194: The History of the Dixie Mafia

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.960 --> 00:00:05.400
Southern Fried true crime covers cases that
are not suitable for young listeners, and

2
00:00:05.480 --> 00:00:14.640
there may also be some explicit language
used. Listener discretion is advised. Just

3
00:00:14.839 --> 00:00:19.480
over three years ago, I released
episode ninety one, The Sherry Murders,

4
00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:24.920
The Dixie Mafia and Corruption in Biloxi. The way organized crime in Biloxi and

5
00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:29.600
the dangerous and powerful Dixie Mafia in
particular began and went on to operate,

6
00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:34.200
played a fundamental role in the story
of the nineteen eighty seven murderers of Vincent

7
00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:39.679
Sherry and his wife Margaret. Throughout
the episode, I sprinkled information about the

8
00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:45.679
house who's and whys of relevant Dixie
Mafia activities and corruption to give an overall

9
00:00:45.719 --> 00:00:52.520
sociohistorical context and essence of place and
time. But there is much more to

10
00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:58.280
this criminal enterprise's sortid in seedy history
Aside from the Sherry case. I've been

11
00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:03.320
inundated with request first Mandelent episode on
the Dixie Mafia, so this one,

12
00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:08.760
while not exhaustive, is solely dedicated
to exploring the profound impact the network's operations

13
00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:17.439
had on life and the law in
the South. Welcome to Bonus Episode one

14
00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:29.359
ninety four, The History of the
Dixie Mafia. If you're not familiar with

15
00:01:29.400 --> 00:01:33.400
the story of the Sherry Murders and
the Dixie Mafia's involvement in that case,

16
00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:37.840
I do recommend that you go back
and listen to the episode. While there's

17
00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:42.159
much discussion in Southern folklore about how
exactly and when the Dixie Mafia was born,

18
00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:47.200
one theory has it that the group
emerged out of the Appalachian States,

19
00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:53.280
taking rude in Biloxi, Mississippi,
before spreading across the Southeast United States throughout

20
00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:57.799
the mid late twentieth century. Despite
their nickname of the Cornbread Cosa Nostra,

21
00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:05.920
Dixie Mafia didn't operate like traditional Italian
and Eastern European crime families in the South.

22
00:02:06.359 --> 00:02:08.599
Common sense, more than anything,
was the catalyst for this transient,

23
00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:15.879
loosely organized network of corrupt businessmen,
racketeers, extortionists, money launderers, contract

24
00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:21.560
killers, bank robbers, bootleggers,
petty thieves, pimps, and drug distributors

25
00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:24.879
to come together and work towards a
common goal, if an nefarious goal.

26
00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:30.520
There was no formal, specific figure
head running the show for this motley crew

27
00:02:30.520 --> 00:02:35.199
of opportunists. It was simply a
case of whoever held the most money held

28
00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:38.840
the power. There was no initiation
or strict code to follow, just one

29
00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:45.520
rule, thou shalt not snitch to
the cops. In the early mid twentieth

30
00:02:45.560 --> 00:02:49.919
century, the summer resort destination of
Biloxi was a draw card for those wanting

31
00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:55.680
to indulge in illegal gambling and prostitution
along the Gulf Coast. Prohibition had only

32
00:02:55.719 --> 00:03:00.599
made the city even more alluring to
those with a penchant for vice, as

33
00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:04.680
bootleggers set up shop to cash in
and do deals with corrupt city officials.

34
00:03:05.639 --> 00:03:09.759
For these folks, Mississippi was the
best place to do it. Alcohol had

35
00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:15.000
been banned across the state since nineteen
oh eight, well before the Eighteenth Amendment

36
00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:20.039
came into effect in nineteen twenty.
Prohibition ended throughout much of the country in

37
00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:23.919
nineteen thirty three, however it remained
in Mississippi, and yet it was no

38
00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:30.280
deterrent to those who profited from running
illegal drinking dens. Biloxi's reputation is a

39
00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:35.479
place where anything could be bought and
sold for a price soon preceded itself.

40
00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:39.639
But by the nineteen fifties, the
illegal yet open gambling that had been taking

41
00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:45.960
place just a decade earlier was no
longer. Slot machines began disappearing from the

42
00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:50.039
city, and in nineteen fifty four, gaming was banned at the Broadwater Beach

43
00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:53.759
Resort. According to the FBI,
the beginnings of the Dixie Mafia were starting

44
00:03:53.840 --> 00:04:00.520
to take shape, with Biloxi as
its home base. As the city became

45
00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:06.039
a hotbed of organized crime. The
Dixie Mafia's operations expanded across Mississippi to Hattiesburg,

46
00:04:06.199 --> 00:04:11.280
Jackson, and Corinth, also taking
root in Dallas, Texas, Baton

47
00:04:11.319 --> 00:04:15.319
Rouge, Louisiana, Little Rock,
Arkansas, Atlanta, Georgia, Tulsa,

48
00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:19.120
Oklahoma, and Birmingham in Phoenix City, Alabama. The group was savvy,

49
00:04:19.160 --> 00:04:23.920
though they knew they couldn't conduct all
of their business dealings in big cities.

50
00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:28.639
As an intricate network of underworld connections
were made all across the South. The

51
00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:32.000
Dixie Mafia knew it was sometimes better
to do business and remote towns where law

52
00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:38.879
enforcement wouldn't think to look or was
too under resourced to do so. Towns

53
00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:44.120
situated on state lines, like Texarkana
on the Texas Arkansas border were ideal meeting

54
00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:49.279
points for members who had to travel. Communications wise, members weren't personally acquainted

55
00:04:49.319 --> 00:04:53.800
with many others in the network,
unless it was on a need to know

56
00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:57.720
basis in the course of carrying out
a specific job, and if you wanted

57
00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:01.279
in on the action. Prisons and
penitent trees were a popular recruitment method.

58
00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:08.920
It wasn't until nineteen sixty six that
Mississippi ended statewide prohibition, though any reprieve

59
00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:13.680
for illegal alcohol distribution was brief.
The tourist trade on the Gulf Coast was

60
00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:17.040
thriving. Visitors from the North came
to seek out all sorts of overage fund

61
00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:21.399
and there were those who would turn
their hand to anything to meet demand if

62
00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:26.360
it meant making money. But it
was high stakes being involved with the Dixie

63
00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:30.480
Mafia on both sides of the law. Beginning around the mid twentieth century,

64
00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:35.959
dozens of contract killings across the South
were committed, brutal executions designed to eliminate

65
00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:41.720
enemies intent on bringing down the Dixie
Mafia or exact revenge on former members.

66
00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:46.639
Anyone cooperating with the police or who
planned to testify in court for the prosecution

67
00:05:47.079 --> 00:05:50.519
had a target on their back.
For these people, it was only a

68
00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:57.279
matter of time before they fell victim
to dramatic and often sadistic execution. The

69
00:05:57.399 --> 00:06:01.399
killings, often public, were a
warning of the consequences on offer for even

70
00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:08.920
entertaining the thought of crossing the Dixie
Mafia. I'm going to pause now for

71
00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:18.759
a short commercial break. As early
as nineteen fifty four, Phoenix City lawyer

72
00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:25.079
and former Alabama State Senator Albert Patterson
was assassinated during his bid to run for

73
00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:30.800
state Attorney General. Albert worked doggedly
and very publicly a stamp out corruption,

74
00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:35.560
and the place known as the original
sin City. Three city officials were accused

75
00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:41.240
of Albert's murder, but it was
only Russell County Chief Deputy Sheriff Albert Fuller

76
00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:45.199
who was sent to prison, but
he was released after only ten years.

77
00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:49.600
In early August nineteen sixty seven,
a high profile attack in Jackson County,

78
00:06:49.639 --> 00:06:56.600
Georgia shocked the community of Jefferson.
Local dyer and vocal aggressive opponent of the

79
00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:00.120
Dixie Mafia, Floyd Horde, was
assassinated on a bomb rigged to the family

80
00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:06.560
car exploded. Just days later,
in Tennessee, Mcmarry County, Sheriff Beauford

81
00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:11.600
Pusser and his wife Pauline were violently
ambushed by a group of men when the

82
00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:15.240
sheriff was called out to check on
a disturbance out of town. Pauline had

83
00:07:15.240 --> 00:07:19.920
accompanied her husband as it was round
dawn and quiet. Sheriff Pusser had been

84
00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:26.000
actively working to disrupt activities conducted by
both the Dixie Mafia and the State Line

85
00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:30.079
Mob, with whom the Dixie Mafia
was said to have links. The sheriff

86
00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:34.839
was severely injured in the shooting,
but Pauline was tragically killed four months later.

87
00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:40.279
In December nineteen sixty seven, Biloxie
bookmaker Harry Bennett was murdered in a

88
00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:46.079
public hit outside his apartment building.
Harry was due to testify against some of

89
00:07:46.120 --> 00:07:49.680
the Dixie Mafia when he was killed. Five men were convicted and imprisoned for

90
00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:55.439
the murder of Floyd Horde, but
their sentences were later commuted, and while

91
00:07:55.480 --> 00:07:59.199
Sheriff Pusser was certain he knew who
had killed his wife, no one was

92
00:07:59.240 --> 00:08:05.279
ever brought to The violence continued unabated. In the winter of nineteen sixty nine,

93
00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:11.120
an armed Dixie Mafia gang of around
five men ambushed a group of carnival

94
00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:15.680
workers camping near Covington, Louisiana,
and what became known as the Gypsy camp

95
00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:18.639
murder. The group rounded up the
campers, tied them to trees, and

96
00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:24.639
robbed them of thousands of dollars in
cash and jewelry. When fortune teller Margie

97
00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:28.759
George refused to cooperate, one man
struck her in the head with a hatchet

98
00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:33.360
and another man shot her. One
of the prime suspects was said to be

99
00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:37.720
an imposing Dixie Mafia figure named Bill
Club, an experienced bank ropper and contract

100
00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:43.440
killer from Texarkana, but a potential
witness named Bobby Gilgwyn turned up dead before

101
00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:48.360
he could testify against anyone. Ultimately, no one was prosecuted for the crime,

102
00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:54.840
and the case remains unsolved. A
storm of a different kind reached Havoc

103
00:08:54.879 --> 00:09:00.399
Dot August when Hurricane Camille decimated the
Gulf coast. The Chips were temporary down

104
00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:05.000
for Biloxi as it worked to rebuild, but the Dixie Mafia saw this as

105
00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:09.480
a golden opportunity to take greater control
of the city along what was known as

106
00:09:09.480 --> 00:09:16.559
the Strip. Illegal clubs were already
part of the Biloxi scenery. Prostitution and

107
00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:22.240
pornography rings went hand in hand.
Legitimate motels and nightclubs provided a front for

108
00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:28.519
illegal gambling dens brothels, and strip
clubs for aspiring Underworld figures. It was

109
00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:33.879
like moths to aflame. Their above
board business assets, including used carlots and

110
00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:37.919
junkyards, provided a front for what
went on behind the scenes. Fueled by

111
00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:43.399
greed, Multiple key players worked together
to maintain operations. One well known kingpin

112
00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:48.000
was affluent, well connected, and
trusted Biloxi Club owner Mike Gillitz Junior,

113
00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:52.919
known simply to many as Mister Mike. While many of his rivals illegal business

114
00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:56.799
ventures were shut down, Mike always
seemed to be free to continue trading.

115
00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:03.120
Expanding a crow minal organization by training
up loyal proteges is par for the course

116
00:10:03.159 --> 00:10:07.639
in the Underworld, and Mike Gilich
found this in Kirksey Knicks. Unlike Mike,

117
00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:11.879
who came from a poor immigrant background, Kirksey, who was highly intelligent,

118
00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:18.360
held from a privileged and educated Oklahoma
family. You may remember both Mike

119
00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:24.279
and Kirksey from episode ninety one.
Despite having the world as his oyster,

120
00:10:24.759 --> 00:10:28.679
Kirksey instead chose a life of crime. He was said to be a suspect

121
00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:33.240
and the murders of both Harry Bennett
and Pauline Pusser back in nineteen sixty seven

122
00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:37.440
and the Gipsy Camp murder in nineteen
sixty nine. In the spring of nineteen

123
00:10:37.480 --> 00:10:43.840
seventy one, Kirkzy Knicks and his
associates killed wealthy New Orleans grocery business executive

124
00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:48.320
Frek Corso and a robbery gone wrong. Kirksey was convicted for murder and was

125
00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:52.559
sent away to serve a life sentence
in Angola Prison, but he kept his

126
00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:58.000
hand in with the Dixie Mafia operations, and the years to come, Kirksey

127
00:10:58.039 --> 00:11:01.360
would be convicted of running a highly
profitable scam from within prison, which netted

128
00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:07.759
him hundreds of thousands of dollars.
One case attributed to the Dixie Mafia,

129
00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:11.639
which remained unsolved for decades, was
the horrific triple murder of Bryce Durham,

130
00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:16.039
his wife Virginia, and their eighteen
year old son Bobby, in the town

131
00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:20.320
of Boone, North Carolina, in
nineteen seventy two, in the midst of

132
00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:24.799
a February snowstorm. The victims strangled
and drowned bodies were found laying in their

133
00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:30.480
bathtub. Watauga County Sheriff's office was
competent the slayings were a hit, but

134
00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:37.039
the unidentified killer or killers remained at
large despite over one hundred law enforcement agencies

135
00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:41.360
across the South doing their best to
stamp out Dixie Mafia activity. It was

136
00:11:41.399 --> 00:11:43.559
like a game of whac amole,
but a big part of the problem came

137
00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:50.000
from within police ranks themselves, powerful
players wanting to maintain the status quo at

138
00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:54.879
whatever cost, needed allies where it
mattered. The Dixie Mafia were known to

139
00:11:54.919 --> 00:12:01.279
incentivize police and politicians to look the
other way, offering attractive financial benefits.

140
00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:07.360
Cultivating close relationships with senior and not
so senior police figures in the South was

141
00:12:07.399 --> 00:12:13.000
a priority to keep underworld business turning
over, keep your friends close, and

142
00:12:13.080 --> 00:12:18.360
all that. In Biloxi, the
much needed friend and high places was Leroy

143
00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:22.120
Hobbs, former Gulfport Police Chief and
Sheriff of Harrison County, who came into

144
00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:28.240
office in nineteen seventy one. Sheriff
Hobbs was exactly the kind of guy the

145
00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:33.799
Dixie Mafia needed and the citizens of
Harrison County thought they needed to. Leroy

146
00:12:33.960 --> 00:12:37.519
was charismatic, with the gift of
gab and outspoken about his campaign to expose

147
00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:43.840
corruption in Biloxi, but as quickly
as he was appointed, the lure of

148
00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:46.720
getting chummy with the Dixie Mafia,
who paid for the authorities to let things

149
00:12:46.759 --> 00:12:52.960
slide, proved too great for the
sheriff. Leroy was soon taking bribes from

150
00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:58.960
owners of illegal gambling dens and strip
clubs. I'm going to pause now for

151
00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:09.360
a final commercial. By the late
seventies and early eighties, Sheriff Leroy Hobbes

152
00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:15.559
and feared Dixie Mafia figures, including
club owner David DJ Venus the Third and

153
00:13:15.639 --> 00:13:20.320
Jim Blackwell, were virtually untouchable as
they enjoyed the fruits of their deeply corrupt

154
00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:26.639
endeavors. Leroy and DJ were tight. Their frequents in public socializing after hours

155
00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:30.720
raised many an eyebrow, but the
men seemed to have no concerns about how

156
00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:37.759
blurred the lines appeared in their professional
relationship. Whatever efforts the upstanding and honorable

157
00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:41.519
men and women of Harrison County law
enforcement went to at grassroots level, it

158
00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:46.279
made little, if any difference.
While Leroy Hobbes was in charge. In

159
00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:52.080
nineteen eighty two, DJ Venus and
Jim Blackwell had a rival named Dewey Deangelou

160
00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:58.039
viciously mutilated and murdered. But Leroy
saw to it that any police inquiries were

161
00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:01.960
shut down in order to steer suspicion
away from the suspects and protect their relationship.

162
00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:07.320
By now, organized crime was so
ameshed with the Harrison County Sheriff's Office

163
00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:13.960
that the FBI was knocking on the
door. Private investigator Rux Armistead had long

164
00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:18.360
also been pursuing those at the top
of the Dixie Mafia food chain. In

165
00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:22.320
nineteen eighty three, things had deteriorated
to such an extent with the Harris County

166
00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:28.440
Sheriff's Office that the FBI designated the
entire agency as a criminal enterprise. Special

167
00:14:28.440 --> 00:14:35.200
Agents Royce Hicknighte and Keith Bell spearheaded
the investigation into local corruption using sophisticated means.

168
00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:39.720
In a sting that June, an
FBI informant set up DJ Venus to

169
00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:45.759
bribe Leroy Hobbes into facilitating a massive
cocaine drop. It went off without a

170
00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:48.759
hitch, and DJ Leroy, Jim
Blackwell, and other Dixie Mafia members were

171
00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:54.279
arrested. Agent Bell later described the
extent of the corruption in Harrison County by

172
00:14:54.279 --> 00:14:58.840
saying it was out of control.
They were doing anything and everything illegal to

173
00:15:00.200 --> 00:15:03.519
here for money. The sheriff and
the officers loyal to Sheriff Hobbs would release

174
00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:09.759
prisoners from the county jail, safeguard
drugs shipments, and hide fugitives anything you

175
00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:15.440
can think of they were involved in. Local officers wanting to eradicate the stench

176
00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:20.080
of corruption from their workplace, were
key to assisting the FBI investigation. At

177
00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:24.480
the same time, a clampdown began
on strip joints, which soon began closing.

178
00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:31.240
DJ Venus, Jim Blackwell, and
Leroy Hobbs played guilty to charges brought

179
00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:35.759
against them in the steing. DJ
received fifteen years in prison and Jim and

180
00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:39.639
Leroy each received twenty years, the
judge telling the disgraced sheriff quote, you

181
00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:45.080
sold your soul to the devil.
But Leroy Hobbs only ended up serving twelve

182
00:15:45.159 --> 00:15:50.679
years. By the mid nineteen eighties, some Biloxi business leaders hoped that casinos

183
00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:54.679
would boost the local economy. For
the Dixie Mafia, this would be a

184
00:15:54.720 --> 00:16:00.200
gold mine, but other citizens opposed
the move, concerned about incouraging more organized

185
00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:06.600
crime. Operations had evolved for the
Dixie Mafia all across the South, with

186
00:16:06.679 --> 00:16:11.519
sophisticated vehicle theftbrings, selling stolen goods
and credit card in real estate fraud now

187
00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:17.639
stock in trade. At the same
time, in the Appalachian coal fields,

188
00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:23.720
a massive multi jurisdictional enterprise involving fraudulent
leases and mining equipment theft was also operating.

189
00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:29.600
Miami Mobile, Alabama, Fort Worth, Texas, Memphis, Tennessee,

190
00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:36.399
and the Carolinas were all now home
to the flourishing Dixie Mafia. Law enforcement

191
00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:40.679
from New Orleans to Dallas was doing
its best to gather intelligence to shut down

192
00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:44.639
operations, but it was like trying
to put out a wildfire with a leaky

193
00:16:44.679 --> 00:16:49.320
hose with many of the other firefighters
who were supposedly helping you lighting the fires

194
00:16:49.320 --> 00:16:56.559
themselves. The FEDS and local law
enforcement hoped the very public downfall of Leroy

195
00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:02.279
Hobbes and the convictions of DJ Venus
and Jim Blackwell were the beginning of the

196
00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:07.279
end for the Dixie Mafia, well
in Harrison County at least, but one

197
00:17:07.319 --> 00:17:10.839
final shocking event would prove the fight
wasn't over, and it wouldn't be for

198
00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:15.359
some years. As I mentioned earlier, the Dixie Mafia were key players in

199
00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:19.799
the nineteen eighty seven double murder of
Circuit court judge and former attorney Vincent Sherry

200
00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:26.799
and his wife and Biloxi mayoral candidate, Margaret. The couple was brutally murdered

201
00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:30.319
in their home. Vincent's body was
discovered by his close friend and former business

202
00:17:30.359 --> 00:17:34.680
partner, attorney Pete Hallett, who
would go on to become mayor of Biloxi

203
00:17:34.759 --> 00:17:41.279
two years later. Judge Sherry had
formerly represented prominent club owner Mike Gilitch or

204
00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:45.720
Mister Mike. I'm not going to
repeat all the ins and outs of the

205
00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:51.680
case here, suffice it to say
that when it came to eventual convictions related

206
00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:55.960
to the Sherry case in both nineteen
ninety one and later in nineteen ninety six,

207
00:17:56.599 --> 00:17:59.799
kirksey Nicks, Mike Gillich, and
Pete Hallett, along with others,

208
00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:03.799
all did prison time, but not
on standalone murder charges. To find out

209
00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:07.960
how all that unfolded and why,
you'll need to go listen to the episode.

210
00:18:08.519 --> 00:18:11.839
By the late nineties, the face
of Biloxi was changing, with the

211
00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:18.799
closure of illegal clubs in full swing
following the legalization of gambling in nineteen ninety.

212
00:18:18.039 --> 00:18:22.480
Public officials knew they were under scrutiny
to not only clean up the city,

213
00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:26.799
but purged the once rotten cores of
any agencies which had been tainted by

214
00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:33.160
corruption. It was a similar story
over in Louisiana, where the heat was

215
00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:37.799
being turned up on former Governor Edwin
Edwards, who'd held a record four terms

216
00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:42.720
in office between nineteen seventy two and
nineteen ninety six, despite beating two corruption

217
00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:48.599
trials and twenty two state and federal
grand juries and evading conviction over a conspiracy

218
00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:52.720
to sell construction permits for hospitals and
nursing homes. In two thousand and one,

219
00:18:52.759 --> 00:18:57.039
the hugely popular Edwards was sentenced to
ten years in prison for racketeering and

220
00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:03.480
extortion. It had been proven that
during his last term, Edwards had rigged

221
00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:08.680
Louisiana's riverboat casino licensing process. It's
not clear whether the former governor was ever

222
00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:14.279
explicitly associated with the Dixie Mafia,
but it gives you an overall idea of

223
00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:18.359
how ingrained corruption was at the highest
levels of Southern politics over such an extended

224
00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:25.599
period. With numerous Dixie Mafia figures
finally imprisoned for considerable stretches by the two

225
00:19:25.640 --> 00:19:30.599
thousands, it appeared the head of
the snake was finally cut off. More

226
00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:37.000
sophisticated intelligence gathering in conjunction with sentencing
and PAROLEA form and widespread community support saw

227
00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:41.240
the Dixie Mafia become a shadow of
its former self. And here's a nice

228
00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:48.160
PostScript to prove it. Over forty
five years after the triple murder of the

229
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:52.519
Durham family in two nineteen, a
man named Shane Burt contact of the Sheriff's

230
00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:56.559
office in White County, Georgia.
Shane was researching the life of his late

231
00:19:56.599 --> 00:20:03.839
father, convicted killer Billy Sunday Bert. Billy had died two years earlier in

232
00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:07.680
prison, where he was doing life
for three murders from the nineteen seventies.

233
00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:11.839
He was said to be responsible for
as many as fifty contract killings. Shane

234
00:20:11.880 --> 00:20:18.000
explained that his father revealed during a
previous visit that he had killed three people

235
00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:22.039
in the North Carolina Mountains during a
heavy snowstorm. Of the three other suspects

236
00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:26.599
in the case, only one was
still alive, eighty one year old Billy

237
00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:30.279
Wayne Davis, who was sentenced to
life in Georgia for a nineteen seventy one

238
00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:34.880
murder in Douglas County. It wasn't
until twenty twenty two that that case was

239
00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:41.440
announced assolved after Davis admitted to being
the getaway driver. Beyond confirmation that the

240
00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:45.279
murders were a hit, it wasn't
revealed why they were committed or whether Davis

241
00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:49.279
would be charged. Nevertheless, it's
proof that it's never too late for anyone

242
00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:56.119
with information to come forward. Only
Tom will tell whether the corruption, which

243
00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:00.519
historically plagued many cities and counties across
the South, is something to remain concerned

244
00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:04.759
about. While many of the key
players in this story have since passed away,

245
00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:10.720
either from natural causes or as an
occupational hazard, we're all familiar with

246
00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:22.359
the adage that absolute power corrupts absolutely
Southern Fried True Crime is hosted and produced

247
00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:26.559
by me Erica Kelly. Today's episode
was researched and written by Jimma Harris.

248
00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:30.480
Southern Frid's original music is by Rob
Harrison of Gamma Radio and the original graphic

249
00:21:30.599 --> 00:21:36.039
art is by Coley Horner. If
you have any case suggestions, please go

250
00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:40.000
to my website and click on the
listeners suggestion tap. This is the best

251
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:41.880
way for me to get those little
known cases. Y'all always send me.

252
00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:48.359
Please remember that I do not accept
suggestions on social media private messaging, but

253
00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:52.640
please come join our Facebook group Southern
Fried true crime Fans discussion group where we

254
00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:56.000
swap recipes, worship Dolly Parton,
and share memes. I much prefer spending

255
00:21:56.039 --> 00:22:00.920
my social media time and our lovely
group. We do, of course discuss

256
00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:04.559
true crime, not just Southern fraud, but all kinds, but it is

257
00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:08.640
still very much a Southern lifestyle group. Our group is a safe and fun

258
00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:11.200
corner of Facebook, and by God, we mean it when we say no

259
00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:15.480
shit us is allowed. It's not
just a motto, it is how we

260
00:22:15.559 --> 00:22:18.200
run the group. If you enjoy
today's show, don't forget to subscribe and

261
00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:22.359
please tell a friend or rate and
review. I'm also on all large platforms

262
00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:27.000
like iTunes, i Heearts, Spotify
and now Amazon and Audible. Until next

263
00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:30.000
time, thanks so much for listening. Ye'll take care