WEBVTT - Episode 2: The Murder 0:00:15.316 --> 0:00:23.476 Pushkin Jake Alpern here before we get started, I wanted 0:00:23.516 --> 0:00:26.276 you to know that deep Cover Season two will be 0:00:26.356 --> 0:00:31.436 dropping weekly on Mondays, but the full season is available 0:00:31.796 --> 0:00:36.356 right now ad free for Pushkin Plus subscribers. That's all 0:00:36.396 --> 0:00:40.956 ten episodes right away. Fine Pushkin Plus on the deep 0:00:40.996 --> 0:00:53.556 Cover show page in Apple Podcasts, or at Pushkin dot Fm. 0:00:53.556 --> 0:00:58.476 Previously on deep Cover. Ever since the days of al Capone, 0:00:58.796 --> 0:01:02.516 the Outfit had been an almost unstoppable force in the 0:01:02.556 --> 0:01:05.996 city of Chicago. The mob had corrupted many of the 0:01:06.036 --> 0:01:10.916 city's judges and politicians, and it's hitmen killed with impunity. 0:01:11.956 --> 0:01:15.996 Then in the spring of nineteen eighty six, something unexpected happened. 0:01:16.436 --> 0:01:20.276 A mob lawyer named Bob Cooley walked into the offices 0:01:20.316 --> 0:01:25.196 of federal prosecutors and offered to switch sides. The prosecutor 0:01:25.276 --> 0:01:28.516 he spoke with was stunned. You know, why have the 0:01:28.596 --> 0:01:32.436 gods delivered this gift to me? There's got to be 0:01:32.476 --> 0:01:37.236 something wrong with this. I had profound questions about his motivation. 0:01:37.996 --> 0:01:42.156 I think everybody did. In the eyes of federal prosecutors, 0:01:42.356 --> 0:01:46.276 Bob's story and his offer seemed almost too good to 0:01:46.276 --> 0:01:50.436 be true, So the Feds couldn't help, But wonder what 0:01:50.556 --> 0:01:58.836 was Bob Cooley really after. Bob didn't just start out 0:01:58.836 --> 0:02:01.196 as a lawyer for the mob. He had to work 0:02:01.236 --> 0:02:05.716 his way up. He started out real small potatoes in 0:02:05.836 --> 0:02:09.676 traffic court, and that's where he got his first of 0:02:09.716 --> 0:02:14.276 how things were really done in Chicago. Bob goes to 0:02:14.356 --> 0:02:17.836 traffic court to try his very first case. His client 0:02:17.916 --> 0:02:21.436 had been caught drinking and driving and got a DUI. 0:02:21.796 --> 0:02:24.636 The trial doesn't take long. The judge just throws the 0:02:24.676 --> 0:02:28.356 ticket right out. Bob's like, thank you very much. I mean, 0:02:28.556 --> 0:02:32.396 a win is a win. Right afterwards, in the hallway, 0:02:32.756 --> 0:02:36.956 Bob bumps into this guy he knows, a cop named Jimmy, 0:02:37.196 --> 0:02:40.876 tall skinny guy. People called him dog Breath behind his 0:02:40.956 --> 0:02:45.716 back anyway, Jimmy. He was the judge's cousin. And Jimmy 0:02:45.836 --> 0:02:48.196 said to me, the first one was on the house. 0:02:48.356 --> 0:02:50.996 From here on out, you come and see me before 0:02:51.076 --> 0:02:54.836 you have any case. And I understood what exactly what 0:02:54.876 --> 0:02:58.276 that meant. What he meant was that going forward, Bob 0:02:58.276 --> 0:03:01.236 would have to pay if he expected to win. Old 0:03:01.316 --> 0:03:04.556 dog Breath he was the judge's bag man, the guy 0:03:04.596 --> 0:03:08.076 who collected the bribes in cash and in the coming 0:03:08.196 --> 0:03:11.756 days and weeks. As he learned the ropes, Bob discovered 0:03:11.836 --> 0:03:17.036 that every desired outcome had a price. Duy's one hundred 0:03:17.036 --> 0:03:19.876 and fifty bucks to fix hit someone with a car 0:03:20.436 --> 0:03:32.716 five hundred and traffic court. That was like the minor leagues, 0:03:33.236 --> 0:03:36.476 Bob says. After a few months, he quickly graduated to 0:03:36.476 --> 0:03:40.476 the big leagues, to another courtroom Bob calls gambling and 0:03:40.676 --> 0:03:47.116 gun court, where the real action was taking place. And there, 0:03:47.476 --> 0:03:50.956 like in traffic court, money was flowing straight into the 0:03:50.996 --> 0:03:54.876 judge's pocket. Literally, Bob says, he just sauntered back to 0:03:54.916 --> 0:03:58.356 the judge's chambers, opened the closet door, and I would 0:03:58.396 --> 0:04:00.916 just put, you know, put the money. I would go 0:04:00.996 --> 0:04:03.116 and I would put one hundred dollars for each case 0:04:03.676 --> 0:04:07.196 I had in his pocket. Bob says that before long 0:04:07.476 --> 0:04:10.636 he had three cases a day in this courtroom. Usually 0:04:10.676 --> 0:04:13.836 made motions to dismiss the charges against his clients so 0:04:13.876 --> 0:04:17.236 we could avoid going to trial. This tactic, combined with 0:04:17.276 --> 0:04:20.956 the payoffs, worked very well. Did you ever lose any 0:04:20.996 --> 0:04:25.196 of those cases? I'm never how can I lose? You know? Wait, 0:04:25.236 --> 0:04:27.036 did you did you hold on? Did you like go 0:04:27.116 --> 0:04:29.876 through the motions of like making like a good argument. 0:04:30.476 --> 0:04:33.996 Oh yeah, well, certainly that's why these the judges loved me, 0:04:34.036 --> 0:04:37.596 in particular, because I gave him plenty of reasons, as 0:04:37.636 --> 0:04:40.516 I would say, to hang your hat on. So so 0:04:40.556 --> 0:04:43.876 the bribe is almost just like your insurance. No, it 0:04:43.956 --> 0:04:47.276 was because I'm a nice guy, Jake. I a vast 0:04:47.356 --> 0:04:51.236 majority of those cases. You know, I'm the Legit had 0:04:51.276 --> 0:04:54.276 to be thrown out because you know, the motions were legitimate. 0:04:54.516 --> 0:04:58.716 But I did it because you know, that was my nature. 0:04:59.596 --> 0:05:03.756 His nature. Bob prided himself as a big tipper, a 0:05:03.916 --> 0:05:07.916 generous guy. The way he described it, he was almost 0:05:07.916 --> 0:05:11.396 like the Santa Claus of the court system, just doling 0:05:11.476 --> 0:05:15.076 out gifts as he regaled me with stories. It all 0:05:15.116 --> 0:05:18.956 sounded so grand until I actually stopped and thought about 0:05:18.996 --> 0:05:21.676 what he was saying. Wait, but Bob, are you trying 0:05:21.676 --> 0:05:23.716 to tell me that you really believe that these weren't 0:05:23.756 --> 0:05:27.596 bribes they were just tips. No, No, you're misunderstanding what 0:05:27.636 --> 0:05:30.996 I'm saying. Okay, I am not saying I didn't pay 0:05:31.036 --> 0:05:33.876 a lot of bribes. Yes, I paid a lot of 0:05:33.916 --> 0:05:39.116 bribes on cases. Yes they were bribes. Maybe not in 0:05:39.156 --> 0:05:41.876 the eyes of the law. If you look at the 0:05:41.916 --> 0:05:44.396 definition of a bribe, that you're paying somebody to do 0:05:44.556 --> 0:05:48.836 something that they normally wouldn't do. And because the judges 0:05:48.876 --> 0:05:51.676 were going to rule in his favor anyway, because he'd 0:05:51.716 --> 0:05:55.236 made such a strong case, well then it wasn't technically 0:05:55.276 --> 0:05:58.796 a bribe, was it. It was more like a sweetener 0:05:59.516 --> 0:06:03.636 or an act of larges. That's how Bob told it anyway. 0:06:07.036 --> 0:06:10.716 Over the next few years, Bob earned himself a reputation 0:06:10.876 --> 0:06:15.396 as a flashy criminal defense lawyer. No tie, gold chain Bob. 0:06:16.156 --> 0:06:19.156 He drove a convertible and had vanity plates. Of course, 0:06:19.716 --> 0:06:23.476 r j C his initials. He seemed to play by 0:06:23.476 --> 0:06:26.356 his own rules. He'd park his car in the mayor's 0:06:26.396 --> 0:06:29.036 spot in front of city Hall to show off, to 0:06:29.156 --> 0:06:31.716 prove to his clients that he could get away with it. 0:06:33.156 --> 0:06:36.796 His lifestyle was an advertisement of sorts to attract a 0:06:36.916 --> 0:06:41.836 certain type of client, criminal defendants with deep pockets, often 0:06:41.916 --> 0:06:46.196 guys with mob ties. This is who Bob wanted to impress, 0:06:46.756 --> 0:06:50.396 and they did come calling. In nineteen seventy seven, the 0:06:50.516 --> 0:06:53.796 mob asked him to fix a case, a murder case 0:06:54.196 --> 0:06:58.756 involving a hitman. Bob had a hunch that if he 0:06:58.836 --> 0:07:26.796 said yes, it could change everything for him. I'm Jake 0:07:26.836 --> 0:07:32.076 Halpern and this is deep Cover Bob Bland Episode two, 0:07:32.916 --> 0:07:57.596 The Murder. One day in February of nineteen seventy seven, 0:07:58.036 --> 0:08:01.476 Bob learned that a guy named Pat Marcy wanted to 0:08:01.516 --> 0:08:04.196 meet with him. Marcy was one of the city's most 0:08:04.196 --> 0:08:07.716 powerful men. Bob had never met him before, but he 0:08:07.796 --> 0:08:11.236 knew who he was. Everybody knew Pat Marcy was the 0:08:11.276 --> 0:08:14.796 one that controlled the entire political system. Marcy kept a 0:08:14.836 --> 0:08:18.316 low profile, and even to this day, much of his 0:08:18.396 --> 0:08:21.956 story is still shrouded in mystery. Legend has it his 0:08:22.036 --> 0:08:24.596 career with the mob started back in the days of 0:08:24.636 --> 0:08:27.396 Al Capone. Even his name as a kind of shape 0:08:27.396 --> 0:08:31.636 shifting quality to it. He starts off Pasqualino Marcone on 0:08:31.716 --> 0:08:35.076 his birth certificate, and it keeps changing again and again 0:08:35.116 --> 0:08:39.076 on public records until he finally becomes Pat Marcy in 0:08:39.196 --> 0:08:42.716 nineteen fifty three. Everybody knew Pant Marcy was a former 0:08:42.876 --> 0:08:49.476 Capone mobster, a gunman. Eventually, Marcy went into politics, became 0:08:49.516 --> 0:08:52.516 an official for the First Ward, one of the city's 0:08:52.516 --> 0:08:58.276 most powerful political districts. First Ward picked every basically every judge, 0:08:58.956 --> 0:09:05.636 every prosecutor, every police commander in whatever they controlled the 0:09:05.796 --> 0:09:09.836 entire system. But really Marcy was like the mobs politicals 0:09:09.836 --> 0:09:13.476 are It's head of government affairs, if you will. A 0:09:13.556 --> 0:09:16.836 guy who used the mob, its wealth and its muscle 0:09:17.116 --> 0:09:20.836 to influence a network of corrupt officials. Had an air 0:09:20.876 --> 0:09:26.556 about him that was really scary. He was a nasty, 0:09:26.676 --> 0:09:30.036 vicious human being. You could tell it. If you met 0:09:30.036 --> 0:09:33.916 the man, you would know that he's pure evil, but 0:09:34.196 --> 0:09:39.476 unbelievably powerful in every sense. For Bob, what this meant 0:09:39.556 --> 0:09:43.356 was pretty simple. When Pat Marcy asked for a meeting, 0:09:43.996 --> 0:09:49.596 you took it. On the day of the meeting, Bob 0:09:49.636 --> 0:09:52.836 went to a restaurant in downtown Chicago and waited for 0:09:52.876 --> 0:09:56.236 Pat Marcy to show up. This wasn't just any restaurant, 0:09:56.276 --> 0:09:59.396 by the way. It was a legendary place called Counselor's 0:09:59.476 --> 0:10:03.756 Row where Chicago's trial lawyers and old time politicians went 0:10:03.836 --> 0:10:06.236 to grab a drink and shoot the ship after work. 0:10:06.876 --> 0:10:09.716 There was a corner table known as Booth Number one 0:10:10.196 --> 0:10:13.596 or the first Ward Table, where Pat Marcy held court. 0:10:14.316 --> 0:10:18.596 The table even had its own landline telephone. Anyway, this 0:10:18.716 --> 0:10:23.756 is where Bob waited when Marcy finally showed up that day, 0:10:24.156 --> 0:10:27.876 he didn't actually enter the restaurant. Instead, he waited behind 0:10:27.876 --> 0:10:30.916 a glass door that led to an adjoining lobby and 0:10:30.996 --> 0:10:35.436 just stood there waiting for Bob. The mob's politicals are 0:10:35.876 --> 0:10:38.156 was wearing a three piece suit and a pair of 0:10:38.196 --> 0:10:43.716 tinted glasses that obscured his eyes. Bob stood up, exited 0:10:43.756 --> 0:10:47.716 the restaurant and joined Marcy in the lobby. And right 0:10:47.756 --> 0:10:52.116 there Marcy made his request. He said, Look, he said, 0:10:52.116 --> 0:10:54.836 I've got a case here, can you handle it? And 0:10:54.876 --> 0:10:56.956 I knew exactly what he meant. You know, that was 0:10:56.996 --> 0:10:59.636 our term, you know, for fixing the case speaking the 0:10:59.716 --> 0:11:02.876 language that we spoke. You know, I basically spoke a 0:11:02.916 --> 0:11:06.716 different language, probably than most lawyers. This, of course, is 0:11:06.876 --> 0:11:08.876 part of the reason that Pat asked to meet with. 0:11:08.876 --> 0:11:12.876 Bob knew how to talk about fixing a case without 0:11:12.916 --> 0:11:16.076 ever really talking about it. This was all part of 0:11:16.076 --> 0:11:21.196 Bob's professionalism, if you will. But what Marcy wanted to 0:11:21.236 --> 0:11:25.396 help with was no ordinary request. It was a murder case. 0:11:25.996 --> 0:11:28.836 He asked if Bob knew a judge who could handle it. 0:11:29.476 --> 0:11:32.316 Standing there in the lobby, Bob was at a crossroads. 0:11:32.756 --> 0:11:35.596 If he could come through on this, prove his worth 0:11:35.636 --> 0:11:38.796 to Marcy. It'd be a big deal. No telling what 0:11:38.876 --> 0:11:41.796 Marcy could do for him. On the other hand, this 0:11:41.876 --> 0:11:46.276 was uncharted territory for Bob. He'd fix cases before, placed 0:11:46.316 --> 0:11:48.996 all kinds of bribes or tips as he called them, 0:11:49.476 --> 0:11:53.076 but never in a murder trial. Bob knew he had 0:11:53.116 --> 0:11:56.236 to proceed carefully. If there was one thing he didn't 0:11:56.276 --> 0:11:58.996 want to do, it was promised something that he couldn't deliver. 0:11:59.756 --> 0:12:02.476 He needed more intel, so he asked Marcy to get 0:12:02.476 --> 0:12:05.836 a hold of the police reports, because Bob knew at 0:12:05.876 --> 0:12:08.756 some point all of this would go before judge and 0:12:08.836 --> 0:12:11.436 he had to make sure there was justification for a 0:12:11.516 --> 0:12:15.196 not guilty verdict, enough evidence for the judge to hang 0:12:15.276 --> 0:12:18.236 his hat on. As Bob liked to say, you know, 0:12:18.636 --> 0:12:20.756 so it wouldn't look like the judge had been bribed. 0:12:22.116 --> 0:12:25.836 As if all of this weren't enough pressure. Afterwards, one 0:12:25.836 --> 0:12:30.756 of Pat Marcy's minions pulled Bob aside and warned him. 0:12:30.756 --> 0:12:33.036 He said, you know, if you say you're going to 0:12:33.156 --> 0:12:36.956 take it, I don't want to. You know a problem afterwards, 0:12:36.956 --> 0:12:38.956 and I said, look, I said, if I tell you 0:12:38.996 --> 0:12:42.916 I'll take it, I'll take it. The next day, Pat 0:12:42.956 --> 0:12:46.476 Marcy gave the police reports to Bob and told him 0:12:46.796 --> 0:13:04.676 get back to me. Before Bob would agree to fix 0:13:04.756 --> 0:13:08.436 this murder case, he wanted more details. He wanted to 0:13:08.516 --> 0:13:12.836 understand what exactly had happened, who'd gotten killed, were there 0:13:12.836 --> 0:13:16.956 any witnesses, what was the motive? So let's start with 0:13:17.036 --> 0:13:21.116 who got killed. The victim was William Logan. People called 0:13:21.196 --> 0:13:24.556 him Billy. He was just thirty five years old. He 0:13:24.636 --> 0:13:27.556 was like a big teddy bear. He was tall, Yeah, 0:13:27.556 --> 0:13:31.436 I remember, he had big hands, always smiling, just a 0:13:31.436 --> 0:13:36.356 happy yike. That's Johanna Santonello, Billy's niece. I visited her 0:13:36.516 --> 0:13:39.236 not long ago at her home in the suburbs of Chicago. 0:13:40.036 --> 0:13:43.276 To this day, within the family, Johanna is kind of 0:13:43.316 --> 0:13:46.756 like the keeper of uncle Billy's memory. She has all 0:13:46.836 --> 0:13:51.196 kinds of memorabilia related to him, photos, newspaper clippings, and 0:13:51.276 --> 0:13:56.116 journal entries, also volumes of court papers related to his murder. 0:13:56.356 --> 0:13:59.796 I mean boxes and boxes of all this stuff. When 0:13:59.796 --> 0:14:02.236 I visited Johanna, she had it all laid out on 0:14:02.236 --> 0:14:05.076 the dining room table for me, like the archives of 0:14:05.116 --> 0:14:11.716 some enormous unwritten biography. So it's been a little overwhelming too, 0:14:12.916 --> 0:14:16.396 because there's just so much, and it's like I wanted 0:14:16.436 --> 0:14:19.876 to get organized and for you when have everything, And 0:14:19.916 --> 0:14:22.356 then I started digging into it and I'm like, oh god, 0:14:23.476 --> 0:14:26.156 yeah I get it. It's like I had chairs filled 0:14:26.156 --> 0:14:28.036 it stuff. Yeah. I feel like we're in the scene 0:14:28.036 --> 0:14:29.956 in the movie where they're like trying to they're getting 0:14:29.956 --> 0:14:34.116 ready to go to trial and going over to bo Yeah. 0:14:34.196 --> 0:14:36.356 That's just like, oh my god, there's so much stuff 0:14:36.356 --> 0:14:41.676 on this table. Yeah, it's crazy, But you're meant to 0:14:41.716 --> 0:14:48.036 be here. The story is meant to be told. He 0:14:48.196 --> 0:14:51.796 was a big, strapping guy, played football, not someone you'd 0:14:51.836 --> 0:14:54.476 want to mess with. This is where Uncle Billy was 0:14:54.516 --> 0:14:58.676 in the Army and they won the championship. Those are 0:14:58.676 --> 0:15:03.236 all as Army buddies. Before serving in the military, Billy 0:15:03.316 --> 0:15:06.916 joined the Teamsters at seventeen years old. That's the famous 0:15:06.916 --> 0:15:10.636 truck drivers union that Jimmy Hoffa wants ran. Uncle Billy 0:15:10.676 --> 0:15:13.996 also drove a cab on the side. At the time 0:15:14.036 --> 0:15:16.596 of his death, Billy was divorced and living with his 0:15:16.676 --> 0:15:19.876 two sisters. One of them was recently widowed and had 0:15:19.916 --> 0:15:23.476 four kids. Those kids, by the way, were Johanna and 0:15:23.556 --> 0:15:27.236 her three brothers. Uncle Billy was helping raise them. He 0:15:27.356 --> 0:15:32.036 became like a kindly father to them. Not everyone saw 0:15:32.116 --> 0:15:35.756 uncle Billy this way. According to his ex wife, Billy 0:15:36.036 --> 0:15:39.436 had a darker side. She said he was physically abusive, 0:15:40.596 --> 0:15:43.716 But Johanna says she never saw this side of him. 0:15:43.836 --> 0:15:47.236 As she recalls it, uncle Billy was a gentle giant. 0:15:49.356 --> 0:15:51.996 As we continued sorting through the boxes on her dining 0:15:52.036 --> 0:15:55.596 room table, eventually Johannah pulled out this one picture and 0:15:55.756 --> 0:15:58.756 just stared at it. It was a grainy, black and 0:15:58.756 --> 0:16:02.476 white photo of a two story house. This is the 0:16:02.516 --> 0:16:07.516 house where it happened. That's your house. Yes, this is 0:16:07.556 --> 0:16:11.356 the house that he was killed. See this light pole? Yeah, okay, 0:16:11.436 --> 0:16:15.276 His body was right behind the white pole. Johannah remembers 0:16:15.356 --> 0:16:19.436 vividly the night that uncle Billy was murdered September twenty seventh, 0:16:19.756 --> 0:16:24.116 nineteen seventy two, almost fifty years ago. She was thirteen 0:16:24.196 --> 0:16:26.956 years old at the time, but the whole thing is 0:16:26.996 --> 0:16:30.516 still crisp in her memory. As she recalls it, she 0:16:30.716 --> 0:16:34.196 was lying in bed, uncle Billy was preparing to leave 0:16:34.276 --> 0:16:37.956 for the night shift, and all of a sudden, you 0:16:38.116 --> 0:16:42.356 heard bang, bang, bang, and we didn't know what it was. 0:16:43.436 --> 0:16:45.636 We were in bed. I was wide awake, I remember, 0:16:45.756 --> 0:16:49.236 and my mom ran to the front door, and I 0:16:49.356 --> 0:16:54.556 heard her yell, Billy, Billy, and my uncle was laying 0:16:54.556 --> 0:16:58.036 out in front, and my mom said to my aunt, 0:16:58.116 --> 0:17:01.876 Billie's hurt really bad. And my aunt went out there 0:17:06.716 --> 0:17:11.036 and she took my uncle's head and she placed it 0:17:11.956 --> 0:17:16.516 on her toward her lap, and my brothers ran to 0:17:16.556 --> 0:17:19.036 get blankets and came out and they covered my uncle. 0:17:20.356 --> 0:17:29.996 And you could just hear a moan. The aunt that 0:17:30.116 --> 0:17:33.196 Johanna mentions here, the one holding Uncle Billy in her 0:17:33.236 --> 0:17:37.076 lap as he lay dying. That's her Aunt Betty. She's 0:17:37.116 --> 0:17:40.996 no longer alive. But before she passed, Aunt Betty actually 0:17:41.036 --> 0:17:44.436 made recordings of herself in which she recounted all her 0:17:44.476 --> 0:17:48.556 memories of that fateful night. And these recordings they were 0:17:48.596 --> 0:17:51.836 part of this massive collection of memorabilia that Aunt Betty 0:17:51.916 --> 0:17:55.916 had bequeathed to Johanna. Johanna had the audio cassettes laid 0:17:55.916 --> 0:17:58.876 out on the dining room table, front and center, just 0:17:59.036 --> 0:18:02.596 waiting to be played. She loaded one of them into 0:18:02.596 --> 0:18:08.916 a little tape recorder and hit play. Our story starts 0:18:09.116 --> 0:18:15.076 on September twenty seventh, nineteen seventy two, the night Billy 0:18:15.196 --> 0:18:22.636 was killed. Speed that's my Aunt Betty. We listened together 0:18:22.836 --> 0:18:26.916 as Aunt Betty described holding uncle Billy. Billy was on 0:18:26.956 --> 0:18:32.796 the lawn herd fan. I proceeded to the lawn. He 0:18:32.876 --> 0:18:37.796 was near his car on the parkway. I kept calling 0:18:37.836 --> 0:18:41.796 his name. He turned, looked at me. He raised his 0:18:41.876 --> 0:18:45.156 hand in the case fell out of his hand. As 0:18:45.156 --> 0:18:50.156 I knelt down, he turned and his back was rusting 0:18:50.156 --> 0:18:54.036 on my knees. And I kept saying, Billy, Billy, what happened? 0:18:54.676 --> 0:18:58.516 What happened? It was unclear how bad the uncle Billy 0:18:58.676 --> 0:19:02.316 was hurt, but there was blood everywhere. A family member 0:19:02.396 --> 0:19:05.996 rushed back inside and called the police. By then many 0:19:06.036 --> 0:19:08.916 of the neighbors had also come outside, seeing what happened, 0:19:09.156 --> 0:19:13.396 and they too were calling for help. Nobody responded. There 0:19:13.476 --> 0:19:17.516 was nobody almost for half an hour, and by this 0:19:17.636 --> 0:19:23.756 time people had gathered neighbors. Everybody was out, The police maintained. 0:19:24.756 --> 0:19:28.316 I told him my brother had type of blood. But 0:19:28.476 --> 0:19:30.556 here is from the classes FREDI had come across. She 0:19:30.676 --> 0:19:33.636 felt this pulse that was still a pulse, and as 0:19:33.636 --> 0:19:36.516 far as I was concerned, he was still alive. The 0:19:36.596 --> 0:19:39.796 squad car took Aunt Betty to the hospital. There, she 0:19:39.876 --> 0:19:44.916 met up with her other brother, Richard. Richard arrived and 0:19:45.116 --> 0:19:49.636 Richard went right into the emergency room. A priest came 0:19:50.956 --> 0:19:53.276 and he asked if we wanted to lay us rights, 0:19:53.316 --> 0:19:57.676 and I said yes, And then Richard came out a 0:19:57.716 --> 0:20:02.476 little while later and I I said, he said they killed him, 0:20:02.636 --> 0:20:12.116 he said. After we listened to Aunt Betty's tapes, Johanna 0:20:12.196 --> 0:20:16.916 looked spent. She glanced wearily around her living room, and 0:20:16.956 --> 0:20:21.956 I began to appreciate how all this stuff, all this memorabilia, was, 0:20:22.076 --> 0:20:25.556 in some ways a burden for her. The boxes gave 0:20:25.636 --> 0:20:30.356 heft and shape and immovability to these memories. Johanna had 0:20:30.396 --> 0:20:36.916 to physically navigate around them. As far as I could 0:20:36.916 --> 0:20:39.316 tell her, Aunt Betty had been kind of obsessed with 0:20:39.396 --> 0:20:44.236 Billy's death, and this obsession was fueled by Betty's complete 0:20:44.276 --> 0:20:47.396 bafflement as to why anyone would want to kill her 0:20:47.396 --> 0:20:51.116 brother in the first place. This couldn't he happened to 0:20:51.356 --> 0:20:54.756 was it couldn't happen to our family. We didn't, we 0:20:54.876 --> 0:20:59.396 never bothered nobody. What was this? What could have happened? 0:20:59.836 --> 0:21:05.116 Why Billy? Why Billy? What did he ever do? But 0:21:05.236 --> 0:21:09.396 it turns out Aunt Betty did have one clue something 0:21:09.436 --> 0:21:12.076 somebody said to her on the night of the murder. 0:21:13.516 --> 0:21:17.676 Before I get into describe her, somebody approached me and 0:21:17.836 --> 0:21:21.036 said to me, I saw it all. I saw it. 0:21:22.876 --> 0:21:26.436 Someone told her, I saw it all. In the chaos 0:21:26.436 --> 0:21:28.956 of the moment, Aunt Betty couldn't really focus on who 0:21:28.956 --> 0:21:31.596 had said this to her. She just remembered his voice, 0:21:31.876 --> 0:21:35.276 his words, but not his face or his name. And 0:21:35.636 --> 0:21:39.036 kind of amazingly, it was a long time, several years 0:21:39.076 --> 0:21:42.396 in fact, before Aunt Betty even learned who this man 0:21:42.596 --> 0:21:48.876 was or what exactly he'd seen. Turns out, this man 0:21:49.036 --> 0:21:52.596 was a neighbor, just a regular guy, and he was 0:21:52.716 --> 0:21:56.556 destined to become the most important witness in the murder 0:21:56.596 --> 0:22:20.596 of Billy Logan. In order to fix this murder case 0:22:20.636 --> 0:22:23.676 for the mob, Bob needed to know who the victim was, 0:22:24.316 --> 0:22:27.156 but the real key was knowing who the witnesses were. 0:22:27.556 --> 0:22:30.236 That was going to be crucial because it would tell 0:22:30.316 --> 0:22:33.676 him just how weak or strong the prosecution's case was, 0:22:34.396 --> 0:22:36.476 and then he'd know how big an ask it would 0:22:36.516 --> 0:22:39.556 be when he approached a judge with a bribe. So 0:22:39.836 --> 0:22:42.596 Bob soon found out more about the witness He worked 0:22:42.596 --> 0:22:45.636 at gas stations and also drove a milk truck. His 0:22:45.796 --> 0:22:50.716 name was Robert Lowe. The night of the murder, Robert 0:22:50.756 --> 0:22:53.476 Lowe had been out walking his dog, Ginger, when he 0:22:53.516 --> 0:22:56.276 noticed a car idling just down the street from the 0:22:56.316 --> 0:22:59.716 Logan's house. Then he heard a shout followed by a 0:22:59.756 --> 0:23:04.996 loud bang. He saw Logan's body fall backwards. Moments later, 0:23:05.116 --> 0:23:08.316 someone got out of the idling car and shot Logan again. 0:23:09.676 --> 0:23:12.476 A street light illuminated the man's face for just a 0:23:12.476 --> 0:23:15.436 few seconds. Robert Lowe got a glimpse of the killer. 0:23:19.756 --> 0:23:22.716 Later that night, he gave a brief statement to the police. 0:23:25.196 --> 0:23:28.916 Sometime later, two detectives followed up and visited Robert at work. 0:23:29.476 --> 0:23:31.836 Then they had him come down to the station. We 0:23:31.916 --> 0:23:34.836 know what happens next because Robert recounted all of this 0:23:34.916 --> 0:23:38.156 to a journalist named Maurice Posley, who ended up writing 0:23:38.196 --> 0:23:41.116 a book about the murder. Down at the police station, 0:23:41.476 --> 0:23:45.036 the detectives hauled out four photo albums. They were collections 0:23:45.036 --> 0:23:52.156 of mugshots organized thematically. Each album had its own label homicide, rape, burglary, robbery, 0:23:52.476 --> 0:23:55.596 auto theft. Take your time and go through him, The 0:23:55.676 --> 0:23:58.516 detectives told Robert, see if you can id the shooter. 0:23:59.476 --> 0:24:02.756 It seemed improbable, like looking for a needle in a haystack. 0:24:04.076 --> 0:24:07.836 Robert was halfway through the last binder when he saw him. 0:24:08.116 --> 0:24:13.876 Narrow face, aquiline nose, dark eyes, got him, said Robert, 0:24:14.596 --> 0:24:18.116 you sure, asked one of the detectives. Yeah, I'm sure, 0:24:18.196 --> 0:24:21.956 said Robert. The detectives didn't tell Robert the name of 0:24:21.996 --> 0:24:25.316 the guy, he just ideed. They just told him he 0:24:25.316 --> 0:24:35.316 could go. Now. Turns out the guy, Robert pointed out 0:24:35.836 --> 0:24:39.956 he was Harry Alamann, a reputed hitman for the mob. 0:24:41.276 --> 0:24:43.996 Seems like this would be a tantalizing lead for the police, 0:24:44.676 --> 0:24:49.276 but remarkably, nothing happened with this investigation for several years. 0:24:50.596 --> 0:24:56.116 Then a second witness materialized, named Louie Almida. Louie claimed 0:24:56.156 --> 0:24:58.996 to be a friend of Harry's, an accomplice to the murder, 0:24:59.156 --> 0:25:02.236 the guy who drove the getaway car. He was now 0:25:02.236 --> 0:25:04.596 in trouble with the law himself on a separate matter 0:25:04.996 --> 0:25:07.876 and was looking to talk, so he served up his 0:25:07.956 --> 0:25:12.236 old pale Harry on a silver platter, said yep, he's 0:25:12.276 --> 0:25:19.196 the guy that killed Billy Logan, and then boom. The 0:25:19.316 --> 0:25:23.396 prosecutors had what they needed. In December of nineteen seventy six, 0:25:23.716 --> 0:25:27.276 a grand jury indicted Harry Alaman. It was big news. 0:25:27.756 --> 0:25:31.236 The Chicago Daily News reported that the mob had assassinated 0:25:31.316 --> 0:25:34.836 over one thousand people since the nineteen twenties, and this 0:25:34.956 --> 0:25:37.556 was one of the only times a hitman had ever 0:25:37.636 --> 0:25:43.476 been indicted. Robert Lowe, the neighbor, agreed to testify, as 0:25:43.476 --> 0:25:46.956 did the accomplice. The getaway driver. Aunt Betty, said she'd 0:25:46.956 --> 0:25:50.236 testified two she'd talked about her brother and the night 0:25:50.276 --> 0:25:54.316 that he'd been killed. But Betty's niece Johanna says her 0:25:54.316 --> 0:25:59.756 whole family was spooked. Everybody knew what the mob was 0:25:59.796 --> 0:26:06.876 capable of, and for us, we were We had playing 0:26:06.876 --> 0:26:08.836 clothes men sitting in front of our house that were 0:26:08.836 --> 0:26:11.196 taking now blason plate numbers of people that were coming 0:26:11.236 --> 0:26:13.156 to our house. They were trying to make sure who 0:26:13.236 --> 0:26:16.716 was who. We even had him following us to school 0:26:17.116 --> 0:26:20.676 to make sure we were okay. The police. The police. Yeah, 0:26:20.716 --> 0:26:24.316 it sounds pretty scary. It was very scary. Yeah. And 0:26:24.396 --> 0:26:27.796 the guy who supposedly killed her uncle, Harry Aliman, he 0:26:27.876 --> 0:26:32.036 seemed pretty scary too. In a bizarre twist, Harry was 0:26:32.116 --> 0:26:36.116 actually a distant relative of Billy, the victim. Billy had 0:26:36.196 --> 0:26:40.476 married Harry's second cousin, which didn't raise too many eyebrows 0:26:40.516 --> 0:26:44.756 in this case, because well back then, in many Chicago neighborhoods, 0:26:44.796 --> 0:26:49.316 everyone seemed to be related somehow. In any case, Harry's 0:26:49.356 --> 0:26:53.276 story was now all over the papers. One headline heralded 0:26:53.396 --> 0:26:57.236 him as a modern day al Capone. In another article, 0:26:57.516 --> 0:27:02.396 a prosecutor warned that Aliman quote kills with the professional 0:27:02.396 --> 0:27:06.796 efficiency of an expert assassin. This was the guy the 0:27:06.876 --> 0:27:10.516 mob wanted Bob Cooley to save, the guy who's trial 0:27:10.756 --> 0:27:18.796 Bob was going to fix it. Turns out there were 0:27:18.836 --> 0:27:22.676 many facets to the so called expert assassin and the 0:27:22.716 --> 0:27:25.916 people I talked to, people who knew Harry from back 0:27:25.956 --> 0:27:29.316 in the day, they all seem to remember a different man. 0:27:31.316 --> 0:27:33.676 If you ever watched the movie Scarface, kind of reminds 0:27:33.676 --> 0:27:35.996 you of the guy walks up behind Scarface with shotgun 0:27:35.996 --> 0:27:40.476 at the end. He's like a Bantam rooster. He's slender, 0:27:40.796 --> 0:27:46.276 he's got thick wavy hair, sunglasses, a ladies man, a 0:27:46.396 --> 0:27:51.316 good looker, dashing kind of character, and was also the 0:27:51.476 --> 0:27:53.676 kind of guy who could make them. Aron R. Sauce 0:27:54.516 --> 0:28:00.236 on Sundays. He looks like somebody who if you rubbed 0:28:00.276 --> 0:28:02.836 up against him, you sort of believe, because he's the 0:28:02.916 --> 0:28:08.756 razor's edge. But perhaps the most interesting take that I 0:28:08.836 --> 0:28:12.396 heard on Harry came from this next person. Okay, my 0:28:12.476 --> 0:28:16.076 name is Frankie for Leano. My father was Harry Alaman, 0:28:17.196 --> 0:28:22.916 and basically he was involved. How do I say that? 0:28:22.956 --> 0:28:28.156 A part? This always gets me? Jake, Yeah, how do 0:28:28.236 --> 0:28:31.556 I say it? He was involved in the organized crime. 0:28:32.236 --> 0:28:35.316 Frankie's now in her sixties and all her life she's 0:28:35.316 --> 0:28:38.756 been trying to explain who her father was. She actually 0:28:38.796 --> 0:28:41.916 wrote a memoir about her dad called They Can't Hurt 0:28:41.996 --> 0:28:45.796