Eliot Ness (40 page)

“Long before there was a Las Vegas
 . . . ”:
Condon, “The Last American Hero.”

The police found Fergus buried
:
“Whatever Happened to the Gambling Palaces of the Great Depression?” CPD, Nov. 27, 1977.

The Harvard Club boasted some eighteen
:
“Cullitan, Ness Shut Harvard Club; Gamblers Block Raiders 6 Hours,” CPD, Jan. 11, 1936.

Forty years later, one member would recall
:
“Whatever Happened to the Gambling Palaces of the Great Depression?” CPD, Nov. 27, 1977.

“They may wear all the shorts
 . . . ”:
“Ness Stamps Women’s Shorts O.K. for Street,” CN, July 10, 1936.

“Eliot Ness last night showed
 . . .”:
“‘Let’s Go,’ Ness Says, as He Shows His G-Man Training,” CPD, Jan. 11, 1936.

“It was a highly credible thing
 . . . ”:
unlabeled news clippings, CN, Jan. 11, 1936 and CP, Jan. 11, 1936, ENP, reel 2.

“About the time we got there
 . . . ”:
“Crimefighter with a Passion,” CPD, Oct. 4, 1998.

Flynn “found six deputies
 . . . ”:
Condon,
Cleveland
, 236; “Ness Roasts Sulzmann’s Denial of Aid,” CPD, Jan. 14, 1936.

“In any city where corruption continues
 . . . ”:
Ibid.

He told Lieutenant Michael Blackwell
:
“Officer, Noted for Valor, Wins Promotion Chance,” CP, April 30, 1936; ENP, reel 2.

“The excitement generated in these raids
 . . . ”:
Sagalyn,
A
Promise Fulfilled
, 48–49.

The police moved out every girl
:
Memorandum for the director, “Re: Police Corruption in Cleveland, Ohio,” May 12, 1936, “FBI Records: The Vault,” accessed May 4, 2013, vault.fbi.gov/Eliot%20Ness.

A local manufacturer of negligees
:
ENP, reel 2, undated letter to Ness.

The
Plain Dealer
exulted that
:
“Harassing Gamblers,” CPD, Mar. 9, 1936; Letter to the editor, CPD, July 26, 1936.

Even the Harvard Club was up and running
:
“Held in Canada in $6,800 Shortage,” CPD, Aug. 26, 1936; “Marshall Out, So No Raid on Harvard Club,” CPD, Sept. 1, 1936; unlabeled news clippings, ENP, reel 2.

Chapter 16: This Guy Ness Is Crazy

Cleveland “was well on its way .
 . . ”:
“Cleveland on Way to Win Title of ‘The Dark City,’” CP, Dec. 14, 1935.

In the early morning blackness
:
Badal,
In the Wake of the Butcher
, 49–52.

The city’s smallest paper
:
Badal,
In the Wake of the Butcher
, 52–53.

Four months before, in September 1935
:
Ibid., 30–32, 37.

Dudley McDowell, a security officer
:
Ibid., 35–39.

He declared that the traffic
:
“Traffic ‘Siberia’ Displeases Ness,” CPD, Dec. 14, 1935, ENP, reel 2.

He declared that when they weren’t fighting
:
Sagalyn,
A
Promise Fulfilled
, 46.

“People resent change”
:
“Ness Hopes to Place Fire Department in No. 1 Spot With Newest Experiment,” CN, Nov. 14, 1936.

Throughout the winter and spring
:
Martin L. Davey Papers, box 1, folder 55, Kent State University Special Collections and Archives.

“If people have been accustomed to
 . . . ”:
Jedick, “Eliot Ness.”

The
Press
ran a series of photos
:
“A Ness Grip Beats the Trigger!” CP, April 30, 1936, ENP, reel 2, unlabeled news clipping.

“You have a badge just like mine
 . . . ”:
unlabeled news clipping, CN, April 4, 1936, ENP, reel 2.

At about the same time, an unshaven man
:
“Says He’s Ness, Held,” CPD, May 28, 1936.

Chapter 17: The Boy Wonder

The Ness, Cullitan, and McGill meeting is detailed in
:
Neil W. McGill and William H, Perry,
Court Cases of Eliot Ness: An Exciting True Story in the Life of Eliot Ness Told by the Cleveland
Prosecutor Who
Worked with Him
(Fullerton, CA: Sultana Press, 1971), 23–25.

The team became known around
:
Porter,
Cleveland,
98.

Flynn told the city’s financial officers
:
“
Flynn to Have Investigator Check Police,” CPD, Dec. 29, 1935.

“No fox hound ever hit the trail
 . . . ”:
McGill and Perry,
Court Cases of Eliot Ness
, 25.

“Time meant nothing to him
 . . . ” :
“Ness Recalled as Quiet Enforcer,” CPD, April 30, 1960.

“We have no place for traitors
 . . . ”:
“What They Are Saying,” CPD, Feb. 7, 1937.

Then the safety director himself scored
:
unlabeled news clippings, ENP, reel 2.

Chapter 18: Right to the Heart of Things

When Clayton Fritchey arrived at his desk
:
“Cleveland Versus the Crooks,”
Reader’s Digest
, Feb. 1939, 48–51.

He’d grown up in Baltimore
:
“Clayton Fritchey, Columnist and Adviser to Democrats, Dies,”
Washington Post
, Jan. 24, 2001.

The lumbering cop, weighing in
:
“Cadek Is Cop Who Saved $109,000,” “Grand Jury Hears 9 in Police Case,” CPD, April 14, 1936.

“Clayton was the best investigative reporter
 . . . ”:
AI, Arnold Sagalyn, June 9, 2011.

His attorney, Gerard J. Pilliod
:
“Cadek Stand Challenges Ness’ Power,” CPD, April 15, 1936.

Some said they had paid him
:
“Grand Jury Hears 9 in Police Case,” CPD, April 14, 1936.

“The gang told me to tell him
 . . . ”:
“Lawyer Ordered Out in Cadek Quiz,” CPD, April 16, 1936.

“Two and two make four
 . . . ”:
“Court Is Told Cadek Wished For Car; Got 2,” CPD, May 22, 1936.

Other former bootleggers told of
:
“6 Policemen Back Cadek On Defense,” CPD, May 26, 1936; “Cadek Silent as Bribe Case Goes to Jury,” CP, May 26, 1936.

“A good guy always gets kicked
 . . . ”:
“Cadek Guilty of Bribery, Is Jailed,” “Cadek Guilty,” CPD, May 27, 1936; “Conviction Sours Cadek Stomach,” CPD, May 28, 1936; “Capt. Cadek Gets 2 to 20 Years in Pen,” CP, May 29, 1936.

Chapter 19: Victim No. 4

A little after midnight
:
Badal,
In the Wake of the Butcher
, 63–64; news clipping, CN, June 7, 1936, various unlabeled news clippings, ENP, reel 2; AI, Arnold Sagalyn, May 22, 2011.

Chapter 20: The Original Mystery Man

In the first sign that the economy
:
Vacha,
Meet Me on Lake Erie
, 5–6, 9–10, 75.

Scheduled to open on June 27
:
“Steel Drama to Flare for Expo Throngs,” CPD, June 1, 1936.

“The pressure has been so great
 . . . ”:
Vacha,
Meet Me on Lake Erie
, 131–35.

At the Expo’s revival
:
Vacha,
Meet Me on Lake Erie
, 170.

“The enormous statues
 . . . ”:
unlabeled news clipping, Cleveland Museum of Art, Elisabeth Seaver file.

Her signature work for Cowan
:
Mark Bassett and Victoria Naumann,
Cowan Pottery and the Cleveland School
(Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 1997), 117.

Her success became a source
:
AI, Rebecca McFarland, May 19, 2011.

Elisabeth nevertheless graduated to
:
“Alexander Blazy and Some of Former Students Exhibiting at Ruth Coulter’s,” CPD, Oct. 27, 1935.

Hugh didn’t like it
:
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, Hugh D. Seaver v. Betty A. Seaver, no. 557135.

That’s a very attractive man
:
AI, Franny Taft, July 1, 2011.

Officers manning the stall
:
Memo dated Dec. 22, 1937, to Sgt. E. G. Frankfather, CPHS.

Eliot also prominently displayed
:
Badal,
In the Wake of the Butcher
, 66.

“Vehovec has made a mountain
 . . . ”:
“Vehovec Snips and Harwood Snaps Him Up,” CPD, June 1, 1936.

In a report, Eliot would call
:
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, State of Ohio v. Michael J. Harwood, no. 46553.

He’d later tell an associate
:
“Says He Saw Capt. Harwood in Bet Joint,” CPD, July 2, 1936.

“Didn’t Harwood telephone you
 . . . ”:
“Ness Raids, then Yanks Harwood,” CPD, June 7, 1936.

“You were a damn fool
 . . . ”:
“Says He Saw Capt. Harwood in Bet Joint,” CPD, July 2, 1936.

Early in July, Tom Clothey and
:
“The Inside of the News in Cleveland,” CPD, July 26, 1936.

On Monday evening, while some
:
“‘Misjudged,’ Says Capt. Facing Probe,” CPD, July 31, 1936; unlabeled news clippings, CPD, July 22–23, 1936, ENP, reel 2.

The safety director kept the pressure
:
“Charge Harwood Aided in Bootleg Competition,” CP, Oct. 7, 1936; “‘DP’ in Gambler’ Books Is Mystery,” CPD, July 24, 1936; “Police Get 56 in 2 Gambling Raids,” CPD, July 25, 1936; “Raid Like Rookies, Police Are Told,” CPD, Jan. 10, 1937.

Late in the summer, Eliot disappeared
:
Condon, “The Last American Hero;” “Jurors Hear Evidence of Police Graft,”CP, Oct. 8, 1936.

In August and September, Eliot quietly left
:
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, no. 46553; “G-Men Capture Key Witnesses,” CP, Oct. 14–15, 1936; “Ness Air Trip Nets Witness in Burns Case,” CPD, Mar. 4, 1937.

When Eliot heard that patrolmen
:
“Ness Hits at Undercover Foes in 15th,” CPD, Sept. 2, 1936.

“My investigation shows that
 . . . ”:
Ibid.

With the press cheering him on
:
“Bravo, Eliot Ness!” CPD, Sept. 2, 1936; Porter,
Cleveland
, 98.

At city hall functions, suburban
:
Condon,
Cleveland
, 237.

Chapter 21: The Sadistic Type

On the morning of September 10
:
Badal,
In the Wake of the Butcher
, 75–85; “Sixth Hacked Body Found in Kingsbury Run,” CP, Sept. 10, 1936; “Fear Hangs over Kingsbury Run Where Butcher Leaves His Dead,” CP, Sept. 11, 1936; “Clean Out Haunts of Mad Killer,” CP, Sept. 12, 1936; Martin,
Butcher’s Dozen and Other Murders
, 60–62.

“The killer is apparently a sex maniac
 . . . ”:
Badal,
In the Wake of the Butcher
, 79.

The better reason for his reluctance
:
AI, James Jessen Badal, June 12, 2011.

The
Plain Dealer
called the killer
:
“Calls Torso Killer New Insane Type,” CPD, Sept. 16, 1936.

The
News
wrote, “Of all horrible
 . . . ”:
Badal,
In the Wake of the Butcher
, 92.

The safety director was known for his soft touch
:
AI, James Jessen Badal, June 12, 2011; Badal,
In the Wake of the Butcher
, 156; unlabeled news clippings, CPHS.

He felt he was being called to account
:
AI, James Jessen Badal, June 12, 2011.

“You can’t bring up Eliot Ness
 . . . ”:
Badal,
In the Wake of the Butcher
, 89.

In one report, he wrote
:
“I am of the opinion . . . ”:
Cleveland Police Department report on torso murder investigation, dated Mar. 15, 1943, CPHS.

Merylo’s theories about the killer
:
Badal,
In the Wake of the Butcher
, ix.