Topics:

• Pinball
• Horse racing
• Policy (number) wheels
• John Doe investigations

Links:

• Visit MilwaukeeMafia.com for more information
• Gavin's Books: https://amzn.to/3ssKOQH
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Milwaukeemafia

Bonus fact: In 1963, the Wisconsin supreme court ruled free plays on pinball machines were illegal - even though there was little enforcement behind the law. In 1980, Wisconsin legalized free plays.

People included in this episode:

• Joe Vallone
• Pasquale Migliaccio
• Joe Bedami
• Hasso Pestalazzi
• Pat Ferrara

Links:

• Visit MilwaukeeMafia.com for more information
• Gavin's Books: https://amzn.to/3ssKOQH
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Milwaukeemafia

In this episode, Gavin talks through the murders of three Scaffidi family members: Vincenzo "James" Scaffidi, Anthony, and Joseph.

On Saturday, March 14th, 1891, Antonio Scaffidi was murdered in prison along with Joseph P. Macheca and Antonio Marchesi.

Vincenzo Scaffidi was shot six times from behind on the evening of December 12, 1919. He was found lying in a ditch on Whitnall Avenue in the town of Lake (now the location of Mitchell Airport), his .38 revolver still in his shirt.

In the early morning of January 6, 1944, five bandits held up bartenders Eugene R. Reichman and William Hetrick as they were leaving Bensinger Bowling and Billiards at the corner of 27th and Kilbourn. The police arrived, causing the robbers to flee. Patrolman Charles Jackelen, shot and killed Anthony Scaffidi; he was hit in the rear shoulder as he ran away, and the bullet came out his neck, two inches below his chin. Scaffidi actually made it another 75 yards before collapsing in the snow.

• Visit MilwaukeeMafia.com for more information
• Gavin's Books: https://amzn.to/3ssKOQH
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Milwaukeemafia

Gavin continues on with Tony Gennaro snitching from prison. In the last episode, Tony, while an inmate at Waupun, sent a letter to Milwaukee’s captain of detectives, Adolph Kraemer.

Tony writes: “If you want to talk with me about them, I would like to talk to you alone. Please don’t tell anyone about my name, because I am a prisoner and there are many Italian fellows from the Third Ward here; keep quiet and afterward you will find out many important things concerning them.”

• Visit MilwaukeeMafia.com for more information
• Gavin's Books: https://amzn.to/3ssKOQH
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Milwaukeemafia

In this episode, Gavin covers the murder of Jack Dentice, and part one of Tony Gennaro snitching from prison. There are two different versions of the motive for Jack's murder, and Frank LaGalbo is included in both of them.

"During dinner, LaGalbo and Jack got into an argument about girls and LaGalbo told Jack that his girl was a prostitute and that she worked for his uncle, Vince Crupi.”

• Visit MilwaukeeMafia.com for more information
• Gavin's Books: https://amzn.to/3ssKOQH
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Milwaukeemafia

Gavin walks listeners through stories of bombings and murder in this episode.

Wisconsin’s Sicilian Mafia a was primarily based in Milwaukee, but the suburb of Waukesha had its own Italian community. One cannot fully appreciate the history of the Milwaukee Mafia without including Waukesha.

• Visit MilwaukeeMafia.com for more information
• Gavin's Books: https://amzn.to/3ssKOQH
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Milwaukeemafia

In this episode, a listener asks what makes the Milwaukee Mafia different from other mobs, such as New York and Chicago.

The answers:

• Working as city employees while controlling the garbage industry
• Prohibition wasn't as big of a boom for the Milwaukee Mafia as other mobs
• Eric gets Gavin off on a tangent about the Milwaukee Mafia and Las Vegas
• Vending machines (remember when cigarettes were sold in vending machines?)
• And some stories that Gavin has come across he has found surprising
• A bubble gun patent
• A Persian rug dealer

Links:

• Visit MilwaukeeMafia.com for more information
• Gavin's Books: https://amzn.to/3ssKOQH
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Milwaukeemafia

Note: The audio quality was updated on 01/07/2022. The content is the same, but the listening experience should be an improvement.

The Milwaukee Mafia was primarily Sicilian (by definition). What other ethnic groups participated in Milwaukee crime?

Gavin's Note: I am not always comfortable referring to someone as "Sicilian" or "Irish" when they were born in the United States, but this is the shorthand law enforcement uses when gangs recruit based on a person's heritage, so I'm following their lead.

• Visit MilwaukeeMafia.com for more information
• Gavin's Books: https://amzn.to/3ssKOQH
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Milwaukeemafia

In this episode Gavin discusses the Apalachin, New York meeting (November 14th, 1957), and J. Edgar Hoover's Top 10 Hoodlum List.

Notable Milwaukee "Hoodlums" on the list include:

• Frank Balistrieri
• John Alioto
• Walter Brocca
• Visit MilwaukeeMafia.com for more information
• Gavin's Books: https://amzn.to/3ssKOQH
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Milwaukeemafia

In this "mini" episode, a listener asks Gavin: "What are some of the common Mafia myths?" He covers some, but far from all of them.

Check out our website for more information: https://milwaukeemafia.com/the-milwaukee-balistrieri-family-dont-sell-them-short/

• Visit MilwaukeeMafia.com for more information
• Gavin's Books: https://amzn.to/3ssKOQH
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Milwaukeemafia

Check out our episode sponsor: Appleton Podcast Co-op