WEBVTT - Episode 3: The Fix 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 --> 0:00:53.716 Cover show page in Apple Podcasts, or at Pushkin dot Fm. 0:00:53.756 --> 0:00:59.356 Previously on deep Cover. By the mid nineteen seventies, Bob 0:00:59.436 --> 0:01:02.916 Cooley had earned a reputation in Chicago as a flashy 0:01:02.956 --> 0:01:06.956 criminal defense lawyer who knew how to win. Sometimes he 0:01:06.996 --> 0:01:10.116 won Fahren Square, but he was also willing to place 0:01:10.116 --> 0:01:13.596 a bribe to get the verdict he wanted. In nineteen 0:01:13.676 --> 0:01:17.796 seventy seven, Bob was approached by Pat Marcy, the mob's 0:01:17.836 --> 0:01:21.676 political czar. Marcy asked him to fix a murder case, 0:01:22.036 --> 0:01:25.556 something that Bob had never done before. And this wasn't 0:01:25.596 --> 0:01:28.876 just any murder case. It was the trial of a 0:01:28.916 --> 0:01:35.036 mob hitman named Harry Alaman. He's like a bantam rooster, 0:01:35.396 --> 0:01:39.116 looks like somebody who if you rubbed up against him, 0:01:39.596 --> 0:01:42.556 you sort of believe. Because he's the razor's edge. Bob 0:01:42.636 --> 0:01:44.596 knew that he needed to get this case into the 0:01:44.636 --> 0:01:48.636 hands of the exact right judge, and according to Bob, 0:01:49.076 --> 0:01:56.436 he had the perfect person in mind. Bob Cooley was 0:01:56.436 --> 0:01:59.636 a guy who seemed to know everyone when he wasn't 0:01:59.636 --> 0:02:02.796 in court. Bob liked to eat out, party, and gamble. 0:02:03.516 --> 0:02:06.516 Sometimes he mixed work with pleasure. He was an off 0:02:06.556 --> 0:02:09.956 the book silent partner of an Italian restaurant, a place 0:02:09.956 --> 0:02:13.956 called Grecos, where he schmoozed with lawyers, judges and clients, 0:02:14.636 --> 0:02:18.716 and sometimes he took the guys he really liked to Vegas. 0:02:19.476 --> 0:02:22.716 Bob gambled so much the casinos would often fly him 0:02:22.836 --> 0:02:26.236 and his friends out on a charter plane. Bob says 0:02:26.236 --> 0:02:28.996 he made one such trip in the mid seventies with 0:02:29.156 --> 0:02:32.596 a judge named Frank Wilson. I should tell you Judge 0:02:32.596 --> 0:02:35.436 Wilson is no longer alive, so I couldn't ask him 0:02:35.436 --> 0:02:38.756 about this trip or get his side of things. But 0:02:38.956 --> 0:02:43.236 according to Bob, he and the judge get out to Vegas, gamble, 0:02:43.596 --> 0:02:46.716 have a good time, part ways at some point, and 0:02:46.756 --> 0:02:50.316 then in the wee hours of the morning they reconnect. 0:02:54.396 --> 0:02:56.636 You're sitting at the bar and there's a girl sitting 0:02:56.716 --> 0:02:58.956 next to him, who I'm assuming as a working girl. 0:02:59.556 --> 0:03:01.556 Bob says that the judge had a bit too much 0:03:01.596 --> 0:03:05.156 to drink that night. So Bob and this quote working 0:03:05.196 --> 0:03:09.676 girl helped the judge back to his room. Afterwards, this 0:03:09.716 --> 0:03:13.036 woman goes back to Bob's room with him. Once there, 0:03:13.396 --> 0:03:19.356 she suggests that they take a shower before you know, so, 0:03:20.156 --> 0:03:22.716 I know, I get naked. I go in there. She's naked. 0:03:23.556 --> 0:03:26.076 When I go in there, I get in the shower. 0:03:26.316 --> 0:03:30.996 She doesn't get in the shower. Okay, I'm in there 0:03:31.156 --> 0:03:34.316 no more than three or four minutes. And now it 0:03:34.396 --> 0:03:37.556 hits me. I got about I don't know how much 0:03:37.756 --> 0:03:40.356 five to six seven thousand in cash in my pocket. 0:03:41.156 --> 0:03:43.956 I had just gotten a big fancy diamond ring not 0:03:44.036 --> 0:03:48.396 that long before. Suddenly I jump out of the shower. 0:03:52.596 --> 0:03:55.596 By the time I get out, she's already out the door, 0:03:56.236 --> 0:03:58.316 because I opened the door and I see her towards 0:03:58.316 --> 0:04:03.636 the elevator, and I'm naked, and I'm running. The moment 0:04:03.676 --> 0:04:05.836 I come out and she's gone. I know, damn well, 0:04:05.876 --> 0:04:09.676 what happened. And I opened the door and I see her, 0:04:09.676 --> 0:04:12.356 and as I say, I'm naked, but I go running 0:04:12.436 --> 0:04:14.956 after her. She gets in the elevator and down she goes. 0:04:17.076 --> 0:04:20.836 Wait seriously, Bob, honestly, you were running naked down the hallway. 0:04:21.236 --> 0:04:26.276 What did I just say? Bob frantically hits the down button. 0:04:26.356 --> 0:04:30.356 In hot pursuit. A new elevator arrives, Bob rushes in. 0:04:31.556 --> 0:04:35.396 I get in there, and there's an old couple, old 0:04:35.476 --> 0:04:38.396 couple standing in there. Like I said, it's about six 0:04:38.396 --> 0:04:41.756 in the morning. Now I just put my hands over 0:04:41.836 --> 0:04:46.036 my schmuck and I don't say a word. A woman, 0:04:46.156 --> 0:04:49.396 especially like as if she, if she could have pushed 0:04:49.396 --> 0:04:51.596 her way out the back of the elevator going down, 0:04:51.716 --> 0:04:54.476 she would have wait. Hold up, Just to be just 0:04:54.516 --> 0:04:58.036 to be totally clear, Bob, you're buck naked in the elevator, 0:04:58.196 --> 0:05:02.236 covering your private ports and there's an elderly couple corned 0:05:02.236 --> 0:05:04.756 over the other far end of the elevator. Not but 0:05:04.836 --> 0:05:07.756 the elevator wasn't that big. We're talking a small elevator, 0:05:08.196 --> 0:05:11.476 probably about three feet behind me. And I turned my back, 0:05:11.516 --> 0:05:13.716 and you know, but I'm covering. I'm covering my shug. 0:05:14.076 --> 0:05:16.116 But now I have to get out of there. And 0:05:16.476 --> 0:05:19.036 were at the ground level, so I run over to 0:05:19.076 --> 0:05:21.076 the poll and I grab a towel and I go 0:05:21.156 --> 0:05:23.396 see the security and I said, I just got robbed. 0:05:25.476 --> 0:05:28.356 I didn't know, but I assumed I got wrapped or 0:05:28.396 --> 0:05:30.676 she wouldn't have been, you know, gone. All my life, 0:05:30.716 --> 0:05:34.516 I've been able to instantaneously, you know, figure things that 0:05:34.516 --> 0:05:39.756 are happening. That's been my nature. Well maybe not instantaneously. 0:05:40.156 --> 0:05:43.196 I mean, she did get away, but you got to 0:05:43.196 --> 0:05:46.916 give Bob an a for effort. Eventually, Bob says, he 0:05:46.996 --> 0:05:49.556 checks in with the judge in the morning. I see 0:05:49.596 --> 0:05:54.196 Frank and Frank is complaining. You know, he had like 0:05:54.436 --> 0:05:57.076 eight nine hundred bucks in his pocket and she robbed him. 0:05:57.196 --> 0:06:00.236 He said, why'd you let her do that? Yeah? Why? 0:06:00.716 --> 0:06:03.236 He said? Why did you let her? Explain the name 0:06:03.356 --> 0:06:05.956 for him getting robbed? But I said, she got me 0:06:06.036 --> 0:06:08.836 for a lot more than she got you. The whole 0:06:08.836 --> 0:06:11.196 thing was like a scene right out of the Hangover. 0:06:11.836 --> 0:06:14.796 It was a classic what happens in Vegas stays in 0:06:14.916 --> 0:06:20.076 Vegas moment. Bob says that he did all this simply 0:06:20.116 --> 0:06:22.956 because he liked to have fun and he valued Frank 0:06:22.996 --> 0:06:27.516 Wilson as a friend. But all of this male bonding 0:06:27.636 --> 0:06:32.556 served another purpose. It built trust, something that Bob might 0:06:32.676 --> 0:06:35.876 use to his own advantage if he ever wanted to, 0:06:36.636 --> 0:06:40.396 which is why in early nineteen seventy seven, when Bob 0:06:40.516 --> 0:06:43.916 was asked to fix a high profile murder case. Bob 0:06:43.996 --> 0:06:48.116 thought of Judge Frank Wilson. Bob says he just knew 0:06:48.716 --> 0:06:51.596 this would be the judge to ask the man to 0:06:51.716 --> 0:06:56.116 take the bribe, and if it worked, if Bob could 0:06:56.156 --> 0:06:59.836 pull this off, he'd prove his worth to Pat Marcy 0:07:00.356 --> 0:07:28.876 and the Mob. He'd be the man in Chicago. I'm 0:07:28.996 --> 0:07:35.156 Jake Halburn and this is Deep Cover mob Land, Episode three. 0:07:36.036 --> 0:08:02.316 The fix Bob's relationship with Judge Wilson. It was complicated, 0:08:02.716 --> 0:08:04.916 and all we have is Bob's version of what it 0:08:04.956 --> 0:08:07.636 was like, which should be taken with a grain of salt, 0:08:07.716 --> 0:08:11.516 because look and stories, Bob tends to be the hero. 0:08:12.516 --> 0:08:15.116 With this in mind, I did some digging and tried 0:08:15.156 --> 0:08:19.196 to figure out exactly who Judge Wilson was. People who 0:08:19.316 --> 0:08:22.196 knew the judge well remember him as a no nonsense 0:08:22.236 --> 0:08:25.276 Irish guy, a World War Two vette who walked with 0:08:25.316 --> 0:08:28.156 a limp and had a reputation for being tough on 0:08:28.196 --> 0:08:32.396 the bench, a serious man. So he walked with a limp. 0:08:32.756 --> 0:08:37.316 Here's crabby, and he was very state minded. That's Bill Murphy. 0:08:37.716 --> 0:08:40.756 He worked as a public defender in Frank Wilson's courtroom. 0:08:41.316 --> 0:08:44.076 He also happened to go to college with Bob, so 0:08:44.196 --> 0:08:47.956 he actually knew both men pretty well. He says that 0:08:47.996 --> 0:08:51.756 in college, Bob was a wild man. I mean, I 0:08:51.796 --> 0:08:53.956 like Bob. He was a good wrestler. When he was 0:08:53.956 --> 0:08:57.316 at college, he was He's good in a fistfight, you know, 0:08:57.516 --> 0:09:02.596 I mean, he just was out of control. By contrast, 0:09:02.956 --> 0:09:05.876 Judge Wilson, or Frank as he calls him, was a 0:09:05.956 --> 0:09:09.716 play by the rules kind of guy. Lawyers would you know, 0:09:09.796 --> 0:09:12.036 come in to say hello to Frank. You know, it 0:09:12.116 --> 0:09:16.876 was pretty congenial. If there were certain lawyers that would 0:09:16.916 --> 0:09:21.556 come into his chambers, he would signal me to come 0:09:21.596 --> 0:09:25.716 in there too, being a witness that no hanky pinky 0:09:25.756 --> 0:09:28.556 was going to go on. Does that make sense to you? 0:09:29.196 --> 0:09:32.116 This made perfect sense to me. This was a city 0:09:32.236 --> 0:09:35.836 and a courthouse plagued by corruption, and Judge Wilson was 0:09:35.836 --> 0:09:39.836 taking precautions, protecting himself and making it clear that he 0:09:39.876 --> 0:09:43.956 was operating above board. Murphy says one time a lawyer 0:09:43.996 --> 0:09:47.756 tried to send Judge Wilson a referral fee. Apparently the 0:09:47.876 --> 0:09:50.876 judge had sent a client his way and lawyer wanted 0:09:50.876 --> 0:09:55.556 to show his thanks. Wilson flat out refused. Apparently, this 0:09:55.676 --> 0:09:58.996 lawyer was still determined to show his gratitude, so he 0:09:59.076 --> 0:10:02.276 sent a case of scotch to Judge Wilson's bailiff. You 0:10:02.316 --> 0:10:04.716 know the guy in the courtroom who says all rise. 0:10:05.196 --> 0:10:08.396 Judge Wilson put the kibosh on this too. He insisted 0:10:08.396 --> 0:10:11.636 that the bailiff returned the case of scotch. In fact, 0:10:11.836 --> 0:10:14.516 he asked Bill Murphy to help move the liquor because 0:10:14.516 --> 0:10:18.156 apparently the bailiff was an older guy and had a disability. 0:10:18.636 --> 0:10:21.716 Frank said to me, he said, we're not taking I'm 0:10:21.756 --> 0:10:24.556 not letting my bailiff take that. He can't carry it 0:10:24.556 --> 0:10:26.396 back to the lawyer's car. Would you do it? And 0:10:26.476 --> 0:10:30.596 I did. Murphy was also now a witness, someone who 0:10:30.636 --> 0:10:33.116 saw the judge had done the right thing and saw 0:10:33.196 --> 0:10:35.956 that the judge didn't want even a whiff of impropriety 0:10:35.996 --> 0:10:39.756 in his courtroom. Bill Murphy told me that's just who 0:10:39.836 --> 0:10:44.436 Frank Wilson was. An honest man. I didn't really have 0:10:45.436 --> 0:10:49.676 you know, illusions about him. He was a very tough father. 0:10:50.756 --> 0:10:54.956 You know. He wasn't telling me it was great all 0:10:54.956 --> 0:10:58.356 the time. It was kind of just the opposite. But 0:10:58.516 --> 0:11:02.196 in spite of all that, I really admired him. That's 0:11:02.276 --> 0:11:05.796 Frank's daughter, mary Anne Duncan. I don't know. He just 0:11:05.836 --> 0:11:10.756 really loved the law. He watched Perry Mason, like every 0:11:10.756 --> 0:11:15.076 single parent Mason about one hundred times. And when he 0:11:15.196 --> 0:11:18.796 became a judge, I don't think I've ever seen anyone 0:11:18.956 --> 0:11:22.556 happier in a job. Marianne says that her dad made 0:11:22.596 --> 0:11:25.276 a comfortable living as a judge. The family always had 0:11:25.356 --> 0:11:29.436 enough money because her dad was frugal, a no frills 0:11:29.556 --> 0:11:32.396 kind of guy. Like when they went on vacation, we 0:11:32.436 --> 0:11:37.116 would say like a Howard Johnson's, but then we would 0:11:37.116 --> 0:11:41.436 go have a drink or something at like the fancy hotel, 0:11:42.636 --> 0:11:47.796 but we'd be back at the more average place. So anyway, 0:11:47.916 --> 0:11:52.436 was never extravagant. She says that her father wasn't driven 0:11:52.476 --> 0:11:55.916 by money and would never take a bribe. Now you 0:11:55.996 --> 0:11:58.756 might be thinking, of course, isn't this what any daughter 0:11:58.756 --> 0:12:03.836 would say, But Marianne was adamant. I thought my father 0:12:04.076 --> 0:12:09.836 did anything wrong, I would admit it, you know, because 0:12:09.836 --> 0:12:13.596 it wouldn't be something I did, you know, it wouldn't 0:12:13.636 --> 0:12:17.356 be my fault. If he did something wrong. Marianne also 0:12:17.396 --> 0:12:20.636 disputes that her dad and Bob Cooley were even friends, 0:12:21.196 --> 0:12:23.956 and in a way, I can see why she says this. 0:12:24.516 --> 0:12:27.956 They seem kind of like opposites. But I can also 0:12:28.036 --> 0:12:32.316 see how Judge Wilson's honorable reputation would be attractive and 0:12:32.396 --> 0:12:36.596 quite useful to a guy like Bob Cooley, especially if 0:12:36.636 --> 0:12:39.116 he wanted to fix a murder case and make it 0:12:39.116 --> 0:12:43.756 all look perfectly legit. Bob says that he also chose 0:12:43.876 --> 0:12:46.956 Judge Wilson in part because he drank too much, and 0:12:47.076 --> 0:12:51.396 this was essentially his achilles heel. When I asked Marianne 0:12:51.396 --> 0:12:54.796 about this, she said her dad did have a drinking problem. 0:12:55.116 --> 0:12:57.476 He would drink to excess for a few weeks, then 0:12:57.596 --> 0:13:00.796 stop and go dry for a spell. The bottom line 0:13:00.836 --> 0:13:03.596 for Bob was he felt if he talked to the 0:13:03.676 --> 0:13:07.236 judge in just the right way, at just the right moment, 0:13:07.636 --> 0:13:10.476 the judge might agree to the bribe. I had no 0:13:10.596 --> 0:13:12.716 idea how I was going to approach until I walked 0:13:12.796 --> 0:13:15.076 up before him. I had no idea what I was 0:13:15.076 --> 0:13:18.396 going to say. I didn't like to prepare something. He 0:13:18.476 --> 0:13:21.556 was just gonna wing it. So here's what Bob says, happened. 0:13:22.116 --> 0:13:24.796 He had this restaurant, Grecos, and he knew that the 0:13:24.916 --> 0:13:28.036 judge liked to dine there. So Bob heads to Grecos 0:13:28.076 --> 0:13:34.636 one night, hoping to bump into the judge. Just so 0:13:34.756 --> 0:13:38.076 you can picture it, Grecos was a huge place, looked 0:13:38.076 --> 0:13:41.516 like a wine seller, adorned with ornamental trellises and vines, 0:13:42.116 --> 0:13:46.956 good home cooked food prepared by Italian ladies from the neighborhood. Anyway, 0:13:47.276 --> 0:13:50.316 Bob shows up and spots the judge sitting with some friends. 0:13:50.916 --> 0:13:53.276 He gets the judge's attention and brings him over to 0:13:53.276 --> 0:13:58.556 a secluded spot. Then, ever so casually, Bob says, Judge, 0:13:59.076 --> 0:14:02.476 somebody contacted me and wants me to handle a case. 0:14:04.396 --> 0:14:07.556 That was the word Bob always used in situations like this, 0:14:08.196 --> 0:14:11.876 handle a case. If he would have said to me anything, 0:14:11.956 --> 0:14:15.316 did he affect that I don't want to talk to 0:14:15.356 --> 0:14:18.516 you about it or whatever? You know, so be it 0:14:18.756 --> 0:14:22.876 and the conversation. But he said something that really struck 0:14:22.956 --> 0:14:28.756 me as bizarre. He said to Bob, you mean the 0:14:28.796 --> 0:14:33.116 Harry Alaman case. Bob was taken aback. It was as 0:14:33.116 --> 0:14:35.476 if the judge knew what Bob was going to ask 0:14:35.756 --> 0:14:39.076 before he even asked it. The judge then told Bob, 0:14:39.436 --> 0:14:44.116 they sojade me on that case. S o j that 0:14:44.196 --> 0:14:49.076 stands for substitution of judge in Illinois, if a case 0:14:49.196 --> 0:14:52.116 is assigned to a judge and for whatever reason, either 0:14:52.116 --> 0:14:54.876 side doesn't like that judge, they have a chance to 0:14:54.996 --> 0:14:58.516 veto him ask for another judge. So that's what Wilson 0:14:58.596 --> 0:15:02.356 was saying to Bob. He'd been so ojade blocked on 0:15:02.476 --> 0:15:07.316 this case. Turns out Harry Alimon's legal team had vetoed Wilson, 0:15:07.796 --> 0:15:11.796 and they've done this almost certainly because of Wilson's tough reputation. 0:15:12.596 --> 0:15:15.796 This was news to Bob, but Bob had a hunch 0:15:16.116 --> 0:15:19.716 that with the Mob's help, they could pull some strings 0:15:19.796 --> 0:15:22.476 and undo this, get the case in front of Wilson, 0:15:22.956 --> 0:15:26.396 in other words, a problem that could be solved. Bob 0:15:26.436 --> 0:15:29.996 just plays it cool. He doesn't say anything right away. Instead, 0:15:30.396 --> 0:15:34.036 he waits. A few nights later. According to Bob, he 0:15:34.156 --> 0:15:36.836 bumps into the judge again and brings up the whole 0:15:36.876 --> 0:15:39.916 matter once more, tells the judge what a weak case 0:15:39.916 --> 0:15:43.396 he thinks this is, and makes his pitch, so I 0:15:43.436 --> 0:15:46.516 can get the case to you, you know, will you 0:15:46.596 --> 0:15:49.996 take it not? Saying to fix it or anything else. 0:15:50.476 --> 0:15:52.316 And he said to me, you can't do it. And 0:15:52.356 --> 0:15:55.676 I said, well, I think we can notice how careful 0:15:55.716 --> 0:15:59.756 Bob is being. He's poking around looking for a soft spot, 0:16:00.196 --> 0:16:03.596 testing whether the judge would even consider this. And Bob 0:16:03.676 --> 0:16:07.316 says the judge isn't giving him a hard no, more 0:16:07.356 --> 0:16:12.356 like a maybe, which is all he needs. Now comes 0:16:12.396 --> 0:16:15.396 the full charm offensive. He invites the judge to dinner 0:16:15.396 --> 0:16:19.196 at his restaurant. Bob's laid out all the groundwork. Now 0:16:19.436 --> 0:16:23.716 it's just a matter of locking him in. About maybe 0:16:23.996 --> 0:16:27.396 fut halfway through dinner, the judge went to the bathroom. 0:16:27.796 --> 0:16:31.276 That's when I thought I will approach him. This would 0:16:31.316 --> 0:16:35.476 be the moment he may be thinking really in the bathroom, 0:16:36.116 --> 0:16:38.916 But as you'll come to see, this was Bob's go 0:16:39.076 --> 0:16:43.556 to place to have discreet conversations. Anyway, Bob says. They 0:16:43.596 --> 0:16:46.356 get to the bathroom and Bob slips his hand into 0:16:46.356 --> 0:16:49.956 his pocket and clutches a wad of cash twenty five 0:16:50.036 --> 0:16:54.476 hundred dollars. I just took it out, and I put 0:16:54.556 --> 0:16:57.676 my hand out, and he put his hand out and 0:16:57.676 --> 0:17:01.516 he took it, and he said, what's this for? And 0:17:01.716 --> 0:17:05.236 I said, judge, you know that's for you. I said, 0:17:05.436 --> 0:17:07.836 if I can't get the case to yousopiate and I 0:17:07.916 --> 0:17:12.396 walked out. It was a shrewd play. Bob knew perfectly 0:17:12.436 --> 0:17:15.316 well that once the judge accepted the money it was 0:17:15.356 --> 0:17:19.756 a done deal. He was corrupted. So for the time being, 0:17:20.076 --> 0:17:23.476 the judge appeared to be on board. Bob had promised 0:17:23.556 --> 0:17:26.596 him that he'd get him ten thousand total once he'd 0:17:26.636 --> 0:17:37.196 quitted Harry Alaman, so that was one problem solved. Not 0:17:37.356 --> 0:17:39.996 long after this, Bob got a call from a mobster 0:17:40.116 --> 0:17:43.196 he knew. He asked Bob to meet at a motel 0:17:43.356 --> 0:17:47.276 out by the airport. When Bob arrives, they head upstairs 0:17:47.316 --> 0:17:50.476 to an empty room. A few minutes later, there's a 0:17:50.556 --> 0:17:55.836 knock on the door and in walks Harry Elaman. Harry 0:17:55.956 --> 0:18:01.356 had stone cold eyes. He just did. He reminded me 0:18:01.396 --> 0:18:03.796 a lot of Pat Marcy. Pat Marcy was the same way, 0:18:03.836 --> 0:18:08.996 but Harry looked pure evil. Apparently there was no mistaking 0:18:09.316 --> 0:18:13.156 who or what this guy was. He looks like what 0:18:13.236 --> 0:18:17.156 he was. He looks like a mobith guy, short, in 0:18:17.276 --> 0:18:20.316 pretty good shape physically. All he's wore a suit. Never 0:18:20.356 --> 0:18:23.596 saw Harry without him in a suit. I wonder if 0:18:23.596 --> 0:18:27.956 he went swimming in a fucking suit. Technically, Bob wasn't 0:18:27.996 --> 0:18:31.596 representing Harry. Harry had a veteran trial lawyer who would 0:18:31.596 --> 0:18:34.756 be arguing the case in the courtroom. Bob was just 0:18:34.796 --> 0:18:38.316 the fixer. But apparently Harry wanted to talk with Bob 0:18:38.396 --> 0:18:43.236 directly about Judge Wilson. According to Bob, Harry was worried, 0:18:43.716 --> 0:18:47.636 worried about the judge's tough reputation, and you can understand 0:18:47.716 --> 0:18:50.796 why Harry might also be a little confused. First, his 0:18:50.956 --> 0:18:54.156 legal team had blocked this judge. Now they were wrangling 0:18:54.156 --> 0:18:57.116 to get into his courtroom, which was kind of weird. 0:18:57.596 --> 0:19:01.116 And apparently Harry wanted to make sure that everything was 0:19:01.196 --> 0:19:04.316 under control. And I said, look, I said yes, I 0:19:04.356 --> 0:19:07.396 said I would handle the case. And that's when he said, 0:19:07.636 --> 0:19:11.316 if there's a problem, you're going to have a problem. 0:19:11.396 --> 0:19:13.756 What does he mean by that, If there's a problem, 0:19:13.836 --> 0:19:15.476 you're going to have a problem, Like, what does that 0:19:15.516 --> 0:19:18.516 actually mean? It means that you're probably going to get killed? 0:19:19.156 --> 0:19:24.156 What I assume it means. Even so, Bob says he 0:19:24.196 --> 0:19:28.076 didn't worry. Everything was going as planned, and the case 0:19:28.276 --> 0:19:31.956 did end up in front of Wilson. It wasn't until 0:19:32.036 --> 0:19:49.036 the trial began that Bob started to panic. By the 0:19:49.116 --> 0:19:52.436 time that Harry Alaman went on trial for murder, it 0:19:52.476 --> 0:19:56.196 was already a full blown media spectacle. Harry showed up 0:19:56.196 --> 0:19:59.236 in court dressed to the nines with all the panash 0:19:59.316 --> 0:20:01.836 of a celebrity. He even looked a bit like a 0:20:01.916 --> 0:20:05.756 young al pacino, sporting a series of silk ties and 0:20:05.876 --> 0:20:09.716 perfectly tailored suits. The way the media described him, it 0:20:09.796 --> 0:20:13.076 was like the Grim Reaper had gone shopping at Barney's. 0:20:13.636 --> 0:20:16.756 Right off the bat, Harry's defense team tells the judge 0:20:16.956 --> 0:20:19.476 that they're giving up their right to a trial by jury. 0:20:20.156 --> 0:20:23.796 Now some defendants like juries see them as more sympathetic, 0:20:24.036 --> 0:20:27.876 which makes sense, unless, of course, you've bribed the judge. 0:20:28.356 --> 0:20:31.516 Then you want a bench trial because in a bench trial, 0:20:31.676 --> 0:20:35.276 well it's all up to the judge. With that matter settled, 0:20:35.516 --> 0:20:38.596 the trial begins. The first witness to be called to 0:20:38.636 --> 0:20:41.836 the stand was from the family of the victim, Billy Logan, 0:20:42.316 --> 0:20:45.996 his sister you know her as Aunt Betty. The famous 0:20:46.076 --> 0:20:50.796 Chicago columnist Mike Royko captured the scene. He described Harry's 0:20:50.836 --> 0:20:54.196 reaction as the Logan sisters testified about the death of 0:20:54.236 --> 0:20:58.956 their brother. He wrote, quote, Harry just sat there, looking 0:20:58.996 --> 0:21:02.756 as cool and impassive as he has throughout. If being 0:21:02.996 --> 0:21:07.756 unjustly accused is a nightmarish experience, he's holding up about 0:21:07.756 --> 0:21:11.716 as well as anyone could. Turns out, this cool and 0:21:11.796 --> 0:21:15.756 impassive appearance. It was very deliberate on Harry's part. It 0:21:15.876 --> 0:21:18.836 was a whole way of being, and Harry's family had 0:21:18.876 --> 0:21:22.916 to follow it. Frankie for Leano, his daughter, remembers this, well, 0:21:25.356 --> 0:21:27.396 if I don't care what they say to me, I 0:21:27.436 --> 0:21:29.756 don't care what they do to me. You are just 0:21:29.796 --> 0:21:33.796 show no emotion, get up and walk away from these reporters. 0:21:33.836 --> 0:21:41.596 Don't give anybody any satisfaction. Okay, let's talk about motive. 0:21:42.316 --> 0:21:45.476 This was a hole in the prosecution's case which they 0:21:45.516 --> 0:21:49.596 never really addressed in a satisfying way. There were reports 0:21:49.596 --> 0:21:52.156 in the press that Billy Logan may have been murdered 0:21:52.156 --> 0:21:56.396 because he refused to help the mob in a hijacking scheme. Now, 0:21:56.596 --> 0:22:00.676 if you recall, Billy was a teamster in theory. He 0:22:00.756 --> 0:22:04.156 had access to all kinds of information about trucks, when 0:22:04.156 --> 0:22:07.956 they arrived, when they departed, what they were carrying. The 0:22:08.076 --> 0:22:12.316 mob apparently wanted this info, Billy said no, and well 0:22:12.636 --> 0:22:15.876 he ended up dead because of it. That was one 0:22:15.996 --> 0:22:19.676 theory anyway. I say theory because Billy was dead so 0:22:19.756 --> 0:22:22.676 he couldn't talk, and the mob well didn't exactly have 0:22:22.716 --> 0:22:25.956 a pr guide to comment, so theory was all there 0:22:26.156 --> 0:22:30.556 was without a clear cut motive. The heart of the 0:22:30.596 --> 0:22:35.156 prosecution's case was the testimony of not one, but two 0:22:35.236 --> 0:22:39.476 witnesses to the crime. The first was Harry Alaman's accomplice, 0:22:39.676 --> 0:22:43.836 the driver of the getaway car, Louis Almeida, a childhood 0:22:43.876 --> 0:22:49.156 friend of Harry's. Louise testimony was pretty damning. Louis recalled 0:22:49.156 --> 0:22:51.676 the knight of the murder, how they'd driven over to 0:22:51.716 --> 0:22:54.916 Billy's house, how Harry had yelled out the car window 0:22:54.956 --> 0:23:00.716 to get Billy's attention and then shot him twice, he said, 0:23:00.756 --> 0:23:04.396 five or six seconds past, and then Harry shot Billy 0:23:04.556 --> 0:23:08.316 a third and final time. Louis said he started to 0:23:08.316 --> 0:23:13.316 speed away, but Harry told him, quote, drive slow, he's gone. 0:23:14.236 --> 0:23:20.836 It was a chilling account of a professional murder. The 0:23:20.956 --> 0:23:23.716 problem with Louis as a witness is that he was 0:23:23.756 --> 0:23:26.756 serving a ten year federal sentence on a weapon's charge. 0:23:27.196 --> 0:23:29.996 He was testifying, at least in part to get his 0:23:30.036 --> 0:23:34.356 sentence reduced. In the end, the whole trial really came 0:23:34.396 --> 0:23:38.156 down to the second witness, Robert Lowe. This is the 0:23:38.156 --> 0:23:41.756 guy who told Betty I saw it all, the guy 0:23:41.796 --> 0:23:44.636 who'd been out walking his dog when Billy Logan got shot. 0:23:45.196 --> 0:23:48.396 A guy who had absolutely nothing to gain and everything 0:23:48.436 --> 0:23:52.276 to lose by testifying, and you know it's the seventies. 0:23:52.796 --> 0:23:57.036 He was a young guy, very impressionable, and I think 0:23:57.076 --> 0:24:01.476 that did carry the day. That's Maurice Posley. He's a 0:24:01.476 --> 0:24:04.716 former Chicago journalist who wrote a book about Robert Lowe 0:24:04.756 --> 0:24:08.876 and this trial. It's called Everybody Pays. It really boiled 0:24:08.876 --> 0:24:13.756 down to Bob low and whether you believed Bob Lowe, 0:24:14.356 --> 0:24:18.756 and he was very believable. Basically, Poseley says that Robert 0:24:18.756 --> 0:24:21.356 Lowe is the star of the show. Everyone knew it 0:24:21.516 --> 0:24:24.676 from the moment Robert Lowe entered the courthouse, because he 0:24:24.756 --> 0:24:28.236 was surrounded by guards all with their guns drawn. It 0:24:28.276 --> 0:24:31.276 was like the President had arrived or something. And in 0:24:31.276 --> 0:24:34.396 a way it was no less momentous. Here was a 0:24:34.476 --> 0:24:39.116 regular guy, father of four, working stiff, don't forget dog 0:24:39.116 --> 0:24:43.036 owner who'd volunteered to take on the mob and thus 0:24:43.036 --> 0:24:46.316 far he had not been killed. That was like being 0:24:46.316 --> 0:24:49.876 in downtown Chicago and seeing Bigfoot with a red sox 0:24:49.916 --> 0:24:54.756 hat on Maurice Poseley. He points out, this didn't just happen. 0:24:55.356 --> 0:24:58.036 Robert Low didn't just wake up one morning, make a 0:24:58.076 --> 0:25:01.316 cup of foldiers, look in the mirror and say, you 0:25:01.396 --> 0:25:03.556 know what, I think I'm going to testify against that 0:25:03.596 --> 0:25:09.076 really scary hitman today. No, the prosecutors told Robert basically 0:25:09.516 --> 0:25:13.076 that he had a chance to do the impossible, put 0:25:13.116 --> 0:25:16.676 a mob hitman behind bars from murder. They laid it 0:25:16.756 --> 0:25:21.516 on thick, this was an opportunity that rarely came long 0:25:21.676 --> 0:25:25.356 for men such as them to actually get a conviction 0:25:25.396 --> 0:25:27.916 in these cases, and that this guy was the lynchpin, 0:25:27.996 --> 0:25:31.916 and so he became sort of, you know, their darling. 0:25:31.996 --> 0:25:34.876 You might say, we'll take care of you, will give 0:25:34.916 --> 0:25:37.356 you a new identity. You're going to have to change 0:25:37.356 --> 0:25:40.036 your life, you're going to have to move, but it's 0:25:40.356 --> 0:25:44.156 going to be an opportunity for you. And they impressed 0:25:44.196 --> 0:25:48.116 upon him his value to them, which was sort of 0:25:48.196 --> 0:25:50.636 not just a personal value, but it was a value 0:25:50.636 --> 0:25:53.596 to the society at large of what he was doing 0:25:53.636 --> 0:25:57.316 as a public service, but that's not all. In his book, 0:25:57.436 --> 0:26:01.356 Posley recounts a scene where Robert is told by prosecutors 0:26:01.436 --> 0:26:05.156 that he might be in danger. The subtext was clear, 0:26:05.836 --> 0:26:09.076 sign up with us, do your part, and you'll be safe. 0:26:09.476 --> 0:26:11.916 Do this for the good of your wife and your kids. 0:26:12.396 --> 0:26:20.076 So yeah, just a little bit of pressure. At the 0:26:20.116 --> 0:26:23.156 court house, he took the witness stand and began to 0:26:23.196 --> 0:26:25.996 recount what he'd seen that night. He had been taking 0:26:25.996 --> 0:26:28.596 his dog for a walk when he saw Billy Logan 0:26:28.756 --> 0:26:31.396 come out of his house. Robert began to cross the 0:26:31.396 --> 0:26:34.156 street so he could chat with Billy. Then a car 0:26:34.236 --> 0:26:39.316 pulled up. Robert testified that he heard a bang, and 0:26:39.316 --> 0:26:41.836 then he saw Logan's body fly back about four or 0:26:41.876 --> 0:26:45.076 five feet into some bushes. He then heard another bang. 0:26:46.676 --> 0:26:50.276