St. Valentine's Day Massacre 81st Anniversary Italian Pizza Banquet and Slide-Lecture: Gangster Ghosts and Secrets

GANGSTER GHOSTS AND SECRETS
By Richard T. Crowe

Sunday Feb. 14 -- St. Valentine's Day --
7 to 7:30 PM check-in and optional cocktail time
followed by dinner and lecture.
SPECIAL DOOR PRIZES.

ONLY $30 PER PERSON -- ALL INCLUSIVE (tax, tip)
FREE PARKING!!

AT MARCELLO'S RESTAURANT
("HOME OF THE FAMOUS 'FATHER & SON PIZZA")
645 W. North Avenue, Chicago
(in the heart of "Bugs" Moran territory!)
(312) 654-2576

Featuring Italian specialties --
PIZZAS -- A selection of Thin and NY styles --
cheese/sausage/pepperoni/veggie/etc. Unlimited soft drinks -- Homemade Italian
Bread and Foccacia Chips -- Mixed Green Salad w/Assorted Dressings -- Penne
Pasta w/ Marinara Sauce -- Cinnamon Ticos (dessert)

Hear the facts not fictions --

Gangster and Capone legends and much more.

Strange tales about the hangouts of Al Capone and the cursed bricks of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre wall; bizarre secrets of Capone's, Frank Nitti's, and Deanie O'Banion's gravesites; the haunted Dillinger escape jail in Crown Point, IN; and more local lore.

Richard Crowe was scheduled to appear on the celebrated Al Capone "treasure vault" TV special but was dropped from the show when he uncovered the real facts about the so-called "secret vault." Discover the inside story of Capone's headquarters at the Lexington Hotel! Years before the Geraldo/Capone show, Crowe searched with a metal detector for lost treasure at the home and grounds of mobster Mossy Enright (gunned down in 1920) -- a Chicago gangster legenday treasure tale with much more credence than the dubious Lexington Hotel fable.

SEATING IS LIMITED. CALL TODAY TO ORDER: 708-499-0300.

All major credit cards accepted. Or mail payment by check or money order to:

Richard T. Crowe
POB 557544
Chicago, IL 60655

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Russian Mafia Makes an Appearance on 24

'24' Season 8, Episodes 3and 4 continued to ramp up the tension and stakes on Jack Bauer's latest bad day. A number of murders, an assassination attempt, a betrayal or two, and the return of former FBI agent Renee Walker occurred.

Spoilers surely followed.

It seems that the Russian Mafia's agent inside the New York Police Department has managed to get a spot in the escort for President Hassan by forcing another officer to switch shifts with him at gun point. Then he killed the officer and his wife. Then Jack Bauer found the corpses, and much to his consternation, he was found with the corpses by two other police officers, one of whom is very much into street justice for cop killers.

The upshot was that the Russian hitter planted a bomb to detonate under President Hassan's limo. Fortunately Jack Bauer was about to persuade the more reasonable officer of his bona fides and warn CTU just in a nick of time, allowing the heroic Cole Ortiz to foil the assassination at great risk to himself.

The upshot of the aftermath is that faithless brother, Farhad Hassan, is unmasked and is forced to go on the run, the Russian Mafia guy is killed, Hassan's reporterette girl friend is set free with apologies all around, and Brian Hastings has one more mistake to smooth over.

Now why would the Russian Mafia want to take out the President of the Islamic Republic. It seems that the Russians would like to sell the Islamic Republic some spent fuel rods that can be turned to weapons grade uranium of which nuclear bombs can be made. President Hassan had demurred. His brother would very much like to work a deal. If this means that President Hassan has to die and little brother take his place, the cause of Jihad sometimes required martyrs.

Thanks to Mark Whittington

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Mafia II Pin-Up Girl Calendar Contest

In support of their upcoming title, Mafia II, game publisher 2K Games has dropped a limited edition pin-girl calendar, and Baller Status has a couple to give away. The calendars feature pictures of era-based models that are seasonal to each month, and are a fun addition to any office desk or work station.

There will be two winners chosen for the new calendar. All you have to do to enter is fill out the contest form here.

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John Dillinger's Getaway Car Sells for $165,000 at Auction

A 1930 Ford Model A used by bank robber John Dillinger to evade federal agents sold at auction Saturday for $165,000.

The car, sold at the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., had a cameo role in the 2009 movie "Public Enemies" starring Johnny Depp.

This car was used in Dillinger's 1934 escape from the Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, Wis. Dillinger and his gang had been staying at the lakeside resort when the proprietor tipped off the FBI.

A team of agents attempted to surround the house, but Dillinger and his partners Homer Van Meter and John "Red" Hamilton escaped to a nearby house where they found the Model A and forced its owner to drive them to safety.

Later, the car caught the attention of police and Hamilton was fatally wounded in a gun fight. The car still bears a bullet hole and the stains of Hamilton's blood.

Dillinger later ditched the car in Chicago, stealing a 1934 Ford V8 in its place. (Dillinger was known to prefer Ford's then-new V8 cars for their speed.)

The car was eventually returned to its original owner, who left it parked in his garage, figuring it wasn't worth repairing. A subsequent owner, who purchased the car 30 years later for $1,400, also left it untouched.

Temporary cosmetic repairs were done to the car in 2007 for the movie. The identity of the winning bidder was not immediately known. The price paid for the car includes a 10% "buyer's premium" added on to the $150,000 final bid price.

In general, Model A Fords are not particularly rare or valuable, even today. "I have to admit, this is a surprising price for a model A, regardless of ownership," said McKeel Hagerty, president of the collector car insurance company Hagerty Insurance. Hagerty Insurance is a sponsor of Speed TV's live broadcast of the Barrett-Jackson event.

Thanks to Peter Valdes-Dapena

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James "Little Jimmy" Marcello is Moving Back to Chicago

Mob boss James "Little Jimmy" Marcello gets to stay in Chicago...for now.

Judge James Zagel granted a motion this morning in federal court that allows Marcello to remain at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago while he appeals his Family Secrets conviction. He had been serving his life sentence in the maximum security penitentiary in Atwater, California, but was brought back to the MCC because of a petition filed against him by the United States Probation Office. Inexplicably, the government wants to cite Marcello for a long ago probation violation, even though he is serving a life sentence from the Family Secrets case.

If Marcello's appeal is denied then Judge Zagel will recommend the Bureau of Prisons assign Marcello to an institution such as Oxford, Wisconsin, instead of being sent back to California so he will be closer to his family. "Mr. Marcello has no family in California. His wife, three children and grandchildren reside in the Chicagoland area," states the Marcello motion.

Oxford has long been the prison of choice for Chicago Outfit figures, crooked politicians, white collar criminals and other cigar chomping convicts-because of its close proximity to Chicago.

Originally, Judge Zagel had recommended Marcello spend the rest of his life locked up in the fed's crossbar hotel in Terra Haute, Indiana. But Marcello's guilty co-defendant, Joey "the Clown" Lombardo, is already assigned there. "It is our understanding that a 'seperatee' order prevented Mr. Marcello's designation to Terre Haute since Co-Defendant Joseph Lombardo was designated there" wrote Marcello's attorney Marc Martin.

Thanks to Chuck Goudie

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