February 12, 2024

Anatomy of a Golf Course Muder Part 2

20 minutes

Gary tells another account of the intriguing and often murky world of crime. In today’s episode, we unfold the gripping tale of how a hapless hitman, Daniel Bounds, was entangled in a web of deceit and betrayal that ultimately led to his demise. An Outfit member named Sam Guzzino orchestrated the entire murder attempt of Al Pilotto. He played a pivotal role in recruiting Bounds. Guzzino provided him with a weapon, trained him, and even supervised the rehearsals leading up to the crime. The chilling revelation unfolds as Guzzino stands by, watching as Daniel Bounds carries out the hit, only to vanish into the night.

The Chicago Outfit has its own rules, and hitting a target involves high stakes. We explore the harsh reality that the target might survive if a hit goes wrong – if the bullets or the gun are faulty. Survivors often become dangerous witnesses, turning the tables against their assailants. In the case of Sam Guzzino and Daniel Bounds, this dilemma becomes a crucial aspect of their criminal enterprise.

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Transcript

[0:00] Hey guys, hey all you wiretappers out there back here in the studio, Gangland Wire, retired intelligence sergeant Gary Jenkins.

I need to do a follow-up on a short one I did about Al Pilotto the other day.

I was on Facebook and a gal, Jimmy Free, and thanks for, at Ben Alex, and thanks for reminding me about this.

There’s a whole other story about the The murder plot on Al Palato, the Chicago outfit, Southside crew chief leader, labor racketeering guy.

He had a case pending at that point in time when this happened.

And the outfit decided he needed to go.

I mean, Al needs to go. Now, when they say you need to go, you probably need to go.

Sam Guzzino and the Inept Hitman

[0:47] Now, let me tell you about exactly how this whole thing went down.

Now, I just brushed across the top of it, kind of a fun little story.

Sam Guzzino, whose brother Richard Guzzino was in the foursome with Al Pallado.

Go back and take a look at that if you haven’t seen it.

[1:05] Sam Guzzino was an outfit member, and he was also the former father-in-law of the hit man on this deal, a guy named Daniel Bounds, who was a cab driver.

He had been married to Guzzino’s daughter and fathered a child with her.

They’d gotten a divorce, but he needed money, I suspect, and Sam Guzzino knew it. But now, Sam Guzzino is probably not the sharpest tool in the toolbox, wouldn’t you say?

Hires this Peckerwood cab driver to do this important hit. This is a pretty important hit, and you don’t want this to go wrong, right?

You don’t want this to go wrong. But he tells him, hey, I got a job for you.

And Bounds reluctantly, according to the court transcript, accepted this assignment.

The Deal and Promises Made

[1:51] Sam, one thing he did, he said, I’ll make sure that you get a lot more access to your daughter.

His granddaughter, and so that, and I’ll pay you some money, and he promised him a down payment of $2,000 plus a weekly amount, which was not said exactly what it was, plus another job, but a business that Sam owned, you know, Nate, and that’d be a cab driver in the morning, see his kid a little more often, have $2,000 in cash, not very much money for a murder, if you ask me, me but you know that’s that was the deal he also said after he got into this he said now you understand now you know a hit’s going down get this the other you know the hammer the the carrot and the stick well here comes a stick you know it gets coming down and and you’re not going to be part of it you’re a risk to us and you know i can’t guarantee that how long you’re going to live knowing this information once we go ahead and carry this out and sam told him he said i’m going to make millions from it and we’re going to pass this along to you and we got to do it quick, and first to ask him about was asking well who’s it going to be and and gazino said no he said i’m not telling you just yet.

Practice Shooting and Choosing a Location

[3:05] Next day, after Bounds reluctantly agrees, Sam Guzzino and his brother Richard meet at Sam Hanna Cab Company, and that’s where Bounds had been working.

[3:15] He said he expressed confidence in him according to the court transcript.

He said, me, I’m too fat to handle this. I’d love to do it. I’d love to hit that guy, but I’m too fat to handle it.

And again, he reassured him of all the benefits he was going to get.

It still kept him in the dark about who the target was or where it would take place.

Then later on, they were joined by another defendant, a guy named Robert Ciarocchi, and he was going to be the weapons man.

So they all got in Sam’s car. They went out to a rural area in Will County, which is adjacent to Cook County on the south side, and then a determinative balance could shoot.

There’s some basic qualifications of the job, right? You can shoot.

They get a rifle out, and there’s a telescope on it, and a silencer at the end.

I mean, these guys are very quick. quip this is like james bond stuff here so crotchety took the gun he fired at his sign he hit it sam said you know that’s a little bit loud sirachi said yeah i’ll do some more work on it and balance fired at the sign he missed and actually it said when they wouldn’t look at the sign close the first guy sirachi signed he said it might be siroki he was right on it he merely dented it he He did not even penetrate the sign.

So they said they need another gun. They need a better gun.

[4:38] After that target practice that day, they drove over by the Lickenshire Country Club, look it over, and not to play golf.

And they went out to the AT. Sam, the AT was close to the road there.

And he pointed to the AT and he said, this would be the perfect location.

He said, and you could use a handgun. You could use a pistol here.

[4:59] They looked at another tee box and he said, you know, that you could use a rifle there, but, and from a concealed area, but they didn’t really like that.

It’s a dumping ground for mob. This Will County is a dumping ground for the mob and the county has no money to really to investigate mob assassinations or any mob stuff.

So that’s one reason they chose this country club because it was over in this Will County.

It’s kind of interesting. all the thought processes that go into these murders you don’t think about all that there’s this court transcript i found is really detailed so they i drop off see rocky he’s gonna go tail mess with the rifle balance and the two casino brothers walk back to their go drive back to the country club and casino says i’m going out to las vegas for a few days and you guys keep working on on this, work out the details.

Buying a Bicycle and Practicing Escaping

[5:54] And one suggestion that Sam had was that our friend Daniel Bounds could use a bicycle to escape after the shooting.

He wasn’t really enthusiastic about that idea.

I don’t know. This is kind of like, you know, you can take a bicycle to hit, you know, that’s not the way the big boys do it, is it? I don’t think so.

Richard Guzzino, the next day, driving his this blue Eldorado Cadillac.

I mean, every bump guy’s got to have an Eldorado ride back in these days, the 80s.

Picks up Daniel Ballance, and he said, we’re going to go buy a bicycle.

[6:27] They went to a residence. They’re driving in the streets, in the neighborhoods.

They find a sign nailed to a tree that says bikes for sale.

I’ve seen that. Guy will, well, like I used to have a neighbor like that.

He’ll buy old bicycles and fix them up. Put a painted sign out front.

He’s always got a bicycle for sale for pretty cheap.

They go in, they find an old repainted 10-speed bicycle for 20 bucks.

[6:50] Buy the bicycle for 20 bucks, put it in the trunk, go back, pick up San Guzzino, drive out to the HT for a practice bicycle ride to some other rendezvous point.

Bounds tried to ride as fast as he can, but the gears and the chain kept slipping and he wasn’t good on the bicycle. So Bounds retired the bicycle to his basement to his great relief, I think.

He didn’t like that bicycle idea. idea his marketmanship left a lot to be desired so they drove back out in the country to a dump area in the will county suburban or rural area of will will county siraki pulled out a 45 caliber pistol and 357 magnum revolver and says hey try this so they got a sign out there there was a keep out sign and and daniel bell bounds emptied both guns into the sign and from about 15 feet and they praised him up said oh great man you’re a great shot with a pistol next day they go back off to the golf course for a make a definite decision on the location for the shooting walk around the at area get back in the car they drive away to see you know what kind of traffic’s around and and where you would go from there they decide that they’ll let him off he He could hide in the trees at a good rendezvous point.

We’ll be at a particular place a few blocks away.

[8:17] Now they drive back to the AT and Bounds gets practiced by running.

There’s a bridge close by.

He gets takes practice by running back to this bridge where they’re going to rendezvous.

[8:32] You can’t make this stuff up, man. Next thing they do is they properly outfit him. And they buy him from a Kmart some dark green coveralls and a baseball cap and a knapsack.

[8:46] And some kind of special boots they were going to buy him some kind of special boots i don’t know what kind of boots then they don’t want to spend the money so sam gazino lent daniel bounds or richard one one of the gazino brothers lent daniel bounds his boots but they were way too big for him then bound says you know i really need a police scanner so i can follow police activities as i’m doing this and discuss this and sam gazino opposed it and he said you don’t really need a scanner her because he’s going to be in the forcing and after the murder he’ll offer to call the police and the ambulance but then flounder around and not do it i mentioned before you know what they do they just run off some neighbor lady actually called the police and then he won’t get the police go so that explains you know what he was gonna he had a plan for that why he didn’t call the police he was gonna act like he did not do it for quite a while so balance was then reassured that there would be plenty of time to get away before anybody called the police but they did let balance get a scanner but he had to buy it without his own money he went to radio shack so he bought a citizen’s band radio because he couldn’t find the right kind of scanner i probably couldn’t find a portable scanner those bearcat scanners they were selling back then usually when they weren’t handheld so the cb radio you get a walkie talkie a cb radio walkie talkie so he shows Guzzino and he says no that’s not what you want so he goes back and he gets a more powerful CB radio.

[10:15] Give it a field test they can’t make it work go back and get a refund I mean this is like the March Brothers the Keystone Cops of hits so I made all these preparations this is down in Chicago Heights for you guys the Chicago Heights guys pick up some videotapes to take to Sam Guzzino there but his mother 75th birthday party kind of mixing a little business and pleasure here i guess, He shows them on his videocassette recorder to these guys.

But here’s why they’re showing it to him. Al Palato is in there.

And he points out, he said, that’s the guy we want to hit.

[10:52] And Daniel Bounce knew him and knew who he was. And he also knew that his brother was the, Al Palato’s brother was the Chicago Heights chief of police.

And he was not too happy about it. But, you know, he was, he was in it over his head now. I mean, there’s just no way.

Sam’s plan to eliminate Al with specific instructions.

[11:07] Sam tried to like convince him. He said, look. luck he said this al is 71 years old he’s got a case in miami we’re afraid he’s gonna spill some names don’t worry it’s been blessed that means you know it’s been okayed all the way up to tony accardo i would imagine at the time so you know don’t worry and he goes over additional details keeps having to kind of buck him up bounds was instructed okay when al comes up the guy you just saw in that video comes up to the tee in the golf cart hit him as soon as he stops puts his left foot out on the ground they must have known he always drove of course whoever sam was probably riding with him so he’d make sure he drove and he said be careful because i’m gonna be in the i’m gonna be with him and he said now if if you make any noise you got to come out fast because he’ll take take off so you better come out shooting but again if you come out shooting you know don’t hit me this is crazy so they set it up this is like a thursday the next day friday they do a final dress rehearsal before it was going to happen on a saturday uh you know we always play golf on saturdays gazino picks up bounds drops him off at the eighth he hides in the bus sam gazino rides Lies up in a golf cart.

Final dress rehearsal for the mission.

[12:27] Sam got out of the cart and said loud enough to Bounds to hear, are you there?

Bounds said, yeah. And he said, okay, take off. So he took off running, ran down to the rendezvous point. They timed that.

This is like Mission Impossible here.

[12:42] Saturday arrives, bounds, shaves off. He has a mustache. He shaves off his mustache.

He made him a nylon stock mask.

So this Sirocchi picks him up about 2.20 in the morning. They go over to Sirocchi’s apartment.

Sirocchi loads up both the pistols, the .45 and the .357, wipes them down, wipes the ammunition down, makes sure there’s no fingerprints on them, gives him a pair of gloves, which are way too big, which means it’s really hard to get your finger in the trigger.

Liquor i’m telling you these guys anybody wants to come and hit me i’ll was these guys.

Sam confirms everything is a go at 5 am.

[13:16] So sam stops by and says okay everything’s a go is about five o’clock in the morning so they’re gonna be teeing off at 6 a.m that’s an early tea time man you only do those in the summertime, you must they must have got the first tea tea time of the day which is kind of hard to do usually got a bunch of old guys maybe casino play there all the time so he always had that early that first tee time.

Bounds has got a scanner by now in his backpack that he’s wearing and they head out about eight o’clock.

They were going to be at the course by 8.30 and of course you tee off at six.

It’s going to take you a little over two hours to get to the eight to nine tees.

It depends on how fast you play.

Of course, Sam’s kind of running the things and he could slow down and speed up as they go.

Daniel Bounds gets in the bushes pretty soon. He sees a golf cart coming up.

He recognizes Pilotto he recognizes who’s with him and actually uh sam wasn’t going to be with him sam wasn’t going to sit in the end sam didn’t sit in the golf cart with him he had this other guy nicholas busci sitting and he didn’t know anything about the deal they had another guy was i think i mentioned this for rudy bomanti and he was in sam’s golf cart and they were all played at this club and playing their regular for four or five years so they get up to the 18 Pilotto gets out he tees off he hits his tee shot greatest tee shot ever i was just kidding before but i don’t know if it was or not walks back while the others get up and start hitting their balls.

Bounds takes the shot, hits Pilotto in the shoulder.

[14:40] Bounds that bounds where is he sam they’re like going hey bounds here sam say go ahead and shoot.

[14:50] Assuming sam was talking to him and not just telling sam’s golfing partners to you all, that’s what he was doing he’s telling somebody else you know go ahead and shoot pounds comes out shoots from a distance hit hits Pilotto in the shoulder gets up and walks out back into the bushes Pilotto fell down hold his hands up and pleads to him not to shoot again but he’d already shot three times at close range fuchsia has run off the other way and is hiding behind the tree bounds turns to leave has another miss or fire fires again almost hits himself in the foot and he takes off running left his knapsack there gets to the uh rendezvous point and sirocco is not there yeah.

The Gang’s Failed Hit on Al Pilotto

[15:36] They load, put their golf towels on Pilotto, load him in the golf cart, and then they drive around a little bit and act like they’re trying to find a phone, which they can’t for a while.

But like I said, some neighbor went ahead and called that in.

So that’s the story that day when they hit Al Pilotto.

That’s a heck of a story, isn’t it? The gang that couldn’t shoot straight.

The Marx Brothers do a hit in Chicago. A lot of other Chicago outfits have gone down a lot smoother than that.

Just go check out the Family Secrets Trial and hear Nicholas Calabrese talk about the hits that they do.

I know I heard his nephew talking about, and he told me, I think, in the podcast interview I did with him with Calabrese Jr., Frank Calabrese Jr.

He said, you know, we call it lay on a guy. We’ll lay on a guy for a month or weeks.

[16:29] And then, like he said, he’s hidden in a refrigerator box. That’s a pretty good scam.

Get a big refrigerator box, set it out on the street, and you can get in it, and you can be really up close, and usually nobody will mess with it, and then it’s gone the next day, usually sneak out later.

So they’re pretty inventive in Chicago, but these guys on the south side, San Guzzino was not.

So thanks a lot, guys. It’s just one more of the stories, the seven million stories of the naked city of Chicago.

Chicago’s Inventive Crime Tactics

[16:56] I really have fun with this story here. It is a good one. And don’t forget, I like to ride motorcycles.

So watch out for motorcycles when you’re out there. And if you have a problem with PTSD, be sure and go to the website that the VA has and get that hotline number and hand in hand with PTSD is a drug and alcohol addiction.

You don’t have to be in the VA to get hold of our friend, Anthony Ruggiano, I’m losing my mind sometimes, Anthony Ruggiano and get his hotline number on his website or his YouTube page.

He’s a drug and alcohol counselor himself down in Florida.

And don’t forget to like and subscribe and tell your friends about the podcast, whether it be the audio or the video podcast.

We’re all over the place. Got a great Facebook page called Gangland Wire Podcast.

[17:42] Got over 50,000 people on it. A lot of great discussions about the mob and, you know, personal people that have personal connections to it and to the neighborhoods.

Appreciation and Future Storytelling

[17:50] So it’s a lot of fun. we just keep coming back and and i really appreciate it again to my friend bill bill.

[18:00] Ben Ellickson from chicago asking me didn’t they use a bicycle as part of this and with at jimmy free who i don’t know who commented i need to do a second part and tell the whole story and he’s right so thanks a lot guys.

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