Tags:crime
Killer Twins
The chilling true story of the Spahalski brothers, who looked alike, acted alike—and killed alike . . . Robert Bruce Spahalski and Stephen Spahalski were identical twins. Same hair, same eyes, same thirst for blood. Stephen was the first brother to kill—by viciously bashing in storeowner Ronald Ripley’s head with a hammer. Unlike Stephen, Robert didn’t stop with just one victim. With the cord of an iron, Robert strangled prostitute Morraine Armstrong during sex. With his bare hands, he choked his girlfriend Adrian Berger. He brutally bludgeoned to death businessman Charles Grande. Even his friend Vivian Irizarry didn’t escape his lurid killing spree. Robert ultimately confessed to the four murders in vivid detail. But police suspected there were many more. The twins’ twisted story became even more bizarre as the true nature of their sick psyches came to light. In Killer Twins, through extensive interviews, Michael Benson reveals for the first time the horrific details of Robert Spahalski’s life and crimes in a disturbing look at the inner workings of a homicidal mind.
The Devil at Genesee Junction
Today you’d call Ballantyne suburban, but back then, at the start of the summer of 1966, it was country — just a cluster of houses, some of them shacks, on or near Ballantyne Road, in the Town of Chili, NY. And while June 25 started like any other day it would end in a nightmare. In The Devil at Genesee Junction, veteran crime writer, Michael Benson, returns to his formerly rural hometown to take on the double homicide of his friends Kathy Bernhard and George-Ann Formiciola that took place that night. The two girls were missing for a month and then found in the bushes horribly mutilated. The double homicide changed the author’s childhood suddenly, and drastically. He went from living in a rural playland, to being encased in fear, wondering who among them was the werewolf who cut up Kathy and George-Ann. This heinous crime was never resolved, and didn’t go away. In recent years, the author has teamed up with a victim’s mom, and a local private investigator to delve deep into the 6/66 murders, developing along the way some strong new leads and shocking details. Together they have heated up this icy cold case, and their investigation has led them in a startling new direction.
Betrayal In Blood
Her Cheating Heart"Mommy...won't be with us anymore." That's what attorney Kevin C. Bryant, 45, told his two young sons in the spring of 2003. At the time, blonde, pretty, 26-year-old Tabatha Bryant was alive and well in an upscale suburb of Rochester, New York. But that was about to change--because Bryant knew his wife was cheating--and he intended to end the affair by ending her life. On June 14, 2003, he called 911 to report Tabatha slain by an unknown intruder who'd shot her in the eye with a .22 and repeatedly stabbed her in the neck and upper body. His Evil Plan A drug bust led to Cassidy Green's confession that she'd driven the getaway car. She fingered boyfriend Cyril Winebrenner as the killer. He and Kevin Bryant were buddies who'd regularly gone on cocaine-fueled sex binges with hookers. Astoundingly, Winebrenner was also Tabatha's half-brother--but Bryant's $5,000 had convinced him that money is thicker than blood. In a trial that shook "Country Club Row," prosecutors would present evidence and testimonies that revealed ever more sordid details, leading to final justice for the lawyer who tried to get away with murder...
Watch Mommy Die
In The Hands Of A Sadist. . .First, he bound and beat his girlfriend, a 43-year-old librarian. Then he went after her teenaged daughter--warning her, "Scream and I will kill you both"--before knocking her unconscious. When the teenager awoke, he proceded to rape her. And in a final horrifying act of depravity, he forced the girl to watch as he slit her mother's throat. But the killing didn't stop there. . . In The Crosshairs Of A Killer. . .Stephen Stanko was described as "a perfect gentleman" who "seemed so pleasant. . .and so normal." But behind Stanko's mild-mannered appearance, round spectacles, and quiet intelligence was a coldblooded ex-convict who kept a grisly scrapbook on serial killers--and convinced everyone he was a nice guy--until he killed and killed again. On The Trail Of A Psycho. . .A well-orchestrated manhunt caught up with Stanko, who tried to get away with his crimes by pleading insanity. But the jury saw through his ruse and the ruthless killer was sentenced to death. Case Seen On 48 HoursIncludes 16 Pages of Shocking Photos
Gangsters vs. Nazis
The stunning true story of the rise of Nazism in America in the years leading to WWII—and the fearless Jewish gangsters and crime families who joined forces to fight back. With an intense cinematic style, acclaimed nonfiction crime author Michael Benson reveals the thrilling role of Jewish mobsters like Bugsy Siegel in stomping out the terrifying tide of Nazi sympathizers during the 1930s and 1940s.Goodreads Top Nonfiction of 2022 As Adolph Hitler rose to power in 1930s Germany, a growing wave of fascism began to take root on American soil. Nazi activists started to gather in major American cities, and by 1933, there were more than one-hundred anti-Semitic groups operating openly in the United States. Few Americans dared to speak out or fight back—until an organized resistance of notorious mobsters waged their own personal war against the Nazis in their midst. Gangland-style. . . . In this thrilling blow-by-blow account, acclaimed crime writer Michael Benson uncovers the shocking truth about the insidious rise of Nazism in America—and the Jewish mobsters who stomped it out. Learn about: * Nazi Town, USA: How one Long Island community named a street after Hitler, decorated buildings with swastikas, and set up a camp to teach US citizens how to goosestep. * Meyer Lansky and Murder Inc.: How a Jewish mob accountant led fifteen goons on a joint family mission to bust heads at a Brown Shirt rally in Manhattan. * Fritz Kuhn, “The Vest-Pocket Hitler”: How a German immigrant spread Nazi propaganda through the American Bund in New York City—with 70 branches across the US. * Newark Nazis vs The Minutemen: How a Jewish resistance group, led by a prize fighter and bootlegger for the mob, waged war on the Bund in the streets of Newark. * Hitler in Hollywoodland: How Sunset Strip kingpin Mickey Cohen knocked two Brown Shirters’ heads together—and became the West Coast champion in the mob’s war on Nazis. Packed with surprising, little-known facts, graphic details, and unforgettable personalities, Gangsters vs. Nazis chronicles the mob’s most ruthless tactics in taking down fascism—inspiring ordinary Americans to join them in their fight. The book culminates in one of the most infamous events of the pre-war era—the 1939 Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden—in which law-abiding citizens stood alongside hardened criminals to fight for the soul of a nation. This is the story of the mob that’s rarely told—one of the most fascinating chapters in American history and American organized crime.
Lethal Embrace
A Murder Plot. . .Single mother Lee Ann Armanini worked as a bartender in a strip joint in Long Island's South Shore when she got pregnant by Paul Riedel, owner of a health club in Amityville, Long Island. In 1998, Paul did the right thing and married her. The marriage was not a happy one, and Lee Ann left Riedel in 2000. She moved to Florida and took up with a mob-connected hood named Ralph "Rocco" Salierno. Together, they plotted Riedel's murder in order to get his money and ownership of the health club... A Case Of Mistaken Identity. . . But Salierno murdered the wrong man--Alexander Algeri, Riedel's lifelong friend and business partner who bore an uncanny resemblance to Riedel and even drove the same kind of vehicle, a Ford Explorer. A Stunning Trial. . . In a notorious trial that was filled with sensational revelations about drug abuse, illicit sex, and wrong way murder, Lee Ann Riedel and Rocco Salierno were convicted of first-degree murder. Salierno was sentenced to life in prison without parole; Lee Ann Riedel was sentenced to 25-years-to-life. Includes 16 Pages of Shocking Photos. Robert Mladinich is the author of From the Mouth of the Monster: The Joel Rifkin Story. He is a retired New York Police Department second grade detective who has investigated numerous homicides and was named NYPD Cop of the Year in 1985 for his work as a patrol officer in the South Bronx.
Carmine the Snake
The shocking true story of the most ruthless and deadly mob boss in the annals of the American Mafia. In the golden age of organized crime, Carmine “The Snake” Persico was the King of the Streets. The defacto boss of the Colombo Mafia family since the 1970s, he oversaw gang wars, murders, and major rackets, even from prison. He is suspected of personally murdering as many as 60 people and ordering the hits of hundreds more. Sentenced to 139 years in the fed, he continued to exert power over a vast criminal empire from behind bars. His brutal rise and bloody reign is the stuff of legend. In this blistering street-level account, “Mafia survivor” Frank Dimatteo teams up with true-crime master Michael Benson to take down one of the most notorious figures in the American La Cosa Nostra. This is the real inside story of Carmine “The Snake” Persico, from his crime-filled childhood on the streets of Brooklyn to the long-term jail sentences that didn’t stop him from controlling his criminal empire with the help of his brother, the equally kill-crazy Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico. His deadly teen years as leader of the fearsome Garfield Boys. His recruitment into the Profaci—later the Colombo—crime family. His bloody betrayal of the Gallo brothers. His role in the hair-raising ambush-slaying of Albert Anastasia—the Lord High Executioner of Murder, Inc.—as he sat in a barbershop chair getting a shave. The terror he struck into the hearts of the New York Mafia’s other families, and even his own crews. And the many courtroom trials where Persico walked after witnesses came down with sudden cases of amnesia Today, Carmine “The Snake” Persico schmoozes with Ponzi king Bernard Madoff behind bars where at age 84 his legend, packed as it is with coldblooded brutality, continues to inspire goodfellas everywhere.
Lord High Executioner
The bloodsoaked saga of the Murder, Inc. legend who helped create the modern American Mafia—one body at a time—featuring shocking eyewitness accounts . . . Umberto “Albert” Anastasia was born in Italy at the turn of the century. Five decades later, he would be gunned down in a barber shop in New York City. What happened in the years in between—and why every crime family had reason to want him dead—is one of the most brutal and fascinating stories in the history of American organized crime. This in-depth account of the man who became one of the most powerful and homicidal crime bosses of the twentieth century from Mafia insider and co-author Frank Dimatteo is the first full-length book to chronicle Anastasia’s bloody rise from fresh-off-the-boat immigrant to founder of the notorious killer’s club Murder, Inc.—featuring never-before-told accounts from those who feared him most . . . They called him “The One Man Army.” “Mad Hatter.” “Lord High Executioner.” Albert Anastasia came to America mean and became a prolific killer. His merciless assassination of Mafia godfather Vincent Mangano is recounted here in chilling first-hand detail. He set the record: the first man in the history of American justice to be charged with four separate murders—and walk free after each one. But in the end, he was the last obstacle in rival Mafia hoodlum Vito Genovese’s dream of becoming the boss of bosses—and paid the ultimate price . . .
Mafia Hit Man
WHO REALLY KILLED “CRAZY JOE” GALLO? AT LAST, THE TRUTH CAN BE TOLD. AND IT WASN’T FRANK “THE IRISHMAN” SHEERAN AS HE CLAIMED. This is the shocking and brutal story of Carmine DiBiase—aka Sonny Pinto—the elusive Mafia killer who went from small-time street punk to FBI’s Most Wanted list to Death Row—only to be released on the streets to kill and kill again . . . among those who died by his gun was Joey Gallo. “Sober, he was nothing, but drunk he would blow your head off.” That’s how Pete the Greek described Carmine “Sonny” DiBiase, the Colombo crime family hitman who’d been terrorizing Manhattan’s Little Italy since he was a kid. After beating and robbing a local tailor and doing time in reformatory, Sonny set up operations at The Mayfair Boys Civic and Social Club, an illegal poolroom where he shot and killed his best friend on Christmas day . . . A prime suspect of this and other crimes, Sonny went on the lam and off the grid for seven years. He then surrendered himself to police, was tried for murder and sentenced to death. But after a second trial, he walked away a free man—free to kill again. Joey “Crazy Joe” Gallo and his President Street mob waged a deadly Mafia civil war with the Colombo crime family, and in particular, Carmine “the Snake” Persico. A contract was put out for Gallo and his gang. And on that fateful night of April 7, 1972, in a Little Italy restaurant, Gallo was assassinated . . . by Carmine “Sonny” DiBiasi.. This is the true story of who really whacked Crazy Joey Gallo on that fateful night of April 7, 1972.
The Cigar
From real-life "Mafia Survivor" Frank Dimatteo, the gripping account of the life and crimes of the most feared mafia boss of all time: Carmine “Lilo” Galante, the prime mover behind the legendary French Connection. HIS WAR CRY: “I RULE EVERYTHING.” FOR HALF A CENTURY HE ALMOST DID.The brutal and blood-stained true story of one of the most feared bosses in American Mafia history, who rose from tenement street thug to notorious hit man to a prime mover behind the legendary French Connection. And the bodies piled up. The son of Sicilian immigrants, Camillo Carmine Galante was raised in Manhattan’s Little Italy and by all accounts born bad. At age ten his home away from home was juvenile detention. By fifteen he was terrorizing the streets of New York’s Lower East Side, scoring high marks for the “errands” he was running for his La Cosa Nostra elders. When he turned twenty, Galante was already one of the mob’s top enforcers–a sadistic thrill killer and clinically diagnosed psychopath with big dreams: whack his way into controlling organized crime the world over, vowing to kill Mafia chieftans Tommy Lucchese and Carlo Gambino and take control of their mob families. Carmine “Lilo” Galante’s rise to Mafia star was infamous: hit man for the Luciano and Genovese crime families; named consigliere by Joseph Bonnano; he wiped out eight members of the Gambinos; on behalf of Mussolini he assassinated the publisher of an anti-Fascist newspaper. “The biggest dope peddler in the country” according to law enforcement, Galante helped orchestrate one of the largest heroin trafficking operations on record—a power move too dangerous for his rivals in the narcotics trade. The heads of the five New York families decided that the psychotic Galante had to be stopped. On July 12, 1979, finishing his lunch in a Brooklyn restaurant, Galante got what he’d dished out his whole life: a shotgun blast to the face, his trademark cigar still clenched in his teeth . . .Frank Dimatteo is a lifelong Brooklynite, Mafia “survivor,” and publisher of Mob Candy magazine. He is the author of the acclaimed memoir, The President Street Boys: Growing Up Mafia, as well as Mob Candy’s Brooklyn Gangsters and Manhattan Gangsters.Michael Benson is the author of more than sixty books, including the true crime titles Betrayal in Blood, Killer Twins, and Mommy Deadliest. He also wrote Who’s Who in the JFK Assassination, and most recently, The Devil at Genesee Junction. He regularly appears on ID: Investigation Discovery channel, including On the Case with Paula Zahn, and Deadly Sins. He is the recipient of the Academy of American Poets award.
Red Hook
The shocking crime-drenched saga of the New York mobs in Red Hook, Brooklyn—where the streets ran red with blood—by a Mafia survivor who grew up there . . . For more than a hundred years, the Red Hook section of Brooklyn was Ground Zero for organized crime. Whoever controlled the piers controlled everything. From the infamous Irish gang known as The White Hand at the turn of the century, to the notorious Italian Gallo brothers who ran President Street—and everything else—generations later, the blood-soaked history of Red Hook is the story of American crime at its most powerful, corrupt, and coldly efficient. It's all here: the brutal mob hits, bullet storms, and backstabbings of the most colorful cutthroats to ever terrorize the streets. A rogue’s gallery of killers with nicknames like “The Mad Hatter,” “The Executioner,” “Wild Bill,” and “Peg Leg.” The Brooklyn bar fight that gave Al “Scarface” Capone his legendary scars. The godfather of America’s first Sicilian crime family whose gruesomely mangled hand could scare men half to death. And, to bring it all home, the author’s own eyewitness account of multiple shootings growing up as the son of a Mafia bodyguard. Packed with jaw-dropping stories of public violence and personal vengeance, vivid insights into the Mafia’s way of life, and shocking portraits of America’s most wanted crime families, Red Hook is a must-read for anyone fascinated by the history of organized crime in America.
If Looks Could Kill
The true-crime story of a millionaire beauty queen and the murder of her ex-lover, by the New York Times bestselling author of Because You Loved Me.On a day like any other in Akron, Ohio, in a parking lot like so many across America, a black-clad motorcyclist rode up to an occupied vehicle and fired a gun—and didn't miss. The shock rippling through the community led to former beauty queen Cynthia George, a respected church member and devoted mother. Married to a wealthy businessman, she seemed to lead a charmed life. But did her beauty mask a heart cold enough to kill? M. William Phelps, award-winning master of the non-fiction thriller, updates this gripping saga of illicit love and murder with startling, unforgettable new insights.Praise for If Looks Could Kill“Phelps, one of America's finest true-crime writers, has written a compelling and gripping book about an intriguing Ohio murder mystery.” —Vincent Bugliosi New York Times bestselling author of Helter Skelter“Starts quickly and doesn't slow down. The author's thorough research and interviews give the book a sense of growing complexity, richness of character, and urgency.” —Stephen Singular, author of Unholy Messenger: The Life and Crime of the BTK Killer“Phelps' sharp attention to detail culminates in this meticulous recreation of a tragic crime. This gripping true story reads like a well-plotted crime novel and proves that truth is not only stranger, but more shocking, than fiction. Riveting.” —Allison Brennan, New York Times bestselling author of Tell No LiesIncludes sixteen pages of photos