The story was based in part on the earlier research of Kay Drey. By the time we were cellies, Joe had straightened up his act and was staying out of trouble, working on his parole. The Chicago mob had allegedly put a $100,000 contract out on Stonekings life after he became an informant. O'Brien arranged for the Ray brothers to spend the night at a nearby apartment above an illegal gambling den . The Star published a verbatim transcript of his claims in its next edition. She sent money, clothing, food, stamps and other items. Maloneys own artwork took awards at state and county fairs and was exhibited at a gallery in Paris. C.D. He was kind of fearless, says Jones. Stoneking, the informant who testified against Bartolotta and dozens of other St. Louis mobsters in the 1980s, died of an apparent suicide in Maricopa County, Arizona a year ago (2003). As a result, he was put in solitary four times and sentenced to the hole another 18 or 20 times. Maloney argued that the Star should immediately expose the Mafias infiltration of the River Quay. Maloney had reached his nadir. Maloney added to his underworld knowledge in prison, where he befriended fellow inmate John Paul Spica, a St. Louis Mafia soldier. Dowling was convicted of assault in the case, but he won a reversal from the Missouri Supreme Court. Instead, James Earl Ray appeared edgy and expressed apprehension about his future. I was glad to get out of there. Before they departed, Jones overheard the bodyguard to Carl Corky Civella threaten to rape Maloney. She seemed fragile and shy, yet she wasnt. When he made the demand for money, he and Thiemann began struggling, according to the confession Maloney later gave St. Louis police. But John Larry Ray believes that his brother maintained contact with OBrien after their hasty departure. Dowling had been Wortman's right-hand man and was convicted along with Wortman on Feb. 26. Warden Nash committed suicide. James Earl Ray also supposedly told his brother that the CIA had tapped him to be an intelligence asset. Martin Luther King Jr., who died in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968. He pitched various book proposals and collaborated on at least three different screenplay adaptations of his first novel, but none of the projects came to fruition. Printable Racing Calendar & Promotions Schedule Maloney frequented the mob hangouts at night to develop leads. 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. The conviction was only the second for the often-arrested Wortman, who had muscled to the top in the late 1940s with help from the Capone syndicate in Chicago. Maloney also tagged along when his stepfather drove to Jefferson City to visit a friend still incarcerated at the penitentiary. James Earl Ray also supposedly told his brother that the CIA had tapped him to be an intelligence asset. Wortman did not like having his picture taken, but couldn't avoid it during the seven-week trial. Paddock Village Apartments in St. Louis, MO offers two bedroom lofts, two bedroom apartments, and two and three bedroom townhomes. After the Star ran a story implicating Cammisanos brother William Willie the Rat Cammisano in the Bonadonna slaying, members of the two families demanded to rebut the allegation, which was based on an FBI affidavit. Wortman had died in Alexian Brothers Hospital in St. Louis five days before after undergoing throat surgery. Everyone was shocked. James Earl Ray subsequently fled north of the border, but there is no indication that he participated in such a caper. John will tell you he brought him [James Earl Ray] to St. Louis, Jerry Ray says. Wortman was 63. Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). Investigators developed a keener interest in the project after Buster Wortman allegedly slugged an IRS agent in the Paddock Lounge, a 429 St. Louis Avenue in East St. Louis on July 1, 1956. She kept her end of the bargain. Five more years would elapse before Maloney finally made parole, during which time Menn continued to support and encourage his writing. After he testified against Berne and other St. Louis area organized crime figures in federal court, the Chicago Mafia allegedly put out a $100,000 contract on his life. As a result, Maloneys letters to Menn started coming back undelivered. In the book, John Larry Ray asserts that his brother revealed to him that he had been ordered to shoot and kill a black soldier in postwar Germany while serving in the Army. He also worked diligently to establish a national writers association for prisoners. (Floyd Bowser/Post-Dispatch). (Post-Dispatch), Pall bearers carry the casket of Frank "Buster" Wortman into St. Stephen's Catholic Church in Caseyville for his funeral Mass on Aug. 8, 1968. Once an adult (21 years old or older) has finished racing for the day (we have a strict anti-drinking and driving policy), they can enjoy a wide selection of beer and . 1 in Fulton for psychiatric observation. He proved to be an invaluable ally. Wortman's headquarters was his Paddock Lounge, at 429 St. Louis Avenue in East St. Louis. When he entered prison, Dwight Eisenhower was president; when he came out, the Watergate burglary had been committed. Last chance! Beckman's shot-up car was ditched at a bowling alley in Swansea. A sheriffs posse pursuing the fugitives heard the shots and found Moyer lying next to the body. We just went in there one night to sit and watch. Maloney was also keenly aware that local law-enforcement officials were hesitant to use the M-word. I heard he was in Florida someplace., They sipped beer together for a couple of hours, says John Larry Ray. He was always writing somethingstories, critiques, opinion pieces and, yes, poetry.. There was just something there, and it didnt fit in with everybody else, says Horrigan, now an editorial writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. While in prison, Gruender met and befriended Elmer Dutch Dowling and Isidore Londe, lieutenants of East St. Louis mob boss Frank Buster Wortman. In his phone call he had asked his brother to pump OBrien for information. Maloneys formal education had ended in the ninth grade, but Menn recognized raw talent when he saw it. Jesse Stoneking, the unnamed informant cited by the FBI in the report, died of a gunshot wound to the head in Arizona in 2003. Vintage The Paddock Lounge And Club Room Restaurant Menu St. Louis Ave East St Louis from Meanwhile, O'Brien was supposed to check with Wortman about a proposed diamond heist. View the menu, check prices, find on the map, see photos and ratings. I did what all young poets do, I tried to write a nice little rhyming solution to all the problems of the universe, he later wrote. Maloney then wrested the gun from his victim and fled. In later years he worked as a freelance writer and as an editor for the alternative press. Rainbow Wednesdays at Club Lush #121 of 282 places to eat in East Saint Louis. On the basis of this anecdote, co-author Barsten speculates that James Earl Ray was subjected to the CIAs behavior-modification program known as MK-Ultra. After his fourth escape from Boonville, juvenile authorities transferred him to Algoa, the states intermediate reformatory, where his behavior worsened. Stenger was introduced to Rallo by federal felon Sorkis Webbe Jr. in 2014, according to the federal indictment. A few days later I received a letter from Thorpe Menn, literary editor of the Star, who rejected the poem but said he liked the last four lines. Given where hed come from, its easy to figure out why.. By then, the prison-bound poet and writer had been published in numerous other venues, including Focus/Midwest, a St. Louisbased magazine founded by Charles Klotzer, publisher of the Saint Louis Journalism Review. I dont know.. After going bankrupt in 2003, Spectrulites owners sold the company, but continue to hold a stake in the operation and the property itself. Its like the Mississippi River, says John Larry Ray. Maloney expanded his connections in the literary world, writing to such luminaries as R. Buckminster Fuller, John D. MacDonald, William Buckley and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Exposure to art ignited Maloneys innate creative streak. A famous urban destination spot for the St. Louis metropolitan with gentlemen clubs and nightclubs, but the Ill Side, which represents St Louis' only section that is in the state of Illinois, is a community that has many misunderstandings, especially within the East St Louis ghetto. 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. They preferred a more cautious approach, advising that the coverage be focused more indirectly on corruption inside the citys liquor-control agency. Over the next year and a half, Maloney was put in solitary confinement dozens of times for attempting to escape, instigating a riot and other infractions. (Renyold Ferguson/Post-Dispatch), Frank "Buster" Wortman in a St. Louis police mug shot in 1933, when he was 28 years old and member of the Shelton gang on the East Side. I was even more impressed that he did not ask why I was in prison, or for how long. Moreover, correspondence regarding his book of poetry had to be routed through his mother. Maloney argued that the Star should immediately expose the Mafias infiltration of the River Quay. Wortman later moved into a home built upon the island, reached by a wooden bridge -- and always guarded by gunmen. 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. Their stories ran as a four-part series in April 1973. The last time John Larry Ray visited New York City was in 1965. It didnt take very long for that to happen. Despite his abominable record, the state had little choice but to parole him in January 1959, a few months after he turned 18. 787 N 53rd St, East St Louis, IL 62203 (618) 274-3168 Suggest an Edit. Ratings. Maloney moved back to Kansas City, perhaps drawn by memories of his glory days. Menn became his mentor, giving guidance and critiquing his poetry and prose. You have permission to edit this article. Emilio Grau Sala - "Paddock" Pars 1969, 20th Century oil on canvas by Spanish Artist E. Grau Sala For Sale at 1stDibs | paddock lounge east st louis A long-buried FBI report raises questions as to why the FBI and U.S. Justice Department ignored damning allegations by a now-very dead informant. He died of kidney failure and complications of liver disease at Nashville Memorial Hospital on April 23, 1998. After the breakout, John Larry Ray says, he picked James Earl Ray up and drove him back to St. Louis. Investigators also snooped around the secretive construction of a house, and lake surrounding it, southeast of Collinsville. But the mob kind of looked at Joe as a turncoat. But Sonnenscheins trail extends further into the past. His prison record over the next few years is a litany of major conduct violation:. He called me one time, asking about a gun, John Larry Ray says. After his return to Missouri, his parole officer committed Maloney to State Hospital No. Six days after the verdict, Dowling and a bodyguard were found shot to death on a dark road north of Belleville. I had another change of clothes, a pound of fudge, a loaf of bread, 14 silver dollars, and my old mans .38 was buried in the bottom of the sack. Despite his preparations, Maloney was quickly apprehended after stealing a car and spent the night in the Montgomery County Jail. I had another change of clothes, a pound of fudge, a loaf of bread, 14 silver dollars, and my old mans .38 was buried in the bottom of the sack. Despite his preparations, Maloney was quickly apprehended after stealing a car and spent the night in the Montgomery County Jail. He had his demons, says Mike Fancher, an editor who worked closely with Maloney, but I know that for the time that he worked for the Star he did some absolutely amazing work that I dont think any other journalist could have possibly done.. 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. Will you make a promise (and keep it) not to try and run awayto obey the rules of the prison and try to do whatever work is assigned to you? 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.. I asked him if hed read the story, and if it had helped him any. Talk about stares. But his mother remained faithful: She never gave up. Jones agreed with them. A few days later I received a letter from Thorpe Menn, literary editor of the Star, who rejected the poem but said he liked the last four lines. It was curious, too, how they seemed to hate Joe more than me, although our names appeared together on stories. I told him, if youre looking for guns, I can get any gun you want from Ft. Campbell, Ky. In his phone call he had asked his brother to pump OBrien for information. When I went to the Missouri Penitentiary at Jefferson City, in February 1960, there were 2,500 men inside the walls, Maloney later told readers of the Kansas City Star. At the time of his release, he had served 13 years of a life sentence for killing a South St. Louis confectionery owner during an attempted robbery. After the Star ran a story implicating Cammisanos brother William Willie the Rat Cammisano in the Bonadonna slaying, members of the two families demanded to rebut the allegation, which was based on an FBI affidavit. I had the connection.. Star reporter Harry Jones Jr. had hatched the idea of hiring him as a temporary consultant for an in-depth series of stories on prison systems in Missouri and Kansas. The delays in communications eventually killed his deal with Random House. Back home, he shoved aside the Sheltons, mainly through murder. Bonadonna disappeared in 1978, presumably into the federal witness-protection program. English . Wortman was acquitted at retrial, but he spent his last years hunkered in his island home, protected by gunmen. It might have been recycling. The same year, Maloneys byline disappeared from the pages of the Star when he quit the paper in a dispute over overtime pay. After returning to the United States, he occasionally talked to his brother by phone. Witnesses who might have confirmed John Larry Rays expanded version of events are dead. We drove across the river to the Paddock Lounge in [East St. Louis] Illinois and I introduced him to Jimmie OBrien, Ray says. But Maloney became more devoted to writing as he matured. On Aug. 26, 1961, Maloneys girlfriend, Edith Rhodes, was murdered near Huzzah Creek in rural Crawford County, Mo. In the wake of the mob violence, the River Quay was all but abandoned, with only six liquor licenses remaining in the district, down from 28 a few years earlier. Shortly before 8 p.m., Maloney dropped Rhodes off at the apartment of an acquaintance, then walked to a nearby confectionery, located at 1100 Lami Ave. They drove to Kansas City together and toured the Stars editorial offices. For many of . He wrote to me as if I were just another person, another young writer.. Maloney thought of Menn as the father he never had. (Renyold Ferguson/Post-Dispatch), The island home of Frank "Buster" Wortman in April 1969, eight months after his death. It was curious, too, how they seemed to hate Joe more than me, although our names appeared together on stories. (Floyd Bowser/Post-Dispatch), Frank "Buster" Wortman in the federal courthouse in East St. Louis in February 1962 during his trial on income-tax charges. Stabbings and killings, robberies and rapes were common. On Dec. 19, 1945, at the age of 14, Maloney ran away from home for the first time.I was prepared, Maloney recalled later. Prestige Lounge: By the time Lou Bonds shuttered the Prestige in the early '90s, the venue had already outlasted all of its peers in the surrounding Gaslight Square. Given where hed come from, its easy to figure out why.. He was always writing somethingstories, critiques, opinion pieces and, yes, poetry.. We visited every institution of correction for adults and juveniles in both Missouri and Kansas, plus Leavenworth and Marion in Illinois, which at the time was the Alcatraz of the [federal] system, says Jones. Although the property was listed in his estranged wifes name, Linda Sonnenscbein wasnt charged, either. The problems at Spectrulite began in 1957 when the foundry was owned by Dow Chemical Co. Dow processed uranium at the plant between 1957 and 1961 under a subcontract with St. Louis-based Mallinckrodt Chemical Co., which was working for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). Its like the Mississippi River, says John Larry Ray. John Larry Ray, a convicted bank robber, spent more than a quarter-century behind bars himself. She also acted as Maloneys liaison with the outside world. But back in Kansas City, a rift had developed among three branches of the local mob: the Cammisano, Spero and Bonadonna clans. It was the beginning of a long-term relationship carried out by correspondence. He had seen his share of bloodshed. View 2295 homes for sale in Paddock Lake Condominiums, take real estate virtual tours & browse MLS listings in Florissant, MO at realtor.com. When I went to the Missouri Penitentiary at Jefferson City, in February 1960, there were 2,500 men inside the walls, Maloney later told readers of the Kansas City Star. James OMara, the manager of Local 562, was the chairman of the St. Louis County Council at this time. So hundreds of men carried a knife or had one they could get to one in an emergency. 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