te Kay restaurant at 419 Michigan. Anna Kuzmanovich, the widow, suspected the killing’s motive to be robbery (he had $800 on him) while the police thought that it may be connected to some sort of “beer war” between Milwaukee and Chicago. Kuzmanovich had twice been raided in the summer of 1927 (six half barrels seized in June, and another five in August) and served 8 months in the house of correction. Kuzmanovich had called two police captains the night before his death, but they were personal calls and not connected to his demise.

James LaRosa, 18, brother of Tony LaRosa, was arrested for auto larceny around September 1928. LaRosa denied he had stolen a car, but claimed he was merely picked up for a ride by Paul Munillizi who had stolen the car and authorities had placed false blame on him. LaRosa admitted, however, that he was aware the car was stolen. At trial, his character witnesses included Mike Ianelli.

The Adler Clothing plant in Plymouth was bombed on Monday, November 12, 1928 by members of a Milwaukee gang: Tony Crivello, 22, 245 Jackson Street; Jack Sorce, 25, 527 Marshall Street; Cosimo DeSalvo, 30, 351 VanBuren; and Vito Aiello. After their arrest, Sorce and Crivello told Deputy Inspector Joseph Drewniak that DeSalvo was paid $500 for the bombing, and they were each offered $150. Neither revealed who had paid DeSalvo.

Joseph Scaffidi was arrested in 1929 in Racine for burglary.

Mike Caruso, out on parole, was arrested on February 26, 1929 by officers James Barrett and John Nadolski for carrying a loaded .38 revolver. He was sent back to the State Reformatory in Green Bay.

Santo Marino was arrested in Milwaukee for rape on April 17, 1929 for the assault of a woman on November 20, 1928.

Joe Pessin was raided in April 1929, this time at 789 71st Avenue in West Allis, where he had an elaborate whiskey plant.

In June 1929, Joe Pessin was one of 138 people indicted by a Brooklyn, New York federal grand jury for conspiracy to distribute and sell imitation liquor bottles and labels.

On July 9, 1929, the Milwaukee Sentinel told the story of Sam Cefalu, 23, formerly of 243 Jefferson Street. Cefalu, American by birth, had gone to live in Italy. However, the Italian army sought to draft him, claiming that his parents being Italian was enough to make him Italian. Cefalu fled the country on the Fabre liner Sinala, coming through the port of Providence, leaving behind his mother and new bride in Palermo. They were scheduled to join Cefalu in Milwaukee in August 1929.

Nick Fucarino married Rosalie Maniaci (born in Milwaukee July 20, 1907 to Chas Maniaci and Grace Zingale) on September 14, 1929 in Milwaukee. Witnesses were Salvatore Ferrara and Tina Maniaci with Rev. Anthony Bainotti officiating.

G. B. Guardalabene was elected the president of the Society del Lume for the sixth consecutive time at St. John’s Cathedral on Sunday, December 22, 1929. His father, Vito Guardalabene, had founded the society in 1909 and all 146 of its members are from Porticello, Sicily. Alfred Sanfilippo was elected vice president; Ted F. Crivello, recording secretary; Salvatore Papio, financial secretary; John Carini, comptroller; and Salvatore Balistreri, marshal. Directors chosen were Mariano Megna, Joe Sococo, Sebastiano Cefalu, and Vincenzo Gumina.

Sunday, January 26, 1930, dry agents raided the Jefferson Inn (296 Jefferson) and arrested Joseph Alioto, bartender Joseph Lorenzo and waiter Mariano Rugeri. The agents destroyed 92 pints of gin, 18 pints of whiskey, one gallon of alcohol, two gallons of whiskey, seven 50-gallon barrels of beer, two gallons of gin, and two half-barrels of beer.

Joe Teresi and John Tomasello of Chicago were arrested in August 1930 and charged with operating a brewery on a farm near South Milwaukee. They pleaded guilty and were sentenced to three months in a house of correction by federal judge F. A. Geiger. At the time of their trial another man, Tom Bottelo, was still being sought.

Vincent Crupi, 35, son of Paul Crupi and Francesca Fricano, was arrested in October 1930 and sentenced in December 1930 to one to three years in the house of correction for running a brothel, the Green Light, at 642 East Water Street. Part of his defense was that he never paid the girls and they acted independently, though he would pay their bail when necessary. Of the six girls arrested with Crupi, none showed up to testify despite subpoenas. While in the prison, though, he was allowed frequent trips to visit his wife at home, and she would sometimes visit him (being driven by neighbor Leo Marth), bringing whiskey and sandwiches loaded with catsup because Vincent liked his sandwiches “juicy”. A former inmate, William Wendland, also testified that he knew of at least one drinking party inside the prison with Vincent Crupi, Jack Enea and a man with the last name Scione.

Joseph Dentice, 23, went to New York on October 22, 1930 to visit his cousin, John Riggio, 30. Joseph’s father, Carl, warned him not to go, as Riggio was involved in the grape and wine business. While in New York, two assailants riding in the same car parked in front of a Brooklyn church and shot Dentice and Riggio, with Riggio dying of his wounds. Dentice later identified the killers as James Sangamino and Leonard “Nardo” (???) of Brooklyn. Both went to prison and one received the electric chair.

Also on October 22, there was an attempted holdup of Paul Rodinkovich’s saloon at the corner of Hubbard and Vine. The police were tipped off, though, and waited at the saloon to arrest the four youths when they arrived. They were: Stanley Doran of Montfort, Harry DeAngelo, Rosario Gagliano and Dominic Picciurro. Doran would later be involved in other holdups (including a violent one involving an Italian fruit vendor) and spent over a decade in Waupun.

Joseph Pessin was arrested Friday afternoon, December 5, 1930 after dry agents discovered an alcohol cutting and bottling plant hiding behind the facade of Pessin’s Reliance Malt and Hops store at 2517 West Vliet Street. Also arrested was his brother William. While on the premises, agents answered a number of phone calls from known bootleggers looking for “packages” and saw multiple cars stop and speed off when they saw strangers inside the building. Five gallons of alcohol and several gallons of liquors were found and the fancy bottles they were in were labeled creme de menthe, creme de cacoa, cointreau and various brands of whiskey and gin. All bottles were smashed. Joe served 18 months in Leavenworth, while William was found not guilty.

Later the same day, agents raided a bungalow near Franksville in Racine County and arrested Frank Jannuzzi and Anton Galoti. The agents discovered a 250-gallon still, and destroyed 3600 gallons of mash and 100 gallons of whiskey.

(Late February or Early March 1931) “Cross-Eyed” Jack Loffredo shot Joseph “Dago Pete” Paolo (the “bad man of Bay View”) three times in the chest outside Mike Delsano’s pool hall in St. Francis, where they had just had an argument over “tribute” money that Paolo felt Loffredo owed. Paolo said that if he was not paid $300, he would turn Loffredo into the feds for bootlegging. Accompanying Loffredo was Julio Desisteri of Cicero, Illinois, though he was only a witness to the shooting and did not take part. Other witnesses were Sam DeAllesandro and Ambrose Marinelli. Matt Delsano, Loffredo’s step-father, falsely told police that he did not know who shot Paolo. Loffredo would turn himself in to the police 36 hours after the shooting, but not until after consulting with Mike Vitucci, the “king of Little Italy”. Loffredo later claimed that Paolo fired the first shot and his actions were self-defense (which was supported by a .45 found near Paolo’s body).

While investigating the murder, police went to the home of Ciro Tamboli, 3129 South Hansen Avenue, and discovered a still. The police reported it to dry agents. Tamboli tried to have the evidence suppressed on the grounds that it was an illegal search, but his motion was denied.

Jack Loffredo was sentenced to 14 to 16 years in Waupun by Judge George A. Shaughnessy. Even if Loffredo had beaten the charges, he would have been referred to the federal authorities after four stills were found in his home. Perhaps most interesting, the widow of Dago Pete, Josie Paolo, sat side by side in the courtroom with Flo Walker, Pete’s mistress, as they comforted each other.

Charles Crupi, brother of vice lord Vincent Crupi, was sentenced to six months in the house of correction on April 23, 1931 for liquor law violations. Charles operated a “chicken shack” at 604 North Third Street.

John Alioto took a position with Milwaukee’s Bureau of Street Sanitation on May 4, 1931. He would work his way up from ward laborer to labor foreman over the next 25 years.

Frank Aiello was murdered while playing cards at his home at 2476-A South 18th Street at 11:30pm on May 23, 1931. He was hit by a shotgun blast through the window, while his two brothers-in-law (Walter and Steve Konieczny) were at the same table. His pregnant wife was sleeping in another room. Police considered it a possible gangland slaying, knowing that Frank was a distant relative of Chicago hitman Joe Aiello, but then decided it was an “accidental murder”. Aiello was called a “home boy” in his Polish neighborhood, and was known in only a positive light, going out only with his wife Cora and befriending everyone in his part of town.

Anthony Buchholz, who lived across the street, saw a man in a hat and dark overcoat run to a Ford coupe and drive north on 18th Street. Other witnesses, Harold Heuter and Maria Pocala, also saw the car. Joseph Brezenski found the sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun nearby. Its serial number 145269 was traced to the American Gun company of New York. Frank Aiello’s parents, Isadore Aiello of 612 East Lyon Street, could not think of a motive. Neither could Frank’s cousin, prominent Italian Pete Guardalabene. Frank’s brother-in-law, Angelo LaMantia of 333 Jefferson Street, was also questioned and it was soon found out that Angelo and Frank had a “heated argument” because Angelo married Frank’s sister in Waukegan, Illinois before a justice of the peace rather than in a church.

On Wednesday, June 3, 1931, Angelo LaMantia was handed over to federal authorities for deportation. He was wanted for a murder in Italy that occurred in 1926.

John Masina began renting a garage from E. Chorbogian of 1219 Albert Street, Racine, in early June 1931 for the purpose of storing his car.

John Masina (sometimes Massina, Messina or Masino), 29, of 1520 North Jackson Street, was slain at 11pm, August 22, 1931 in Racine. He was in the northwest room of a cottage (1337 Albert Street) that was about to be opened as a restaurant and beer depot by Dominic Zizzo, but was apparently taken out by competitors who fired through the front window. He was shot with both a pistol (or machine gun) and a shotgun, and police found three sticks of dynamite fashioned into a crude bomb with a 10-inch fuse, wrapped in recent copies of the Journal-News. Other than one empty bottle of beer and a partially-emptied beer glass, no alcohol was found, leading police to suspect that supplies were taken out before the cops were called. None of the neighbors (who were Italian) claimed to hear anything or know Masina, and Frank Principeto, his cousin and landlord, knew of no enemies he had.

The next day, Racine police found evidence that one of Masina’s companions (an unidentified Rockford man) was injured. A blood-stained white linen coat with a bullet hole in the back was found in the yard of Mrs. Matt Maresh at 1202 Frederick Street. A loaded revolver was found in the adjoining yard at 1312 Beaugrand Court. District attorney Charles Prudent speculated that Masina had “hooked up” with the “deposed czars” of a recently-broken booze ring in Rockford that had caused many of Rockford’s early mob figures to serve time in Leavenworth prison. Men such as Tony Musso, Peter SanFilippo, Paul Giovingo, Joe Fasulo, Jack DeMarco, Joe Capriola, Andrew Saladino, Joe Stassi and about 40 other men. By that time there were two separate gangs in Rockford — those that sided with Tony Musso and others that sided with Paul Giovingo. Musso’s group supplied alcohol to Al Capone ad his group while Giovingo supplied booze to Capone’s north side rivals.

Rockford men had been seen around Racine the past seven weeks, and were pushing an inferior grade of alcohol selling for 40 cents a pint. Police held Dominic Zizzo and Joe Consin (a former Rockford native) for questioning, but got little of use.

Mike Caruso was arrested on October 26, 1931 by officers Arthur Grundemann, Vance Chamberlain and Anton Barbian for violating the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act. He was given a $100 fine and released.

On Thursday, November 19, 1931, Frank (or Joseph) Alioto was sentenced to six months in the house of correction and fined $250 for a liquor law violation at the Jefferson Inn, 400 North Jefferson. A waiter, Marianno Ruggeri, was given 60 days. Anthony Sylvester and Anthony Sorce of the Flore d’Italia (501 East Clybourn) were each sentenced to six months and $250.

Isadore Siegel’s grocery store, at 1740 North Third, was robbed on March 5, 1932 by Chicago hoodlums Marshall Caifano and Matthew Auriene. When caught, the men had revolvers and stolen license plates. Soon, four more Chicago hoodlums were captured while planning the robbery of a Grafton bank: Robert VanSant (alias VanSantis), Angelo Kleros (also known as Angelo Kleronomos), William Lattos and Charles Conroy (alias Bill Burke).

Three men fired a double-barreled shotgun at a man in a coupe parked in front of the Avalon Cafe (1640 Albert Street, Racine) on March 22, 1932 just before 10pm. Police said it was a “sequel” to the John Masina slaying. The victim ran inside the Avalon Cafe for a moment, and bartender George Fell observed blood pouring down the right side of the man’s head. Fell said he had seen the man before, but did not know his name. A check at local hospitals by police revealed no recent patients with head wounds. A double-barreled shotgun was found in the snow at Frederick and St. Patrick Streets by Detectives Lyle George and Vernon Snook. Two discharged cartridges were found nearby.

The injured man may have been Dominic Zizzo, as his car was found with broken windows and blood inside. Zizzo also happened to own the home that Masina was in at the time of his murder, making the connection even stronger. However, when police questioned Zizzo, he said he had been home all night and “friends often borrowed his auto.” Police also speculated that the attempted murder may have been connected to the sudden appearance of a man from New York who was said to be causing suspicions by his activities.

Sergeant Anton Zarek observed an automobile driving in circles while three men were genuflecting in Wanderers Rest Cemetery on Friday, April 15, 1932. The three men — two from Cleveland, Ohio (Carl Piccerelle and Albert Giannini) and grocer Louis Paradise (aka Luigi Parabicoli) of 1415 East Potter Avenue — were arrested on vagrancy charges, along with the driver, a man named Mike Fabbrocino from Cicero, Illinois. After questioning from Captain Harry Ridenour, it was determined that in the past week Paradise had sold the men roughly $3000 worth of sugar. The men promised to pay him if he met them in the cemetery. He did, but all they had on them was a tin box filled with newspaper cut to the size and shape of currency and a few real bills on top to hide the con. Police found $5000 in $100 bills in the Cleveland men’s pockets, which the men used to attempt a bribe of Ridenour. Paradise was turned over to Prohibition officials on the grounds that such a large quantity of sugar was likely used for making alcohol. He was also found to have two-ounce bottles of alcohol. The Cleveland men were later convicted of bribery and their money was taken by the state as evidence. Charges against Paradise were dropped when he produced a doctor’s note explaining that he used the alcohol to ease his rheumatic hands.

Joseph Dentice, 24, was shot on April 30, 1932 while inside a Third Ward barbershop (Phil’s Barber Shop) at 632 East Clybourn. Four rounds of buckshot from an automatic shotgun came in through the window, some of which lodged in his lower back. Four other men were hit by flying glass and cut: Philip Zarcone, 23, 1401 West Walnut Street; Frank Bruno, 23, 2345 North Humboldt; Joseph Sorce, 21, 1325 Second Street; and Joseph Zarcone, 49, 618 East Detroit. Police believed the attack was retaliation for Dentice’s ratting out his cousin’s killers.

On June 13, 1932, a variety of men were arrested on charges of conspiracy to violate liquor laws. A total of 45 men were wanted, includign at least 10 from Milwaukee. Failed county supervisor candidate Angelo Guardalabene, 812 East State Street, posted $2000 in bond. So did professional fight promoter Albert J. Tusa (426 Warner), grocer Joseph Vallone (421 East Buffalo), and Joe Domanik. Tusa said to the press, “I can’t understand it. I’ve never been in the racket and never been in any kind of trouble with the federal government. This whole thing is hurting my family and my business.” Vallone, co-owner of Migliaccio and Vallone, claimed that his only connection to the liquor business was that he sold corn sugar, but denied that he knew what the customers used it for.

Joseph Spero married Prudence Maglio (born February 3, 1909 in Milwaukee to Santo Maglio and Sebastiana Farina) on July 18, 1932.

Carmello Pecoraro, 20, was arrested around December 1932 for violating Anti-Trust laws. Pecoraro devised the idea of organizing the paving contractors of Milwaukee into a union, charging them 5% of what they made on paving jobs. He met with 8 or 9 contractors, and on one occasion was caught on a Dictaphone, with the recording being brought to the police. On some occasions, he was joined by a man named Bongiovanni. Character witnesses at his trial were the Balistreri Brothers of Jackson Street, Sam Pecora and Joe Fugarine of 2550A North Booth Street (the same building as his sister, Mrs. Rose Sardina). Pecoraro contended that what he did should not have been illegal, as the sewer contractors in town were organized.

Sunday night, January 22, 1933, five Italians displaying badges and claiming to be federal agents entered the home of Mrs. Sam Leto, 2452 South Sixty-Second Street. They searched the house, but apparently found nothing. After they left, Leto noticed two revolvers missing.

On the evening of Monday, January 23, 1933, Charles Schmidt of 1915 Lake Avenue in Cudahy was hijacked by five men: Tony Gennaro, 31, 1685 North Marshall Street; Carlo Galati, 27, 5632 West Rogers Street; Tony Cicerello, 26, 1759 North Marshall; Cosimo DeSalvo, 28, 1247 South Thirty-Fourth Street; and Joseph Scaffidi, 25, of 329 North Jackson Street. The assailants believed Schmidt was hauling alcohol, so they ran him off the road and searched his car. Finding nothing, they let him go — but he was quick enough to catch their license plate number. The men were arrested early Tuesday in a soft drink parlor on the corner of North Third and West Highland. Police found two revolvers and four fake badges in their car.

Joe Pessin’s malt and hop shop was threatened again on March 5, 1933. This time a bomb consisting of five sticks of dynamite was found on his doorstep. A fuse had burned but the blasting cap was defective. A day before, Teddy Azzarella threatened Pessin, asking for a cut of profits from an alleged still.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court decided on Tuesday, March 7, 1933 that a civil action would be needed in order for the money confiscated by the Milwaukee Police from two Cleveland bootleggers to be given to Louis Paradise as compensation for his $3000 loss in sugar. As the money was bribe money and thus part of a crime, the police claimed it as police property.

On March 13, 1933, bootlegger Pasquale Caruso tried to force his attentions on the wife of his partner, Pasquale Schirripa. They lived together at 1090 White Rock Avenue, Waukesha. She did not appreciate this, and retrieved a revolver from upstairs and came down, shooting at Caruso three times. He dodged the bullets and returned fire as he fled in his car.

Joseph Luberti was arrested on June 9, 1933 for violating liquor laws at 925 Layton Avenue, Cudahy. Charges were eventually dropped when the arresting officer failed to appear in court.

Vincent Crupi was deported to Italy on June 25, 1933 after failing to receive a pardon from Governor LaFollette.

James Orlando, Phillip Sasso and Pasquale Caruso were playing cards at Orlando’s home on Main Street in Waukesha on July 15, 1933. A fight broke out and Orlando stabbed Sasso, with Caruso escaping with the knife. Despite Caruso’s attempts to intimidate witnesses, Orlando was sentenced to life in prison. Ironically, it was Sasso who had petitioned by Orlando’s release from prison after a previous murder.

On August 4, 1933, G. Battista “Pete” Guardalabene was raided at a farm north of Port Washington, where they had a 600-gallon still. Also arrested were Charles Giangrasso (622 East Clybourn Street), Clarence Kruke and Jake Medinger of Port Washington. Rudy McBride and Durlin Meyers of Watertown, Vito and Angelo Aiello of 1503 North Van Buren Street, Ralph Rinaldi of 1435 North Van Buren Street, and Paul Eichbaum of 1551 North Warren Avenue.

In October 1933, Joe Pessin was among 22 persons convicted of conspiracy for being part of a liquor ring that went through Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and South Dakota.

Joseph Scaffidi was arrested on December 15, 1933 for his second offense of carrying a concealed weapon. He was sentenced to 15 months but was released after 9 when his arm was crippled in a prison machine.

August Chiaverotti was arrested on February 8, 1934 for running alcohol.

In 1934, August Maniaci married Mary Guttilla in Rockford. Mary’s father was Joe Guttilla, a made member in Rockford.

On March 19, 1934, former inmate Joseph Gapinski, 30, testified about corruption at the house of correction. He said that Vincent Crupi would pay two guards $25 a week. Gapinski also said that “King George” Kolocheski, Green Bay bootlegger, was given special privileges and at one point had a half-gallon jug of liquor under his cot. Crupi, now a railroad worker, wrote a deposition from Italy in April 1934 explaining his ability to have visits at the Milwaukee prison and to make excursions home. In short, he was able to have two of his friends, Salvatore Ziseri (sometimes identified as Theodore Besasie) and Salvatore Maglio, bribe the guards $10 or $20 per visit. Testimony continued in May, with former inmate Fred H. Keller saying he never saw Crupi intoxicated and former inmate Albert Opine saying he witnessed Crupi get no privileges and once saw him get solitary confinement for fighting.

On July 14, 1934, John Biever’s tavern in Mequon was held up by Peter Sorce, James Gumina, Anton Gennaro and Norman Kendler. $180 was taken from the cash register and two slot machines. Sorce, Gumina and Gennaro were later (September 4) sentenced to ten years in Waupun. Kendler, already on parole, was sentenced to seven years.

On Sunday, August 19, 1934, detectives of the morals squad raided a smoke shop at 1500 North Jefferson and caught men shooting dice. Anton Criviello (428 North Jefferson) was fined $100 as keeper of gambling house. Nine other men were fined $5 each for being patrons.

Mrs. Vincenza Caruso died of a heart ailment some time around November 1934, as Detective Atillio Caviani burst into her home to arrest her son, Peter Caruso. Peter’s brother Pasquale claimed that Cavalani physically knocked his mother down while entering the house, but there is no evidence of this.

At 1:00am on November 24, 1934, Mike Caruso and two other Italians were in Pearl’s Tavern (1428 West Lincoln) when they got into an argument with Edward Nowak over a dice game. One of the Italians poked Nowak in the ribs with a revolver and Nowak left. Soon he returned with Larry Krajewski, who had a sawed-off shotgun, but the Italians had left.

On Sunday, December 9, 1934, Fred Switolski, with a club in his pocket, came to the home of Mrs. George Fassenbecker, who lived downstairs from Pasquale Caruso at 2479 North Cramer. The man said he was a friend of Frank Polinski and was looking for Mike Caruso, who had sold Polinski 15 gallons of alcohol in three 5-gallon cans that were rigged to only hold a small amount of alcohol. Fassenbecker, who was no friend of the Caruso family, told the man that Mike was not home.

The Murder of Pasquale Caruso

Rum runner Pasquale Caruso, 37, of 2481 North Cramer Street, was in Waukesha on December 12, 1934 and returned to Milwaukee later the same day. He visited the home of R. Leo (1246 North Cass), and left at 9:15pm. From there, he stopped by Palm Beach Tavern at Jackson and Juneau (owned by Joseph Rizzo). Finally, he stopped by the Peter DeRicho Smoke Shop just north of the Jackson Theatre.

Caruso was shot twice in the back with a shotgun while entering Milan’s Bakery (owned by Charles Oddo) at 1638 North Water Street at 11:20pm. The assailants drove off northbound in a small, dark sedan. The car was witnessed by Walter Stiff (1742 North Third Street, Apartment 4) who was walking south down Water Street. Stiff could not see the occupants of the car, but did hear Caruso cry out from the bakery, “They have broke both my legs!” Caruso had a loaded .32 Smith and Wesson revolver (serial number 333017) on the front seat of his Ford Coupe (rather than in his pocket), indicating he did not expect an attack. Twelve bullets were in his pockets.

Charles Oddo was inside the bakery kneading bread when he heard the shots. One broke the window in the bakery’s door and pellets also flew past Oddo’s head imbedding themselves in his wall. Oddo heard knocking at his door and went out to see Caruso lying on the ground, complaining of pain in his back and legs. Oddo knew Caruso, as the latter had been coming to the bakery four times a week for the past three months to get old bread for his hunting dog.

Peter Horbinski was working as a night mechanic for Checker Cab on Water Street. He heard the two shots and saw Caruso lying on the ground. Horbinski ran back inside and called the operator and told her to notify the police of a shooting. August Coraggio (1632 Water Street) was woken up by the shots and went out to see what was the matter. Vincent J. Stragnola and Steve Krumpolick, who were in the upstairs of the bakery also came out. Caruso told the three men, “They got me! They were in a car.”

Joseph Makowski (415 West Keefe) was working as a fireman at the Albert Trostle Tannery, 1655 North Water. Around 11:30pm, his dog starting barking and he heard someone running behind the building. He opened the door but saw no one.

Caruso was taken to Dr. Kaufman at the County Emergency Hospital, where he refused to talk with the police. His brother, Mike, arrived at the hospital and the two spoke in Italian. Mike told the police he now knew the story and would handle it himself. Pasquale then told police it was Detective Louis Dieden who shot him. This was, of course, a lie. Police questioned Dieden anyway, and his whereabouts were vouched for by Walter Zarse, George Eholt, Carl Janson and John Leisch. Pasquale had shot Dieden’s partner, Emil Hoppe, ten years prior, permanently crippling him. The two men did not get along.

An unidentified person told a patrolman of a car driving suspiciously fast with a damaged front end in the vicinity of North VanBuren around midnight. The witness caught the license plate number: 544-443. Could it have been the killers’ car? No. The car, a Chevrolet Coach, was traced to Frank Strube who was returning home from work.

The next morning at 9:00am, feeling death was imminent, Pasquale Caruso told Officer Gilbert E. Lemke that he suspected Pasquale “Patsy” Schirripa of 1090 White Rock Avenue, Waukesha, who had threatened him numerous times previously.

Police interviewed Casper Picarro or Picorroro (1400 North Broadway), who was renting a tavern from Caruso. Picarro told the police that Caruso was in the alcohol business and was a partner with a man in Waukesha in a restaurant. Picarro also told of the partner’s wife shooting at Caruso when he became too friendly. Peter Rizzo (1119 North Jackson) gave them a similar story, but believed it was the husband who fired the shot.

Detectives Heinrich and Fox questioned Joe Ferry, the owner of a tavern at 140 East Highland Avenue. Ferry was familiar with Caruso, who occasionally stopped in to the tavern and had last been there about a week prior. Ferry said that Caruso always came alone, and that his business was in Waukesha. Ferry believed that Caruso had “a lot of enemies” in Waukesha, but knew of none in Milwaukee. The detectives also questioned Rocco Alberti, tavern keeper at 926 North Water Street. He concurred with Ferry that Caruso was in the “alcohol and beer racket” and had “a large number of enemies in Waukesha”. Alberti suggested the detectives talk to a man known as One-Armed Jimmie.

Fred Switolski, a tavern keeper at 2315 South 13th Street, showed detectives a trick that Mike Caruso had played on him recently. He had a can that was supposed to be filled with five gallons of alcohol, but actually only contained a small amount. The can was rigged to have two layers, with the top being alcohol and the bottom water — when you poured it out, alcohol would come out and the water in the bottom would give it weight. Switolski complained to Mike, but he was told to “lay off” or Mike would show up “ten strong” and wreck his tavern. (Police later had John Wojtecki and Victor Krawiecki vouch for Switolski that he had been in his tavern on the night of the shooting.)

Former detective Atillio Caviani reported that he had reliable information that Mike Caruso and Phillip Clemente were “the east side cigarette burglars”. Caruso, 25, was arrested for the second offense of carrying a concealed weapon on the evening of December 13. A .32 revolver was found in his car. With Mike at the time of his arrest were Clemente (1307 North Milwaukee) and Martin Azzolina (2030 North Holton) who were taken in on vagrancy charges. Caruso told the officers that he had been followed that evening by two suspicious-looking Italians wearing overcoats and hats in a dark 1931 sedan on Water Street.

Pasquale Caruso died at 3:50am December 14, and Dieden told the newspaper that he thought Caruso was “insane” and “I think that the man who killed him deserves a gold medal.”

Later that day, detectives interviewed Peter Guardalabene (524 East Detroit Street), but were told that he knew nothing of the matter.

Detectives Bergin and English went to Waukesha on December 14 to conduct an investigation and found that Pasquale Caruso had been in the illegal alcohol business there for the past two or three years. He had previously operated a brewery at 1120 White Rock Avenue with Jerry DiVino, John LaVora (1643 North Jackson), Frank DeLuco and Dan DeAngelo. DiVino was now held by the Chicago police and the other three men were in Waupun prison for a holdup in West Bend, Wisconsin. At the time, Pasquale lived with the family of J. W. Lartz at 1110 White Rock before moving in with Pasquale “Patsy” Schirripa at 1090 White Rock. While living with Schirripa, Caruso would repeatedly make advances on his wife and suggested that she was a prostitute. She at one time snapped and fired three shots at him. This did not stop Caruso’s advances and she made thirteen complaints to the police about Caruso in the last year. The detectives also learned about Caruso being present at the murder of Phillip Sasso.

The Milwaukee officers questioned Schirripa and searched his home, but were satisfied by his alibi that he was with farmer Dan Coleman on the day of the shooting. Also interviewed was Carmino Marcantonio DiFiore, Schirripa’s brother-in-law. They attempted to interview Joseph Volpano, but could not locate him. Everywhere the police went the people they talked to “all expressed the sentiment that [Caruso] should be dead”.

On December 17, Detective Kahn received information making Frank DeLucca (1643 North Jackson) a suspect in the murder, and Kahn advised his superiors to bring him in that same evening.

Peter Guardalabene was interviewed again on December 17 and he told Detective Kahn that “he had very little to do with Pasquale Caruso.” His only known connection was that he had possession of Caruso’s mother’s body following her death, and he told the police that besides embalming Mrs. Caruso, he did nothing else as the family could not afford a funeral.

Detectives English and Bergin searched Mike Caruso’s home above Harry Daniels’ barber shop at 1410 North Broadway on December 18 and found no evidence of a cigarette burglary. They also interviewed Phil Clemente, who knew nothing about the burglary either. The same day, Bergin and English were contacted by John Bruno, a bartender at Cinderella Tavern (639 West Juneau). Bruno told them that several times in November a long distance call came in from Caruso’s Tavern in Madison to the Cinderella Tavern. The calls were from Joe LaGalbo to his son Paul LaGalbo, who worked at the Cinderella. A check revealed that the Caruso tavern in Madison had no connection to the Caruso family of Milwaukee.

Pasquale Caruso’s funeral was on Wednesday, December 19. Detectives Bergin and English asked Mrs. Josephine Fera, an aunt of Phil Clemente, to attend the funeral and report back any findings she had. Pallbearers were Phil Clemente, Peter Caruso and others. Mike Caruso attended, being escorted by a jail guard and a sheriff. Only about twenty people attended and Pasquale was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery.

Bergin and English spoke with Agent Lane Maloney of the Treasury Department on the 19th, who suggested they talk to a dentist from Kewaskum who may be involved in the alcohol business with Milwaukee Italians. He also suggested looking more closely at the “Cavianni deal” in Rockford, Illinois as he believed that Cavianni was cooking alcohol in the Third Ward.

On December 20, Mike Caruso was sentenced to one to three years in Waupun for his concealed revolver. Mike’s attorney, Mario Megna, said that Caruso had the gun because his brother warned him that he may be a target. Mike pleaded with the judge to go to the house of correction to be near his wife of four months Leona and relatives, but Judge Nohl rejected his plea.

Also on the 20th, Bergin and English spoke with the King of Little Italy, Mike Vitucci (200 North Jefferson). Vitucci told them that Mike Caruso’s wife had visited him earlier in the week to sign a bond and she had two young Italians with her. He also said “he is positive an Italian did the shooting” but Caruso “had so many enemies that it was hard to find out who did the shooting.” The detectives reported that they believed “Vitucci knows more than he has told”.

Italian interpreter Mrs. Marietta Picciolo (1507 North Cass) spoke with Bergin and English on December 26 and told them she believed that the Caruso family was trying to steer the investigation of Pasquale’s murder to Waukesha but that the actual killers were living in Milwaukee.

Bergin and English questioned John LaVora (1625 North Marshall) on January 2, 1935. LaVora denied that he was ever a partner with Pasquale Caruso and said he “never had anything to do with Pasquale Caruso socially or in a business way.” The detectives reported they were “not satisfied with his story”. The next day, they questioned Vincent “One Armed Jimmie” Caggio, who told them on the night of the murder he was in the smoke shop when Caruso was there. The store was crowded, but he recalled that a man named Vacca was there with a brother Louie from out of town. The detectives were not able to figure out who these men were.

Detective Bergin spoke with Anthony Sansone, 22, 317 North Jackson, who said he was the owner of a Ford Sedan with license number 22318-34. Sansone admitted being in the alcohol business with Tony Costarella, 25, of 932 East Pleasant Street. Both men knew Pasquale Caruso and knew he was in the alcohol business, but knew nothing about his murder.

Joe Pessin was raided and arrested on April 13, 1935 for having $100,000 worth of counterfeit US and Canadian liquor stamps. For years, he had been fooling “discriminating” drinkers, giving them cheap booze with classy labels.

Joseph Spero was arrested on suspicion of assault and robbery on May 23, 1935 but was released.

Nick Fucarino was arrested on suspicion of assault on June 21, 1935 but was released.

Walter Brocca got married in Milwaukee on July 6, 1935 by Reverend C. M. Kaminski. His wife (name unknown) was the daughter of Stephen Italiano and Fanney Alioto.

Carlo San Filippo, 19, was arrested in August 1935 on charges of sodomy. Lillian Zamorski, 14, told authorities that Cono Librizzi brought San Filippo and 13 other young men under the Holton Street bridge where they were “sucked off” by Zamorski. San Filippo denied this and said he avoided Zamorski, as she had a nasty reputation. San Filippo may not have even understood the charges, as he referred to what the girl allegedly did as “frenching”.

Salvatore DiMaggio was arrested for rape and sodomy on September 20, 1935 and was sentenced to the Green Bay Reformatory.

On Friday, November 8, 1935, Louis Maniaci, 25, Jack Enea, 26, John Damore, 35, Anthony Clemente, 24, and Dominic Picciurro were arrested for robbing the tavern of E. S. Burroughs in Pewaukee. Bartender Barney Kolander, caretaker Elizabeth McGovern and patron Frank Horning were backed against a wall at the point of a gun. The men stole a slot machine and $50 worth of nickels and quarters. They escaped in a truck and a car, but were chased by police down Blue Mound Road and forced into the ditch. One of the men confessed to being part of a gang responsible for slot machines thefts throughout the greater Milwaukee area.

Milwaukee hoodlums Angelo Kleronomos (or sometimes Kleros), 24, and Joseph Scaffido (sometimes Scaffidi), 28, 522 East Reservoir Avenue, were shot in an automobile on November 15, 1935 in front of 2121 Custer Street in Chicago. The car belonged to Basilio Cusma, Scaffido’s uncle, who lived in the same duplex as the men. They had been followed by another car and forced to pull over. Witnesses say that the two men seemed to recognize their two attackers, as they spoke in friendly tones before the attackers pulled guns and shot the Milwaukee hoods. In Kleronomos’ pocket was found a note expressing affection for his wife, Frances, but also saying he couldn’t quit the racket because “it’s in my blood and there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.” Chicago police, who believed the Milwaukeeans were trying to “muscle in” on the Chicago alcohol racket, later (March 1936) arrested Chicago hoodlum Marshall Caifano, 24, for questioning, and then release him to federal authorities for alcohol violations. Kleronomos — an associate of Caifano — was previously arrested for advising a felony (as noted above), and both slain men had supplied stolen cars for bank robberies throughout Wisconsin.

On the evening of November 17, the police were trying to find a 25-year old Polish girl named Tessie who was believed to be Joseph Scaffidi’s girlfriend. The police believed she might know more about the associates of the men.

On Saturday, November 23, 1935, the Chicago police detained Robert VanSant, 41, and William Lattos, 45, for questioning in the deaths of Scaffidi and Kleros. Also detained was Helen Rzeppa, 25, who was using the alias Mrs. Grace VanSant. Chicago Police Captain John Horan speculated that the men were killed for hijacking slot machines in Walworth County belonging to George (Bugs) Moran. Horan did not think they were killed by rival Milwaukee bootleggers.

Around November 1935, Salvatore Vento, 19, was arrested for attempted larceny. Vento wanted to take his girl out on a date, so he borrowed a 1925 Chevrolet Imperial Sedan from his brother Frank, 21. Frank allegedly bought the car from a man named Ray Monsen for $15, but never had the title transferred. (Salvatore’s father, Angelo Vento, and his paternal uncle (name unknown) had prior records for bootlegging.)

Peter Tarantino spent Christmas Eve 1935 in jail after police found a half gallon jug of whiskey on the steps of his grocery store, 1725 North Marshall Street. Charges were soon dropped, however, as there was no way to prove whose whiskey it was.

Jack DiMaggio, 2345 North Humboldt, was arrested in his car in an alley behind his home on December 26, 1935. The car held 15 gallons of untaxed alcohol.

The Spiro Tavern (South 22nd Street, Sheboygan, in what is known as “Lyman’s Flats”) was robbed on Thursday, August 6, 1936. Proprietor James Spiro, and patrons Mr. and Mrs. Carl Buenzow were bound by three men with radio wire while a fourth waited in the car. $100 was taken, along with a few slot machines and some alcohol. A pinball machine and an orthophonic were smashed in order to get the nickels out of them. Foolishly, one of the gang dropped a Milwaukee business card with addresses of two girls on the back, and Sheboygan Sheriff Joseph Dreps and Deputy Sheriff Constant Juckem made quick raids of Milwaukee apartment buildings and found the guilty parties. Those arrested were Isadore “Charles” Crupi, 40, 2426 North Barlett Avenue, brother of vice lord Vincent Crupi; Lawrence Quartana, 27, 228 North Milwaukee Street; Pasquale Rosetti, 22, 188 North Milwaukee Street; and Frank Bruno, 27, 315 North Jackson Street. Police also found bottles of alcohol bearing Sheboygan stamps with the men. Rosetti had recently escaped from the Dodge County Jail by removing bricks from the wall. Within a week (on August 11), Crupi was sentenced to 5-6 years in Waupun state prison by Judge Detling.

There was a shooting at the Garden Tavern (1241 North Water) on the morning of Monday, September 21, 1936. A car honk caught the attention of Cesare Cortese, 36, 1019-A East Brady, who went to the door and was wounded in the scalp by a volley of shotgun slugs. He fired back with a pistol. Also in the bar at the time was bartender Antonio Monpredi. While the shooters were not named, police said the assault happened because of Cesare’s failure to pay tribute to blackmailers. The police also suspected the men were Cortese’s business rivals — he operated a phonograph rental service. Cortese would offer the machines, valued at $295, to “chicken shacks” and bars featuring “come-on” girls. The Garden tavern, owned by Felice and Beatrice Cortese, had its license revoked shortly thereafter. The decision was not difficult, as Felice had over 40 convictions on his record and Cortese had gotten in trouble with prostitution in the past.

(When?) The Common Council granted a liquor license to Paul Mazzara over the objections of the Milwaukee police. The police believed Mazzara was acting as a “stooge” for Paul and Frank LaGalbo. However, Mazzara was able to produce positive character witnesses and showed a bill of sale for the tavern at 639 West Juneau Avenue. (Frank LaGalbo’s step-mother was Gaetana Mazzara.)

Angelo Guardalabene, 46, 522 East Detoit Street, died at St. Mary’s Hospital on Friday, October 30, 1936 following a weeklong illness after an operation. At the time of his death he was the manager of a wholesale liquor firm. He was remembered for being a clerk for County Judge Michael S. Sheridan for eight years, and for being superintendent of the city’s garbage disposal plant for ten years. He was the operator of the Monte Carlo cafe in Milwaukee and the Riviera Resort on Lake Nagawicka. Angelo was a candidate for county supervisor in 1932. He was also a member of the Italian-American alliance, the Society Madonna del Lume of Porticello, and the Pompeii Athletic Club. He was survived by his wife Veronica, sister Mrs. Anna Aiello, and brother Giovanni B. Guardalabene, the funeral director.

Carl J. Aiello, 23, August Chiaverotti, 27, and James Evans of Chicago, 26, robbed the Alice King tavern in Minnesota Junction (Dodge County) on April 12, 1937. They took $2000 in money, liquor and jewelry. Aiello would later (September 29) be sentenced to one to three years in Waupun.

Carl J. Aiello, 23, August Chiaverotti, 27, and James Evans of Chicago, 26, robbed Lester J. Eifler’s florist shop at 3152 North 52st Street on May 8, 1937. Eifler had deposited his money earned from Mother’s Day at 7:45pm and a pair of men in smoked glasses came in at 8:10pm. The pair pointed guns at Eifler and said, “Just a minute! Hold up your hands. This is a holdup.” One man kept his gun on Eifler while the other took $32 from the register. The two men then ran across the street to a “new, high priced automobile” with no license plates where the third man was waiting. Shortly after midnight, Detectives George Pelzman and Arthur Steckling saw a car matching the description. The man inside (presumably Chiaverotti) was with a woman he claimed was his wife. In the back seat were dark glasses and a revolver. Aiello had the charges dropped against him, but the other two were given lengthy prison sentences.

Omaha-born John B. Triliegi, son of Bruno Triliegi and Concetta Trovato, married Stefani Balistrieri in Milwaukee in May 1937. (Her relationship, if any, to the criminal Balistrieri family is unclear.)

On the early morning of Tuesday, June 8, 1937, Frank LaGalbo (of 416 East Juneau Avenue) was with William Jack Dentice at the Miami Club (618 East Clybourn Street). Later, around 1:50am, Dentice was found dead, shot in the head. The body was left in Dentice’s car at the corner of North Jefferson and East Menomonee. Police immediately arrested LaGalbo, and Dentice’s clothes were sent to Professor J. H. Matthews in Madison for examination. LaGalbo’s hands were given wax impressions by Detective Elmer Kahn, and it was shown that gunpowder was on his hands — he had recently fired a gun. Police suspected two men were involved — one held Dentice’s hair while the other man shot him. (LaGalbo was the nephew of Milwaukee “vice lord” Vincent Crupi, who was deported to Italy in 1932.)

Prison Confession of Tony Gennaro

The police received the biggest break they could have hoped for on July 4, 1937 when Antonio “Tony” Gennaro, 34, an inmate at Waupun, sent a letter to Milwaukee’s captain of detectives, Adolph W. Kraemer. Gennaro had been sentenced to Waupun for assault and armed robbery in Ozaukee County. He wrote:

“Dear Adolph, Finally I have the opportunity to drop a few lines to you. I observed i nthe newspaper about Mr. William J. Dentice who was slayed last month. I am very sorry that this had to happen.”

“If you are interested in this matter and you want to find out about Dentice, you can go and see Mrs. Grace Gennaro; she lives at 1674 North Marshall Street, Milwaukee, Wis. After you have questioned her you will find out many important things concerning the argument that Jack Dentice and Frank LaGalbo had. At the time of the argument, Dentice and his woman lived with me and my wife, Grace Gennaro. The argument between Dentice and LaGalbo took palce inLaGalbo’s tavern at 639 West Juneau Avenue. When they were in the argument, they started to fight in LaGalbo’s tavern and then the fight was finished in my house. My wife and Jack’s woman and I were present at this argument.”

“If you want to talk with me about them, I would liek to talk to you alone. Please don’t tell anyone about my name, because I am a prisoner and there are many Italian fellows from the Third Ward here; keep quiet and afterward you will find out many important things concerning them.”

“P.S. Mr. Kraemer, if you will go and see Mrs. Grace Gennaro about this investigation, you do not tell her anything about me, because in 1935 she obtained a divorce and after she got a divorce she has been associating with several fellows from the Third Ward.”

“My best friends from the Third Ward took my wife away from me; she deserted me while I was in prison. She and her boy friends have been at the immigration bureau many times. It seems they want me to be deported.”

“Now, she obtained marry [sic] again with a certain Philip Dineo who lives at 1664 North Marshall Street. Never would I have expected such actions from the big shots of from the Third Ward, but everybody will repay for it. In the future, you will find out many and many important things for which they are responsible. Respectfully, Tony Gennaro.”

Kraemer responded on July 12, probably not aware of the depth of Gennaro’s knowledge. He wrote:

“Dear Tony, I have received your letter, and in accordance with your suggestion, I wish that I could make a visit to the Prison and personally see you, but due to the pressure of police business here, I am unable to get away.”

“I am therefore sending, as my personal representative, Detective Lawrence Bailey of this Department, who I assure you is entirely trustworthy, and you may confide in him, and tell him everything that you would have told me; and he will relay such information to me upon his return. You have my assurance, and that of Detective Bailey, that whatever you say, will be regarded in the highest confidence, and will be guarded with utmost secrecy.”

“I need hardly tell you that any assistance you may give through such confidential information that will lead to clearance of major crimes committed by local Italians will be appreciated.”

Detective Bailey went to Waupun immediately to see Gennaro and was able to get a written statement from him. Bailey’s report to Kraemer on July 13 is as follows:

“Sir, At Waupun, Wis., Monday July 12th, 1937, interviewed inmate Tony Gennaro who had written us of his impression of the motive for the murder of Jack Dentice.”

“Gennaro’s written statement of conditions in 1934 is attached. From my interview with Gennaro, I am satisfied that he has intimate knowledge of a number of the activities of local and other Italians. He was prone to divulge details but explained that a $17,000 fee for setting a local fire was divided in his presence. Gennaro had a list of Italians who, he claimed, had committed numerous serious crimes, such as murders, arso nand holdups. He had the names checked for each crime the individual had committed. Gennaro would not let me see this list, but gave me the attached list of crimes he wanted verified and then he claims he will divulge details proving who committed them. He claims Milwaukee’s big boss is Joe Vallone, a local wholesale grocer. Pete Guardalabene is second in command. Mike Mineo is also a local “big boss”. LaGalbo is a “little boss”. Andrew DiSalvo is the Racine, Wis. “big boss”. Gennaro claims these “big bosses” order underlings to commit these crimes but would tell no more at present about them.”

“His former wife Grace, who is now married to an Italian concertina player and living in Milwaukee, could give us details of the present local situation if we could make her talk. He would not say much about her activities, but is very bitter towards the local “big shots” from the Third Ward. He beleives they had her divorce him, as his friends wrote him that she was out stepping with the “big bosses” when he was sent to prison. She is an Italian girl.”

“Gennaro claims that a Carl Dane, who was arrested with him in January 1933, is wanted in St. Louis for murder, but would not give any details until the above mentioned list of crimes are verified.”

“Gennaro requested that he be deported at once, but this request was not granted. Now he is very anxious to be put on parole in September of this year.”

“My impression of Gennaro is that he may be able to help us solve the Pasquale Caruso murder and other local crimes committed by this gang that happened before 1934 when he went to prison, as he was very intimate with their activities then and is very bitter towards them at present because of hsi wife divorcing him and the lack of assistance from local Italians to gain his freedom. Respectfully submitted, Lawrence Bailey.”

Bailey understood how important Gennaro’s knowledge could be. What he did not realize — and could not have realized — is how important such a confession could be historically. Joseph Valachi was celebrated in the 1960s for spilling the beans on the New York mob families… but Gennaro did the same thing three decades sooner concerning the crimes of the Midwest. Had the police followed up more on his statement, perhaps the Milwaukee Mafia would have been crushed…

Regarding the murder of Jack Dentice, Gennaro wrote:

“In 1934, Jack Dentice was my partner and we were selling alcohol. Him and I were always in agreement. One day we were in an argument with the gang from the Third Ward. A days later Jack told me, ‘Tony, they will have a picnic and they want me and you to be there, too.’ I thought for several minutes and then told my partner that I didn’t want to go, but he could go if he wanted to. So Jack left me in my home with my wife and his girl, because at that time Jack and his girl lived with me.”

“I refused to go there because I figured there was something wrong. Never before had they invited me to their picnic and we were always having arguments about the alcohol business. So this picnic made me suspect that they were probably ready to kill me and Jack both.”

“When Jack went to meet them and they did not see me with him, they quickly changed their minds and no longer wanted to have a picnic in the country. They went to LaGalbo’s tavern at 639 West Juneau and had dinner. During dinner, LaGalbo and Jack got into an argument about girls and LaGalbo told Jack that his girl was a prostitute and that she worked for his uncle, Vince Crupi.”

“When Jack heard what LaGalbo said about his girl, he became mad. He came home very mad and a little drunk, and began to search for his gun to shoot Frank and Frank’s gang in the Third Ward. The next day, Jack’s girl ran away because she was afraid to live with Jack after what LaGalbo had said about her.”

“Jack was sentenced to be killed by order of the big shot. LaGalbo has three taverns, but the licenses are with different names. Many beautiful girls work at these taverns for him, and trouble is always happening at these places.”

But this knowledge of Dentice’s murder was just the tip of the iceberg. One might expect Gennaro to know about the death of someone who was his partner in crime. But he then dropped the biggest bombshell of all… eight things he knew that the “big shots” were behind:

1. In 1930, a man named John was murdered in his garage in Des Moines, Iowa. The contract between the gangsters and big shots was $2800 for this murder, but only $1050 was paid out.
2. In 1932, Angelo Tarello was murdered in his car near Rockford, Ill. He was the father of two children and lived in Kenosha, Wis. The contract between the gangsters and the big shots was $7000 for Tarello to be murdered. The big shots paid the money. (A colleague informs me that Tarello was killed a few miles north of Oregon, Illinois and a witness said the car that held the killers had Rockford tags on the license plates. Supposedly, he was moving in on Rockford’s liquor territory. A few years earlier two Rockford liquor investigators, the Dotz brothers, had been involved with Tarello in a robbery of a Kenosha theater. Tarello’s first cousin was Jimmy “the Bomber” Catuara — a Chicago Outfit member who was murdered in July 1978. Coincidentally, Angelo Tarello’s sister Vincenza married Filippo Salamone and they lived in Rockford just a few houses away from capo Tony Musso.)
3. In 1933, Rocco Siciliano was murdered in the road near Madison, Wis. He lived in Springfield, Ill.
4. In 1933, $150 was offered for Pasquale Caruso to be murdered. Later, Caruso was slain in Milwaukee.
5. A man named Lobianco was murdered and buried on a farm near Davenport, Iowa.
6. In June 1933, men working for the big shots held up a bank in Des Moines and escaped with $10,000. One of them was murdered by a deputy and $2000 was found in his shoes. (This checked out — there was a bank robbery in Knoxville, a town southeast of Des Moines, and a man was killed escaping with money found in his clothes.)
7. Another hold up was scheduled for Davenport, Iowa in 1934. This was a mail truck with lots of money. Gennaro was not sure if the theft ever happened because he went to prison.
8. On March 28, 1933 Gennaro got married and lived with Carl Dane on Roges Street in West Allis. Gennaro says that Dane was in the gang and this is where he found out what he knows. Several times gangsters from Illinois would stay at their home and these men were involved in extortion, kidnapping, fires and murders. Dane and his wife fled the state.

Gennaro also had four events he was not sure happened but wanted the police to verify:

1. A Mexican fellow was shot while walking down the street in Kenosha. He was hit by four bullets and spent several months in the hospital. The Italian gang was responsible, but a Greek man was arrested and convicted, sentenced to 7 years in Waupun.
2. In Winter, 1927, a teenage girl was walking down the street near the police station at 9 o’clock at night and her face was cut by an Italian because she refused to go out with him.
3. In 1929, Anthony Ausolotti was shot while walking near an old church in Kenosha. He had four children in Italy and was killed by order of the big shots. (This event was confirmed — Tony Lanzilotti was murdered February 17, 1929; shot through the head while on church steps.)
4. Since 1924, twelve to fifteen men were murdered in Kenosha by the same hands and always by command of the big shots. These men are connected to Des Moines, Madison, Milwaukee, Davenport, Kenosha, Springfield, Rockford and Kansas City.

Looking into the identity of Carl Dane, Detective Bailey found that no one by that name was known. However, Gennaro had been arrested in January 1933 with a Carlo Galati. A letter from the FBI told Milwaukee that Galati was arrested in St. Louis in 1936 for violating the liquor laws, this time under the name Carlo Diliberato. What further action was taken is unknown.

Salvatore Seidita, still a juvenile, was arrested around December 1937 in Racine for auto larceny. He was placed on probation.

The Checker Express Company, 1446 North Jefferson, was robbed on January 4, 1938 by William Giacalone, John Prediger and Dominic Vitrano. $75 of this theft went to John Picciurro (1523 North Jackson) after the fact. Picciurro and Nick Fucarino (who operated a tavern at 1634 North Water) also advised the men to burglarize the Genaro and Levithan Produce Company in Sheboygan on April 8, but they were scared off before they could break in. Fucarino was arrested on May 2, but charges against Picciurro and Fucarino were later dropped.

Anthony Maddente, 19, a brother-in-law to Frank Sorrenti, was arrested around March 1938 after trying to have sexual intercourse with Theresa Puccio, 13. The attempt failed because she was too small. He was also arrested for stealing about $100 worth of clothes from a truck in Cedarburg along with LeRoy Hoffman. Maddente was put on two years probation, but violated this when he and five others burglarized the abandoned Illinois Steel Company in Bay View and stole $500 worth of copper.

Jerome DiMaggio, 1508 East Kane Place, burglarized Boulevard Cleaners and Dyers at 3101 West Cameron Avenue on April 23, 1938. He stole $239.64.

On Monday, May 2, 1938, the police disclosed that they had arrested nine men between the ages of 20 and 30 over the weekend and were trying to connect them to 25 safe lootings over the last six months. Five burglaries were already admitted to: Babcock Auto Spring Company October 25, $305; Waukesha Roxo Company December 11, $120; Checker Express Company January 5, $247; Habhegger Wheel and Axle Company February 24, nothing taken; and Boulevard Cleaning and Dyeing Company April 23, $200. One of the men was Jack Enea.

Michele (Mike) Vitucci, the “king of Little Italy”, died of a lung infection on Wednesday, October 19, 1938 at the age of 68 in his home at 200 North Jefferson Street. He had been a patient at Muirdale Sanatorium and was receiving blood transfusions, but when death became imminent he was sent home. Vitucci had a colorful history, leaving Bari, southeast Italy in 1894 to run a coffee plantation in Brazil. He finally arrived in Milwaukee in 1903 with his wife Rose. He was a tavern keeper (opening a tavern at Jackson and Buffalo in 1908) and restauranteur before going into real estate. He was prominent among the Italian community and would help immigrants find work. Police credited Vitucci with helping to reduce the murders caused by the “Black Hand” from 1910-1921. Mike was survived by his wife Rose, son Frank, and daughters Anna Maroia, Philomena Capriola, Florence Jennaro, Jeanette Alaimo, Grace Vitucci and Bernice Vitucci.

On March 10, 1939, Ben DeSalvo, 22, entered Samuel Gaginello’s tavern and asked Gaginello for the $10 that he owed him. Gaginello said he had no money, so DeSalvo suggested that Gaginello give him the diamond ring he was wearing for security. Gaginello agreed, but five days later reported DeSalvo for theft. In fact, Gaginello said that DeSalvo and Michael Enea pointed a loaded revolver at him and demanded the ring, valued at $200. (Of interest is that Ben’s father, Thomas DeSalvo, was a Milwaukee sanitation employee.)

What was Milwaukee’s connection to crime in New York? On June 13, 1939, Deputy Inspector Michael F. McDermott arrested four crooks in Brooklyn: Frank Sbeglia, 46, a real estate broker at 164 Kane Street; Charles Fishgold, 65, of 1849 80th Street; Mrs. Barbara Oddario, 36, of 146 Amity Street; and Josephine Sbeglia, 42, Frank’s wife.

Sbeglia had the idea to use an elderly man afflicted with cancer and heart disease, Alfredo Oddario, in a life insurance scam against Prudential Life Insurance. Oddario lived in a furnished room run by Fishgold. They had another man, who was healthy, take a physical exam for Oddario in February 1936, getting two life insurance claims for $5000 a piece. The healthy man later married Barbara McAndrews on March 9, 1938 — and she had her name changed to Oddario. When Alfredo Oddario passed on February 6, 1939, Barbara walked into the insurance company with the death certificate and claimed “her” $10,000. Sbeglia gave her $1000, but refused to give her husband a cut — leading him to report the fraud to the insurance company, and they in turn told the police.

Detectives went to the home of Frank’s brother, Mariano Sbeglia, 55, of 1658 74th Street, Brooklyn at 11:00am. There he was arrested, along with Milwaukee hoods Michael Amato and John Alioto, for violating the Sullivan law — all three men had pistols sitting on a writing desk. The Sullivan Act required licenses for New Yorkers to possess firearms small enough to be concealed. Possession of such firearms without a license was a misdemeanor, carrying them was a felony. Sbeglia had an Automatique Modele 1920 caliber 6-35, marked action #30379 fully loaded with 6-25 caliber cartridges. Alioto had a .38 caliber Colt Police Positive Special #148423 fully loaded with six .38 caliber cartridges. Amato’s pistol of choice was a fully loaded .32 Colt. What connection did Alioto and Amato have to the Sbeglias? What were hoods from Milwaukee doing crashing in the apartment of a Brooklyn man? This mystery remains unsolved.

Ernest Sansone, 36, of Chicago came to Racine in September 1939 and “hijacked” slot machines at the Meadowbrook Country Club. While originally identified by witnesses, memories became hazy after a bribe of $1000 was raised by a Chicago gambler and a corrupt Chicago police officer. At trial, caretaker Alex Barry said, “He looks like one of the men, but I can’t swear that he is.” Golf pro Henry Kaiser also suddenly “forgot”.

Angelo LaMantia returned to Milwaukee from Camden, New Jersey voluntarily on January 26, 1940 to face charges for the murder of his brother-in-law, Frank Aiello. The charges were not served, however, when the prosecutor decided that with a key witness dead, and the murder happening nine years ago, the case would be difficult to win.

The 909 Club of Cudahy, a vice resort owned by Delores Billings, was bombed in February 1940 shortly after Rocco Maglio tried to extort protection money from her. After the bombing, Billings fled town.

After a complaint from tavern operator Mae Yager (whose pub was at the corner of Highways 100 and 41), various people were taken in for questioning on Saturday, April 6, 1940. She claimed to have received a phone call threatening to bomb her home unless she paid $80 protection money. Detectives had her give the money in an envelope and then nabbed the man as he left the tavern. Two others, waiting in a car outside, were later caught after running the car’s license plate. Questioning of these (unidentified) people lead to the arrests of still five more: former public enemy number one Teddy Azzarella, 34, 1641 North Farwell; Rocco Maglio, 25, 218 North Jefferson; Victoria Ruskin, 25, 912 East Ogden; Dominic Rizzo, 31, and Ann Brandt, 29, both of 926 North Jackson. Attorney Mario Megna got charges against Maglio dropped, but Ruskin (Azzarella’s girlfriend) was ordered to leave town within 24 hours.

On May 13, 1940, Angelo LaMantia was again a free man. He had been exonerated in Milwaukee, Italian authorities refused to bring him to court for a murder there, and on this day, a Pittsburgh court released him from charges of killing sugar dealer Morris Curran in 1931. Four principal witnesses, who were school girls at the time, could not identify LaMantia as the man they saw that day. With LaMantia facing three murder trials and having all three dropped within one year, was there ever a luckier man?

The August Axt Company (740 North Plankinton), a wholesale jeweler, was robbed on October 5, 1940 by four men from Chicago: “Big Earl” Herbert, James M. Hayden, Frank Blacka and former diamond salesman Ernst Porter. Diamonds were stolen with an estimated value of $37,500. The men were caught because witness Emeline Doherty saw Blacka’s wristwatch and could later identify him by it. Herbert and Blacka would end up getting three to thirty year sentences in Waupun State Prison, where Blacka would meet Milwaukee mobster Francis Stelloh.

The Ogden Social Club, Incorporated was registered with the secretary of state on February 19, 1941. The office address was 629 East Ogden. Wanda Gagliano (1519 North Jackson) was elected president. Michael Scalici (522 East Pleasant, brother-in-law of gambler Joseph Piscione) was elected vice president. Rosario Gagliano, Wanda’s husband, was elected secretary and treasurer. Directors were Rosario Gagliano, Martin Gagliano (1513 North Jackson) and John Picciani (518 East Lyon). These people, with Rosario Picciuro (1421 North Van Buren) replacing Picciani, signed the articles of incorporation in front of Mario A. Megna, Jr. as witness.

The club’s charter said that its purpose was to “foster and promote the best interest and welfare of its members socially and economically, and to foster sports amongst its members.” Membership was open to any “adult person of good and moral character”.

Salvatore Gagliano, Louis Fazio, along with a man named “Duffy”, set up a 15-year old Milwaukee girl (who lived at a foster home in Wauwatosa) with a brothel called Maxine’s (also known as the Colonial Club, owned by Maxine and Chris Constance), two miles west of Sheboygan Falls on County Highway C (across from O’Neill’s restaurant) in May 1941. Gagliano, 27, (also known as “Teddy Capp, the singing bartender”) met the girl on the nights of May 1 and May 2, at Nick du Laveris’ tavern (corner of 4th and Wells) telling her that he had a job for her. After taking her to an east side hotel (where he falsely told her they would be meeting with friends), they went to a barroom and met up with Fazio and Duffy. The three men drove her to Maxine’s. The girl worked there for a while, but rebelled when asked to perform for a group of young Sheboygan businessmen. Maxine drove her back to Nick du Laveris’ tavern where the girl paid Gagliano $100 to be “released”.

Fazio would be arrested for this (pandering and rape) in September 1941, and after fleeing to Chicago and being caught, was sentenced to two to ten years in Waupun by Judge Henry Hughes of Oshkosh. Fazio also supplied girls to the Blazing Stump in Darboy (southeast Appleton) and the Tin Roof (a “men’s sporting club”) at the corner of County PP and South Street in Plymouth.

Mario A. Megna, an attorney, had a 20-year old prostitute working at the Blazing Stump in June and July 1941. He would be put on trial in December for aiding and abetting prostitution. Megna’s connection to Lois Fazio, if any, is unclear.

Anthony Sansone met with a 24-year old woman at a hotel on September 4, 1941. In the next room listening in were Detective John Zilavy, Deputy Sheriff George Hanlon and Deputy Sheriff Eugene Netz. After the police heard Sansome strike the woman, they wrestled him to the ground and arrested him for pandering based on the conversation. Sansone remarked to them, “Waupun, here I come.” He also asked the police, “She sang pretty good, didn’t she?” (referring to the woman ratting him out). Zilavy replied, “Yes, she sang pretty.”

On October 18, 1941, Nicholas Gentilli and Nicholas Machi were arrested at their bar, The Gay Spot (619 West Juneau Avenue) for supplying girls to four houses of prostitution: Joy’s Lunch of DePere, Egan’s Riverside Tavern of Sheboygan Falls, Club Royal of Plymouth and the Blazing Stump of Appleton. They were accused of being suppliers between October 6, 1940 and June 6, 1941.

Nick Fucarino’s wife, Rose, gave birth to daughter Rosemarie Fucarino in Milwaukee on October 19, 1941.

Rose Fucarino, wife of Nick Fucarino, had a complaint filed against her in mid-April 1942 because of three bartenders at their Water Street tavern who allegedly served alcohol after hours. One bartender, Anthony Sciano, said he was so busy that he did not have his eyes on the clock.

Floyd and Nello Ventura were arrested in May 1942 for transporting illegal alcohol from Kenosha to Chicago. Both men were connected to a 300-gallon still in Kenosha.

LCN member Sam Ferrara was cited for serving alcohol after hours at his tavern at 1443 North VanBuren Street on June 29, 1942. Ferrara would soon be the next boss, and this address would be the location for at least one gang slaying. (Ferrara’s bar went by the name of the Peacock from at least 1942-1948 — it is unclear if the tavern had this name before or after these dates.)

The police cited Mike Gentilli for serving Arlene Keller on July 18, 1942. Gentilli was cited for “permitting the solicitation of drinks” at the tavern where he bartended (619 West Juneau). On October 19, the common council revoked Gentilli’s license as well as the license of his brother Joseph, the bar’s owner.

On December 30, 1942, Governor Julius Heil commuted Louis Fazio’s prison sentence to two to four years, though Fazio had only served about 9 months. He called the original sentence “excessive”. The governor said, at the earliest, Fazio should not be paroled until he recovered from syphilis. Women’s groups protested that this would put other Milwaukee girls at risk, and the original prosecutor believed that compared to other pandering cases, Fazio’s sentence was already light, especially given the age of the girl.

Waupun parolee Francis Conrad Stelloh, 30, and William Schlesinger, 29, held up Harry Sweed on June 4, 1943 and took $480 from him as he was about to drop it in the night depository slot at the corner of 12th and Vliet. Sweed left his store at about 9:15pm, and when he reached the bank the two men approached him. The taller one stuck a gun in his ribs and told him to raise his hands. As he gave him the money the shorter man hit him and they ran away. Sweed described the gun as being of a black bluish color.

Kenneth Pergande, a cab driver, while his cab was stopped by a traffic signal, he saw the two men rush Sweed against the wall of the bank. He saw the smaller man strike Sweed and leave the scene. They crossed the street ahead of his cab.

Francis C. Stelloh, 30, and William Schlesinger, 29, held up Edmund Stachowiak’s tavern in West Allis on June 17, 1943 in the middle of the day. The pair made off with a bag containing $6873 that was intended to be used for cashing paychecks from employees of Allis-Chalmers.

After their arrest, Detective Sergeant Louis Dieden questioned Schlesinger in the presence of Stelloh. Schlesinger admitted that he had committed the offenses with Stelloh’s participation, and that they were armed. To Dieden’s inquiry of Stelloh as to whether the story told by Schlesinger was true Stelloh replied that he had nothing to say. He did not deny the story. August Chiaverotti was picked up for questioning on June 27, as police believed he was Stelloh’s partner. He was released.

The “floating” Ogden Social Club was raided for the first time on September 30, 1943 when it was at 1533 North Jackson Street.

There was a “whiskey hijacking” of $2700 in Cudahy on November 29, 1943 which involved Lawrence Quartana, Pasquale Rosetti, August Pintaro and Anthony Scaffidi. One of the men took a truck containing liquor from in front of a tavern at 3900 East Pulaski Avenue while the others drove off in a car. (The truck driver on duty was Herbert Rehmus and the owner of the truck and liquor was Louis Paradise.) Mrs. Cecelia Tamel witnessed the event and was able to write down the license plate of the getaway car for authorities. The truck was found about an hour later near the corner of Clement Avenue and Grange Avenue, withonly four of its 25 cases of whiskey missing. Pintaro later claimed as his alibi that he had been at work during the hijacking but Oliver Eicher, employment manager for the Ladish Drop Forge Company, was able to produce records showing his absence from the plant that day. Quartana claimed he was playing cards in a tavern.

In the early morning of Thursday, January 6, 1944, five bandits held up bartenders Eugene Reickman and William Hetrick as they were leaving Bensinger Bowling and Billiards at 838 North 27th, the corner of 27th and Kilbourn. Reickman was hit with a blackjack after one robber took his car keys, wrist watch and $170. They took a mere $23 from Hetrick. Then the police arrived, causing the robbers to flee. Patrolman Charles Jackelin, on the force for 13 months, shot and killed Anthony Scaffidi, 29, of 1613 North Jackson Street. Scaffidi was hit in the shoulder as he ran away, and the bullet came out his neck. Scaffidi actually made it another 75 yards before collapsing. Three men were caught by police officers Carl Dettman and Joseph Shaw: Lawrence Quartana, 34, who hid in Robert Barlow’s basement on Kilbourn; John Angelo Mandello, 24, of 2317 North Holton Street; and George P. Leone, 29, of 2930 North Booth Street. Caught soon after were Pasquale Rosetti, 29; August Pintaro, 29, Scaffidi’s brother-in-law; and Joseph Guarniere, 29, of 2557 North Booth Street. When the holdup case went to trial a month later, the victims were only able to place Quartana at the scene of the crime, though they had seen Pintaro at the bowling alley bar an hour before the holdup.

Anthony Scaffidi’s funeral was on January 10, 1944 at the Guardalabene and Amato Funeral Home, with burial in Holy Cross Cemetery. He was survived by his mother, Antonia; wife Margaret; son Joseph; brother Carmello; and sisters Mrs. Angelo Greco, Mrs. Louis Botic, Mrs. August Pintaro and Frances Scaffidi.

Racine native John Charles Rizzo, 33, surrendered at the US Marshals office late Tuesday, April 18, 1944 accompanied by his attorney, Eugene Sullivan. He was wanted for transferring 440 gasoline rationing coupons, representing 2200 gallons of fuel.

The “floating” Ogden Social Club was raided the second time on May 17, 1944 when it was at 1446 North Jackson Street. John Triliegi was fined $250 for possession of horse race betting sheets, and the police seized four telephones that they said were used for gambling. The club’s attorney, Eugene J. Sullivan, successfully argued for the phones to be returned to the club unless proof of their misuse was given.

Martin King of Racine and Sam Vermiglio of Detroit were in Chicago on June 10, 1944. There they purchased counterfeit gasoline ration stamps from Jack Barg for $15,000. Barg soon discovered these bills were also counterfeit.

Jack Carter and Anthony Cicerello went for a drive on July 12, 1944 spending 100 counterfeit bills in Chicago, Cicero, South Bend and Hammond. They purchased stockings, neckties, baseballs, sandwiches and more to dispose of the money. A woman at a restaurant became suspicious and contacted the police, leading to Carter being caught the next day.

Thomas Tarantino, owner of a fish market at 1680 North VanBuren, was fined $5 on August 14, 1944 for dumping fish entrails on the lake near the incinerator.

Joseph Vallone and Pasquale Migliaccio were sued by the Office of Price Administration (OPA) on Friday, September 15, 1944. The OPA claimed that the grocers were selling their sugar and processed foods for “overceiling” prices, and demanded they be fined. The OPA asked to be awarded damages of three times the amount overcharged.

Jack Carter arranged for his counterfeiting friends to meet with a “client” on January 17, 1945 at a hotel in Cudahy. The client was a government agent. Martin King and August Sorcey gave $13,400 in counterfeit bills to Jack Rizzo, who was soon captured by the agent. The others were picked up the same day.

Francis Stelloh, 32, escaped from Waupun State Prison by sawing through the bars at 3am on January 19, 1945. With him was Frank Blacka, 38, of Chicago, who had committed a $37,000 jewelry heist in Milwaukee. Both men were found and arrested less than 12 hours later in the bathroom of an apartment leased to Christ Krystowiak at 809 North 27th Street.

Floyd Ventura, 30, of 2016 57th Street in Kenosha was killed in his car on Deep Lake Road near Antioch, Illinois (2 miles south of the state line) on January 24, 1945. Ventura was the operator of Kenosha’s Esquire Grill (5721 Sixth Avenue) and was shot four times through the right temple. His body was found at 9am by Robert Scott, a local farmer. The motive of robbery was ruled out, as Ventura still had $206 in his pocket and a large diamond ring on his finger. Lake County Chief Deputy Thomas Kennedy speculated that because of the angle of the wounds the killer was in the back seat, and because of the distance from any nearby town he likely fled in a second car.

John Alioto tried his hand at being a tavern owner and opened the Express Bar at 801 East Michigan Street in 1945. It closed in 1950. In 1948, he opened Alioto’s Supper Club at the corner of VanBuren and Michigan, which remained until it was bought out by the city and Alioto had to move his restaurant to Wauwatosa.

Counterfeiter Anthony Cicerello was finally caught by Secret Service agent Joseph Sullivan on Thursday, March 22, 1945. Along with his co-conspirators, he was to stand trial for being a part of a ring that passed the bills of “Count” Victor Lustig.

The “floating” Ogden Social Club was raided on April 27, 1945 when it was at Rosario Gagliano’s house. Gagliano was fined $25 for kneeing a policeman and punching him in the nose.

A safe was stolen from Johny’s Round Up on April 30, 1945. Owner John DiTrapani said the safe contained $961. The safe was found in Waldauer Woods at the corner of 106th and Mount Vernon, broken and empty, by youths Richard Dahmke and Donald Miller.

Kenosha hoodlums Dominic Principe, 32, and Fred Covelli, 24, robbed the Racine tavern of Stanley Tomczak (1754 Racine Street) on May 4, 1945. They took $600 and were chased to Somers township in Kenosha County. The pair hid under a work bench in a farmer’s garage but were soon apprehended. Principe was later sentenced to Waupun by Judge Elmer D. Goodland and Covelli was sent to the Green Bay Reformatory.

On May 6, 1945, Judge Kleczka gave out an order allowing police to “peek” in the Ogden Social Club, meaning that they could walk through without a warrant. The judge felt with repeated gambling raids, and with only Joseph Piscione admitting to being an officer (he was president), it was a reasonable action to keep the club away from illegal activities.

Joseph Spero was hired on as a garbage collector for the City of Milwaukee on May 17, 1945.

The federal trial of Milwaukee counterfeiters began Monday, June 4, 1945. The accused were August “Jack” Sorcey (former operator of Melody Lane Tavern, 340 West Wells); Anthony Cicerello, 1759A North Marshall Street; Dominic “Jack” Rizzo, a Milwaukee bartender; and Martin King, a former constable of Racine County. Jack Carter of Chicago, Sorcey’s former business partner, testified against the men. Sorcey was sentenced to seven years in prison, Rizzo was sentenced to two years in prison, and King was given three years probation.

The “floating” Ogden Social Club was raided on July 11, 1945 when it was at 1442 North Jackson Street. They found a croupier’s stick, a dice field, several decks of cards, horse race betting sheets, three telephones and a billiard table that could be converted to a dice table. The building was then padlocked by police. Dominic Picciurro was fined $200 for keeping a gambling house. Philip M. Azzolina, Peter Figarino, Robert Puccio and Carmello Valenti were charged as patrons. Rosario Gagliano, Peter F. Balistrieri, John B. Triliegi, Joseph Piscione, James G. Bruno and Thomas Puccio would face contempt of court charges, but they were dismissed. Judge Kleczka threatened to jail him if any evidence came up that they were involved in gambling, saying, “If you defy the law you will be punished. If you think you are greater than the state of Wisconsin, you are mistaken.”

Cono J. “The Weasel” Librizzi, 29, 808 East Brady Street, burglarized the Dutchland Dairy Store in August 1945 by climbing in a back window. With him were Salvatore DiMaggio and John “Boss Man” Mandella, who urged him not to enter and stood outside eating ice cream. FBI agents, who were watching them because of another investigation, saw Librizzi in the store and the feds caught the three men after a car chase.

Clarence W. Hibbert lost $164.90 at a craps game on September 24, 1945 at the Ogden Social Club. He said that John Triliegi was running the game, but when later brought to court, “forgot” the incident in question.

On Friday, October 12, 1945, four safe crackers were arrested: Cono J. “the Weasel” Librizzi, 29; John A. “Boss Man” Mandella, 25; Mike Farina, 30; and Joseph C. Guarniere, 30. Officers approached them while they were in their automobile and the following items were visible: a revolver, a sledgehammer, a silk stocking mask and two pairs of canvas gloves. The ne3xt day in court, District Attorney McCauley said, “The police and I are certain that Librizzi is a member of a gang which has been terrorizing Milwaukee for more than a year, and that the gang is responsible for most of the safe cracking jobs in Milwaukee in that time.”

The “floating” Ogden Social Club was raided January 12, 1946 while at 1439 North Jackson.

Early in January 1946, former football star Santo Curro, 36 and former Green Bay Reformatory inmate Ben DiSalvo, 29, began threatening the owner of the New Yorker bar, Charles Wolfe. Curro would enter the bar and say, “The higher ups sent me to get some money.” Wolfe told him that he owed nothing. The threats continued until Thursday, January 24, when Wolfe had enough of their nonsense. Curro said, “The higher ups said we gotta come back with some dough this time.” Wolfe ignored them and walked to a nearby restaurant. The pair followed him to the restaurant, but then turned around and went back to the bar, stealing $250 from the register.

The “floating” Ogden Social Club was raided March 1, 1946 while at 1444 North Jackson, with Leonard Mercurio being the keeper of the house.

Mike Farina was shot multiple times with a .38 and killed on March 13, 1946 by Louis Fazio. With Fazio were John and Jerome Mandella, and Dominic Lampone. Jerome Mandella had been the owner of a tavern at 1411 West Fond du Lac Avenue. The quartet stopped a truck containing Mike and Joe Farina, along with former Milwaukee prize fighter Tony Bruno, near where Highways 41 and 43 meet. Joe was shot in the jaw but survived to identify the assailants. He had the bullet removed from his jaw about two weeks later by Dr. R. P. Gingrass at County General Hospital. Jerome Mandella would later testify that on the night of the shooting, he was visiting his sister, Mrs. Thomas Tarantino, at her tavern, The Highway Tap, at 1682 North VanBuren. John Mandella testified that he was home in bed. And Fazio testified that he was playing cards with Sam Cefalu, Leonard Mercurio and Sidney Schiewitz at Pick’s Music Store, and was later brought home by taxi driver John Latano.

The “floating” Ogden Social Club was raided on March 27 and 28, 1946 at 1439 North Jackson Street.

On Sunday, August 4, 1946, Sam Farina, 68, the father of slain hoodlum Mike Farina, shot radio repairman Carmen Valentino, 37, in the left chest. Farina saw Valentino in the alley behind his house (at 510 North 29th Street) and thought he was a prowler or baby snatcher. Farina said, “Nobody walks through this alley but Italians!” Valentino was Mexican. At the hospital, Valentino’s condition was described as good.

On December 5, 1946, Joseph Ferro brought a 17-year old girl to his fur shop on Mitchell under the pretense of hiring a bookkeeper, and gave her a fur coat. He told her that he could hook her up with modeling jobs where she could get more fur coats. Instead, he brought her to a Chicago brothel. He also asked her if she had any friends who would be interested in a similar line of work, and some names were offered.

Counterfeiter Sebastian “Sam” Vermiglio, after years of being a fugitive, was finally caught in Detroit on Sunday, January 26, 1947. Police, the OPA and Treasury agents had trailed him for 11 hours and watched him supply sugar to various stores — sugar he had purchased with counterfeit sugar stamps.

Thomas Puccio, 46, and Samuel Siegel, 31 were arrested by federal agents on February 4, 1947 for transferring and selling counterfeit sugar rations. Siegel traded some false coupons to an undercover agent for $1600. A third man, identified only as “Smitty”, escaped capture. The agents believed the men were a part of a nationwide counterfeiting ring, and they were both connected to Chicago’s Samuel DeStefano, who had recently been arrested at Burlington for counterfeiting.

The “floating” Ogden Social Club was raided on March 8, 1947… this time still at 1439 North Jackson Street. Rosario Gagliano, Giovanni L. Taglialovora and Martin Azzolina (older brother of the above-mentioned Philip) were charged. According to a family member, Martin Azzolina remained a gambler his entire life while Phil may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time — he lived a crime-free life and operated a jewelry store in the Merchant Marine bank.

Detective Louis Dieden retired on April 3, 1947 after investigating crime in the Third Ward since 1912. Chief John Polcyn called him a “leader of men and skillful investigator.” But he had suffered a stroke in Kenosha on March 13 while investigating the murder of Mike Farina and could not muster the strength to go on.

Joseph Ferro, 35, appeared in federal court on April 14, 1947 where he was sentenced to five years for violating the white slave act. He had given a 17-year old girl a fur coat and told her he could set her up with modeling jobs, but then brought her to a Chicago brothel. Later the same day, he appeared in municipal court, where he pleaded not guilty to pandering, sodomy and carnal knowledge. (Whether he would face trial for the state charges before or after federal prison is unknown to me.)

On Monday, May 5, 1947, Steve John DeSalvo, 28, of 1531A South 23rd Street, was arrested by agents of the USDA in a downtown Milwaukee hotel for passing counterfeit sugar stamps he claimed to have gotten in Chicago from a man named Lou. DeSalvo sold an agent 1,008 stamps for $500. He was arraigned before Judge Floyd Jenkins on May 6 and could not raise the $5000 bail, and he was ordered to the county jail. DeSalvo pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, June 11 in front of Federal Judge F. Ryan Duffy.

The “floating” Ogden Social Club was raided for the ninth time on Tuesday, June 3, 1947 at 3:15am… this time at 1500 North Jefferson Street. Police used battering rams to simultaneously knock in four doors, all of which were reinforced with steel strips and plywood. Sergeant Harry Kuszewski of the vice squad said the doors were so well guarded that in the first few attempts to knock them in, the ram “just bounced off like a rubber ball.” A dice table, poker table and two telephones were confiscated. Seven men were arrested — six for being inmates of a gambling house and one (Charles Piscuine, 30, of 514 East Lyon) for being the keeper of a gambling house. The six men were: Rosario Gagliano, Martin Azzolina, Dominic Picciurro, Giovanni L. Taglialovora, Carmello Valenti and Frank DeFacende.

Temporary injunctions were filed on August 26, 1947 to shut down the East End Grill (626 East Detroit), owned by Vito Aiello, for serving alcohol without a license and after hours. The building was owned by Vincenza, Joseph and Patricia Albanese. During police raids, patrons were found drinking booze out of coffee cups. Also shut down this day was the Cellar Restaurant (429 North Jackson), owned by Genero Sberna. That building’s owner, Mario Megna, had already started eviction proceedings.

Walter Brocca filed for bankruptcy on October 25, 1947. He had $250 to his name and owed $8729.57 in liabilities.

John “Blackie” Sullivan was picked up from a Milwaukee tavern by four men on the afternoon of September 16, 1948. They drove him out to Waukesha County (on Highway C near Dousman) where he was badly wounded. A bullet grazed his face and he was hit with a blunt object before being dumped in a ditch.

35 gamblers were called to testify at a John Doe hearing on Tuesday, October 19, 1948. They were: Louis Simon, Henry Mier, Leo “Chink” Meldman, Joseph Piscione, Charles Piscione, Dave Kohler, Henry Hansher, Joe Gagliano, Isadore Tocco, Sidney Brodson, Michael Schalk, James Anastasi, Martin Assolina, William Warner, Abe Katz, Edward Fenzl, Edward Borgiasz, Theodore Ivalis, Garrett Stell, Max Distenfeld, Isadore Rosen, Michael Marasco, Gaston “Tutz” Goldman, Oscar Plotkin, Sam Shaiken, Joseph Latona, Walter Hutchinson, Max Ginzlin, Sam Schatzman, Bert Haskins, Nicholas Calabriese, Dominic “Lem Sputter” Picciure, Nathan Klein, David Collier, Charles Rosen and Hyman “Hymie the Bum” Blaufarb.

John B. Guardalabene died on June 14, 1949. Whether or not his passing made the papers is unclear, as no copies remain accessible today.

Salvatore DiMaggio was arrested for burglary on July 24, 1949. He was sentenced to one to three years in state prison.

Joseph Vallone retired from the rackets in 1949.

Sam Ferrara: 1949-1952

Sam Ferrara’s reign as boss is earmarked by one particular event. Just prior to his retirement, it is believed that the rank and file membership of the Milwaukee LCN Family deposed of him by vote. All evidence suggests that members requested intervention by the Chicago Outfit to have Ferrara step down. The Chicago LCN Family assisted and Ferrara vacated his position.

John “Blackie” Sullivan was shot at 9:40pm, October 7, 1949 by an unidentified Chicago man with two prior arrests for keeping a gambling house. This was the fourth attempt on Sullivan’s life in the last two years. Sullivan and Miss Edith Johnson, 32, were getting out of a car near Johnson’s apartment at 128A West Vine Street. One shotgun blast was fired from a nearby parked 1941 light green Ford. Another man got out of the car and fired three shots from a revolver. No one was hit.

Pasquale Migliaccio opened a restaurant, Como’s, in 1950 at 618 North 27th Street.

Detective Louis Dieden, well-known in the Third Ward and a friend of the late Mike Vitucci, passed away on October 3, 1950 at the age of 64. He had investigated many of the cases involving Italians in the 1930s because of his ability to speak Italian.

A representative of the Paster Distributing Company (but not Herman Paster) stayed at Room 1525 of the Schroeder Hotel (509 West Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee) on February 15, 1951 and made a few phone calls (now redacted). He checked out the next day. Herman Paster was registered at the Schroeder Hotel on February 21, 1951, stayed in Room 1104, made a phone call to his residence in St. Paul and checked out the next day.

A phone call from Room 931 the Hotel Blackhawk in Davenport, Iowa came in to HILLTOP 4-5425, at 10:58am on March 2, 1951. This phone number was registered to the Paster Distributing Company of 2606 West Fond du Lac Avenue. Also using this number were the Paster Novelty Company and AMI Phonograph Sales and Service Company.

John M. “Blackie the Sieve” Sullivan was found badly injured in July 1951 outside his home at 1122 South Layton Boulevard, with a fractured skull and broken right collarbone. Police suspected he was beaten by other hoodlums, but he swore that he had fallen down the stairs. Sullivan was sent to the Mendota State Hospital on July 13, 1951 for an apparent narcotic addiction. He was released August 1 after doctors concluded he was not an addict.

John Alioto, the man who would soon be Ferrara’s replacement, was making a name for himself in the Italian community. He approached the owner of the Ardmore Bar on the corner of 16th and Wisconsin and offered his services if he ever got in “trouble”. By August 1951, the owner came to Alioto’s tavern and said he needed help. Alioto asked, “Where’s the envelope?” “What do you mean, envelope?” “We’ve got to put the fix in and pay off a couple of guys.” The owner walked away, saying it was a minor infraction and he preferred to see his day in court.

On Friday, August 24, 1951, Edith Sullivan, wife of Blackie Sullivan, was charged with larceny for not returning a rental car within the 48 hours of August 18 as agreed upon. The complaint came from Allen Wachtl of the Milwaukee Hertz Drive-Ur-Self. Police suspected she might have traveled to Elkhorn, Wisocnsin to meet her husband, who had been ordered to stay out of Chicago after being picked up by police and was also banned from Milwaukee after being fired upon by three shotgun blasts.

The Mid West Soap Company (third floor of 225 East Detroit) was raided by police on Tuesday, October 2, 1951 and found to have no soap. They did find Isadore Tocco, 38, of 710 East Mason Street with 50 football pool cards, tally sheets with last week’s scores and $980 in his pockets. Inside, after knocking the door in with a sledgehammer, they found three men throwing “soft sheets” out the window that contained the names of horses and jockeys. The room had tables, chairs and telephones… but again, no soap. Arrested along with Tocco were Thomas J. Machi, 33, of 609 East Detroit; Edward Schlein, 47, of 729 North 11th; and Fred Aveni, 31, of 1735 West Galena Street. Tocco was fined $50 and the other three were fined $10 each.

Harry DeAngelo (sometimes written D’Angelo) was called to testify on Friday, November 16, 1951. He was alleged to live near Saukville, and as a city garbage collector he was required to live in the city. DeAngelo told the court that he lived at 408 North Jefferson Street with his sister and brother-in-law, Jasper Alioto. DeAngelo did admit, however, that he owned land near Saukville where his wife and kids lived and that he only registered to vote in Milwaukee a week before the hearing. When asked if he was separated from his wife, he said, “No, but we don’t get along so good.”

The Holiday House restaurant was burglarized on January 2, 1952. Walter Brocca was a suspect in this case. The FBI, based on the word of informants, believed that Brocca and Jerome DiMaggio had stolen the safe because August Maniaci owed $25,000 to the Chicago Outfit for a truckload of “hot meat”. The safe from the Holiday House contained less than $15,000, possibly only $12,000.

John M. “Blackie” Sullivan, 46, was arrested in his wife Edith’s hotel room at the LaSalle Hotel on January 22, 1952.

On the evening of Saturday, March 15, 1952, John B. Triliegi and Frank J. Sorrenti were arrested for their involvement in a $1.5 million burglary in Reno, Nevada on February 29. A safe was stolen from the mansion of Laverne V. Redfield while Redfield was out playing roulette. The thieves got in the house by feeding Redfield’s dog a hambone. Triliegi, 37, of 522 East Pleasant Street, was found in St. Mary’s hospital where he was preparing for back surgery. He was formerly co-owner of the Riviera tavern at 401 North Plankinton. Sorrenti, 36, was arrested at his apartment at 818 North VanBuren Street. Triliegi and Sorrenti were cousins. They were charged with conspiracy to transport stolen goods over state lines, in what the newspapers were calling “the biggest burglary in United States history.”

Joseph Vallone died of natural causes on March 18, 1952.

The Milwaukee FBI office received an anonymous letter dated March 28, 1952 claiming that the following men were members of the Mafia: Sam Ferrera, August Maniaci, Mike Albano, Pasquale Migliaccio, Nick Fucarino, Jack Enea, Charles Zarcone, Frank LaGalbo and John DiTrapani. The letter further named Ferrara as the leader and said that he was close with John DiTrapani. The FBI later agreed with the letter’s assessment.

On Saturday, July 25, 1952, Joseph C. Guarniere, 37, Anthony LaRosa, 34, Detroit hoodlum Sebastian Vermiglio and St. Louis LCN member Tony Lopiparo stole a transport truck from Catalano Fruit Company in Milwaukee. They then stole 23,000 pounds of meat from the National Tea Company in Chicago and brought it to St. Louis, where they were arrested by federal agents. Lopiparo was already a nationally known figure, testifying in front of the Kefauver committee in 1950.

Victor (Vito) Aiello applied for a license to run the Town House at 2575 North Downer Avenue in August 1952. At the time, the Town House was owned by Dennis Holland and the two men were in negotiations. Aiello dropped his bid for the license in late October after the city council delayed its decision, citing concerns over his source of financial income, believing that Aiello had not fully disclosed his sources.

North Dakota Attorney General Elmo T. Christianson, Herman Paster, and Allan Nilva were indicted October 7, 1952, for conspiracy to violate the Johnson Act, which prohibits the interstate transportation of gambling devices. Paster was a big player in the jukebox trade of Minnesota and would soon set his sights on Milwaukee.

John Alioto: 1952-1961

John Alioto was chosen to fill the position held by the ousted Ferrara. The FBI was aware of Alioto’s leadership as early as December 6, 1952, knowing that Sam Ferrara had stepped down. They also believed that Frank LaGalbo was now “head of the younger section” of Mafia crew. During Alioto’s reign as boss the Milwaukee rackets grew at a fierce pace. Most notably was the growing relationship with organized labor.

Attorney Mark Catlin, now a state assemblyman, agreed to work for Louis Fazio’s clemency in the background if the Fazios would pay $5,000 in advance and promise $5,000 more upon Louis’ release. On January 8, 1954, Louis’ brother, Frank, paid $5,000 in cash to Catlin. No receipt was given. Frank was assured by Catlin that Louis would be freed on the second application if not the first.

At the common council meeting on Thursday, January 14, 1954, Alderman Fred P. Meyers said he received a “serious and sincere complaint” that St. Paul-based Herman Paster was seeking to join forces with a Milwaukee-based man to hold a monopoly over vending machines in Milwaukee. Meyers said, “I am trying to find out more about it” and he promised to discuss it more the following week. The newspaper speculated that the Milwaukee man was Joe Beck of the Mitchell Amusement Company, who owned 385 machines in the city. The Milwaukee Journal also called attention to Paster’s criminal record, having served a federal prison sentence during World War II for selling black market liquor and his later convictions for interstate transport of gambling machines.

The common council held a meeting on Friday, January 22, 1954 to discuss the jukebox trade in Milwaukee. Herman Paster of St. Paul was invited based on rumors that he was looking to become a major player in the area. Paster did not attend, but sent the vice president of Paster Distributing Company, Allan Nilva. Paster is not in the business of operating coin machines, he said. The firm is exclusively a wholesale distributor. Nilva stressed that there was no syndicate behind Paster and that they were not seeking a monopoly. Machines are only operated by Paster when they are repossessed, and even then only until they can find a new owner.

Louis Tarantino was placed on 15 years probation in February 1954 for armed robbery, assault with intent to rob and burglary. It was the longest probation term ever given in Milwaukee county up to that point.

Chicago hoodlum Americo DePietto, 39, was involved in an armed robbery in Kenosha on February 8. Along with two other men (Nick George Montos, 37, and an unknown accomplice), he broke into the palatial home of grease gun inventor Oscar Ulysses Zerk and stole approximately $250,000 worth of jade, ivory and silverware. The men entered the home at night, found Zerk in bed proofreading a letter he wrote to UW president E. B. Fred, and tied him to a chair with a pillow case over his head. The men then seemingly knew where the keys to the cabinets were kept, as they were able to unlock them with ease. The goods were received and harbored by Nick Palermo, 45, of Melrose Park, Illinois. DePietto was sentenced to ten years in Waupun State Prison (where he became inmate number 34313) on August 17, 1954. While in prison, he met and befriended Milwaukee hoodlum Louis Fazio. DePietto also married a Chicago waitress while in the prison on January 18, 1956.

Jerome DiMaggio and two masked men robbed apartment manager Paul F. Ruenzel of $9000 of rent receipts on March 1, 1954. They entered his office and pushed him out of his chair and to the floor where he was tied up, and then told the cash and checks from an unlocked safe. When the case eventually went to trial (October 1957), Dominic Frinzi was DiMaggio’s attorney.

John DiTrapani, along with his wife Angeline and daughter Rosalind ate at Chico’s bar-B-Q (1548 North Farwell), owned by Frank LaGalbo, on March 18, 1954. That evening, John was murdered, his bullet-riddled body was found behind the wheel of his Cadillac on North Van Buren Street. LaGalbo would later tell an informant that DiTrapani was killed because he tipped off police that the Chicago LCN was behind a gambling deal that took a large sum of money from oil baron Robert Roman. Whether LaGalbo committed the murder, ordered it, or just knew about it, he would soon be excommunicated from the Milwaukee family.

Attorney for DiTrapani’s estate, Fred R. Wright, suggested that Frank Balistrieri take over DiTrapani’s bar — Johnny’s Round Up at 2665 North 27th Street (Balistrieri was his nephew and worked as a bartender). The committee rejected this because of Balistrieri’s youth. (Chico’s would later be owned by Frank Trovato in 1975, and later still become a Chinese restaurant and then an Indian restaurant.)

On Friday, March 26, 1954, Anthony DePalma (sometimes identified as Ralph), 41, of 2019 North Booth, manager of one of John DiTrapani’s bars, was robbed at the tavern in broad daylight and $9000 was stolen. DePalma was in the alley behind Johnny’s Round Up at 2665 North 27th Street when two men forced him into his car and had him drive to the corner of 25th and Vine, without looking at either man, and to get out of the car. They then stole his green sedan. DePalma had so much cash on him because he had just returned from the bank, and the tavern was used by many patrons as a place to cash their paychecks.

Police detectives brought John “Blackie” Sullivan to the Safety Building on Wednesday, April 14, 1954 to question him a second time about the DiTrapani murder. Through his attorney, John Craite, Sullivan offered to take a lie detector test for Acting Captain Rudolph Glaser, but requested the police stop harassing him, as it was interfering with his job. Craite said if the police continued to detain Sullivan without intent to arrest him, he would file a restraining order against the police.

On October 1, 1954, Frank LaGalbo bought a cottage on the Right of Way Road one half-mile northeast of Peshtigo in Marinette County. After a few modifications, the cottage was guarded by large dogs, flood lights, a bodyguard and electrified wire. The neighbors were upset by the flood lights being on all night, every night.

Federal Judge Robert E. Tehan heard an appeal from Francis Stelloh, 41, on Monday, October 4, 1954 for release from the state prison at Waupun.

At some point in 1955, Frank LaGalbo was ordered to be killed for an unknown reason. LaGalbo found out and called his friend, Chicago Heights capo Frank LaPorte. LaPorte “lawyered” for LaGalbo and spared his life. From this point forward, LaGalbo was considered part of the Chicago Heights family despite rarely leaving Milwaukee. (FBI agents later asked around Chicago Heights and Calumet City and found no indication that anyone knew who LaGalbo was.)

Counterfeiter Sam Vermiglio and Detroit attorney Henry P. Onrich borrowed $31,000 from Orlando P. Colamatteo on February 21, 1955 in Chicago. Colamatteo was said to be close to certain Chicago gangsters (including Louis Campagna) and was a “tax wizard”. Colamatteo then gave the promissory notes to the Home Savings Bank of Milwaukee, who had great difficulty collecting.

Fazio’s Italian restaurant, 1601 North Jackson, was bombed early on Wednesday, June 1, 1955. There were at least two blasts, blowing two holes in a north basement wall and damaging cars parked nearby. The restaurant’s windows were blown out, as were the windows at the Fazio residence (1609 North Jackson), windows at residences at 524 and 526 Pleasant Street and five other homes on Jackson. John Bruno, 20, of 526 East Pleasant was injured by broken glass that fell into his bed. The bombers were unknown, but the result was a holdup in granting the Fazio family another license to open their new restaurant at 634 North 5th (formerly the Tic Toc Supper Club). Information received by the FBI contended that either Frank Balistrieri or Phil Valley had ordered the bombing and that it was carried out by a hanger-on of the hoodlum element.

On July 13, 1955, while accompanying her husband, Assemblyman Mark Catlin, Mrs. Catlin spoke with Governor Kohler about the Louis Fazio case. Kohler said to her, “I don’t see how I can do anything in the Fazio matter in view of the incidents that have happened.”

Carmen Vaccaro, daughter of Pasquale Migliaccio, separated from her husband Dr. Joseph E. Vaccaro on August 30, 1955 and filed for divorce, claiming that he was having an affair with Mrs. Joyce Etzel. Vaccaro denied any affair, and sued his wife, her father and Etzel for $100,000 claiming they were trying to extort money from him. During the divorce proceedings, Vaccaro tried to patch things up with his father-in-law. When he extended his hand for a handshake in the court hallway, Migliaccio swung and hit Vaccaro in the jaw. Ultimately, Carmen Vaccaro was granted the house, a car and $569 per month in alimony.

Frank Fazio, brother of Louis Fazio, called Mrs. Catlin in the fall of 1955. In one conversation he said to her, “If my brother gets out, I will buy you a nice present.” She said she did not want a present.

There was a burglary at the Mattioli pharmacy (3501 West National Avenue) Sunday night, October 2, 1955 resulting in containing $1656 being stolen. Four men were arrested in connection with the burglary: Salvatore DiMaggio, 39, 1536 North Franklin Place; Lawrence J. Quartana, 46, 712 West Center Street; William P. Murray, 24, 1626 North Prospect Avenue; and Frank Alioto, 24, 408 North Jefferson Street (same residence that Harry DeAngelo claimed to live in — Frank would be Harry’s nephew). DiMaggio was employed at La Tosa Cafe, owned by his father.

On October 21, 1955, Anthony Fazio telephoned Catlin on behalf of the Fazio and Mandella families and discharged Catlin, who told him they were making a mistake. Catlin would later be brough before the State bar Association and found guilty of unethical conduct; he was fined $1500 and his law license was suspended for six months.

An unidentified reporter for a Milwaukee newspaper wrote a memo on November 3, 1955: “While [Frank] Balistrieri has no police record, and is a clean character, he does mix with undesirable elements.”

On November 12, 1955, Pasquale Rosetti, 42, and Frank Allgood, 54, both of Milwaukee, broke into Flowers Drug Store in Wausau and stole a safe containing $1425.

Small-time hoodlum Jack Enea, 46, (1506 North Jackson Street) dropped his daughter Vivian off at school (driving his son Joseph the bartender’s car), and then met mason Walter “Blackie” Brocca, 41, of 1668 North VanBuren Street at a bakery at 1443 North VanBuren where Brocca was doing some remodeling. Enea and Brocca had previously operated Vickey’s Tavern at 1932 West St. Paul Avenue in 1951/1952. Enea left around 10:00am and Brocca left at 10:05. Brocca would later say he went to the corner of Highway 100 and Hampton Avenue to check on a truck that was at a service station.

Enea was found in a ditch on Plainview Road two miles northwest of Sussex, Waukesha County on Tuesday, November 29, 1955. Enea had been killed around 11:30am. He had seven bullets from a .38 in him (two lodged in his spine)

Brocca was initially held for questioning, and the clothes he wore the morning of Enea’s death were retrieved from his home to test for physical evidence. Waukesha County held Brocca for over 60 hours without charging him, until his attorney (Dominic Frinzi) insisted they either charge him or let him go. Brocca volunteered to take a lie detector test if his attorney consented. Frinzi did not allow it.

An unidentified FBI informant speculated that the killing was ordered by John Alioto at the request of Joseph Sciortino. Sciortino was Enea’s uncle, and owned a bakery on VanBuren Street adjacent to Alioto’s tavern. Allegedly, Enea burglarized the bakery and stole $1400. The informant also believed that a black Cadillac was involved and that at least two killers were used — one was identified as John Aiello.

Detective Inspector Rudolph Glaser of the Milwaukee Police Department believed that a black Cadillac picked Enea up from 1443 North VanBuren, where his Buick was parked. 1443 was previously (and possibly currently) the address of former boss Sam Ferrara’s tavern. He narrowed the car down to a 1948 or 1949 Cadillac after a witness informed him that the car had fin fenders.

Jack Enea’s funeral was on December 2, 1955. His death was handled by Guardalabene and Amato Funeral Home. Surviving him were his mother Mrs. Vita Enea; his wife Jennie; sons Joseph and Russell; daughter Vivian; brothers Casper and Michael; and sisters Mrs. Mary Braun, Mrs. Anna DiSalvo, Mrs. Cecilia Sciortino and Mrs. Frances Cefalu. Jack was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Milwaukee.

Nick B. Tarantino took part in the burglary of $812 from a safe at the Medical Arts Prescription Pharmacy (945 North 12th Street) on December 12, 1955.

Walter Brocca was arrested for questioning on December 24, 1955 concerning the recent spate of safe burglaries in Milwaukee. He was released on December 27.

Counterfeiter Sebastian “Sam” Vermiglio was deported in Janaury 1956 for being an “unwanted alien”.

Louis J. Tarantinio, 22, was arrested on March 13, 1956 for trying to extort $100 from businesswoman Mildred D. Griebel. He claimed to have found her sister’s ring and wanted money for it, but before Griebel met him, she had Detective Raymond Slowinski hide in the trunk of her car. Tarantino demanded $100 but said he did not have the ring on him. Slowinski then jumped out of the trunk. Tarantino, already on probation, was given 30 days in jail.

John “Blackie” Sullivan died following surgery at 5:30pm on Wednesday, April 18, 1956, at age 51. He had gone in for an emergency abdominal operation on April 17, and the next day suffered “surgical shock”. His reaction was intensified by the amount of scar tissue on his body from prior assassination attempts, particularly around his stomach.

Frank Balistrieri met with Milwaukee Phil and an unidentified Chinese man on May 1, 1956 at a barbecue restaurant. (Quite possibly the restaurant was the one owned by Phil’s wife.)

Nick Tarantino, Louis J. Derango and Thomas Carlson burglarized Michael’s Tap (625 North 6th) on May 12, 1956 and made off with $825 from a safe, $50 in cash and a $124 check. When the case went to trial the following year (July 27), Judge Harvey Neelen declared a mistrial because he felt that the three defendants should be tried separately rather than together, and that Tarantino’s car was searched without a warrant or probable cause, making the evidence found inadmissible.

The federal gambling trial against Frank Sansone was postponed on Monday, June 18, 1956 after a witness was said to be afraid of the courtroom. Dr. Raymond L. Rice told Federal Judge Kenneth P. Grubb that his patient, Milton Strauss, had “a pathological fear of coming into this courtroom.” Strauss, 44, lived at 301 East Carlisle Avenue in Whitefish Bay. Sansone’s attorney, Dominic Frinzi, asked Rice if Strauss was afraid of Sansone; Rice said no.

Miss Greta Cotier claims she began working at Club 166 (owned by Dominic Picciurro) as a prostitute in July 1956. That summer, Picciurro asked her to have sex with Sheriff Michael Lombardi to “keep the heat off” the club. Cotier says that Lombardi, who was friends with Picciurro, was having a drink at the club when Picciurro sent her with Lombardi to the Wind Blew Inn near Mequon, where they rented a room.

Salvatore DiMaggio burglarized Eugene’s Restaurant on September 3, 1956. When the case finally went to trial, he had Lula Beatrice Hoffman testify that he was in her apartment at the time of the burglary. However, the prosecution called a surprise witness — Ione Crooker — who testified and produced records that Hoffman was working in San Diego at the time, nowhere near Milwaukee. DiMaggio at this time switched his plea to guilty, and District Attorney McCauley said, “Sam DiMaggio has been a thorn in the side of the police department and my side. We have been put through great expense in trying this case… The defendant is suave and smooth and almost got by with this one. The only reason he hasn’t been in court for some is because he hasn’t been caught. I ask for the maximum sentence.” Judge Elmer Roller sentenced DiMaggio to 10 years in Waupun, and Hoffman was immediately arrested on perjury charges. Defense attorneys Mosher and Frinzi spoke to the court and stressed that they did not know their client and witness lied, nor did they have any part of it.

Balistrieri was cited by the police on November 20, 1956 for keeping the blinds closed at his tavern. He told the police he was sick of being picked on.

Some time in the mid- to late 1950s, Nichelle Nichols (later known as Uhura on Star Trek) worked as a dancer in one of Frank Balistrieri’s night clubs. She recalls Frank asking her to strip for the patrons, but he backed off when she said that her father would not approve. She speaks about a manager being named “Louie”, a driver named “Tony” and about Dominic Frinzi’s attraction to her. Frinzi allegedly bought her a large ring and an expensive coat, both of which she turned down. Nichols also recalls one stripper being shot on stage in Milwaukee and another being found in a trash can during her brief time there. While she does not outright say the mob was behind these killings, it is strongly implied.

The Wind Blew Inn was raided on January 18, 1957. Milwaukee man Joseph Latona (1846 North Warren Avenue) was cited for running a disorderly house.

Jerome Mandella, 38, who was previously convicted of killing Mike Farina, was paroled on Friday, February 15, 1957. Three days later, Dominic Lampone’s parole was authorized by Wilbur J. Schmidt from the state department of public welfare. Lampone had “made a good institutional adjustment and has been an excellent worker in recent years,” Schmidt said. “We feel that we have accomplished the maximum good that we can do for him in an institution.”

On the evening of Sunday, February 17, 1957, Frank P. Aliota, 25, Nick P. Tarantino, 27, and Salvatore DiMiaggio, 40, attempted to burglarize Kewaskum’s Rosenheimer department store. Police interrupted them and gunfire ensued with the men fleeing. Aliota and DiMaggio escaped, but Tarantino was caught. DiMaggio’s car was found abandoned with burglar tools inside. Aliota turned himself in on February 19 with his attorney, Dominic Frinzi, saying, “My client is innocent.”

Police Captain George Sprague submitted a letter to the license committee on Friday, June 27, 1957 requesting that the Villa Venice (formerly Club 26) not have its license renewed. Sprague wrote, “When arrests have been made at the Club 26, the police officers have been contacted by Frank Balistrieri instead of Rudolph Porchetta. In several of these arrest cases, Frank Balistrieri has been instrumental in getting them released without prosecution. Officers assigned to my office can testify to this.” Balistrieri admitted to his interest in the Downtowner, the Melody Room and the Roosevelt Bar. Melody and Roosevelt were both in the Roosevelt Hotel and thus covered by the same license. He denied being involved with Tower Tavern, the Tradewinds, or the Villa Venice. The Tower and Tradewinds were registered to Peter Balistrieri (with Joseph Dentice being vice president of the Tradewinds). Porchetta was the listed president of Villa Venice with Joseph Maniaci being the vice president. Porchetta’s attorney in the license matter was Dominic Frinzi.

Of all the years John Alioto lived in Milwaukee, he was only ever confronted by police once: on July 2, 1957. He was given a mere $5 citation for failing to yield the right-of-way to a vehicle while he was leaving a parking spot. Aside from this and his violation years ago in New York, Alioto would remain clean. Constant surveillance from the FBI amounted to nothing.

Rudlph Porchetta sold the Villa Venice to Edward J. Wilson (2133 West Vliet Street) on July 20, 1957, effectively getting police off his and Frank Balistrieri’s backs.

On Wednesday, July 31, 1957, after a hearing from 2pm to 8pm, the common council voted 14-4 against revoking the tavern licenses allegedly connected to Frank Balistrieri, over the advice of Police Chief Howard O. Johnson. The assistant city attorney, F. Ryan Duffy, had called nine witnesses, while defense attorneys John Doyne and John Fleming called the four Balistrieris (Frank, Peter, Joseph and Benedetta). Deputy Inspectors Rudolph Miller and Herbert F. Schmidt testified that on November 5, 1954, Frank Balistrieri had asked the police permission to hold a teenagers’ jazz concert at the White Pub (the former name of the Tradewinds) on a Sunday. Police officer Hedwig Jessen testified that when the Pub came under suit for name infringement fro ma Chicago tavern, Frank was a defendant. Detective Oscar Greinke testified that Frank Balistrieri sometimes placed ads for the Tradewinds. Alderman Vincent A. Schmit called the city attorney to a halt and asked, “All we want to know is whether Frank Balistrieri had money invested in this business, if he made a profit or loss. It doesn’t help us to know that he paid bills for his brother or helped him. I want evidence of profit or loss. If you don’t have it, I’ll move to place these cases on file.” Duffy acknowledged that he had nothing concrete. Chief Johnson said after the decision, “This clarifies the situation. It clears up the rumors about who owns what and what we have now is two taverns for each brother. This never was a personal matter with me. I have known the Balistrieri family for years and have nothing against them.”

Cono Librizzi was in trouble again on October 14, 1957 after patrolman Milas Nelson ticketed his car for being in a loading zone. Upon further inspection, the car turned out to not be registered to Librizzi at all, and he refused to tell police where he got it.

When Nick Tarantino was retried for his role in the 1956 Michael’s Tap burglary, he was found guilty on Tuesday, October 29, 1957 and sentenced by Judge Michael Sullivan to one to four years in Waupun. The key piece of evidence was testimony from Paul Gaeth, who said he helped Tarantino bury the safe in his front yard. A few days prior, he pleaded guilty to the burglary in Kewaskum and was sentenced to prison. The terms would run concurrently.

On November 14, 1957, Frank Balistrieri likely attended the so-called Apalachin Meeting of the Mafia in Apalachin, New York. Figures representing every crime family in America were present. While his involvement is only speculative, he was registered at a local motel. Balistrieri likely used the Apalachin Summit to introduce himself to all the Bosses from across the United States.

On November 26, 1957, Walter Brocca called someone in Rockford, Illinois.

By December 1957, based on information from an incarcerated informant, the FBI began to believe that the Mafia operated in Milwaukee “under direct orders of” Tony Accardo in Chicago. The informant also identified Balistrieri as Alioto’s “lieutenant” and said another member was August Maniaci. An informant (possibly the same one) spoke to the FBI again on January 10, calling John Alioto the “big wheel” of the Milwaukee “syndicate”.

John Alioto phoned someone in the area of San Francisco, California on December 25, 1957, causing the FBI to check if that number was connected to any crime in that state. While their search results are unclear, it would not be surprising to find out the number simply belonged to innocent relatives, especially since the call took place on Christmas.

A detective with the Milwaukee Police Department, while off-duty, tracked Ralph Capone on January 4, 1958 from the Ambassador Hotel to the Milwaukee Airport. While at the airport, Capone removed a package fro ma locker that the detective believed might contain dope.

The FBI put Walter Brocca under surveillance on February 4, 1958. They observed him enter the Club Midnite at 1902 East North Avenue, which was operated by hoodlum August Maniaci. He was also seen entering the Tradewinds at 829 North 3rd Street, a night club operated by Frank Balistrieri. Surveillance on February 5 and 6 found him going to these locations all three days.

In February 1958, the city purchased property from John and Catherine Alioto located at 514 and 522 North Van Buren Street for a total of $25,000. These properties fell in the area where Milwaukee was implementing its Urban Redevelopment Plan. (Today, this spot is a parking lot.)

The FBI saw Walter Brocca visit the Club Midnite on February 17, 1958. This same day, Brocca approached the FBI in their car and asked why they were investigating him. They did not admit to investigating him (although they were) but asked him if he wanted to talk to them about himself; he obliged, sat in the car with Special Agent James E. McArdle and told them quite a bit. He told them he had a brother who moved to Glendale, California along with his parents. His parents still owned the home he lived in, so he paid no rent. He said he drives a green 1957 Oldsmobile 98 that he purchased from Bob Black Oldsmobile at 2639 North Prospect Avenue, but it is not registered in his name because he had judgments against him and did not want the car taken away. He had worked mason jobs on and off, and worked for Allis-Chambers during World War II. He was currently helping Frank Balistrieri build a charcoal grill at the Tradewinds. Brocca said he met Jerome DiMaggio and several others years ago at the Ogden Social Club and maintained a friendship with them. Brocca said he was acquainted with Felix Alderisio who owned the Hickory Way on 5th Street, and that Alderisio stays in the apartment above the Hickory Way when he is in town. Brocca said he had remodeled the building in September and October of 1957. He denied being involved in the murder of Jack Enea, whom he called a good friend, and also denied any role in the Holiday House burglary.

On February 19, Walter Brocca was seen entering the home of August Maniaci at 2121 North Newhall Street. And on February 20, he was laying brick at the Tradewinds constructing a barbecue pit.

FBI agents watched Ralph Capone in Milwaukee from February 28 through March 5, 1958. He visited the Ambassador Hotel, Frenchy’s Restaurant (North Avenue), the Vogue Tavern (1414 Wisconsin), Timber Ridge Restaurant, James Gagliano Fruit and Produce Company and Fazio’s Restaurant on Jackson. At Fazio’s, he was seen talking with three unknown men — two left in a car with license H79855 (registered to Joseph Gagliano) and the third left in a car with license K82391 (registered to Bay View Sheet Metal Company). A follow-up conversation between Gagliano and the Milwaukee police had Gagliano saying this was the first time he met Capone and that he wants nothing to do with him, as he suspects that Capone would force him to pay tribute for the privilege of operating his own trucks.

During the vice trial of Waukesha Sheriff Michael Lombardi on Friday, March 7, 1958, the name of Walter Brocca came up. Richard Sey, a deputy, testified that Lombardi had once called him to the Tip Tap Lounge where he met Dominic Picciurro some time a few weeks after Jack Enea was murdered. Picciurro then gave Sey an envelope and told him to bring it Walter Brocca at Club 166 in the Town of Menomonee. Sey did so, but apparently very slowly, as Picciurro was already there when he arrived. What the envelope contained was not made known to Sey. Other officers testified that they were told not to investigate Club 166 despite its bad reputation.

John Alioto retired from his day job as labor foreman for the Milwaukee Bureau of Street Sanitation on April 6, 1958. He continued to work at Alioto’s Food market at 2500 North Booth Street.

Felix Alderisio sold the Hickory House restaurant (725 North 5th Street) on April 8, 1958.

The FBI investigated a connection between John Alioto and Anthony A. Musso, the boss of the Rockford, Illinois crime family in May 1958. Telephone records showed that Alioto had called Musso at his residence at 2117 North Court Street, Rockford. On May 1, a Rockford police officer advised the Feds that “in his twenty-three years with the department Musso has never been brought into the station but that Musso is a known local hoodlum but has never been caught in any specific offense.” The investigation led them to digging up rumors about Musso’s criminal activities and his connections to known gambler George Saladino. Few connections between Musso and Alioto were found. Completely by coincidence, on May 22, 1958, Tony Musso died of cancer at age 64. He was succeeded temporarily by Jasper Calo and then later by Joseph Zammuto.

August Maniaci filed for bankruptcy on May 26, 1958 in Milwaukee. His business, Club Midnight, was taken over by his father, “Pops” Maniaci, who formerly operated the Canadian Club Cocktail Lounge on the southeast corner of Jefferson and Detroit.

Around July 2, 1958, Walter Brocca was seen at the Pizza House on North Avenue giving a check for $1000 to the man who owned the Driftwood Tavern at the corner of Humboldt and Capitol. The man then took the check to First Wisconsin Bank and they told him it was no good.

Ralph Capone entered the Milwaukee Police Department Detective Bureau on July 2, 1958 to complain to Captain Charles Nowakowski and Captain Adrian Mershon about being surveilled by the police. He told the detectives that his sole income comes from cigarette vending machines operated by his company, the Suburban Vending Company of Brookfield, Illinois. With Capone was Joseph Krasno, a Milwaukee gambler and tavern operator. Nowakowski advised Capone that if he did not want a “fatherly eye” on him, he should bypass Milwaukee when traveling between Mercer and Chicago.

Angelo Alioto, John’s son, became a founder of the National Italian Invitational Golf Tournament for Charities, believed to be the oldest ethnic golf tournament in the United States. First held in 1958, the annual tournament continues to raise money for charities and scholarships.

Two FBI special agents trailed Ralph Capone on July 31, 1958. Capone and two other men arrived at Mitchell Airport at 12:45pm on North Central Flight 570 from Ironwood, Michigan. At 1:00 they entered Yellow Cab 332 with their luggage. The three men dropped their luggage off at the Ambassador Hotel and then took the same cab to the Milwaukee County Stadium to catch a Milwaukee Braves game at 2:00pm.

On August 7, 1958, Patrolman Henry Czarnecki placed a bet on a horse race at John Seggiaro’s barbershop in Kenosha. He won the race, but then signaled Kenosha Police Chief Stanley Haukedahl and three other officers outside. Seggiaro was arrested for bookmaking.

As of August 1958, the new Alioto’s Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge was being constructed at the corner of Highway 100 and Burleigh Street. As of 2012, it remains there.

The FBI believed on August 22, 1958 that Frank Balistrieri was being replaced as the “nominal head” of the Milwaukee hoodlums by Angelo G. Provinzano, president of the Dairy Lane Shops and owner of the Donut Shop at 6th and Wisconsin. Balistrieri had made too much publicity for himself, and Provinzano was a quieter individual — the key being to keep media and law enforcement off the scent of the organization. Outside of this mention in the FBI files, however, Provinzano seems to have been a clean character — was their report mistaken or did he cover his tracks that well?

Ralph Capone came to Milwaukee on September 1, 1958 and stayed at the Stratford-Arms Hotel on the corner of 15th and Wisconsin, registered as R. C. James, and stayed in room 218. He was accompanied by two people identified as “old family friends” and stayed one week. Around this time he started investing in plastic pouring caps for liquor bottles which were patented by someone in Milwaukee, possibly Angelo Fazio.

Ralph Capone returned to Milwaukee the first week of October 1958 for the purpose of catching some World Series games and possibly some football. (The 1958 World Series ran October 1 through October 9 and was a rematch of the 1957 Series, with the New York Yankees beating the defending champion Milwaukee Braves in seven games for their eighteenth title, and their seventh in ten years.)

On October 29, 1958, Special Agents Richard Thompson and Clark Lovrien interviewed a Milwaukee hoodlum about Walter Brocca. The hoodlum referred to Brocca as a “parasite” that hung around Frank Balistrieri. He said that Balistrieri was a “small man”, and liked to have eight or ten guys hanging around him at night while drinking coffee at the Belmont Hotel. Balistrieri invariably would pick up the tab for everyone. The hoodlum further said he (the hoodlum) suggested that Balistrieri rename the Tradewinds to something Irish to keep the “wops” out of the place. The new name was Gallagher’s.

There was an examination on Tuesday, December 16, 1958 for a lawsuit involving Teamsters secretary Frank H. Ranney, cinder block firm operator Joseph Balistrieri (Frank and Peter’s father, 7807 North Santa Monica Boulevard), Jack Rizzo and August Chiaverotti. These men were doing business as Atomic Industries, Inc. The man suing them was George N. Schwerbel, a Brookfield appliance repairman who was a co-patent owner on a bubble gun. Schwerbel thought he had sold the manufacturing rights to a company called Monarch Supply, but Rizzo testified “it could be possible” that he transferred the rights to Dynamic Industries (the forerunner of Atomic Industries) on July 1, 1957. Once the suit was filed, Ranney sold his part of the business. By December 22, an agreement was reached that Schwerbel would receive 10% of the net profit from each gun produced.

Ralph Capone came to Milwaukee on December 29, 1958 and registered at the Ambassador Hotel under the name R. C. James, along with his paramour. The FBI believed that Capone was visiting family acquaintances and was not involved in any illicit business.

Francis Stelloh was released from prison in January 1959 after serving 16 years for armed robbery.

A meeting between several known gamblers and hoodlums took place at March 2, 1959 at 4:30pm at Gallagher’s Steak House. One such person there was August Maniaci. Maniaci and known gamblers were there again on March 4.

The FBI received information on April 6, 1959 that Frank Balistrieri and Chicago hoodlum Marshall Caifano entered a new bar/restaurant and Caifano told the owner, “This new place with its remodeling must have cost you quite a bit of money.” The FBI was not sure if this was a threat or simply an observation.

Joe Bonanno flew into Milwaukee on May 1, 1959 and was met at the Milwaukee County Airport by representatives of the Grande Cheese Company, a company that Bonanno held a 10% interest in. Bonanno attended the two-day national UNICO (United National Italian Civic Organization) convention at the Pfister Hotel. Following the convention, Bonanno went to Fond du Lac where he toured the Grande Cheese Company and sat in on meetings.

Joseph Sciortino was served an eviction notice in May 1959 by Judge William F. Shaughnessy for his bakery at 536 North VanBuren Street (adjacent to John Alioto’s tavern). The bakery was condemned by a jury to make way for the lower third ward “slum clearance project”.

A Milwaukee police officer observed Americo DePietto visiting Louis Fazio at Fazio’s on 5th on May 11, 1959. Fazio and DePietto had met in Waupun prison, and DePietto was a known fence — he was believed to provide Fazio with stolen liquor. The officer asked DePietto if his parole officer gave him permission to travel (DePietto lived in Chicago) and he said that he did. FBI records would show DePietto occasionally making calls to Fazio’s restaurant, but beyond that he had little or nothing to do with Milwaukee (or Wisconsin in general).

Judge Frank Gregorski ordered Caffe Espresso (931 North Jackson) to “change its menu” on June 9, 1959. The coffee shop, owned and operated by Steve Gagliano, 42, was thought to be putting too much alcohol in their coffee. The flavor extract used consisted of about 2% alcohol, which was too strong according to a Prohibition-era law.

Marcia Jean Calligaro, 22, a former stripper at one of Isadore Pogrob’s night clubs, was found dead on Sunday, December 20, 1959 beside a road in Peoria, Illinois. Calligaro, also known as Christina Antrim, had been shot. The night before, her 6-year old daughter Rebecca gave her a crucifix and said, “Mommy, take this with you so nothing will happen to you.” Calligaro had been fired from her job at the Combo Club on Friday night and called her husband, Floyd Calligaro, 44, Saturday morning to come pick her up — the couple lived in Ironwood, Michigan. For a while (about four months) they had both lived at 926 North Jackson Street in Milwaukee.

Isadore Pogrob, owner of the Brass Rail night club at 744 North Third Street, was killed on January 6, 1960. After closing down the club, he went over to the Belmont Hotel with two of his employees, Vito Aiello and Hugh Patton. He was picked up from the nearby Belmont Hotel coffee shop at 3:30am and driven to a drainage ditch in Mequon, where his body was dumped. When his corpse was found, shot by a .45, he had only 93 cents in his pockets, though police suspected he had $1500 in cash on him from the day’s sales. The body was dumped over a small bridge on Highway 167 between Swan Road and Farmdale Road.

On the evening of Pogrob’s murder, Francis Stelloh was at Gallagher’s tavern with Frank Balistrieri, Vito “Buster” Balistreri, and Steve DiSalvo. Buster, sometimes identified as Frank’s cousin, was actually the brother-in-law of Frank’s brother Peter, and a relative of “Big Jim” Balistreri, the head of the Kansas City mob. Gallagher’s, at 829 North Third, would be within a block of where Pogrob was abducted. Detective Richard T. Polsen said a police informant was in the tavern and saw Frank Balistrieri take a phone call, come back to the table, and make a motion with his finger from ear to ear across the throat, indicating that someone was going to die. The men then allegedly grabbed their coats and left.

Milwaukee mayor Frank P. Zeidler contacted Senator Alexander Wiley on January 11 and asked to be put in contact with the FBI, because he did not believe that local law enforcement was handling the gang situation well. Zeidler told the agent that he believed Pogrob was killed for “squealing” on Louis Fazio. He also said they had three other unsolved gangland style killings: John “Blackie” Sullivan, Jack Enea and John DiTripani. An agent informed Zeidler that the FBI did not have jurisdiction in local cases. Director Hoover noted also that in his opinion Zeidler, a socialist, “had a hostile attitude” towards the FBI and was a “bigot”.

Detroit counterfeiter Sebastian “Sam” Vermiglio, who had been deported but came back, refused to talk to Milwaukee police on Saturday, January 16, 1960 when asked about his whereabouts during the Isadore Pogrob murder. He was questioned by Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Francis Croak and Sgt. John Lavin. Vermiglio did admit that although his home was Detroit, and his wife and kids lived there, he had been spending much of his time in Milwaukee lately. He further admitted that he knew both John DiTrapani and Jack Enea and their murders were “too bad… They were nice guys.”

Facing deportation back to Sicily again, Sam Vermiglio waived extradition to be brought from Detroit to Milwaukee on Thursday, January 28, 1960. He was wanted there for the minor crime of signing an autombile title with a false name. The Milwaukee police were hoping to use this to get more answers out of Vermiglio about the Pogrob murder, and Vermiglio was willing to talk in exchange for delaying his deportation to Palermo. After arriving in Milwaukee, he did everything in his power to shield his face from reporters’ cameras, but did answer a few questions from Captain Leo Woelfel. The answers were mostly “I dunno”, and he jokingly claimed his real name was Joe Doakes.

By Saturday, January 30, Vermiglio became more talkative — but about the wrong subjects. He told police that Italian beef is not tender, that prices in Palermo were too high, and that the Algerian people are a tough lot. He said the charge against him was a joke, and pointed out that using a fake name was not uncommon — Cary Grant’s real name was Archie Leach, for example. His attorney, Sydney M. Eisenberg, said that Vermiglio would not answer questions about the auto title but would submit to a lie detector test about the Pogrob murder. Eisenberg said that Vermiglio was not a hoodlum, and that, “I don’t know why he should be tested on every crime that was ever committed in Milwaukee.” Special assistant District Attorney Hugh O’Connell responded, “I never said that he was (a hoodlum). I don’t know how many swallows it takes to make a summer.”

Francis Stelloh called his attorney, John Craite, at 2:30am on February 4, 1960 to report that the police were outside of his apartment at 7705 West Lincoln Avenue, West Allis. The police were there to question Stelloh about the murder of Isadore Pogrob. While outside, the police heard Stelloh make a phone call and repeat two phone numbers to the person on the phone. Those numbers belonged to Peter Balistrieri, owner of Gallagher’s at 829 West 3rd and Frank Balistrieri, owner of the Downtowner at 340 West Wells. When Stelloh opened the door for Craite, the police followed in behind him, and Stelloh was caught with divorcee Patricia Trapp. The police charged Stelloh with fornication after he admitted that he had relations with Trapp, although not on this particular date. He was sent back to prison on February 25 for this parole violation.

Sebastian “Sam” Vermiglio, 48, was given a lie detector test regarding three gangland murders on Friday, February 12, 1960. Although he provided some “deceptive answers”, according to special assistant district attorney Hugh O’Connell, he passed the five-hour test in Madison and was released. O’Connell also dropped the title fraud charge. Vermiglio was soon deported on February 15, for a second time, to Italy.

On May 11, 1960, Judge Frank E. Gregorski dismissed the fornication charge against Francis Stelloh, agreeing with him that the arrest was illegal and unconstitutional. After an appeal, the decision was reversed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in September and Stelloh remained jailed.

Frank Balistrieri bought his home at 3043 North Shepard Avenue on October 22, 1960 — the same house he would live in until his death. He bought it for $36,000 — $20,000 coming from insurance loans. The building was constructed in 1917, and is now a historic landmark known as the Edward H. Inbusch House.

St. Paul jukebox king Herman Paster, 57, was shot in the head while reading a newspaper in his den on Friday, October 28, 1960. Three shots fro ma .38 pistol came in through his window, the third being fatal. He died on the way to the hospital. St. Paul Police Chief William Proetz called the murder one that “reaches high into the circles of national crime.”

City officials had a public meeting on Thursday, June 8, 1961 and spoke of the alleged non-existence of organized crime in Milwaukee. “There is no visible or invisible syndicate as far as we know,” said Police Chief Howard O. Johnson. He further said that Captain Harry Kuszewski was “doing an outstanding job in controlling vice in the community.” Mayor Maier said, “Milwaukee will not tolerate hoodlums or the Chicago-type of syndicate operation.” Little did they know that organized crime was about to go on the rise.

In the summer of 1961, Frank was having tax problems and called a friend to help him find a “good tax man”. The friend referred him to a man named Art, and the two met at the Fireside Restaurant in Wauwatosa some time in July.

Also in the summer of 1961, Frank LaGalbo tried to take over leadership of the Milwaukee family. Some informants believed he might try to kill John Alioto. LaGalbo was supported by his two enforcers, August Maniaci and John Aiello. This brought the heat down on Maniaci and LaGalbo (though apparently not Aielllo) and LaGalbo left for a couple weeks (probably to Peshtigo) while things cooled down. LaGalbo was powerful among the younger Italians and had strong connections to Felix Alderisio and Tony Accardo in Chicago. He had fallen out of favor with Milwaukee after the murder of John DiTrapani, which he likely either committed or ordered.

October 7, 1961 — Special agents were at Gallagher’s Steak House at 829 North Third Street, and they witnessed Balistrieri come in around 9:30pm. He immediately pulled up a chair to a table with two middle-aged men, a middle-aged woman and a younger woman (none of whom were identified by the agents). He talked with them a short while, then went and talked to a waitress, and finally “busied himself” around the restaurant for 25 minutes. He conversed with the table a bit more and then went to go answer a telephone call. About 15 minutes later, they were joined by yet another middle-aged man. From about 11:00 to 11:30, Balistrieri spoke with one of the men while the others had left the table. At 1:30am, everyone left except Balistrieri. They departed in three cars — a light-colored 1956 Chevrolet coupe, a white 1962 Chevrolet Impala and a 1961 Chevrolet. These people were somehow connected to Frank’s tax problems, and ultimately this investigation led to a bribery charge.

Louis J. Tarantino, 27, was arrested on October 30, 1961 for possession of obscene photos. He had taken nude photos of an 18-year old girl and then later threatened to send them to her parents and police if she did not pay $500 for the negatives. The Judge Steffes sentenced him to five years in state prison.

Around November 7, 1961, Chicago Heights LCN member John Roberts (aka John Roberti) died. Surveillance of the West End Funeral Home in Chicago Heights observed a car with license plate L61773, registered to Chico’s Bar-B-Q. Presumably, this was Frank LaGalbo’s car.

August Maniaci was arrested on December 5, 1961 for forging mortgage papers in order to get a loan. With the help of Vincent Mercurio, he bribed District Attorney William J. McCauley $5500 to have the case thrown out. The case was dismissed for lack of evidence.

On December 27, 1961, John Alioto attended a civic testimony honoring Dr. Vito Guardalabene’s recovery from a stroke. The social event, honoring the son and grandson of the Guardalabenes, was attended by public officials, labor leaders, doctors and prominent citizens. It would also serve as the official induction of Frank Balistrieri as the new boss of the Milwaukee LCN Family.

Have something to say? Leave a comment.