WEBVTT - Episode 4: The Favorite Son 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 --> 0:00:52.916 Cover show page in Apple Podcasts, or at pushkin dot Fm. 0:00:52.956 --> 0:00:58.356 Previously on deep Cover. In nineteen eighty six, Bob Cooley, 0:00:58.476 --> 0:01:01.476 a Chicago lawyer who had worked for the mob, walked 0:01:01.476 --> 0:01:05.276 into the office of a federal prosecutor and offered to cooperate. 0:01:06.076 --> 0:01:10.076 Prosecutors were mystified why was he doing this? Up until 0:01:10.116 --> 0:01:13.596 this moment, Bob Cooley had a reputation as a flashy 0:01:13.636 --> 0:01:17.356 criminal defense lawyer who helped at least one person get 0:01:17.356 --> 0:01:22.356 away with murder. Literally. In nineteen seventy seven, Bob vixed 0:01:22.396 --> 0:01:26.516 the trial of Harry Alaman, a legendary mafia hit man. 0:01:27.356 --> 0:01:30.756 The judge is not guilty. Verdict provoked outrage from both 0:01:30.836 --> 0:01:34.956 the media and the public. They couldn't even speak, that's 0:01:34.956 --> 0:01:37.596 how the man and how livid they were. They could 0:01:37.676 --> 0:01:42.036 not believe that this judge didn't fight him guilty. The 0:01:42.436 --> 0:01:47.036 place went into a piano, but for the mob. This 0:01:47.076 --> 0:01:50.876 case proved Bob's worth. He could be their ace in 0:01:50.916 --> 0:01:57.516 the hole. Not long ago, I called up this guy 0:01:57.756 --> 0:02:00.436 who used to know Bob. We're going to call him Nick. 0:02:01.116 --> 0:02:03.556 Nick is in his real name. It's just a nickname 0:02:03.676 --> 0:02:06.636 that we're using to protect his identity. Bob Cooley was 0:02:06.676 --> 0:02:08.876 the best man. He was good at cooks and cases, 0:02:08.876 --> 0:02:10.996 and hey, they knew how good he was if. I 0:02:11.116 --> 0:02:13.676 always said, if I get some deep shit, it's going 0:02:13.756 --> 0:02:16.636 to be a Bob, and Nick was always on the 0:02:16.796 --> 0:02:19.276 edge of some deep shit. I was a captain and 0:02:19.316 --> 0:02:22.276 the mob not don't be waving my flag, but I 0:02:22.396 --> 0:02:24.836 was one of the smarter guys out there. My crew 0:02:24.956 --> 0:02:28.716 was known as the Enforcement Crew, and we we would 0:02:28.716 --> 0:02:31.676 go and do the dirty jobs that other people couldn't handle. 0:02:32.316 --> 0:02:36.236 Back in the day, Nick's specialty was collecting unjuice loans. 0:02:36.836 --> 0:02:39.396 I asked him how he operated. What he'd do if 0:02:39.516 --> 0:02:42.436 I owed him money it didn't pay up. Nick says 0:02:42.516 --> 0:02:45.956 he'd start by asking for it politely. But if that 0:02:46.036 --> 0:02:49.196 didn't work, well, I tell you, Jake, you know, if 0:02:49.196 --> 0:02:51.316 you got twenty four hours to come up with that money, 0:02:51.356 --> 0:02:52.756 if you don't come up the money, I'm gonna come 0:02:52.796 --> 0:02:56.036 bust your fucking head or pop your eyes out and 0:02:56.036 --> 0:02:58.516 gat him like grapes any and he'll lingo like that, 0:02:58.756 --> 0:03:01.036 any any kind of Sometimes you gotta grab the person 0:03:01.076 --> 0:03:03.196 by the throat. Sometimes you gotta grab you know, sometimes 0:03:03.196 --> 0:03:05.036 you gotta you know, knock him out to break their 0:03:05.076 --> 0:03:10.316 lose all defense. What the scenario is, perhaps inevitably Nick 0:03:10.636 --> 0:03:12.516 or one of his guys would get in trouble with 0:03:12.596 --> 0:03:15.996 the cops. When that happened, he knew he could count 0:03:15.996 --> 0:03:19.676 on Bob. And the proof was the Harry Laman case. 0:03:20.436 --> 0:03:24.196 When you get a guy that's a hitman and you 0:03:24.276 --> 0:03:27.116 get him off of a major case, a murder case, 0:03:27.796 --> 0:03:30.556 I mean, everybody's gonna say. Everybody says, hey, I get 0:03:30.556 --> 0:03:33.516 in trouble and going to Bob, which kind of makes 0:03:33.516 --> 0:03:35.956 you wonder how'd Bob become the kind of guy who'd 0:03:35.956 --> 0:03:38.556 do this anyway, who'd fix cases for the Mob and 0:03:38.636 --> 0:03:41.396 think you could get away with it. In this episode, 0:03:41.436 --> 0:03:43.716 we're going to take a hard look at how Bob 0:03:43.916 --> 0:03:47.076 became Bob and where it all started to go wrong 0:03:47.116 --> 0:04:15.236 for him. I'm Jake Halpern, and this is Deep Cover 0:04:15.756 --> 0:04:42.956 mob Land episode four. The favorite son Bob had taken 0:04:43.116 --> 0:04:47.276 a big risk by getting involved with the Harry Lamon trial. First, 0:04:47.316 --> 0:04:50.236 he'd made a risky promise to Pat Marcy, the mob's 0:04:50.276 --> 0:04:53.836 political czar, that he could fix the case. He'd also 0:04:53.876 --> 0:04:57.676 assured Harry that all would go well, and he targeted 0:04:57.716 --> 0:05:01.836 a judge with an honorable reputation. The whole thing, start 0:05:01.876 --> 0:05:05.476 to finish was very bold, but somehow or another, it 0:05:05.596 --> 0:05:09.676 all worked out for Bob and the outfit. Anyhow, according 0:05:09.716 --> 0:05:13.276 to Bob, Harry the hitman, essentially became his pr guy 0:05:13.796 --> 0:05:16.476 told him, listen, give me some of your cards, he said, 0:05:16.556 --> 0:05:19.836 because I got all kinds of business, I got all 0:05:19.916 --> 0:05:22.476 kinds of people. Now, he says, you're going to be 0:05:22.516 --> 0:05:25.676 the top lawyer in the city. Business was better than 0:05:25.676 --> 0:05:29.356 ever for Bob, but still he kept his guard up. 0:05:29.836 --> 0:05:33.236 Bob says he always assumed everyone he met was wearing 0:05:33.236 --> 0:05:36.956 a wire. This kind of paranoia kept him safe and 0:05:37.036 --> 0:05:40.996 with new clients. Bob also avoided overpromising. He said, well, 0:05:41.076 --> 0:05:45.676 but can you guarantee something? I can't guarantee anything. I'll 0:05:45.716 --> 0:05:48.316 just do the best that I can. But his best 0:05:48.676 --> 0:05:51.476 was plenty good enough. I've got thousands of friends, I 0:05:51.476 --> 0:05:54.596 mean thousands of friends in the city of Chicago. Bob 0:05:54.756 --> 0:05:58.196 was living it up. I'm living a fantastic life. I've 0:05:58.236 --> 0:06:00.596 got all the friends in the world. I've got sweethearts 0:06:00.596 --> 0:06:11.796 coming up and down and all around. Sometimes I got 0:06:11.836 --> 0:06:14.996 this sense from talking to Bob that being a lawyer 0:06:15.036 --> 0:06:17.676 for the Mob was all glamor that he lived a 0:06:17.756 --> 0:06:21.436 charmed life and look in many ways he did. According 0:06:21.476 --> 0:06:24.636 to Bob, unless he was trying a case, his workdays 0:06:24.636 --> 0:06:28.876 were generally over by midday. Then he'd grabbed lunch. Next 0:06:28.916 --> 0:06:31.716 he'd have a steam bath and then a massage. In 0:06:31.756 --> 0:06:34.556 the summer, he might hang out at his poolside cabana. 0:06:34.836 --> 0:06:37.396 Otherwise he'd go back to the office, head to the 0:06:37.436 --> 0:06:40.876 conference room, where he'd play cards. Jim was his game. 0:06:41.596 --> 0:06:45.196 Then night he hit the clubs, or he fled to Vegas. 0:06:45.636 --> 0:06:48.636 One time even had dinner with Frank Sinatra and picked 0:06:48.716 --> 0:06:57.316 up the tab. This was Bob's life, but he was 0:06:57.356 --> 0:07:00.356 still a lawyer who needed an office in a filing 0:07:00.396 --> 0:07:04.036 cabinet and even a pencil sharpener, and he had this too. 0:07:04.916 --> 0:07:07.956 He shared a workspace downtown with a few other lawyers, 0:07:08.156 --> 0:07:12.956 including his brother Dennis Cooley. They actually use the same desk, 0:07:13.516 --> 0:07:16.396 sort of like a timeshare. Well, we were in the 0:07:16.436 --> 0:07:18.316 same office. He had literally in the same room and 0:07:18.396 --> 0:07:21.756 would just use it sometimes he'd use it sometimes. Dennis 0:07:21.796 --> 0:07:24.996 was four years younger than Bob. He also started off 0:07:24.996 --> 0:07:28.676 as a police officer, then became a lawyer. But here 0:07:28.876 --> 0:07:32.916 their paths diverged sharply. Dennis went on to become a prosecutor, 0:07:33.116 --> 0:07:35.356 and a good one. At some point he ran an 0:07:35.516 --> 0:07:38.116 entire division. I talked to a bunch of people who 0:07:38.196 --> 0:07:40.996 knew Dennis from back then, and they all pretty much 0:07:41.036 --> 0:07:46.516 said the same thing. Dennis was an honest and honorable guy. Eventually, 0:07:46.676 --> 0:07:49.956 Dennis decided to go into private practice, and like his brother, 0:07:50.236 --> 0:07:54.236 he became a criminal defense lawyer. But unlike Bob, Dennis 0:07:54.276 --> 0:07:57.956 was a clean criminal defense lawyer, which wasn't easy. He 0:07:58.036 --> 0:08:00.796 was practicing law in a system where so many of 0:08:00.796 --> 0:08:04.516 his competitors were guys who would place bribes. Of course, 0:08:04.516 --> 0:08:07.516 I resented it, Yes, he absolutely resented it. I resented 0:08:07.516 --> 0:08:08.876 the fact that I had to work hard from my 0:08:09.116 --> 0:08:12.676 money and these other guys didn't. You know, when you're 0:08:12.956 --> 0:08:15.316 practicing law and you know you're a better attorney than 0:08:15.356 --> 0:08:17.596 the next guy, and yet the next guy seems to win. 0:08:17.636 --> 0:08:20.556 All these cases in front of these particular judges, and 0:08:20.636 --> 0:08:23.436 it's like, this is bullshit, but that's the way it was. 0:08:23.956 --> 0:08:26.756 Dennis says that he didn't know the full extent of 0:08:26.836 --> 0:08:31.436 Bob's shady dealings, but there were moments when he did 0:08:31.476 --> 0:08:33.396 get a sense for what his brother was up to. 0:08:33.676 --> 0:08:36.156 You know, some of the people who would who would 0:08:36.156 --> 0:08:38.676 come in were not the kind of people I would 0:08:38.716 --> 0:08:40.916 normally end up with as a client. Some of them were, 0:08:41.516 --> 0:08:45.156 you know, outright scary looking. You know, I just kept 0:08:45.316 --> 0:08:47.156 I just kept the hell away from him. Did you 0:08:47.196 --> 0:08:50.276 ever pull Bob aside and say, like, what are you doing? 0:08:50.436 --> 0:08:53.756 Cut it out? I don't. That would have been a complete, 0:08:53.836 --> 0:08:56.316 total waste of time. I don't think he would have 0:08:56.316 --> 0:09:00.436 listened to me. Interestingly, there were things about Bob that 0:09:00.556 --> 0:09:03.836 Dennis seemed to admire. He said that Bob was really 0:09:03.876 --> 0:09:05.996 good in front of a jury, that he really knew 0:09:05.996 --> 0:09:09.476 how to connect with the jurors win them over. I 0:09:09.516 --> 0:09:12.996 found believable. I mean, Bob could be very charming. He 0:09:13.076 --> 0:09:15.996 also says that Bob wasn't afraid to stand up to bullies. 0:09:16.516 --> 0:09:18.956 This was true when Bob was a kid. He was short. 0:09:19.036 --> 0:09:22.356 Back then, people called him shrimp, which drove him crazy. 0:09:22.796 --> 0:09:25.356 Dennis says, one time Bob got in a fight with 0:09:25.396 --> 0:09:28.636 this much bigger kid. He was so much different in 0:09:28.916 --> 0:09:32.436 size than this big guy. He would literally have to 0:09:32.516 --> 0:09:36.156 jump up to hit him in the face, and he 0:09:36.196 --> 0:09:38.916 would do that, and he backed the big kid off. 0:09:39.516 --> 0:09:42.116 And that kind of left the compression with me. How 0:09:42.196 --> 0:09:45.676 aggressive he could be, you know, and how he wouldn't 0:09:45.716 --> 0:09:50.316 back off from certain challenges. It also seemed telling to 0:09:50.356 --> 0:09:53.836 me that Dennis found all of these reasons to admire Bob. 0:09:54.476 --> 0:09:56.756 Dennis was a guy who saw the best in others, 0:09:57.396 --> 0:10:06.676 even his shady brother. So there were the Coolie brothers, 0:10:06.676 --> 0:10:11.036 Bob and Dennis sharing the exact Sam desk. It was 0:10:11.076 --> 0:10:14.676 a powerful image. They seemed to be symbolic of the 0:10:14.756 --> 0:10:18.436 two realms of the Chicago legal system, the clean and 0:10:18.596 --> 0:10:24.676 the dirty, operating side by side, morally opposed but hopelessly interconnected. 0:10:25.836 --> 0:10:29.196 And for me, it also raised the question how had 0:10:29.236 --> 0:10:32.876 these two brothers turned out so differently. The Coolies were 0:10:32.916 --> 0:10:36.196 known as a family of honest cops. Bob's parents were 0:10:36.236 --> 0:11:00.396 devoutly religious, So what exactly happened with Bob. To really 0:11:00.476 --> 0:11:03.636 understand Bob Cooley, We're going to go deep into his 0:11:03.716 --> 0:11:06.996 relationship with his father. But I want to start by 0:11:07.036 --> 0:11:09.276 giving you a picture of what the Coolie family was 0:11:09.396 --> 0:11:12.436 like back when Bob was a kid. And to do this, 0:11:12.836 --> 0:11:15.156 I got to take you back to the nineteen forties. 0:11:15.796 --> 0:11:18.276 The family lived on the South side of Chicago in 0:11:18.316 --> 0:11:21.676 an Irish Catholic neighborhood. It was a good childhood. Actually 0:11:22.156 --> 0:11:26.356 we were nine kids, so you know, so that is 0:11:26.356 --> 0:11:30.716 an experience in itself. That's Tim Cooley, another one of 0:11:30.716 --> 0:11:34.756 Bob's six brothers. He lives in Vermont now, and as 0:11:34.796 --> 0:11:38.036 I tried to make sense of Bob's childhood, he became 0:11:38.076 --> 0:11:42.556 my guide, my guru. Really. I am a massage therapist 0:11:42.636 --> 0:11:45.716 and a yoga teacher, two things which really really make 0:11:45.796 --> 0:11:50.556 me happy. I work at a gay run retreat center 0:11:51.396 --> 0:11:57.116 doing yoga and massage. There. It's a community that is 0:11:57.156 --> 0:12:02.116 about helping people grow, basically, helping people be the fullest 0:12:02.876 --> 0:12:06.756 that they can be. Tim is Bob's younger brother, and 0:12:06.796 --> 0:12:08.956 he spent a lot of time reflecting on his child 0:12:09.116 --> 0:12:11.996 hood and the Coolie family. He told me that their father, 0:12:12.196 --> 0:12:15.836 Jim Coolie, was extremely pious. All the Coolie kids said 0:12:15.836 --> 0:12:18.476 this by the way that their dad made them pray together. 0:12:19.036 --> 0:12:22.436 Jim Cooley the dad actually went to a Catholic seminary 0:12:22.476 --> 0:12:25.356 and studied for the priesthood before deciding to become a 0:12:25.436 --> 0:12:29.116 cop and eventually a detective. And by all accounts, he 0:12:29.156 --> 0:12:32.916 was an honest policeman, never took a bribe and didn't 0:12:32.956 --> 0:12:36.276 look for trouble. Well, because my father was a really gentleman. 0:12:37.436 --> 0:12:40.396 He was like the least macho man I've ever met 0:12:40.436 --> 0:12:44.236 in my life. To some degree, Yeah, he really was. 0:12:44.276 --> 0:12:47.276 He was. I mean, he had an Irish temper mind, 0:12:47.316 --> 0:12:49.316 you you know, so he would he would get angry 0:12:49.356 --> 0:12:52.876 at times or whatever. But he was very he was 0:12:52.956 --> 0:12:56.196 very mild. To be clear, Tim doesn't have any illusions 0:12:56.236 --> 0:12:59.276 about his father. He told me straight up his dad 0:12:59.356 --> 0:13:03.316 could be a racist. But for the most part, Tim 0:13:03.316 --> 0:13:05.316 says he has fond memories of growing up in the 0:13:05.356 --> 0:13:09.236 coolie household. We never felt like we were without you 0:13:09.276 --> 0:13:10.916 know we, I mean, we were just sort of the 0:13:10.916 --> 0:13:13.356 same as everybody else. We thought we would have called 0:13:13.356 --> 0:13:16.836 ourselves middle class, I guess. On the other hand, Bob 0:13:17.156 --> 0:13:19.876 told me that his family grew up very poor. I 0:13:19.996 --> 0:13:22.756 never had clothes. I never had new clothes as I 0:13:22.796 --> 0:13:25.836 grew up. All my clothes were. You know, my mother 0:13:25.876 --> 0:13:29.916 would be over basically at the school, begging, begging for 0:13:29.996 --> 0:13:32.516 stuff because she had two you know, for the you know, 0:13:32.556 --> 0:13:35.236 for the sake of the kids. And I was really 0:13:35.276 --> 0:13:38.916 angry for a long time being born into a family 0:13:38.916 --> 0:13:41.956 with all these kids. I really was. I was angry 0:13:41.956 --> 0:13:46.236 at God because so many of people I knew had 0:13:46.316 --> 0:13:49.476 so much more than me. The worst for Bob was 0:13:49.516 --> 0:13:52.676 when his mother took him shopping for groceries and scoured 0:13:52.716 --> 0:13:55.956 the shelves for dented cans so she could ask the 0:13:55.996 --> 0:13:59.476 clerk for a discount for a few pennies off. This 0:13:59.716 --> 0:14:03.476 mortified Bob, I asked him about this. There you have 0:14:03.676 --> 0:14:09.916 Bob and me a nutshell. The difference is that I 0:14:09.916 --> 0:14:13.956 would admire my mother for that, whereas Bob cared more 0:14:13.996 --> 0:14:17.836 about how things looked or how things seemed to others. 0:14:18.356 --> 0:14:21.556 I would say than I did as a kid. Bob 0:14:21.596 --> 0:14:24.716 worked all kinds of jobs, but that pocket money only 0:14:24.756 --> 0:14:27.636 got him so far, and he was still angry and 0:14:27.676 --> 0:14:31.236 frustrated by what he didn't have. And that sort of 0:14:31.276 --> 0:14:38.636 explains on some level, his drive to be financially successful. 0:14:40.036 --> 0:14:42.836 Whatever it took for him to get that. He was 0:14:42.876 --> 0:14:47.876 always driven on some level driven, and I guess you 0:14:47.876 --> 0:14:50.676 would say a bit of a troublemaker quite frankly. I 0:14:50.716 --> 0:14:53.076 mean he would be good at getting out of trouble 0:14:53.956 --> 0:14:57.316 by hook or by crook basically, but he was always 0:14:57.316 --> 0:15:00.276 sort of working an angle, and Bob admits to this. 0:15:00.716 --> 0:15:04.116 He describes his childhood as one long tale of rule breaking, 0:15:04.436 --> 0:15:08.196 cheating on tests, starting fights, skipping church. Let me tell you, 0:15:08.476 --> 0:15:11.116 when it came to the coolie household Santa did not 0:15:11.196 --> 0:15:14.196 have to check his list twice. And given all of this, 0:15:14.636 --> 0:15:18.196 you might think that Bob's hero was well, Jesse James 0:15:18.316 --> 0:15:23.236 or John Dillinger or some other scoff Law. Nope. Interestingly, 0:15:23.516 --> 0:15:26.036 the one person that I always heard Bob speak of 0:15:26.076 --> 0:15:31.756 with almost unflagging admiration was actually his dad. He extolled 0:15:31.796 --> 0:15:34.356 his dad's virtues. I couldn't take when I was a 0:15:34.476 --> 0:15:37.316 kid growing up. I'd go in there and steal candy 0:15:37.356 --> 0:15:39.676 and stuff like that because I was hungry, and because 0:15:39.716 --> 0:15:41.756 you know, I couldn't. I have no money in my pockets. 0:15:42.076 --> 0:15:44.556 My dad would never have done something like that. Did 0:15:44.596 --> 0:15:46.636 you feel any sense of guilt or any sense that 0:15:46.676 --> 0:15:50.876 you weren't living up to your dad's standards? No, no, 0:15:51.876 --> 0:15:56.636 not at all. Honestly, this surprised me, given how much 0:15:56.636 --> 0:15:59.596 he revered his dad. It seemed like maybe Bob would 0:15:59.636 --> 0:16:01.196 just have a little bit of a hard time looking 0:16:01.236 --> 0:16:03.436 his dad in the eye, or feel just a bit 0:16:03.516 --> 0:16:10.276 cheapish about his transgressions. Nope, says Bob. There was one occasion, however, 0:16:10.596 --> 0:16:13.596 when Bob seemed to push his father too far, when 0:16:13.636 --> 0:16:16.716 he really tested the limits of their relationship, and as 0:16:16.756 --> 0:16:19.636 you're about to hear, it was a defining moment for Bob. 0:16:20.196 --> 0:16:22.716 It was a Sunday. Bob says he was about fourteen 0:16:22.796 --> 0:16:25.236 years old. He'd been out in the alleyway doing what 0:16:25.316 --> 0:16:31.316 kids did before cell phones, namely, throwing rocks. Bob ended 0:16:31.396 --> 0:16:35.116 up breaking a neighbor's window. The neighbor walks over to 0:16:35.156 --> 0:16:38.356 Bob's house, talks to Bob's mom, tells her what happened. 0:16:38.916 --> 0:16:42.356 In a panic, Bob blames his brother Bill, says, Bill 0:16:42.396 --> 0:16:46.196 broke the window. This lie, It doesn't hold up. The 0:16:46.276 --> 0:16:49.756 neighbor points to Bob says he's the one who did this. 0:16:50.436 --> 0:16:54.076 Bob says his mother was furious, and she tells him, basically, 0:16:54.276 --> 0:16:55.996 your father will deal with you when he gets home 0:16:56.036 --> 0:17:00.516 from work. A little while later, dad arrives and his 0:17:00.636 --> 0:17:04.356 mom launches right into it. Jem, that's this is a 0:17:05.076 --> 0:17:07.796 you know, he's out of control. This is thing going 0:17:07.876 --> 0:17:10.716 on too long? Time you give and that she tells 0:17:10.756 --> 0:17:14.676 him what happened. His dad is not happy. I mean here, 0:17:14.716 --> 0:17:16.756 he's come back from a long day of work, walking 0:17:16.796 --> 0:17:19.476 the streets and forcing the law, and he learns that 0:17:19.516 --> 0:17:22.356 his troublemaker's son has broken a window and then framed 0:17:22.356 --> 0:17:25.956 his brother. And mom is pissed. Something has to be 0:17:25.956 --> 0:17:30.156 done about this, so his dad escorts Bob to the bedroom. 0:17:30.516 --> 0:17:33.276 We go in there, he gets his police stuff, there's 0:17:33.316 --> 0:17:36.676 old policeman stuff, and then he goes and he closes 0:17:36.716 --> 0:17:40.196 the door and he tells me, bend over the bed. 0:17:41.156 --> 0:17:44.316 I bend over the bed and he starts hitting the bed. 0:17:46.196 --> 0:17:50.516 Mind you, his dad is not actually whipping Bob. He's 0:17:50.556 --> 0:17:55.036 just pretending to whip him. And you could hear this thump, thump, thump, 0:17:55.836 --> 0:17:59.956 And I start hollering, pretending I've heard him, and I 0:17:59.956 --> 0:18:05.836 guess I'm I'm screaming real loud. You know. Oh my 0:18:05.876 --> 0:18:08.156 mother now thinks she's beating me half to death. I 0:18:08.196 --> 0:18:13.036 guess she opens the door. I laugh now I didn't laugh. 0:18:13.076 --> 0:18:17.796 Then she opens the door and here he is, and 0:18:17.916 --> 0:18:21.316 here I am, and I look up and she goes ballistic. 0:18:22.116 --> 0:18:26.236 She goes ballistic because she's caught onto the ruse. And 0:18:26.316 --> 0:18:30.116 at this point she's not happy with Bob or her husband. 0:18:30.556 --> 0:18:32.716 What's the matter with you, that's why he's the way 0:18:32.756 --> 0:18:36.436 he is or whatever? And my dad got it so 0:18:36.716 --> 0:18:39.996 shook my dad up. He started hitting me with the belt. 0:18:41.116 --> 0:18:43.676 I got into the bed because I mean he was 0:18:43.716 --> 0:18:47.516 like a madman for a minute. And when I come 0:18:47.636 --> 0:18:49.716 under the bed, he grabbed the bed with one hand, 0:18:49.916 --> 0:18:54.076 picked the bed up, started trying to hit me under 0:18:54.076 --> 0:18:58.476 the bed another couple of times. And I'm crying because 0:18:58.516 --> 0:19:01.796 I mean, it's it's it hurt, It really hurt. And 0:19:01.836 --> 0:19:04.836 then get in your room. I go in the room. 0:19:09.396 --> 0:19:21.636 H m hm, Wait, Bob, what got you? What? What 0:19:21.756 --> 0:19:23.996 got you so upset all of a sudden? What did that? 0:19:24.196 --> 0:19:32.556 What was that about? I just saw him coming in 0:19:32.676 --> 0:19:47.116 the room. I just saw him coming in the room. 0:19:47.156 --> 0:19:55.836 He came in the room and he was crying, I mean, 0:19:56.956 --> 0:20:17.436 I mean crying and he comes over. H I'm I'm 0:20:17.516 --> 0:20:21.356 laying in the bed and he's on his knees apologized 0:20:21.396 --> 0:20:39.476 to debate for her doing what he is, and all 0:20:39.516 --> 0:20:41.836 the times that we talked, this is one of the 0:20:41.876 --> 0:20:45.916 only times I heard Bob like this. Somehow he was 0:20:45.956 --> 0:20:49.756 shaken by this memory of his father, the good cop, 0:20:50.116 --> 0:20:53.996 the pious man, the almost priest who's been flummixed by 0:20:53.996 --> 0:20:58.316 his son's constant transgressions, the gentle dad who finally been 0:20:58.316 --> 0:21:01.236 pushed to the point of violence, and then, in a 0:21:01.316 --> 0:21:04.956 fit of shame, the distraught man who'd come back and 0:21:05.036 --> 0:21:09.596 asked for his son's forgiveness. Remembering all this seemed to 0:21:09.676 --> 0:21:14.116 upset Bob horribly, and the pain it seemed to me, anyhow, 0:21:14.716 --> 0:21:17.796 was not in his father's disappointment, not in what his 0:21:17.836 --> 0:21:21.036 father had done to him, but in what he had 0:21:21.076 --> 0:21:24.116 done to his father, and the love his father still 0:21:24.156 --> 0:21:32.036 felt for him despite it all. I don't think, you know, 0:21:33.516 --> 0:21:36.116 I don't know of anybody who has a more interesting 0:21:36.156 --> 0:21:40.236 relationship with a father, probably than me, Because like I said, 0:21:40.276 --> 0:21:42.076 I did all the things I did as a kid. 0:21:42.956 --> 0:21:45.236 You would think he would be, you know, I'd be 0:21:45.516 --> 0:21:48.236 I'd be the worse in his mind of the kids. 0:21:48.276 --> 0:21:50.396 And yet even though I'm always getting in trouble and 0:21:50.516 --> 0:21:53.876 doing all these things, he always treated me as his 0:21:53.956 --> 0:21:57.476 favorite in every way. You know, the fact he wouldn't 0:21:57.476 --> 0:21:59.756 discipline me, He didn't believe in laying a hand on me, 0:21:59.876 --> 0:22:04.156 things like that. It was an unbelievable relationship that I had. 0:22:04.756 --> 0:22:08.196 Did you think he was Do you think he was 0:22:08.236 --> 0:22:13.596 disappointed in you when you were up to no good? 0:22:14.036 --> 0:22:16.716 The fact is he was not. I mean, I was 0:22:16.796 --> 0:22:20.156 still his favorite son in every way. I mean, what 0:22:20.276 --> 0:22:24.156 where can I say? Bob told me this repeatedly, that 0:22:24.276 --> 0:22:27.396 he was his dad's favorite son. This got me thinking 0:22:27.396 --> 0:22:29.996 about what kind of dad, Jim cool he was. So 0:22:30.076 --> 0:22:33.956 I asked Tim, My father loved all his sons, has 0:22:34.036 --> 0:22:36.836 loved all his children. He really did, but it was 0:22:37.356 --> 0:22:41.756 it wasn't a very demonstrative sort of love, you know. 0:22:42.436 --> 0:22:45.836 I mean he would he would tell each one of us, 0:22:46.116 --> 0:22:48.876 you know, you're my favorite son. You know, you'd roll 0:22:48.916 --> 0:22:50.796 your eyes and you'd know, you would you know that 0:22:51.196 --> 0:22:54.316 he was meaning, he was meaning something to be you know, 0:22:54.756 --> 0:22:57.636 to be meaningful. I mean, he was basically saying I 0:22:57.716 --> 0:22:59.916 love you, but he had a hard time saying it. 0:23:00.676 --> 0:23:04.876 And here is yet another crucial difference between Bob and Tim. 0:23:05.556 --> 0:23:10.036 When Dad told Bob, you're my favorite son, Bob absolutely 0:23:10.076 --> 0:23:13.516 believed him. Took the gesture at face value, almost like 0:23:13.836 --> 0:23:17.476 confirmation that despite everything he'd done, that he hadn't come 0:23:17.556 --> 0:23:20.796 up short in his father's eyes, that he still always 0:23:20.836 --> 0:23:24.396 had the blessing of the pious man. And for Bob, 0:23:24.636 --> 0:23:27.276 as far as I could tell, this seemed to be 0:23:27.676 --> 0:23:32.276 like a green light. As for their mom, Tim told 0:23:32.276 --> 0:23:34.956 me she was at a loss on how to raise 0:23:35.036 --> 0:23:38.796 Bob and hold him accountable. Bob was such a handful 0:23:40.156 --> 0:23:43.236 that she didn't know how to deal with it, and 0:23:43.316 --> 0:23:47.036 I think she saw him getting away with stuff. And 0:23:47.876 --> 0:23:52.116 I think that has that kind of explains Bob on 0:23:52.156 --> 0:23:56.356 some level, is that he never really paid the consequences 0:23:56.396 --> 0:24:00.556 for his actions, which is why maybe he was willing 0:24:00.596 --> 0:24:05.636 to do actions that were really beyond the pale. Ultimately, 0:24:08.436 --> 0:24:11.516 when Tim told me this, I started to see it. 0:24:12.196 --> 0:24:14.236 Bob grew up in a home where he could flout 0:24:14.276 --> 0:24:17.436 the rules, and he came of age in a city 0:24:17.556 --> 0:24:21.356 where the rules meant even less. There was no accountability 0:24:21.356 --> 0:24:24.996 for Bob anywhere, no one he had to answer to, 0:24:25.916 --> 0:24:43.756 except of course, the mob. Ever, since he was a kid, 0:24:44.036 --> 0:24:46.876 Bob had a rebellious streak. I guess he could say 0:24:46.916 --> 0:24:50.396 he had issues with authority, and that pretty much never changed. 0:24:50.996 --> 0:24:53.556 Even years later, when he was a grown man and 0:24:53.596 --> 0:24:56.676 a lawyer for the Mob, Bob was still throwing rocks 0:24:56.676 --> 0:25:00.316 and breaking windows, testing the limits. And I'm going to 0:25:00.396 --> 0:25:03.156 tell you a story about a situation Bob found himself 0:25:03.156 --> 0:25:06.156 in the real crossroads where he took it upon himself 0:25:06.236 --> 0:25:09.516 to challenge the Mob and its power, which he would 0:25:09.556 --> 0:25:13.236 find out wasn't so wise. There'd be no fake spankings 0:25:13.316 --> 0:25:19.756 for this offense. So it's nineteen eighty one. Bob is 0:25:19.796 --> 0:25:22.756 representing a friend of his, a gangster who'd gotten in 0:25:22.796 --> 0:25:26.076 trouble with the law, a guy named Frank Rannella. And 0:25:26.236 --> 0:25:28.956 one day Bob hears from a prosecutor in the case 0:25:29.236 --> 0:25:32.276 who tells him, essentially, there's something you need to know 0:25:32.316 --> 0:25:36.036 about your client, Frank. He's been a government informant in 0:25:36.076 --> 0:25:41.716 the past. Bob understood immediately that this would be a 0:25:41.796 --> 0:25:45.636 death sentence for Frank. The Mob would murder any insiders 0:25:45.676 --> 0:25:48.196 who cooperated with the FEDS. That was a hard and 0:25:48.236 --> 0:25:51.756 fast rule, But you know how Bob is with rules. 0:25:52.196 --> 0:25:55.796 And besides, for Bob, this whole thing just felt wrong 0:25:56.156 --> 0:25:58.636 in his gut. If somebody told me they were going 0:25:58.716 --> 0:26:02.036 to kill somebody, and I knew that they were going 0:26:02.116 --> 0:26:04.356 to do it. I would have found a way to 0:26:05.116 --> 0:26:08.596 warn them. That's just me. Bob says he decided to 0:26:08.596 --> 0:26:14.716 help his friend and client escape. I drove right to 0:26:14.796 --> 0:26:17.676 Frank's house, and when I went upstairs to his apartment 0:26:17.716 --> 0:26:20.276 and I told him, he puts a gun on me. 0:26:21.076 --> 0:26:23.676 He thinks I'm initially he thinks I'm setting him up, 0:26:24.636 --> 0:26:27.876 and he says, I'm leaving now, and you're walking out 0:26:27.916 --> 0:26:31.436 in front of me. If they're out there, as Bob 0:26:31.476 --> 0:26:36.356 tells it, Frank walks outside, looks around and sees that 0:26:36.436 --> 0:26:39.316 no one is waiting for him, so he realizes this 0:26:39.356 --> 0:26:42.076 does not appear to be a setup, understands that Bob 0:26:42.236 --> 0:26:46.916 was truly just trying to help him. Frank passed away 0:26:46.916 --> 0:26:49.436 over twenty years ago, so I couldn't talk to him 0:26:49.476 --> 0:26:52.276 and get his version of events, but I did track 0:26:52.316 --> 0:26:56.396 down his widow, Faye Ronella. She still remembers Bob's visit. 0:26:57.076 --> 0:26:59.556 He gives he had this air about him, a very 0:26:59.676 --> 0:27:03.996