* * * * ATTENTION PUBLISHERS * * * *
To all Sho 'nuff Mob Study readers everywhere, we extend our unmitigated "WELCOME." We urge publishers who read our series to send us a complimentary copy of any recently, and/or soon-to-be, released organized crime book.
In the order in which they are received, the books will be read, then reviewed, and subsequently, cited in upcoming editions of the series. We ask only that our book donors remain patient.
Thank you.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
In Today’s column: "ORGANIZED CRIMINALS WHO ARE BURIED IN PUBLICLY UNMARKED GRAVES," and "NO CORPUS DELICTI, NO INVESTIGATION."
Albert Anselmi, James 'Jimmy the Gent' Burke, Robert Carey, William "Wild Bill" Cutolo, Vito Cascioferro, Anthony 'Tony Ducks' Corallo, James 'Jimmy' Hoffa, Seymour 'Blue Jaw' Magoon, John Scalise, Henry Shorr, Anthony 'Tony Bender' Strollo, Albert Tannenbaum and Abraham 'Bo' Weinberg are a not exhaustive list of organized criminals whose mortal remains have done 'The Houdini.'
Who Was 'The Great Houdini?'
Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874---October 31, 1926), neé 'Ehrich Weiss,' is remembered as the "World's greatest escape artist."
Houdini was the most influential magician, i.e. illusionist, of the 20th century. His specialty was escapes: slipping out of ropes, chains and handcuffs while locked in trunks and milk cans or submerged underwater. (He once jumped into San Francisco Bay while handcuffed and shackled to a ball and chain.)
In an era before TV, Houdini became world famous by barnstorming across America and around the globe. He died of peritonitis in 1926 after his appendix ruptured; the legend that he died during a failed escape is untrue. Houdini's skills and showmanship have made his name synonymous with entertaining magic; he is often credited with influencing later magicians, i.e. illusionists, from David Copperfield to David Blaine.
What Is 'The Houdini Effect?'
Harry Houdini typically demonstrated an escape from a perilous situation, disappearing briefly in the process. Then, he reappeared unscathed.
When an organized criminal is conspicuously absent and there is no corpus delecti, we say in mobspeak that he has done 'The Houdini." More accurately, 'The Houdini' has been done to him.
Along With His 'Houdini,' The Mob Victim's Remains Are Conspicuously Absent
Anselmi, Albert b. 1884 d. May 7, 1929
Organized Crime Figure. Born in Marsala, Sicily in 1884, Albert Anselmi became involved with the Mafia early in his life. Escaping the relatives of one of his murder victims, he fled to America around 1912 and entered the country illegally through the Gulf Coast, eventually settling on "The Hill", the Italian community of St. Louis. By the beginning of Prohibition, Anselmi had moved on to Chicago, working for the six Genna brothers in Little Italy. Contrary to common belief, it was here that he...[Read More] (Bio by: Dennis Rice)
Cause of death: Murdered with a baseball bat by Al Capone.
Unknown*,
*Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!
Burke, James 'Jimmy the Gent' b. July 5, 1931 d. April 13, 1996
Organized Crime Figure. Known as "Jimmy the Gent", he was immortalized in the Martin Scorcese gangster film "Goodfellas". He was one of New York City's most successful and revered organized criminals who went down in the annals of crime as the architect of the notorious 1978 Lufthansa heist, which looted New York's JFK airport of over $5.8 million in untraceable currency. On December 11th, 1978, just before dawn, a gang of seven men (identified as Angelo Sepe, Joe Manri, "Frenchy" McMahon...[Read More]
Unknown*
*Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!
Carey, Robert b. 1894 d. July 29, 1932
Gangster. Robert Carey was born and raised in St. Louis. He became embroiled in the early gang wars there between the Egan's Rats and the Hogans, fleeing to Detroit after the murder of Harry "Cherries" Dunn in September 1916. Thereafter Carey commuted across the Midwest commiting crimes with his childhood friends Fred "Killer" Burke, Gus Winkler, and James Ray. Carey was known as a chameleon in the underworld, able to change his appearance and demeanor at will. He used many aliases during his...[Read More] (Bio by: Big D)
Donated to medical science
Corallo, Anthony 'Tony Ducks' b. February 12, 1913 d. August 23, 2000
Mafia Boss of the Lucchese Crime Family. Criminal record dates back to 1929. He did 2 yrs in prison in 1962 for paying $35,000 in bribes to New York Supreme Court Justice James Vincent Keogh and Assistant U. S. Attorney Elliott Kahaner to assure a light sentence for a mob associate. In 1968 Corallo was sentenced to 4 1/2 years for bribing New York City Water Commissioner James L. Marcus. On Jan 13, 1987 Judge Richard Owen of the Federal District Court in Manhattan gave Corallo, Anthony Salerno (...[Read More]
Unknown*, Burial location unknown at this time.
*Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!
Cutolo, William 'Wild Bill' b. June 6, 1949 d. May 26, 1999 (?)
"The feds indicted Little Allie Boy and John 'Jackie' DeRoss, the Columbo Crime Family underboss, on October 14, 2004 for the May 26, 1999 murder of Columbo Family underboss William 'Wild Bill' Cutolo, and for obstruction of justice related to the investigation of Cutolo's murder. On that day, William Cutolo had been picked up and driven to what he was told would be a top-level meeting of the Columbo Cosa Nostra Family. Wild Bill thought he was headed for a session with Little Allie Boy but at that moment, Persico---the man the feds say was the architect of Cutolo's murder---was in Garden City, L.I. discussing strategy for a then-pending case with his attorney. Cutolo's body has never been found. In November 2002, following a hearing in Surrogates Court, Cutolo was officially declared dead.
In an affidavit describing some of what the feds learned about Cutolo's disappearance, FBI agent Margaret Carmichael reported that Cutolo had been scheduled to attend a family Administration meeting on Tuesday, May 25, the day before he disappeared. But Little Allie Boy paged Cutolo and postponed it until Wednesday, May 26, 1999," from “ALPHONSE ‘LITTLE ALLIE BOY’ PERSICO (1954- ),” p. 7 of the Sho'nuff Mob Study’s Tuesday, 28 December 2004 edition - Made Men Who Attended College
Hoffa, James 'Jimmy' b. February 14, 1913 d. July 30, 1975
Teamsters Leader. His death and burial have been in dispute for years.
Body lost or destroyed
Magoon, Seymour 'Blue Jaw'
Gangster. He was part of the Murder Incorporated a group of professional killers who worked solely for the National Crime Syndicate in the 1930s. The killers received assignments and payments to murder total strangers in the New York area or anywhere in the country, murdering anyone selected by the syndicate board. Murder, Inc. was destroyed when Reles turned informant in 1940.
Unknown*, Location of Body is Unknown
*Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!
Scalise, John b. 1900 d. May 7, 1929
Organized Crime Figure. Born in Castelvetrano, Sicily in 1900, John Scalise became involved with the Mafia early in his life. At some point in his late teens or early twenties, possibly in retaliation for a murder, Scalise lost his right eye in an attack. His ill-fitting glass eye would give him a sinister appearance. Shortly after this, Scalise traveled to America, entering the country illegally and settling in Chicago’s Little Italy. He was soon working for the six Genna brothers. Contrary to...[Read More]
(Bio by: Dennis Rice)
Cause of death: Murdered with a baseball bat by Al Capone.
Unknown*,
*Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!
Shorr, Henry b. 1896 d. December 3, 1934
Organized Crime Figure. One of the more prominent members of Detroit's Purple Gang, he was employed as a teenager at a vegetable stand in Eastern Market. Eventually he gravitated to the criminal elements around Oakland Avenue, working in a corn sugar warehouse (which would become a major supplier of corn sugar to liquor distillers in Detroit during Prohibition) along with his good friend Charles Leiter. Many members of the Purple Gang learned their criminal trade working in the "Oakland Sugar...[Read More] (Bio by: Dennis Rice)
Body lost or destroyed, Remains Never Found
Strollo, Anthony "Tony Bender" b. 1899 d. 1962?
Although he ascended to the status of lieutenant to Vito Genovese, 'Tony Bender's loyalty was always up to sale to the highest bidder. Tony Bender was an opportunist. On the morning of April 8, 1962, Bender left his home. He strolled down the sidewalk and was never seen alive again.
Tannenbaum, Albert
Organized Crime Figure. He was part of "Murder Incorporated", a group of professional killers who worked solely for the National Crime Syndicate in the 1930s. The killers received assignments and payments to murder total strangers in the New York area or anywhere in the country, murdering anyone selected by the syndicate board. Murder, Inc. was destroyed when Reles turned informant in 1940.
Unknown*, Location of Body is Unknown
*Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!
Weinberg, Abraham b. 1897 d. September 9, 1935
Organized Crime Figure. He was one of the top members of the Dutch Schultz mob during Prohibition. He is suspected of taking part in the murders of Salvatore Maranzano, Jack "Legs" Diamond, and Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll. While Schultz was away fighting a government tax indictment, Weinberg allegedly stole some of his boss's rackets, turning them over to Lucky Luciano. Schultz was acquitted and came back to New York to discover that his right-hand man had betrayed him. Bo Weinberg was last seen on...[Read More] (Bio by: Dennis Rice)
Body lost or destroyed, Remains Lost in the Hudson River
Only His Consanguineous Family Knows For Sure
George 'Bugs' Moran is buried in the Leavenworth Penitentiary Cemetery but, there is no public access to the gravesite.
Moran, George 'Bugs' b. 1893 d. February, 1957
Gangster
born in Minnesota
Cause of death: lung cancer (while in prison)
Cemetery of Leavenworth Penitentiary (no public ac, Leavenworth, Leavenworth County, Kansas, USA
There is a good chance that Vito Cascioferro's family knows where he is buried and have decided to keep the gravesite’s location anonymous.
Cascioferro, Vito b. 1862 d. 1945
Organized Crime Figure. Mafia Don, Godfather in Sicily. He was responsible for establishing the strong connection that still exist between the Sicilian and American Mafias. Died in Sicilian prison.
Unknown*, Location of Body is Unknown
*Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!
It is unlikely that the remains of any of these men will ever reappear unscathed. It is unlikely that the public will ever knowingly access their grave sites. Hopefully, reader's will help us to augment this record.