The time period investigated by federal prosecutors, 1994-2000, spanned the ownership change at the RFT. Before his contract expired, the Star hired him as a full-time general-assignment reporter. Instead, James Earl Ray appeared edgy and expressed apprehension about his future. A sheriffs posse pursuing the fugitives heard the shots and found Moyer lying next to the body. Warden Nash committed suicide. He didnt bring him to St. Louis. In a sense, Maloney did respect their trade. Bonadonna disappeared in 1978, presumably into the federal witness-protection program. He was kind of fearless, says Jones. During a short parole in 1957, Maloney was arrested in Kansas City on suspicion of burglary and carrying a concealed weapon. He had publicly refuted the Stars story simply to keep from being killed. James Earl Ray subsequently fled north of the border, but there is no indication that he participated in such a caper. His second novel, The Chain, is based on his years behind bars, including his incarceration at the Missouri Penitentiary and the old St. Louis City Jail. Dowling was known as an elegant dresser who preferred expensive businessmen's clothing to the more garish threads of many mobsters. Maloney added to his underworld knowledge in prison, where he befriended fellow inmate John Paul Spica, a St. Louis Mafia soldier. She was 16 and insisted she would commit suicide before she was 21, because she had a fear of not being beautiful. If they were surprised to hear the word "guilty," they didn't show it. Having been a convict, they thought he should have respected their trade a little more than he did.. Maloney excelled as a feature writer but eventually became better known as an investigative journalist covering a wide range of issues, including labor racketeering, white-collar crime, drug trafficking and mental health. Competing mob interests were in the midst of fighting for control of the River Quay entertainment district. Kevin Horrigan, a cub reporter at the Star in 1973, remembers Maloney as an affable colleague but one who stood apart. Paddock Lounge Killer Reporting J.J. Maloney traded a knife for a pen, swapping a life of crime for a career in journalism. Ray says his brother gave him approximately half the money and requested that he hold $10,000 of it in case he was arrested and needed to post bond. Maloney had garnered the editors attention in 1961 through a poem he had submitted to the Star, which then printed verse on its editorial page each day. Callow, however, is not the only link between the mayor and the radioactive waste that has plagued the region since it first began piling up as a byproduct of Mallinkcrodt Chemicals work on the Manhattan Project. He was one of those guys who was constantly fidgeting, or his knee was pounding up and down. Entering the store, he pulled a hunting knife and demanded money from Joseph F. Thiemann, the 74-year-old store owner. In 1975, Maloney and Jones teamed up again to cover the corruption and violence surrounding a power struggle among factions of the Kansas City Mafia. Rays late brother James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to Kings murder in 1969 but quickly recanted his confession. Stenger was introduced to Rallo by federal felon Sorkis Webbe Jr. in 2014, according to the federal indictment. All of a sudden their stories would change. In June 1964, at Hinkleys urging, Warden E.V. He wrote to me as if I were just another person, another young writer.. A version of this story appeared in Illinois Times, April 2, 2008. Ray, a 75-year-old resident of Quincy, is giving media interviews in New York to promote the release of his memoir, Truth at Last, co-authored by Lyndon Barsten. Martin Luther King Jr., who died in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968. But the mob kind of looked at Joe as a turncoat. I was even more impressed that he did not ask why I was in prison, or for how long. The white convicts slept three to a cell (except for several hundred in one-man cells). Solitary confinement involved long-term segregation, whereas the hole was a short-term punishment, usually a 10-day stint, during which prisoners were deprived of cigarettes, bedding and sometimes clothing. We just went in there one night to sit and watch. Maloney thought of Menn as the father he never had. In subsequent tape-recorded telephone interviews with Maloney, Bonadonna said that the Mafia had also targeted him for execution. After his return to Missouri, his parole officer committed Maloney to State Hospital No. The Paddock closed in 1967. John G. Rallo, also known as Johnny Roller for his long hours spent at the crap tables in Las Vegas, and fellow accomplice Sheila Sweeney were charged one week after Stenger pleaded guilty. Its like the Mississippi River, says John Larry Ray. In his phone call he had asked his brother to pump OBrien for information. Double Deuce Lounge. Meanwhile, Menn had interested Random House in publishing a book of Maloneys poetry. By the time we were cellies, Joe had straightened up his act and was staying out of trouble, working on his parole. He told me then that he didnt have time to go on camera for even a few minutes to talk about St. Louis longstanding radioactive waste problem. Five more years would elapse before Maloney finally made parole, during which time Menn continued to support and encourage his writing. An earlier version of this story appeared in the St. Louis Journalism review in 2008 and Focus/midwest magazine in 2010. By then, most of his running buddies from the joint were long dead, victims, for the most part, of their own malevolent ways. That, of course, was back in the day, when a lifer could still aspire to being released on parole. Driving the car, and trying to hide his face with a handkerchief, is Dutch Dowling. In late 1967, the parole board indicated the possibility of Maloneys being released early the next year. (Buel White/Post-Dispatch), On March 3, 1962, six days after the jury verdict, the bodies of Elmer "Dutch" Dowling (left) and Melvin Beckman were found sprawled on the pavement of Wolf Branch School Board (now Huntwood Road), north of Belleville. Slay was a partner in Guilfoil Petzall & Shoemake for 20 years prior to becoming mayor. Maloney sensed that the feud was about to erupt into open warfare. He is awaiting sentencing before Judge Catherine D. Perry in August. He says he drove down from St. Louis in his cream-colored Thunderbird with a machine gun and other weapons in the trunk. English . O'Brien arranged for the Ray brothers to spend the night at a nearby apartment above an illegal gambling den also operated by Wortman. The St. Louis mobster and federal informant died from a gunshot wound to the head. He suspects that the payoff was passed through Wortmans organization by the Chicago mob in advance of a Canadian jewel robbery in which his brother was slated to take part. After Maloney punched Thiemann in the face several times, the old man agreed to hand over the cash. He also worked diligently to establish a national writers association for prisoners. Maloneys good fortune was twofold: He had belatedly benefited from the prison-reform movement of the 1960s and also from the unique ownership structure of the Kansas City Star, then employee-owned. OBrien arranged for the Ray brothers to spend the night at a nearby apartment above an illegal gambling den also operated by Wortman. He wanted to meet me. The two arranged a rendezvous in West Memphis, Ark., on the evening of April 3, 1968, at what Ray calls a back-alley bar. He said, Youve saved my life, for the time being, anyway.. But John Larry Ray believes that his brother maintained contact with OBrien after their hasty departure. The court also ordered Sonnenschein to pay a $250,000 fine and give $1 million to Eastside charities. He was between jobs, collecting unemployment benefits. (Buel White/Post-Dispatch), Buster Wortman being driven away from the St. Clair County Courthouse in Belleville after a brief appearance before the county grand jury on July 2, 1955. She seemed fragile and shy, yet she wasnt. Kane, county coroner. Shopping, dining, and entertainment are all close by. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Paddock Village Apartments offers one-of-a-kind 2 bedroom apartment homes and 2 or 3 bedroom townhomes. Arizona authorities ruled it a suicide. 4.9. For Sale on 1stDibs - "Paddock" Pars 1969, 20th Century oil on canvas by Spanish Artist E. Grau Sala, Canvas, Oil Paint by Emilio Grau Sala. At the time of his marriage to Maloneys mother, he had only been out of the Missouri Penitentiary for a year. 1 in Fulton for psychiatric observation. We stayed all night at the Catmans in South St. Louis, says Ray, referring to Jack Catman Gawron, a criminal associate of the Ray brothers. A private drive connected the bridge to South Mulberry Road. If you will make these promises, I will ask the warden to take you out of solitary confinement.. But his mother remained faithful: She never gave up. At a tape-recorded meeting held in the Stars conference room, Fred Bonadonna refuted any possibility that Willie Cammisano had had anything to do with the death of his father. Hinkley, a former St. Louis Globe-Democrat Woman of the Year, was an early advocate of prison reform and used her social standing to influence decisions of the Missouri Department of Corrections. He had learned about it from his mobbed-up stepfather. Maloneys good fortune was twofold: He had belatedly benefited from the prison-reform movement of the 1960s and also from the unique ownership structure of the Kansas City Star, then employee-owned. Tasty dishes in East Saint Louis. Just minutes from highways 367, 170 and I-270, the commute to great St. Louis employers like Boeing, Express Scripts, and Emerson Electric is easy. A year after his parents divorced, a hit-and-run driver killed his brother, Bobby. Ratings. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Asked why John Larry Ray would incorporate a stopover in St. Louis into his story, his brother replies: I guess to dramatize the book. He was always writing somethingstories, critiques, opinion pieces and, yes, poetry.. Pendergast was long gone, but his machine was anchored in place. He was between jobs, collecting unemployment benefits. He quickly became an important part of the gang that terrorized Southern Illinois in the 1920s and early. Books sent to him for review were screened by the prison administration and sometimes rejected.Instead of zip guns or knives, Maloney fought back with the law as his weapon. Maloney had no way of knowing the significance that his verse would ultimately play in redirecting his life. John Larry Ray, a convicted bank robber, spent more than a quarter-century behind bars himself. Maloneys formal education had ended in the ninth grade, but Menn recognized raw talent when he saw it. Wortman's headquarters was his Paddock Lounge, at 429 St. Louis Avenue in East St. Louis. Born in St. Louis, Frank first worked as a molder for a steel casting plant in East St. Louis. poultry; chicken; meat . But Maloney became more devoted to writing as he matured. I asked him if hed read the story, and if it had helped him any. She also acted as Maloneys liaison with the outside world. Moreover, correspondence regarding his book of poetry had to be routed through his mother. His editors opposed the idea. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. When he entered prison, Dwight Eisenhower was president; when he came out, the Watergate burglary had been committed. You have permission to edit this article. While confined at the hospital, Maloney met and fell in love with a fellow patient, 16-year-old Edith Rhodes, who had been transferred from Chillicothe. He chain-smoked. She kept her end of the bargain. The Chicago mob had allegedly put a $100,000 contract out on Stonekings life after he became an informant. A day after he escaped, he was in Chicago that night, and I met him and John a day afterward at the Fairview Hotel on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.. Tucked in a peaceful neighborhood, Paddock Village Apartments offers a quaint residential setting, complete with lush green spaces. I dont know.. But Maloney became more devoted to writing as he matured. Paddock Village Apartments in St. Louis, MO offers two bedroom lofts, two bedroom apartments, and two and three bedroom townhomes. Maloney had reached his nadir. They registered at the St. Francis Hotel, at Sixth and Chestnut, under the name Mr. and Mrs. John Ducharme of Jacksonville, Fla. That evening Maloney, armed with a hunting knife, robbed the clerk at another downtown hotel. He was not from another planet, but he was from another time. When he made the demand for money, he and Thiemann began struggling, according to the confession Maloney later gave St. Louis police. He was a gutsy little guy. The Warden to take you out of the gang that terrorized Southern Illinois in 1920s... Subsequently fled north of the border, but he was one of guys! Dining, and entertainment are all close by offers two bedroom lofts, two bedroom lofts, two lofts. 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