A History of St. Louis Gangsters


Book Description

Discusses mob activity on both sides of the river including gangsters: Charlie Birger, Frank "Buster" Wortman, John Joseph Vitale, Tony Giordano, Carl Austin Hall, Bonnie Brown Heady, David R. Leisure, and Paul J. Leisure.




The Gangs of St. Louis


Book Description

St. Louis was a city under siege during Prohibition. Seven different criminal gangs violently vied for control of the town's illegal enterprises. Although their names (the Green Ones, the Pillow Gang, the Russo Gang, Egan's Rats, the Hogan Gang, the Cuckoo Gang and the Shelton Gang) are familiar to many, their exploits have remained largely undocumented until now. Learn how an awkward gunshot wound gave the Pillow Gang its name, and read why Willie Russo's bizarre midnight interview with a reporter from the St. Louis Star involved an automatic pistol and a floating hunk of cheese. From daring bank robberies to cold-blooded betrayals, The Gangs of St. Louis chronicles a fierce yet juicy slice of the Gateway City's history that rivaled anything seen in New York or Chicago.




Black Mafia Family, St. Louis


Book Description

Danny "Dog Man" Jones began selling American Bulldogs to the notorious brothers Demetrius "Big Meech" Flenory and his brother Terry "Pauley" Flenory before he was recruited to join the Black Mafia Family's operations in St. Louis, Missouri. He went from selling dogs, rehabbing houses and driving for some of the BMF members to eventually gaining the trust of one of the brothers and had become one of the managers of the organization. His new responsibilities included dropping off hundreds of kilos of cocaine to BMF members, along with maintaining houses in St. Louis for the organization, which warehoused millions of dollars in cash. With brothers Big Meech and Terry indicted and behind bars, life changed for Danny overnight. He was gunned down, surviving seventeen bullets from a .40 caliber semi-automatic weapon, which riddled through numerous parts of his entire body. After several surgeries and regaining consciousness, Danny was determined to even the score. "In reality, I should have been dead" Danny reiterates, "But the Dog Man is alive and the truth must be told" he states. Danny tells his story in this seventeen chapter memoir, each chapter representing the seventeen bullets which could have ended his life.







Deadly Gangsta 1


Book Description




Confessions of a Mob Hitman


Book Description

Finally, an inside look at mob warfare in greater St. Louis by one of the men who actually lived it…and shaped it. It is an explosive, first person account…for the first time! John Auble, Reporter Fox Television- St. Louis Aficionados of true crime history and/or human nature will enjoy this journey into the past as gangster Ray Flynn recalls a life that he clearly feels was well-lived. You may disagree with the well-lived part, but it was an interesting life. No doubt about that. Bill McLellan St. Louis Post Dispatch Columnist Ray Flynn reached the pinnacle of his career in the 1960’s when he joined the Buster Eortman Gang. Wortman began his career as one of the infamous Al Capone’s southern lieutenants and as Capone’s cellmate. Wortman eventually won a bloody gang war for control of St. Louis and southern Illinois. Michale Flynn Son of the author Ray Flynn




Crooks Kill, Cops Lie


Book Description

In the early 1980's, the St. Louis Region was controlled by the Chicago "outfit" controlled by Joey (Doves) Aiuppa. Joey (Doves) controlled all of the labor locals and most of the trade unions. He had considerable clout within local and state government due to union financial support of local politicians. Joey (Doves) guys in charge in St. Louis (John Vitale and Tony Giordano) became sick and old and the young guns in the region saw a chance to take over the rackets in the region. A Syrian family (Leisure (Paul and Anthony) decided to bomb a few of the "outfit's guys. One good car bombing begets another. It was chaos on the streets of St. Louis. The author was a detective in the prestigious Intelligence Unit of the police department. His job was to investigate (spy on) the organized criminals. His first hand account of what transpired in the St. Louis gang war is true and indisputable. The book contains crime scene photos, true names, and an index. It is nonfiction true crime at its finest.







Gangs of St. Louis


Book Description




Open City


Book Description

Open City is an historical work detailing and analyzing the birth and growth of an organized crime "family" in Kansas City during the first 50 years of the 20th Century. It began with a Mafia-like clan labeled the Black Hand, its roots planted in the secret crime societies of Southern Italy and Sicily - a band of extortionists victimizing the city's "Little Italy" community in the early 1900s. From modest beginnings, the development of the criminal outfit is traced through prohibition, its alliance with the Pendergast Machine, the roaring 20s, Home Rule, the wide open 30s, the birth of La Cosa Nostra, and hard times in the 50s. It is the story of Kansas City, politics, powerful and colorful mob bosses, gangland murders, racket activities, and courageous police officers and reformers. Book jacket.