The most notorious gangster of mid-century Phoenix was Gus Greenbaum, but most people only know the end of the story. Where, in 1958, he and his wife were cooking steaks at their Palmcroft home on Monte Vista Drive when hitmen killed both.
Greenbaum's body was found in a bedroom, nearly decapitated in having his throat slit. His wife Bess' throat was cut, too. She was on a sofa facing the fireplace in the living room, trussed from behind and badly beaten in the face with a heavy bottle. Police discovered her propped face-down on pillows, which prevented blood from dripping on the carpet. They also found evidence that the assassins stayed on that December evening and ate the steaks.
Phoenix as a back office to Las Vegas and second home for Chicago Outfit mobsters (Willie Bioff, the notorious movie-industry hustler and Mafia turncoat for example), is often traced to Greenbaum. But he was actually sent to Phoenix in 1928 to run illegal liquor and betting; the latter eventually became southwest hub of the Outfit's gambling wire service, the Trans-America Publishing and News Service (Western Union would have frowned on accepting illegal telegraphs). This proprietary circuit also gave the Outfit an edge in national bookmaking rackets over rivals in New York and Detroit.
Gambling wouldn't be legalized in Nevada until 1931. Las Vegas was a village on the Union Pacific's main line from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles, population little more than 5,000. Legalization came because Nevada, whose population was centered around Reno and Carson City, was losing people and economic power as its mines played out and were destroyed by falling demand from the Great Depression.
Gus Greenbaum, a protege of the infamous Meyer Lansky, was 34. In Phoenix, he found a city of almost 48,000 and wide open. Gambling and prostitution flourished, with city commissioners and detectives taking a cut. The police department was deeply corrupt. Rail connections to Chicago were plentiful on the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific. Before the end of Prohibition, liquor was plentiful, too, thanks to Al Capone. Rising local leaders such as the Goldwater and Rosenzweig brothers and contractor Del Webb befriended Greenbaum. No wonder the Outfit thought it was the ideal home for Trans-America.
With gambling legal in Las Vegas and the town's importance enhanced by the construction of nearby Hoover Dam, organized crime moved in. Most famous among the players was Bugsy Siegel, who took control of the proposed Flamingo and, in 1947, turned it into the lavish casino-hotel that foreshadowed today's Vegas. Like Greenbaum and Bioff, Siegel was part of the Jewish end of the national crime syndicate, before it became nearly entirely Italian. Siegel's contractor was Webb and the Flamingo received loans from Valley National Bank, with Greenbaum vouching for the project to the bankers. Later, Goldwater's opened a department store in the mob-controlled Desert Inn.
Greenbaum was ordered by Chicago to manage some of its Vegas casinos and nightclubs in 1945. Gus didn't want to go. He loved Phoenix. According to journalist and author Dave Wagner, Greenbaum operated out of offices on the ninth floor of the Luhrs Tower with a private aerie on the top floor. Although Greenbaum eventually followed orders, he kept his family and home in Phoenix. When Siegel was killed for looting too much from the Flamingo and endangering its profitability, the syndicate put Greenbaum in charge. As John William Tuohy writes on the American Mafia site:
In the early forties, he was moved to Vegas where he took over the Flamingo after the Bugsy Siegel murder, and put the place in the black within the first six months of his management.
By 1950, Greenbaum was widely recognized as the driving force behind the success of the $50 million Tropicana as well as being known and respected in the underworld as a reliable source of information on Las Vegas real estate.
Greenbaum was an expert at "the skim," where the mob stole money from casino winnings before it could be recorded and taxed. "Unlike Siegel, Greenbaum was a professional, he was a man who could be trusted and depended upon." He ordered murders when necessary, such as on two syndicate soldiers who robbed a mob-controlled hotel.
For years, Greenbaum was the "go-to" turnaround expert for the Outfit in Las Vegas. But he burned out and wanted to retire to Phoenix. He turned down an offer to run the Riviera and receive an interest in the property. But when the Outfit murdered his sister-in-law, he knew he would not be allowed out so easily. He took the job.
He still kept a hand in Phoenix. Greenbaum had long been involved in politics behind the scenes, as a backer of the labor Democrats in the city. His rival was liquor baron, rancher and landowner Kemper Marley, head of the conservative "pinto" Democrats. Marley tried to move in on Greenbaum's off-track-betting wire while he was in Las Vegas. Greenbaum retaliated, including by ordering the murder of a rival in Chicago, and Marley lost his "book." In a changing Phoenix, Greenbaum also saw his friends Harry Rosenzweig and Barry Goldwater run as reformers for City Council as Republicans. Greenbaum gave generously to Rosenzweig ($10,000, which Rosenzweig concealed as $1,000 donations from 10 local Democrats) and became a Republican.
But the toll from the pressure was growing. He was torn between a desire to live fulltime in Phoenix and his love of the Las Vegas excitement — and being a big man in the town. His friend Bioff (also a pal and political backer of Barry's), who had testified against the mob but was seemingly rehabilitated by Greenbaum, was killed by a bomb in 1955. Greenbaum became both an alcoholic and a heroin addict. The Outfit began to question his reliability. This proved true when they found the master of the skim was skimming himself, and too much to be tolerated. Tuohy writes:
(Johnny) Roselli went out to Vegas and gave Greenbaum the order, he was to sell his share in the Riviera to one of the outfit's front men and leave town. Do that, he could live. All past transgressions forgiven.
But Greenbaum refused. "This town is in my blood, Johnny," he told Roselli and went right back to stealing from the skim.
Then Marshal Caifano, Chicago's enforcer in Vegas, was sent in to handle the problem.
The murders were never solved. Nor did they put a dent in Phoenix's growing underworld. By the late 1950s, the FBI estimated that Phoenix had more made men per capita then New York City.
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My book, A Brief History of Phoenix, is available to buy or order at your local independent bookstore, or from Amazon.
Read more Phoenix history in Rogue's Phoenix 101 archive.
A man can’t do something for 25-30 years and then change overnight.See Nixon,LBJ, and now Trump.Nothing is stronger than human nature,IMHO.
Al Capone may have been a giant in his day but his ancestors of today are Giagantic octopuses that run the world with the help of ” The Bankers”.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/unaoil-citibank-hsbc_us_56feba02e4b0daf53aefa1da?3b8ipwa88v2qehfr
Old Kemp Marley helped set up Jim Hensley in business. And the power and money of the Hensley company are the chief reasons we’ve been burdened with John McCain all of these years…
Oh well. Kemp is long gone and all that remains are the “good works” of the Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation.
With enough time and money anyone can become respectable.
By the way, just east off of 20th street on the south side of Colter there’s an old mailbox that reads “Kemper Marley”. If you’re feeling sentimental for the good old days, maybe put a wreath there…or a can of Bud.
Looking for a recording of conversations in elevators?
1 million acre Spanish land grant to who from who, said who?
I thought of all kinds of stuff to write here but I got caught up delivering organic vegetables and lost them. maybe later. For now.
https://www.google.com/search?q=photos+of+groucho+marx&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&imgil=OYVfAeN2uzE_wM%253A%253BZUUergmpMgNBQM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Ftime.com%25252F4049402%25252Fgroucho-marx-125%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=OYVfAeN2uzE_wM%253A%252CZUUergmpMgNBQM%252C_&usg=__c-AAmPjYKzQjhjASb_IkE2TSesY%3D&biw=1506&bih=886&ved=0ahUKEwjssYHOl_HLAhXlvIMKHZ_lDkMQyjcINg&ei=D2AAV6zuDeX5jgSfy7uYBA#imgrc=OYVfAeN2uzE_wM%3A
Whoops was supposed to be one photo
Kinda funny how Barry’s name kept popping up in mob scandals over the years, from Greenbaum to the Funk family, as a known associate (remember the quaint expression “You’re known by the company you keep?”), and none of it really ever bit him in the ass with the electorate. Before I croak, I’d love to see the Goldwater “legacy” completely destroyed, and for the whole family to be exposed as the parasites they are. Sure I’m a dreamer, but didn’t I just see the Bush “legacy” destroyed by a wrestling promoter in under five minutes?
Think you are safe?
Organized crime today is bigger and more sophisticated than ever.
The largest criminal empires are the United States, Russian and China governments.
Gangs outside governments but doing many countries dirty business are;
The best structured criminal organizations in Europe, with a quasi-military operation, is
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_mafia
The Fortune Press picks for most powerful, with emphasis on cybercrime.
https://fortune.com/2014/09/14/biggest-organized-crime-groups-in-the-world/
Chinese Mafia,
https://factsanddetails.com/china/cat8/sub50/item300.html
Other gangs
https://www.themost10.com/10-most-dangerous-gangs-in-the-world/
Phoenix, Arizona or Valley of the Sun was until the 50’s a low level Chicago, Fat Albert, style Tammany Hall ran place, with local, (Lefty), democrats and police in charge of gambling and prostitution. When it became apparent to local Jewish Republicans that zoning was going to be more lucrative than small time betting and whore houses, it invented Charter Government and along for the ride came Barry, a good guy to river raft, drink beer and take picture of and with. So a sweep of sorts was made and ugly stuff went underground and many of the cops involved, retired. In the mid-seventies the Phoenix Police department established a white collar crime outfit and as a result, numerous politicians went to jail along with some crooked attorneys. Some city officials had to resign or retire and sports management figures began to see the danger of the police doing something besides arresting heroin addicts on Buckeye road. Charter government evolved to the Phoenix Forty and eventually the Phoenix PD White Collar Crime and Organized Crime unit went away. Phoenix PD is a good outfit and currently its focus is on violent crimes, mid-level gangs and calls for service but no glances at politicians and their criminal pals. You all know the story from here if not you can google Taltons history stuff or read his mysteries. Taltons next book on Phoenix (Maricopa County) history will be at least a 800 pound gorilla.
Note: Investigative Reporters, Don Bolles and Al Sitter were always frustrated with the feds and their denial of anything like collusion between the feds and gangsters in Arizona. In the 70’s a few of us worked with Sitter and Bolles and there was a trust relationship that is almost impossible to build today.
Al Sitter remained my friend until his death. He was, (like Talton) ran out of the Arizona Republic by folks that had an aversion to investigative reporters that had confidential sources not known to the bosses. He was seen as obsolete in the coming digital news empire. He died as a great reporter than was a humble a person as I have ever known.
Did gambling go away as 1950’s Charter government (https://archive.azcentral.com/centennial/ent/articles/2011/08/20/20110820arizona-architecture-charter-government-phoenix.html) stepped in, well sorta but not really.
As a Patrolman in 69 after having a meal about 2 AM at the Busy Bee Cafe, First Avenue and Washington, South side of the street and just across from Talton’s favorite building, the County Court House (who stole the brass door knobs and where s the Paris Alley Call Box) ran by two Greek brothers, I happened upon a west bound car at 1st and Washington driven by a “suspicious” man with a large bag of money. I stopped him and took him into police headquarters where he was a seated under the watchful eye of the Night Detective Sergeant while I went off to the records bureau to see if I could tell who this person might be. When I got back the Sergeant advised he had allowed the “suspect?” to make a phone call. Then the Sergeants desk phone call rang and he answered and handed me the phone. A high ranking Major assigned to the police chiefs office gave me a direct order to give the “suspect” back his bag of money and let him go. “Yes Sir.” As a young officer the events of that stop did not come together until I later became involved in Police Union politics. And after things like the attempted bribe over dinner and drinks at Durants with a couple of crooked cops and a promoter that felt the new union president should have some extra benefits, thinks started to become very clear.
Many years later my divorce attorney whose dad worked for Gus Greenbaum and the Chicago Outfit told me I had stopped the bag man for the mobs nightly gambling proceeds from the 12 Street Auto Parts wire room. That attorney since his law school graduation has handled his parent’s property empire in Phoenix, including property once owned by the Arizona Republic.
I was an Administrative Assistant to Police Chief’s Ruben Oretga and Lawrence Wetzel. Wetzel as a lieutenant was one of the first cops on the scene at the Greenbaum slaughter house. I worked the PD White Collar Crime in 76 and later was the Administrative Sergeant in the Organized crime bureau ( I was moved from Internal Affairs to OCB by Wetzel without the knowledge of my supervisor’s after Wetzel’s realizing there were serious issues in the OC intelligence gathering units and record keeping. Additionally he informed me that he had been advised the bureau was possibly infiltrated by organized crime. Wetzel became police Chief after Charlie Thomas who as a lieutenant had been promoted to Police Chief as a result of Charter government’s desire to clean up the PD.
Phoenix followed by Mesa and Chandler Police Departments are fine professional law enforcement agencies with few of the problems that plague smaller departments through the nation. Given the politics of Arizona the counties and states law enforcement units are at risk in many ways. The Department of Public Safety suffers from being at the pleasure of the state legislature. The Departments pay is inadequate and its facilities are lacking. DPS now has one of the most professional directors ever but will he be able to convince his political bosses to professionalize DPS to the finest in the nation. Will Arizona ever again have an agency that goes after corrupt politicians and big time white collar criminals?
I forgot to mention, the biggest Organized criminals are called, BANKERS:
https://panamapapers.sueddeutsche.de/en/
(?Gang Bangers?)
More about Gangster Bankers:
The banks – and the money-go-round
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/sergei-roldugin-the-cellist-who-holds-the-key-to-tracing-putins-hidden-fortune
Cal Lash I’m doing an oral history project on West Valley but I am interested in recording some of what you’re talking about with organized crime… would you want to participate? If you (or anyone else) would like to participate or know more about the project email me @ anthonypratcher2@gmail.com
Cal, I don’t recall Arizona Democrats being accused of being lefties in the 30’s or 40’s, but then, I wasn’t there. I had always thought they were mostly pre-Civil Rights Act dixiecrats, Strom Thurmonds with cowboy hats.
Anthony I will contact U.
Pat, I said Lefty not lefties.
This is a bit off topic, but interesting nonetheless. B Franklin mentioned the late Kemper Marley in his post. Marley’s daughter, Joyce Corrigan, is responsible for the demise of Scottsdale’s tough, former Hillside Ordinance, and the subsequent development that you now see on the slopes of the McDowell Mountains. Marley, who was a rancher before he became a liquor magnate, owned the former DC Ranch land in the McDowells. Scottsdale passed the Hillside Ordinance in 1977, which severely restricted — if not prevented — development in the McDowells. Corrigan, who inherited her father’s land, considered this a virtual land-taking by the city, as it prevented her estate from developing or selling the property. So, she sued. In 1985, the Arizona Court of Appeals sided with Corrigan, reversing an earlier trial court decision in favor of the City of Scottsdale. The city appealed the decision, but the Arizona Supreme Court refused to overturn the CoA decision. This allowed landholders like Corrigan to develop their properties on hillsides. The end result is leapfrog, gated communities like DC Ranch, McDowell Mountain Ranch, etc.
1 million acre Spanish land grant to who from who, said who?
and
How many cows do U have to have on a hundreds of acres to avoid taxes?
I wish this blog had a “like” button, so I could use it on Cal’s comments.
When are we going to stop glamorizing these people?
Hattie I’m not glamorous. I am the world’s ugliest man since Richard Boone and Jack Elam died.
Oh U meant the gangsters?
When I was 10 I was a gangster. And got into fights at the Pix theatre.
When I was 16 I combed my hair into a duck tail and wore muscle t-shirts.
And got into fights at Riverside Ballroom and Nelsons pool.
The world loves Gangsters
May one of your great grandkids be A GODFATHER.
Last week someone emailed me suggesting we should meet because he was flying in and would be in “DC” next week.
Do the beautiful people of north Scottsdale refer to the McDowell Mountains area as simply “DC”?
Noriega must have cut the good ‘ol CIA and Bush Dynasty out of the “banking” biz. Takes another whistleblower to show nothing changes.
Jerry, Panama has been milking the open ship registry racket for all it’s worth for years and years. They have a larger fleet of registered vessels than either the U.S. or China, and that kind of action draws the wealthy like shit draws flies. This scandal is pretty much the logical outcome of a scam that requires the whole world to play like, “Why, yes, Panama and Liberia really do have quite a seafaring tradition, don’t they? No need to stare, nothing to see here!”
What does a real criminal look like?
https://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5134c712ecad04b32f00001e-1200/vladimir-putin-is-a-consummate-outdoors-man-here-putin-recharges-on-a-visit-to-the-siberian-khakasiya-region.jpg
https://curiales.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Assad.jpg
https://corporatecomplianceinsights.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/bernie_madoff_newyork.jpg
https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Uploads/Graphics/004-0831001817-bush2.jpg
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/toddler-border.png
Who are the real criminals?
What do Donald Trump and Bill Clinton have in common. Making poor Mexicans poorer?
But:Per Ivana,”As long as you come here legally and get a proper job… we need immigrants. Who’s going to vacuum our living rooms and clean up after us? Americans don’t like to do that.”
Jon, You really should link to Dave Wagner’s book. It’s excellent.
https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Murder-Organized-Goldwaters-Arizona/dp/0692662650
Fascinating! I didn’t know all of this.
…