Roman Martín was born the youngest of five quintuplets in Scottsdale, Arizona to a wealthy used-furniture manufacturer and his homemaker wife. Roman’s fascination with crime began shortly after his birth when an ex-con climbed a ladder to the second-story of his home, crawled into the nursery, and snatched him from his crib. As the kidnapper later told the local press after his arrest, “He was the best one of the litter. You could tell he … [Read more...]
THE GANGSTER’S COUSIN: Growing Up In The Luciano Family
Born in 1942, Salvatore "Sal" Lucania was not only raised but educated by the streets of East Harlem. Dropping out of his Catholic high school at 15 after punching out a priest, a formal education was not Sal's future. As such, it would have been easy to fall into the trappings of "made man" status in the mafia, like his cousin Charles "Lucky" Luciano. But Sal had a different vision of the future, if he could just escape the confines of his … [Read more...]
Salvatore Lucania
Growing up in the streets of Harlem in the 1940s and 50s, Sal Lucania survived by outwitting neighborhood bullies, the abusive priests who ran his school, local gangsters, and even some distant mafia relatives. He was born into a Sicilian family in 1942 and was named for his cousin Salvador Charles “Lucky” Luciano. As a Sicilian, he took on the philosophy of his culture: “No authority higher than our own.” As a relative of … [Read more...]
A ‘FAMILY’ BUSINESS: The Life And Times Of Joey ‘The Fixer’ Silvestri
Joe Silvestri was a tough kid from the mean streets of New York. He went from street brawler to wearing a tux at the glamorous Copacabana. He eventually provided “muscle” for the Mob, a highly respected and feared fixer—the guy you went to if you had a problem that needed to be resolved. He followed Mob protocol when having a sit down with an adversary: You never break bread with the enemy. Award-winning Mob author Dennis Griffin joins forces … [Read more...]
Ron Franscell Takes Readers On A Rollicking Ride Through The Southwest’s Unruly Past In OUTLAW SOUTHWEST
"The ultimate guilty pleasure book!" - San Antonio Express News The line between history and mythology is razor thin—and the American Southwest often erases the line altogether. We might never disentangle crime-fact from fiction, but this book will transport you to Billy the Kid’s real-life stomping grounds, legendary Tombstone, the childhood home of one of the worst al Qaeda terrorists, and the scenes of dozens of crimes throughout Arizona and … [Read more...]
Mobsters On True Crime Uncensored
Saturday 2pm PT/4pm CT/5pm ET CHRIS CIPOLLINI IS BACK WITH MURDER, INC. When the Big Four of crime - Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel and Frank Costello - essentially reshaped the structure of the New York underworld in 1931 – a new era of mobster was born. Details Saturday on True Crime Uncensored on Outlaw Radio, 2pm PT/4pm CT/5pm ET. Listen in at http://truecrimeuncensored.com to Burl Barer, the author of MAN … [Read more...]
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