Babysitter May Have Solved Murder by Chicago Mob Enforcer Committed in 1981

More than 27 years after a mob-related double murder in McHenry County, a little bit of digging by a 42-year old former baby-sitter has led authorities to reopen what was a very cold case.

The information supplied by Holly Hager, who is now a mural painter, has led McHenry County sheriff’s detectives to take a fresh look at the long-unsolved killings.

The 1981 murders of 37-year old Ron Scharff and 30-year-old Patricia Freemen were the first on record in the then-tiny town of Lakemoor.

“I know who did it,” Hager, who used to baby-sit Scharff’s young sons, said in an exclusive interview with the Chicago Sun-Times and NBC5.

The killer, she says, was Larry Neumann, a feared enforcer for the Chicago Outfit. The motive: revenge.

“I just thought my baby-sitter is one hell of a Nancy Drew,” Paul Scharff said on learning about Hager’s digging. “My father was killed on June 2, 1981. I would like [an] explanation of why this couldn’t have happened 25 years ago.”

In 1981, Ron Scharff was the owner of the PM Pub, named for his sons Paul and Michael. Freeman was a divorced mother of two and a school bus driver who was on her first night of work at the bar to earn extra money. Both died from gunshot wounds.

On a car trip to Arkansas this summer, Hager said she and her father, Jim, began talking about the killing of Ron Scharff, his best friend. Holly Hager said that’s when she first heard the name Larry Neumann.

Back home in McHenry County, she went searching for Neumann’s name on the Internet. “His name came up on a serial-killer site, and I thought that’s weird,” she said. “I was like, oh, my gosh, he’s from McHenry.”

The next discovery sealed things for Hager. It was the 2007 autobiography of Frank Cullotta, a mob burglar and hit man-turned-federal witness, in which he recounted how Neumann killed two people in 1981 at a McHenry County bar.

“I called my dad and said, ‘Dad, I know who murdered Ron,’ ” Hager said.

Born on the West Side of Chicago, Frank Cullotta became one of the mob’s best burglars. After doing time with Neumann in prison, they both landed in Las Vegas working for Tony “The Ant” Spilotro, who watched over the Chicago Outfit’s interests there. In 1982, Cullotta entered the witness-protection program and began telling the mob’s secrets — including the one about the McHenry County murders. Cullotta said that in the summer of 1981, he witnessed Neumann take a long-distance call from his ex-wife, back in McHenry County.

Last month, from an undisclosed location, Cullotta recounted for the Sun-Times and NBC5 what Neumann told him: “He said this guy that owns this pub threw my ex-wife out of there. He grabbed her by the throat and removed her from the place.”

Neumann, he said, felt disrespected and wanted revenge. Cullotta said he tried to talk Neumann out of returning to Illinois. “I believed, in my heart, after talking to him, he was not going to go back there to kill this guy. I was wrong.”

Upon returning to Las Vegas, Cullotta said Neumann told him, “I went in there to talk to the guy. . . . He says I got mad. I pulled the gun out. I shot the guy in the head. He said the girl looked at me. I immediately turn to her, shot her in the head. He said the guy gurgled, I shot him in the head again, he says, then I shot the girl, again.”

Cullotta said he told McHenry County authorities in 1982 what happened, but “it was like they didn’t want to hear what I was saying.”

Cullotta wasn’t the only one to tell McHenry County authorities about Larry Neumann. Jim Hager said he told sheriff’s investigators about the incident at the bar involving Scharff and Neumann’s ex-wife and that Neumann should be considered a suspect.

“Only thing I seen was arguing,” said Jim Hager, claiming Scharff never touched her. “Ron told her, ‘Get the hell out, and don’t come back.’ ”

As her father did 27 years ago, Holly Hager took the information to the McHenry County sheriff’s office, which reopened the case.

Gene Lowery, the current undersheriff in McHenry County, said that for the most part, no one from the original investigation remains with the sheriff’s department. But he acknowledged more should have been done decades ago.

“There was an inadequate response from our office,” Lowery said. “We can’t make things better. But we can try to make it right. . . . I want to make sure the survivors know we are in their corner.”

Neumann died in January 2007 at the age of 79. He had been in prison since 1983 for the murder of a jeweler. He was convicted, in part, on the testimony of Frank Cullotta.

Lowery said the sheriff’s office is working with the FBI and other agencies on the case, and “there is a fairly high probability of closing the case . . . with an arrest.”

With Neumann dead, it’s unclear who is left to arrest, and authorities did not elaborate.

For Paul Scharff, his focus is on Neumann.

“My hope is to get Larry Neumann named as the murderer of my father and Patricia Freeman,” said Paul Scharff. “And then I would like an explanation of why this couldn’t have happened 25 years ago.”

“To me, there is no question,” said the baby-sitter turned snoop. “Whether McHenry County closes the case or not doesn’t matter. It’s closed, in my mind; I know who did it.”

Thanks to Carol Marin and Don Moseley

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The FBI Confirms Rod Blagojevich Mafia Story

The FBI in Chicago was given information more than 20 years ago alleging that Rod Blagojevich had connections to an organized crime gambling ring.

That disclosure came on Thursday from a former top official of the FBI.

Outfit lawyer turned federal informant Robert Cooley told the I-Team that Rod Blagojevich booked illegal bets in the 1980's and paid protection money to the mob.

Cooley claimed he told FBI officials that Blagojevich used to be a mobbed-up bookie. On Thursday evening, the FBI agent who supervised Cooley's undercover work in the late 1980's confirms that federal officials were informed back then about Blagojevich's alleged bookmaking and mob payoffs.

In 1986, criminal defense lawyer Bob Cooley walked into the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago and offered to wear a wire in conversations with the hoodlums, corrupt city hall officials and crooked judges that he knew.

As part of Cooley's cooperation and to steer clear of criminal charges himself, he had to disclose all of the misconduct he knew about.

Some of what he reported to prosecutors and FBI involved Rod Blagojevich who was fresh from law school and working as an assistant cook county prosecutor.

"I reported, I observed Rod, the present governor who was running a gambling operation out in the western suburbs. He was paying street tax to the Mob out there," said Robert Cooley, federal Informant.

On Thursday, former FBI official Jim Wagner confirms that telling the I-Team that Cooley indeed informed the bureau about Blagojevich's alleged bookmaking business. But Mr. Wagner says in the 1980's, FBI agents had never heard of Blagojevich.

Wagner was Cooley's 'handler' for the FBI at the time, supervising his undercover that resulted in two dozen successful prosecutions for public corruption.

That wasn't the end of it.

When Blagojevich ran for governor, Cooley says he returned to the FBI hoping agents would pursue the allegations of outfit bookmaking. Wagner confirms that as well but says the statute of limitations had long passed for prosecuting Blagojevich on illegal gambling charges.

However, last week when federal prosecutors announced they had filed corruption charges against the governor, Al Patton, special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service, was on the podium.

As the feds examine Mr. Blagojevich's finances, one thing they will look for is unreported gambling income.

The governor's former chief of staff Chris Kelly will plead guilty next month to tax fraud for not declaring more than $1 million in winning sports wagers.

A few years ago when Robert Cooley reminded the FBI of his Blagojevich bookie information, Cooley also provided it to the ABC7 I-Team.

In attempting to verify the bookmaking allegations at the time I asked Governor Blagojevich whether he had ever been involved in taking betting action or paying a street tax to the mob. The governor denied it and said he didn't know Mr. Cooley.

This week, a spokesman for the governor declined to comment.

Thanks to Chuck Goudie

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Reputed Mobster Charged in Cop Assassination

A reputed mobster was charged Thursday with ordering a hit on an off-duty New York Police Department officer who at the time was married to his ex-wife _ a slaying that had gone unsolved for more than a decade.

An indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn also brought new charges in three other gangland killings dating to 1994. They included that of William "Wild Bill" Cutolo, an underboss with the Colombo organized crime family whose body was discovered in October buried in a wooded area of Long Island.

The case demonstrates investigators' determination to catch mob killers "no matter how much time passes," U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell at a news conference.

The indictment charged Joel Cacace, 67, the former acting Colombo boss, and two other men in the shooting death of Officer Ralph Dols on Aug. 25, 1997. Cacace already is behind bars after pleading guilty in 2004 in a mistaken mob hit on a 78-year-old judge whose son, a former prosecutor, was the intended target.

Dols was killed "merely because he was married to Cacace's ex-wife," said David Cardona, head of the criminal division in the FBI's New York office.

Authorities refused to discuss how the cases were solved. But in recent years, mob turncoats have identified killers _ and sometimes pinpointed the remains of their victims _ in other cases that had gone cold.

Dols, 28, was ambushed around midnight as he arrived home from a shift as a uniformed housing police officer. While parking his car, a man jumped out of a dark-colored Chevrolet, fired seven shots, then fled.

The killing touched off an intense, wide-ranging investigation involving federal and local authorities. It also drew attention to the officer's wife and her alleged links to the Mafia through three other men from her past: a brother and reputed Colombo soldier who was convicted of murder in 1981, a husband found shot to death in 1987 in an apparent mob hit and Cacace.

In the Cutolo slaying, prosecutors say the victim was targeted in May 1999 because the Colombo boss believed he was trying to take over the family. He was gunned down in a basement apartment, then buried in Farmingdale, Long Island, court papers said.

Thanks to Tom Hays

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Mafia Boss Whacks Himself

A suspected mafia leader whose indiscretions on the telephone prompted Italian police to launch one of its biggest operations against organised crime in Sicily hanged himself in his prison cell on Tuesday night, hours after being arrested.

Gaetano Lo Presti, 52, is alleged to have been one of two people believed to be the new leaders of the Sicilian Mafia – or Cosa Nostra. He had been running cells in the Porta Nuova area of Palermo since last year and had become one of the most powerful gangsters on the island. He was deeply involved in the organisation's decision to try to forge a new power structure after the arrest of the head mobster, Bernardo Provenzano, in 2006.

But Lo Presti, who had recently finished serving a 27-year prison sentence for mafia-related crimes, was being bugged by investigators and was careless in what he told his contacts over the phone. He blurted out the names of other bosses, their plans for the future and – crucially for the timing of this week's raid – he also revealed his opposition to their plans.

When told of the decision to appoint another Palermo leader, Benedetto Capizzi, 65, as the Mafia's capo dei capi – or boss of bosses – he reportedly demanded, "Who authorised this?" – a blunt challenge to his fellow gangsters. The implication was that Lo Presti – appointed boss of Porta Nuova in 2007 by Salvatore Lo Piccolo, one of two brothers who seemed destined to hold sway over the Mafia until his arrest in November last year – believed he had more claim to the top job than Capizzi. There was also the suggestion that blood would be shed in a new round of "mafia wars", to be played out on the streets of Sicily. It was this fear that led police to bring their assault forward and launch an operation that resulted in 94 arrests on Tuesday morning.

The Sicilian Mafia, unlike those of Calabria or Campania, has long had an authoritarian structure, with a single capo dei capi, appointed with the approval of the grand old men of the organisation, and who wields absolute power over his subordinates.

Until his arrest in 1993, that man was Salvatore Riina. Even from prison, where he was serving a life sentence, he was shaping the hierarchy, designed to impose obedience on members to ensure efficiency and loyalty within the organisation. Italian media reports said that Lo Presti did not share his vision. In prison he may have feared revenge attacks and, therefore, moved to take his own life.

Lo Presti took control of Porta Nuova district after the murder of a rival, Niccolo Ingarao, a year ago, and there may have been threats from fellow mafiosi who blamed him for spilling secrets over the phone, which resulted in this week's arrests.

And he had another potential reason for anxiety: his earlier indiscretions led to an important result for the authorities, when transcripts of his conversations were used to convict Salvatore Riina's son Giuseppe, who is now serving a 14-year sentence for mafia association, extortion and money-laundering.

Lo Presti had only recently served a 27-year sentence for Mafia-related crimes.

Thanks to Peter Popham

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Unknown Tinley Park Lane Bryant Killer Still Pursued by Illinois State Police

Unknown Tinley Park Killer: Almost a year has passed since the silence of a cold winter morning was shattered by gun shots in Tinley Park, Illinois. As the investigation continues, Illinois State Police are digging deeper into the lives of the six victims trying to determine what could have caused a man to shoot six women, killing five of them.

Muammer Aldailam: In a moment of passion, cops say Muammer "Mike" Aldailam shot and killed his girlfriend after she tried to break off their relationship. Authorities believe Aldailam may be desperate to get back to his native country of Yemen, but they need your help in finding him before he gets that far.

Jeffrey Marshall: When the short courtship of Elizabeth "Lynne" Waterson and Jeffrey Marshall ended, the ambitious, beautiful Lynne continued to deflect Marshall's unwanted advances. For months, cops say an obsessed Marshall stalked his former girlfriend and refused to take no for an answer until one day in April 2007, when he took his twisted infatuation to a deadly breaking point.

Cinthya Rodriguez: Cops in California say that Cinthya Rodriguez masterminded a kidnapping and ransom plot that ended in the brutal murder of her 45-year-old boyfriend, Orlando Duarte. Police tell AMW that Orlando's slaying was a family affair, because she's on the run with her accomplice and brother-in-law, Arturo De Oca.

Carlos Thompson: New York cops say Carlos Thompson handed a .38-caliber revolver to a 13-year-old boy and ordered him to murder another teen. Police say they need your help to get him off the street before anyone else gets hurt.

Timoteo Rios: When 39-year-old Tina Davila went to a Cricket store in Houston, Texas to pay her cell phone bill, she never imagined such a routine errand would have a tragic ending. Police in Texas are now looking for Timoteo Rios, the man they say stole a young mother's life.

Sarah Pender: Since her expertly-executed prison escape on August 4, 2008, officials have been hot on the trail of Sarah Pender. Now they say she has changed her appearance. Ex offenders who have seen Pender say she has shoulder length amber hair with red stripes. She also has piercings above her right eye and lower lip. U.S. Marshals Service officials have turned up the heat on Pender and made her the only woman on the notorious 15 Most Wanted Fugitives List.

Edward Salas: On Aug. 23, 2008, eight men escaped from a New Mexico on Aug. 23, 2008. Since then, police have arrested all of the escapees except the most dangerous of them all -- Edward Salas. Before escaping, Salas was set to do life behind bars for the murder of a 10-year-old boy.

Darryl Crenshaw: Rev. William Baskerville tells AMW that he has found the strength to forgive the man accused of killing his stepdaughter, Ashley Peoples, before going on the run. Just days after her murder, William says he received a phone call from Darryl Crenshaw, where he apologized for beating and strangling Ashley. William accepted the apology, because as he told his church, "the God Almighty says that vengeance is mine."

Yaser Said: On January 1, 2008, someone brutally murdered teenage sisters Sarah and Amina Said, shooting the girls to death in the back of a taxi cab. When police revealed the identity of the suspected killer, it shocked the nation.

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