The Mafia Gazette Issue 165
For All The News That Is News (E&OE)
Tuesday 12th August

DEATH OF A BOSS - FATHER_TIME ASSASSINATED IN GANGLAND HIT
By Phil "Lucky" Carlucci

The 10th of August began like any other day in the City of Angels. It was hot, breezy and distinctly Hollywood. Yet by 9:35am, Chairman and CEO of the Westlake Holdings Corporation and reputed LA Mafia Boss Father_Time had been shot to death as he peaceably ate breakfast out in the back patio of a small neighbourhood restaurant, the victim of an apparent gangland hit.

The Los Angeles rub-out has left something of an impression on the landscape of organised crime, coming as it did at an unexpected time of peace and apparent prosperity for the mob.

The facts as they are known at this stage were that Las Vegas soldier Looter, a Made guy working for WarwickHunt, stepped up and pumped a number of bullets at Father_Time in the early morning sunshine. In the ensuing firefight, three bodyguards were downed, among them Cornelius Reid, an old timer believed to work for Father_Time who was himself killed instantly. Looter was apprehended a short distance from the scene in a nearby parking lot and by 10am he was in county, booked for the murder of Father_Time, with further charges pending.

Somewhere between processing and yard time, Looter was stabbed to death by a fellow inmate, wielding an improvised shank, ensuring the case would never go to trial. At the time of writing the killer remains unknown, though speculation suggests someone from the remnants of Westlake Holdings or someone under the direction of WarwickHunt himself took Looter out of play.

The LA hit was something of an unexpected turn of events, given that Father_Time was a member of what some are calling "The Commission." Although it has never officially existed since the ill-fated attempt by GaetanoBadalamenti to formalise the relationships between the families, the general consensus is that the Commission is in fact alive and well, operating on a daily basis under the De facto leadership of WarwickHunt. Father_Time was considered something of a stabilising influence on the west coast, although undoubtedly there was some bad blood going all the way back to a turf war with Detroit in which both sides lost soldiers and which only ended when the-then Boss of Detroit was himself eliminated some time ago. In the mob they have long memories but the truth is that this particular hit could have come from anywhere. Indeed with Looter working so closely under WarwickHunt, speculation in some circles suggests that the hit on Father_Time was sanctioned by the Commission, with such a decision being taken only at the highest levels. Amongst other things, the drug trade was cited as a possible factor.

Other suggestions are that it's part of a wider plan to reinvigorate Los Angeles and lies firmly at the door of a number of LA citizens, who paid Looter for a private job that although completed, cost him his life. The citizen theory holds weight given the current climate in which a Conceptualist victory over the western coast has finally been achieved, with WarWickHunt making the bold move of setting up in LAs Vegas, which no doubt would have been taken very badly by the traditional western families who are now out of business. This would tie with the bad blood stemming all the way back to the LA/ Detroit war and is the option that many seasoned mob journalists are going with. WarwickHunt is known as a fierce killer who leads from the front and has escaped multiple assassination attempts, so many newspapermen simply can't see why he wouldn't take this call himself. The presence of Long-Time Conceptualist Hitman Karma at the funeral of Looter was an indication that his actions were not sanctioned by the leadership.

And what of the leadership? Commission dealings as it stands involve a number of key figures, chief among them WarWickHunt, CharlestonCharlie, Donny_Belleti, Charlie_Croker, Emiliano_Cortez, BobTheHitter, TheShredder and the late Father_Time.

As Boss of Atlanta, Belleti hasn't been seen for several days, while Cortez is privately speculated not to have the total control of the Miami outfit, a complicated family in which figures such as Faustino, Albert, Ezio and Juanita are all major players in their own right and all of whom would have an input in any of the serious decision-making. Croker is set up in Dallas as a relatively new Boss, filling the void left by the apparent retirement of Johnnie-Walker.

Beautifully_Chaotic is the unknown factor in all this. Rumoured to have taken the reigns in LA, the new Boss can count upon the loyalty of her associates and her own unswerving loyalty to the late Father_Time to steer her course. Of the old school and working immediately with reputed long-standing Westlake Underboss Vincent_Hanna, the transition so far has apparently been a smooth one, with Hanna publically acknowledging the LA families knowledge of what went on when their Boss was hit and with a suggestion of revenge. Beautifully Chaotic herself has a Dallas background, working two stints in the city with her family.

And now that the time has come to shore up, everyone is playing their hands close to their chest. But as per Hanna's grim prediction, more bodies might be piling up come Autumn.


CITIZEN WOES - THE TALE OF THE DOUBLE CROSS
By Reaper012

Denver enforcer Badass came to the streets recently to break a cardinal rule of mob life. He owned up to being had. Although not a prolific killer, the Denver associate is known to have as many as nine notches on his gun holster and so it came to pass that an untouchable citizen by the name of Anton conned him out of a considerable amount of cash as part of an arms deal. It was a familiar old tale as Badass travelled into town to take advantage of an offer he couldn't refuse, only to have Anton skip town before the deal was done. Coming to the street to air his beef ensured that after a time, everyone knew what went on. What made this different was the eventual appearance of Dallas Boss Charlie_Croker. Having heard one side of the argument, the Dallas Boss decided that Anton's moonlighting was too closely link to his his own family activities and made it clear in no uncertain terms that Anton's run will come to an end the moment he slips on a banana peel.

With the contract already out, Anton made clear that this was retribution for an earlier scam that he himself had been the victim of, calling Badass a liar and a cheat and going on to explain that cheating him was the main motivation. He also expressed the firm intent to keep his head down, not necessarily a bad thing given his successful business dealings. BadAss is known to work out of Denver under BobTheHitter, joining the Denver outfit after chafing under the absent rule of Johnnie-Walker. What Bob thinks of this remains to be seen, but Bob is privately seen as something of a "straight shooter" and so it's expected that this particular deal won't be soon forgotten.


CHICAGO SHOOT OUT - TENSIONS RISING IN THE SUNSHINE STATE
by Bill_Nicholson

The Chicago Police Department took the call at approximately 2:30am from the owner of a garage in western Chicago. His was one of several on the lot and after hearing what sounded like a gunshot and noting an apparent muzzle flash from inside another garage on the far side of the lot, he called it in. Investigating officers found a car inside which contained the bodies of 2_guns_jk_jr and his bodyguard, Francisco Duff. Both men had been shot twice in the head and police estimate had been there for twenty minutes at least. The blood from their head wounds had turned their white shirts entirely red and their heads were propped against opposite windows. The killing was professional and immediate and was rumoured to have been carried out in the wake of a beef between members of Cosca Trinacria and the All Stars that 2_guns_jk_jr simply couldn't let go.

Indeed the location of the killing was a telling point. Chicago as neutral ground and controlled by TheShredder, ensured that the killing was not a Sfergio or mortal insult to Emiliano_Cortez in Miami, even if it took place nonetheless. The triggerman is reportedly well known as an Atlanta Associate who is earning a reputation as an enforcer and after 2_guns_jk_jr allegedly attacked another Atlanta associate while spoiling for a fight, his fate was apparently sealed. No public reaction is known and no retaliation is expected for the hit, which appears to be being treated as simply business.

With Donny_Belleti apparently out of town and maybe the country, Atlanta appears to have a solid cast of back-ups able to take such decisions, which won't have gone unnoticed. The loss of Wise Guy Dapper_Dan doesn't appear to have affected the structure negatively and While Belleti sits on the Commission, his official Underboss and representative of the family while he is away remains known to either the Police or the Press.


DALLAS NIGHTS - BOSS RIDES OFF INTO THE SUNSET
By Front-Liner

Atlanta Boss Donny_Belleti isn't the only Mob Boss spending some time in the sun, as a number of weeks ago former Dallas Boss Johnnie-Walker began disappearing from view for days at time, before eventually retiring altogether. As two of the older Bosses, Belleti and Walker were known to be close associates and allies, with many linked business interests. Although little is known about how it came to pass that Johnnie-Walker closed up on Dallas Steel and Concrete Ltd, his business interests began to dwindle just prior to his disappearance, with some speculating that the loss of Underboss Richard_Kilbane, shot dead in Denver, made life more difficult. In the weeks that followed, his distillery in Chicago shut down, a disgruntled crew began to make noises about going elsewhere and Walker simply wasn't around. Collections weren't being picked up by his members and as some began to jump ship, others are alleged to have petitioned the Boss for his intercession. Tensions were not helped by a number of killings of Dallas associates that weren't being dealt with. Walker, respected in most circles and known for his willingess to follow up on any hand raised against his members, had suddenly folded. Despite a rumoured seat on the Commission and apparent closeness with de Facto Commission head WarwickHunt, Walker left power and a family as quickly as he arrived.

WarwickHunt moved quickly to fill the openings, awarding former DSC member TheShredder a seat on the Commission as Chicago's representative. Beautifully_Chaotic and Charlie_Croker then filled out Dallas, although the former has since made a swift move back to LA to assume control of Westlake Holdings. With all nine cities filled, it's clear there wasn't a shortage of candidates to replace the one-time Boss as he enjoys retirement. Whether he remains the only Boss to take a step back from the life of crime remains to be seen, although Miami Capo Puck is largely accredited with having set the precedent of being the first ranked Mafia member to step back to enjoy a life of wine and song in the old country.


NIGHTMAYOR - SELF APPOINTED OFFICIAL IGNORED
By Bud Silver

I had stepped out of the City Hall hearing to get myself a coffee. I'm not a financial reporter and will readily admit that four hours of accounts and audits isn't much fun, even when you have the usual cast of sordid characters that was missing today. It was an interval in the afternoon session, it was hot as hell and even the Lawyers, on three hundred dollars an hour, were starting to get worried about where this was going. It was while standing by a fountain on a corner window of the first floor that I spied LeonGants. His announcement was simple. He was Mayor and that was that. I half-way expected a few well-wishers, some congratulations, some acknowledgement maybe. But no, Gants was not mobbed. The hearing had already sapped the strength of the politicians and I could tell by their faces that they didn't have time for this guy. The real Mayor is a guy that can make things happen. Make a guy's yellow sheet disappear if the campaign contribution is big enough. So I got to thinking. What's the deal with this Gants guy?

Well for one thing, he isn't clean. A citizen, maybe. But not clean. The public records office dates all the way back on his family line, a family line involved in drugs and murder and all in the pay of Las Vegas Don MrValentine. So what's a guy like that doing on the honest campaign trail while asking for donations? Better yet, with his connections, why aren't all the old crew acknowledging him?

I did some more research. This guy came around the day after Father_Time got whacked out in LA, knocking the head off the LA family but not shifting it. I got to thinking further. Is this guy some sort of banker to a revolutionary group? The more I asked around, the more I saw links. People like Smoke and Santo for example. Smoke was a one-time enforcer for the families that hugged the coast. This guy doesn't have the power to do much now, but ASDA was always famed for organisation and an upper structure that was tighter than an uptight Geography teacher on a fine spring morning.

So what's the deal? Well the guy Gants isn't turning back envelopes. Citizen power has become a real issue of late. Scams. Double dealing. And above all, money, always money. I got to thinking that a citizen group, with a shared ideal, might come to assemble enough money to buy off people connected with the mob. The inner guys, not so much. Not a single Conceptualist could be bought for even a billion dollars. They just don't work like that. But information is also currency. And it sometimes gets around. Even more so in a citizen network of formerly connected people. One shooter living for now in the promise that his son will have all that he needs, might do the damage that it seems certain parties are interested in being a part of. And chief among it all is WarwickHunt. Westlake remains even though their Boss is long gone. Could this intrigue become about Vegas? Hunt so far has been the closest thing to unhittable in a long time. For one thing, every team that go out after him end up singing the blues about how they had him in the red. He's been shot. He's been wounded. He's also surrounded by his own people and careful.

And even if we speculate that such tensions exist and even speculate that the old west wants the old west back, why hit Hunt? Symbolism is one thing I would suggest. The guy has all the families in his pocket like dimes, let's not even pretend that isn't the case. But the powers-that-be maintain that him going down wouldn't make a difference. Maybe that's true, but the Boss is the Boss. Hunt stands on the edge of greatness, that much is clear. To join the Bosses who went before and maybe even surpass them. To succeed where Valentine, Puck, T1fa and Neri all failed. The one rank above all the others. Could this be what the stakes are for? Only time will tell, but as I listened to the silence around Gants, I reflected that the Commission was a Boss light.

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