Authorities say the case against suspected New Jersey hit man Michael Coppola, as laid out in documents filed this month in federal court in Brooklyn, is a look into how organized crime controls the ports of New Jersey and New York, according to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Two months ago, a federal grand jury in Brooklyn indicted Coppola, 62, on racketeering charges built around the corruption of the Newark arm of the International Longshoremen's Association, and a decades-old murder of a mobster in a Bridgewater motel parking lot.
Attorneys will argue in January whether that murder case should go forward.
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Monday, December 29, 2008
Sopranos Actor Cleared of Murder and Weapons Charges
A former actor who specialized in tough-guy roles was cleared of murder and weapons charges last Monday in the killing of an off-duty New York City police officer who was slain in a gunfight when he confronted two suspects in a burglary at a neighbor’s home in the Bronx three years ago.
The officer’s sister, Yolanda Rosa, said after the verdict, “What message is this sending out to New York police officers today?”
Police officers applauded Yolanda Rosa as she entered a Bronx courtroom at the trial of Lillo Brancato Jr. in connection with the killing of her brother, Daniel Enchautegui, who was an officer.
A State Supreme Court jury in the Bronx found the defendant, Lillo Brancato Jr., 32, guilty of first-degree attempted burglary, a felony, but said he was not culpable in the death of the officer, Daniel Enchautegui, who was shot by Mr. Brancato’s accomplice after a night of drinking and a search for drugs.
Under the law, a person is guilty of second-degree murder in a killing that occurs in the commission of another felony. But the law provides for mitigating circumstances in a defense. In Mr. Brancato’s case, the jury apparently accepted his contention that he did not directly participate in the killing, was not armed and did not know that his accomplice had a gun. The jurors left without commenting on their verdict.
The accomplice, Steven Armento, 51, was convicted by another Bronx jury on Oct. 30 of first-degree murder in firing the fatal shot into Officer Enchautegui’s chest. He was sentenced last month to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Mr. Brancato faces 3 to 15 years in prison for attempted burglary, but has been incarcerated for more than three years since his arrest and could be credited with that time. Justice Martin Marcus set sentencing for Jan. 9.
Mr. Brancato, a slight man in a dark gray pinstriped suit and a maroon tie over a white shirt, stood with eyes closed and hands clasped as the verdict was read. Afterward, he patted his lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, on the back before court officers handcuffed him and led him out. His mother sobbed.
Mr. Tacopina, surrounded by members of Mr. Brancato’s family, later called the officer’s death a tragedy, but said, “It would have been a bigger tragedy to convict Lillo for something he didn’t do.” He said a minimum sentence “would be appropriate.”
Officer Enchautegui’s sister, Yolanda Rosa, was grim. “I waited three long years for this,” she said. “I’m disappointed. What message is this sending out to New York police officers today?”
Officers who had attended the trial sat in silence. “We’re obviously frustrated today that the jury did not see what was plain and simple,” said Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. “This would not have happened if it was not for him. We’re asking today that this judge sentence him to the max of 15 years.”
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said, “On this day of disappointments in court, we hope that the family and friends of Daniel Enchautegui find some comfort in the fact that at least one in the pair responsible for his death was convicted of murder.”
The case had drawn wide attention, not only because of the actions of the officer, who confronted and shot both burglars despite being mortally wounded, but also because of Mr. Brancato’s background as a moderately successful actor who had appeared in “The Sopranos”; Robert De Niro’s 1993 coming-of-age film, “A Bronx Tale”; and a dozen other films, often as an aspiring mobster.
In a trial that began on Nov. 24, prosecutors charged that Mr. Brancato and Mr. Armento, residents of Yonkers who were winding up a night of drinking in the early hours of Dec. 10, 2005, went to a house on Arnow Place in Pelham Bay to get drugs from a friend who had provided them before. But the friend, Kenneth Scovotti, had died months earlier and the doors were locked.
The second-degree murder charge appeared to turn on what Mr. Brancato did next. Prosecutors said he kicked in a basement window, trying to commit a burglary, which exposed him to guilt on the murder charge. But Mr. Tacopina contended that Mr. Brancato was unaware Mr. Scovotti was dead, assumed he was asleep, and broke the window accidentally when he kicked it to get Mr. Scovotti’s attention. He said the men did not enter, but went to another friend’s home nearby seeking drugs. Failing that, they returned to the previous house.
By then, Officer Enchautegui, 28, who lived in a basement apartment next door, had heard glass breaking and called 911, was outside. He had drawn his pistol, a Kahr semiautomatic, and confronted the suspects, shouting, “Don’t move! Don’t move!” according to prosecutors.
They said that Mr. Armento, who had a record for burglary and weapons and drug possession, fired his gun, a .357 Magnum, first, striking the officer once in the left chest. The officer returned fire, striking both suspects, who were captured by arriving officers.
Mr. Brancato testified that he did not know how a screen on the ground came to be removed from the window and that neither he nor Mr. Armento had worn the latex gloves that investigators found at the scene. Experts testified that both men’s DNA were on the gloves.
Mr. Tacopina said after the verdict that his client was being treated for drug addiction and had found a “second chance in life.”
Thanks to Robert D. McFadden
The officer’s sister, Yolanda Rosa, said after the verdict, “What message is this sending out to New York police officers today?”
Police officers applauded Yolanda Rosa as she entered a Bronx courtroom at the trial of Lillo Brancato Jr. in connection with the killing of her brother, Daniel Enchautegui, who was an officer.
A State Supreme Court jury in the Bronx found the defendant, Lillo Brancato Jr., 32, guilty of first-degree attempted burglary, a felony, but said he was not culpable in the death of the officer, Daniel Enchautegui, who was shot by Mr. Brancato’s accomplice after a night of drinking and a search for drugs.
Under the law, a person is guilty of second-degree murder in a killing that occurs in the commission of another felony. But the law provides for mitigating circumstances in a defense. In Mr. Brancato’s case, the jury apparently accepted his contention that he did not directly participate in the killing, was not armed and did not know that his accomplice had a gun. The jurors left without commenting on their verdict.
The accomplice, Steven Armento, 51, was convicted by another Bronx jury on Oct. 30 of first-degree murder in firing the fatal shot into Officer Enchautegui’s chest. He was sentenced last month to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Mr. Brancato faces 3 to 15 years in prison for attempted burglary, but has been incarcerated for more than three years since his arrest and could be credited with that time. Justice Martin Marcus set sentencing for Jan. 9.
Mr. Brancato, a slight man in a dark gray pinstriped suit and a maroon tie over a white shirt, stood with eyes closed and hands clasped as the verdict was read. Afterward, he patted his lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, on the back before court officers handcuffed him and led him out. His mother sobbed.
Mr. Tacopina, surrounded by members of Mr. Brancato’s family, later called the officer’s death a tragedy, but said, “It would have been a bigger tragedy to convict Lillo for something he didn’t do.” He said a minimum sentence “would be appropriate.”
Officer Enchautegui’s sister, Yolanda Rosa, was grim. “I waited three long years for this,” she said. “I’m disappointed. What message is this sending out to New York police officers today?”
Officers who had attended the trial sat in silence. “We’re obviously frustrated today that the jury did not see what was plain and simple,” said Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. “This would not have happened if it was not for him. We’re asking today that this judge sentence him to the max of 15 years.”
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said, “On this day of disappointments in court, we hope that the family and friends of Daniel Enchautegui find some comfort in the fact that at least one in the pair responsible for his death was convicted of murder.”
The case had drawn wide attention, not only because of the actions of the officer, who confronted and shot both burglars despite being mortally wounded, but also because of Mr. Brancato’s background as a moderately successful actor who had appeared in “The Sopranos”; Robert De Niro’s 1993 coming-of-age film, “A Bronx Tale”; and a dozen other films, often as an aspiring mobster.
In a trial that began on Nov. 24, prosecutors charged that Mr. Brancato and Mr. Armento, residents of Yonkers who were winding up a night of drinking in the early hours of Dec. 10, 2005, went to a house on Arnow Place in Pelham Bay to get drugs from a friend who had provided them before. But the friend, Kenneth Scovotti, had died months earlier and the doors were locked.
The second-degree murder charge appeared to turn on what Mr. Brancato did next. Prosecutors said he kicked in a basement window, trying to commit a burglary, which exposed him to guilt on the murder charge. But Mr. Tacopina contended that Mr. Brancato was unaware Mr. Scovotti was dead, assumed he was asleep, and broke the window accidentally when he kicked it to get Mr. Scovotti’s attention. He said the men did not enter, but went to another friend’s home nearby seeking drugs. Failing that, they returned to the previous house.
By then, Officer Enchautegui, 28, who lived in a basement apartment next door, had heard glass breaking and called 911, was outside. He had drawn his pistol, a Kahr semiautomatic, and confronted the suspects, shouting, “Don’t move! Don’t move!” according to prosecutors.
They said that Mr. Armento, who had a record for burglary and weapons and drug possession, fired his gun, a .357 Magnum, first, striking the officer once in the left chest. The officer returned fire, striking both suspects, who were captured by arriving officers.
Mr. Brancato testified that he did not know how a screen on the ground came to be removed from the window and that neither he nor Mr. Armento had worn the latex gloves that investigators found at the scene. Experts testified that both men’s DNA were on the gloves.
Mr. Tacopina said after the verdict that his client was being treated for drug addiction and had found a “second chance in life.”
Thanks to Robert D. McFadden
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Rod Blagojevich Jokes
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday for trying to sell a U.S. Senate seat. His family is so proud. Rod Blagojevich could go down in history as the only Serbian leader whose trial didn't end up at the International Criminal Court.
Governor Rod Blagojevich didn't show up for work in Chicago on Wednesday. Just his luck, it was national call-in-sick if you're gay day. He may have to resign as governor of Illinois but he's leading all polls to be the next governor of California.
Barack Obama cut all ties to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich Thursday. He's also disowned Jeremiah Wright and Tony Rezko. Having Chicago as a hometown for an incoming president is like having a brother-in-law with a gambling problem and no car.
St. Mark's Episcopal in Chicago placed global positioning devices in their Nativity Scene figurines to halt theft. They're easy to track. Last year's Messiah is on his way to Washington and the donkey's been arrested for trying to sell a Senate seat.
Barack Obama said Thursday no one on his staff helped Governor Blagojevich try to sell his Senate seat. It's worrisome. Barack Obama knows that the first rule of politics is there's always room at the top, once the grand jury returns an indictment.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan asked the state Supreme Court on Friday to declare Governor Rod Blagojevich disabled and unfit for office. That's silly. If crookedness was a disability, Chicago would be known worldwide as the City of Ramps.
Barack Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel refused to answer questions Friday about the attempted sale of Obama's Senate seat. He's desperate to get the press on to another subject. He just asked one of his daughters if she'd like to go missing.
The Weather Channel reported a huge mass of cold air sweeping into the Midwest on Sunday. The front was setting new records for low wind-chill temperatures. It was so cold in Chicago that Governor Rod Blagojevich was selling heated Senate seats.
Governor Rod Blagojevich refused to step down from office Monday when Illinois lawmakers began impeachment proceedings. It may take awhile. The legislature is trying to come up with the six hundred thousand dollars he's demanding to resign in disgrace.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich didn't show up in the legislature Tuesday for the impeachment hearing against him for selling a Senate seat. It was easy to find him. He had to fly to Mogadishu to accept an honorary doctorate from Somali Pirate University.
Jesse Jackson Jr. was revealed Tuesday to be a U.S. government informant helping the FBI in a sting operation designed to catch Governor Blagojevich demanding cash for favors. His dad's not surprised. He knew his son was wearing a wire when he wrote Santa Claus a letter saying all he wants for Christmas is a tie with a hole in it.
Inaugural officials predicted four million people will attend the Inauguration ceremony. Every power broker will be there. The Illinois governor will be kept out of town so in the event of a catastrophe, someone will be alive to sell the government.
ABC News says Rod Blagojevich was a bookie with links to the mob before he was governor. Jesse Jackson Jr. just realized he was snitching on the Chicago mob. In lieu of flowers, his family is requesting that donations be made to his father's slush fund.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was defended by his Chicago lawyer Thursday. He noted that tapes are inadmissible in an impeachment, and impeachment would taint a criminal trial. Dick Cheney just told his wife that snow or no snow, they're moving to Chicago.
Thanks to Argus Hamilton
Governor Rod Blagojevich didn't show up for work in Chicago on Wednesday. Just his luck, it was national call-in-sick if you're gay day. He may have to resign as governor of Illinois but he's leading all polls to be the next governor of California.
Barack Obama cut all ties to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich Thursday. He's also disowned Jeremiah Wright and Tony Rezko. Having Chicago as a hometown for an incoming president is like having a brother-in-law with a gambling problem and no car.
St. Mark's Episcopal in Chicago placed global positioning devices in their Nativity Scene figurines to halt theft. They're easy to track. Last year's Messiah is on his way to Washington and the donkey's been arrested for trying to sell a Senate seat.
Barack Obama said Thursday no one on his staff helped Governor Blagojevich try to sell his Senate seat. It's worrisome. Barack Obama knows that the first rule of politics is there's always room at the top, once the grand jury returns an indictment.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan asked the state Supreme Court on Friday to declare Governor Rod Blagojevich disabled and unfit for office. That's silly. If crookedness was a disability, Chicago would be known worldwide as the City of Ramps.
Barack Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel refused to answer questions Friday about the attempted sale of Obama's Senate seat. He's desperate to get the press on to another subject. He just asked one of his daughters if she'd like to go missing.
The Weather Channel reported a huge mass of cold air sweeping into the Midwest on Sunday. The front was setting new records for low wind-chill temperatures. It was so cold in Chicago that Governor Rod Blagojevich was selling heated Senate seats.
Governor Rod Blagojevich refused to step down from office Monday when Illinois lawmakers began impeachment proceedings. It may take awhile. The legislature is trying to come up with the six hundred thousand dollars he's demanding to resign in disgrace.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich didn't show up in the legislature Tuesday for the impeachment hearing against him for selling a Senate seat. It was easy to find him. He had to fly to Mogadishu to accept an honorary doctorate from Somali Pirate University.
Jesse Jackson Jr. was revealed Tuesday to be a U.S. government informant helping the FBI in a sting operation designed to catch Governor Blagojevich demanding cash for favors. His dad's not surprised. He knew his son was wearing a wire when he wrote Santa Claus a letter saying all he wants for Christmas is a tie with a hole in it.
Inaugural officials predicted four million people will attend the Inauguration ceremony. Every power broker will be there. The Illinois governor will be kept out of town so in the event of a catastrophe, someone will be alive to sell the government.
ABC News says Rod Blagojevich was a bookie with links to the mob before he was governor. Jesse Jackson Jr. just realized he was snitching on the Chicago mob. In lieu of flowers, his family is requesting that donations be made to his father's slush fund.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was defended by his Chicago lawyer Thursday. He noted that tapes are inadmissible in an impeachment, and impeachment would taint a criminal trial. Dick Cheney just told his wife that snow or no snow, they're moving to Chicago.
Thanks to Argus Hamilton
Frank Calabrese Sends Letter from the Federal Deadbolt Inn
He's known as 'Frank the Breeze' and for good reason.
A 19-page letter written by the outfit killer is as wordy as Calabrese was breathless when he testified in court.
In his typewritten letter, Calabrese portrays himself as a man of God and a person of deep prayer, even though he appears to be threatening friends, relatives and acquaintances throughout the composition.
Chicago mob boss Frank Calabrese, Sr. talked in code with some of those who would later topple his criminal empire during the Family Secrets prosecution.
Since Calabrese and his outfit cronies were convicted of racketeering last year, all have had rooms at the feds' 'Deadbolt Inn' in downtown Chicago. And it was from the Metropolitan Correctional Center that 'the Breeze' sent a letter to an old family friend, Frank Coconate. While Mr. Coconate decided not to discuss the matter on television, he did provide ABC7 with the letter from Frank:
- in which Calabrese launches a series of questions about the personal, criminal, business and investment activities of his son Frank, Jr. and brother Nick, the mobsters who turned on him and testified against him at trial
- "Frankie, Jr. does not know how to be a trew (sic) friend to anyone...he lies so much its (sic) pathetic...I pray with gods (sic) blessings. That I may be on the streets some day..."
- Calabrese, Sr. is especially interested in Junior's whereabouts, businesses and purchases since his son testified in court, publicly connecting his father to numerous gangland murders.
"Our investigation has uncovered is that Junior has been attempting to sell his story...He's always wanted to be famous, he always wanted to go to Hollywood, he always wanted to be a big shot and this is the way he figured he could do that," said Joe Lopez, Calabrese Lawyer.
The I-Team traced Calabrese, Jr. to Scottsdale, Arizona. The last business he owned was a Chicago pizza parlor. It's now vacant. The pizza joint and several high-end condo's where Junior lived out have 'Frank the Breeze' convinced that his son turned on him for money and that Junior has cleaned out family investments.
ABC7 lost the trail of Calabrese, Jr. at his grandmother's desert home. She had thrown him out a week earlier after a family argument.
The letter to Coconate names several Calabrese relatives and acquaintances whom Calabrese wants to help in his case, possibly the upcoming sentencing.
Calabrese prose turns threatening as he writes about one relative who is cheating in his city job: "If he does not cooperate in telling us the truth, someone is going to give this information to TV news forecasters like Chuck Goady and the newspaper. I am not looking for this to happen to him, and it will not, if he will answer our questions right of (sic) whatever he knows."
Regarding a female acquaintance of Frank, Jr. he writes: "She's been lying about everything. We're not done with her yet."
It is unclear whether the letter from Frank was the cause of Calabrese, Sr.'s placement in solitary confinement last month at the MCC.
According to the court filing by Calabrese's lawyer he was put in "the hole...pursuant to the prevention of acts of violence and terrorism."
"His position is, you can do what you want to me and God's the ultimate arbiter of what I've done if I've done anything ," said Lopez.
Even though Frank Calabrese, Jr. was a mobster in his own right and accompanied his dad on the occasional gangland hit, he now has the FBI watching his back. After the I-Team tried to talk with him in Arizona, ABC7 received a letter from FBI boss Robert Grant in Chicago politely asking us to stop.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie
A 19-page letter written by the outfit killer is as wordy as Calabrese was breathless when he testified in court.
In his typewritten letter, Calabrese portrays himself as a man of God and a person of deep prayer, even though he appears to be threatening friends, relatives and acquaintances throughout the composition.
Chicago mob boss Frank Calabrese, Sr. talked in code with some of those who would later topple his criminal empire during the Family Secrets prosecution.
Since Calabrese and his outfit cronies were convicted of racketeering last year, all have had rooms at the feds' 'Deadbolt Inn' in downtown Chicago. And it was from the Metropolitan Correctional Center that 'the Breeze' sent a letter to an old family friend, Frank Coconate. While Mr. Coconate decided not to discuss the matter on television, he did provide ABC7 with the letter from Frank:
- in which Calabrese launches a series of questions about the personal, criminal, business and investment activities of his son Frank, Jr. and brother Nick, the mobsters who turned on him and testified against him at trial
- "Frankie, Jr. does not know how to be a trew (sic) friend to anyone...he lies so much its (sic) pathetic...I pray with gods (sic) blessings. That I may be on the streets some day..."
- Calabrese, Sr. is especially interested in Junior's whereabouts, businesses and purchases since his son testified in court, publicly connecting his father to numerous gangland murders.
"Our investigation has uncovered is that Junior has been attempting to sell his story...He's always wanted to be famous, he always wanted to go to Hollywood, he always wanted to be a big shot and this is the way he figured he could do that," said Joe Lopez, Calabrese Lawyer.
The I-Team traced Calabrese, Jr. to Scottsdale, Arizona. The last business he owned was a Chicago pizza parlor. It's now vacant. The pizza joint and several high-end condo's where Junior lived out have 'Frank the Breeze' convinced that his son turned on him for money and that Junior has cleaned out family investments.
ABC7 lost the trail of Calabrese, Jr. at his grandmother's desert home. She had thrown him out a week earlier after a family argument.
The letter to Coconate names several Calabrese relatives and acquaintances whom Calabrese wants to help in his case, possibly the upcoming sentencing.
Calabrese prose turns threatening as he writes about one relative who is cheating in his city job: "If he does not cooperate in telling us the truth, someone is going to give this information to TV news forecasters like Chuck Goady and the newspaper. I am not looking for this to happen to him, and it will not, if he will answer our questions right of (sic) whatever he knows."
Regarding a female acquaintance of Frank, Jr. he writes: "She's been lying about everything. We're not done with her yet."
It is unclear whether the letter from Frank was the cause of Calabrese, Sr.'s placement in solitary confinement last month at the MCC.
According to the court filing by Calabrese's lawyer he was put in "the hole...pursuant to the prevention of acts of violence and terrorism."
"His position is, you can do what you want to me and God's the ultimate arbiter of what I've done if I've done anything ," said Lopez.
Even though Frank Calabrese, Jr. was a mobster in his own right and accompanied his dad on the occasional gangland hit, he now has the FBI watching his back. After the I-Team tried to talk with him in Arizona, ABC7 received a letter from FBI boss Robert Grant in Chicago politely asking us to stop.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie
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
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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