o2005 Frank Peter Balistrieri died the way he lived: quietly, privately, and on his own terms. On February 7, 1993, the 74-year-old collapsed from a heart attack in his living room on Milwaukee's east side. There were no bullets, no handcuffs, and no federal agents kicking in the door. After three decades running one of the … Read more
La pioggia cadeva fitta quella notte, di quella fitta che trasforma le strade della città in specchi neri e penetra in ogni cosa tranne che nella pietra. Dentro la hall dell’ospedale privato Meridian, la struttura medica più costosa della città, le luci erano di un bianco accecante, i pavimenti lucidissimi, ogni superficie odorava di denaro … Read more
On September 18, 1980, at 12:15 in the afternoon, a black Chrysler Imperial was traveling south on Interstate 55, just past the Reavis Barracks exit in St. Louis. Ten sticks of dynamite detonated beneath the floorboard. The blast lifted the car four feet off the pavement. It tore through the chassis and through the driver. … Read more
On June 23, 1986, a farmer named Michael Kins was walking his soybean rows outside Enos, Indiana, when his foot sank into soft earth. He assumed he had found a dead deer. He kept digging. What he pulled from the dirt was far worse: two human bodies, stripped to their underwear, faces beaten beyond recognition, … Read more
On the morning of January 16, 2023, a thin man in a brown leather jacket and a baseball cap pulled low walked through the front entrance of the La Maddalena Clinic in Palermo, Sicily. He carried a small bag and had an appointment for a routine oncology visit under the name Andrea Bonafede. He smiled … Read more
On the night of October 24, 1928, Arnold Rothstein was slumped against the service staircase of Room 349 at the Park Central Hotel in Manhattan. A .38 caliber bullet was lodged in his abdomen, and his tuxedo was soaked through with blood. The most powerful gangster in America had just been shot over a card … Read more
Before dawn on November 12, 1941, Abe Reles was sleeping in room 623 of the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island, Brooklyn, under the protection of five New York City police officers. By 6:30 that morning, his body lay face up on the roof of the hotel kitchen, six stories below his window. Two bed … Read more
Per dieci anni, ogni 14 ottobre, l’uomo più ricco di Cleveland si era recato da solo al cimitero con in mano un’unica rosa rossa. Ma quell’anno, prima che lui arrivasse, qualcun altro era già lì. Un giardiniere stava piangendo accanto alla tomba di sua figlia e accanto a lui c’era una bambina che stringeva un … Read more
In the history of organized crime in New York, the most feared men were rarely the ones whose names appeared in headlines. They were the specialists who worked in quiet rooms and on empty streets, leaving behind little more than a reputation. Among them were figures like Willie "Two Knife" Altieri, Joseph "Mad Dog" Sullivan, … Read more
For decades, the American Mafia operated as one of the most powerful criminal enterprises in the country. But according to former Colombo family captain Michael Franzese, a series of catastrophic missteps helped law enforcement dismantle the life from the inside. Franzese, who now speaks publicly about his years in organized crime, recently laid out what … Read more