If you ever saw the film, L.A. Confidential, then you know a little bit about this story. In James Ellroy’s fictional book and film, LA Confidential, two men, known as the “Two Tonys”, Tony Brancato and Anthony Trombino are shot to death in a 1951 Oldsmobile coupé parked off Sunset Boulevard. This mob hit was used as a depiction of the reporting style of the Hush Hush reporter played by Danny DeVito. James Ellroy’s also kills off Tony Brancato and Anthony Trombino in his fictional book, White Jazz. Author James Ellroy has a special connection and insight into the LAPD and murder investigations because of the unsolved rape and murder of his mother. That crime has never been solved but Ellroy gained a fascination with the LAPD and crime from that horrible experience.

Anthony Brancato and Anthony Joseph Trombino were couple of shake down artists that began thier criminal careers in Kansas City.  In the late 1940s, a Mickey Cohn associate named Norfia Brancato asked  Cohen for permission to bring his younger brother Tony Brancato in from Kansas City. Shortly after, Tony Brancato arrived in L.A. and became part of Cohen’s crew. He soon enticed his old fall partner Tony Trombino to come out and join him. These two guys became known as the Two Tonys and they did not take long to wear out Cohn’s welcome. They began to muscle in on protected games and other rackets withuot the sanction of thier boss, Mickey Cohn

In “Mickey Cohen: My Own Words,” Cohen describes Brancato’s situation:  “Then he started stepping out on his own. He was on the heavy and on the heist, but he was heisting people that were contrary to the rules of the people that he was supposed to have respected – not only me, but others. They were wild-haired young bloods that thought they were just going to run roughshod over everybody. Well, I couldn’t pay them much attention then. But because of my troubles, they thought they didn’t have to show any respect for nobody.”

During 1951, Cohen was sent to prison for income tax evasion. The two Tonys were cutting a wide and violent swath in the criminal underworld with crimes that included aggravated assault, armed robbery, burglary, narcotics violations, rape and they were suspected of several murders.

By 1951, the two Tonys had recruited their own robbery crew. In June they, long with three others  robbed the Flamingo Hotel’s cash room of $3,500. Hy Goldbaum, who ran the commission book in Las Vegas,  recognized The Two Tonys.  He had been robbed by them previously when he ran a bookmaking operation in Beverly Hills. The local police were notified and the pair were arrested. After they arranged for bail, they skipped and went to ground in Los Angeles.

In July of 1951, the two Tonys were given the job of collecting a

$3,000.00 gambling debt from a bookie named Sam Lazes. They pocketed the cash knowing they were supposed to pass it along to a mobbed up bookmaker. Not satisfied with that, the two Tonys went back to Lazes for more money. A complaint was made to the L.A. mob boss Jack Dragna. He is reported to have called in a made guy known as The Weasel who was Aladena “Jimmy the Weasel” Fratianno. Dragna told the Fratianno to take care of this problem. We know this to be true because in 1980, Fratianno would go into witness protection and as part of his agreement, he revealed the details of all the crimes he had committed.

Fratianno will tell F.B.I. agents that he instructed Sam Lazes to contact Brancato and Trombino and set up a meeting at the home of a neutral party,