by Joe Corso
“It’s better this way. We’ll follow them. If we went to their room, it could get messy and besides, someone might see us and when I say us I mean you. You know you’re probably the most recognized person in America right now. You’re like a neon sign all lit up with the words LOOK AT ME, I’M JAMES ROMAN on it. If you’re recognized, then we really have a lot of explaining to do. ”
The men waited patiently in the car for the two men to leave the hotel. Jimmy and Tarzan were armed and so were Ralph and Gibby. The only man who wasn’t armed was Trenchie. The four who were carrying knew that before this day was over the possibility loomed large that they may have to use their guns.
Trenchie finally emerged from his condominium building. He looked around for the car until he spotted Gibby signaling him. It was show time for Trenchie. Today was a big day. The meet was being held in the Erb Strapping Corporation, Vito Genovese’s headquarters at 180 Thompson Street in Greenwich Village. He had bought the building in 1955 for two hundred twenty-five dollars and it was now bringing in a million a year. Ralph felt a lot safer now that he was in Genovese’s back yard. He parked in front of Tommy Ryan’s father’s little coffee shop knowing that no one would ticket him there. He wondered if the two punk amateurs following them knew and understood where they were. Big mistake. Big, big mistake to attempt anything here.
The three men walked into the dark interior of the old building and up three flights of stairs. On each landing stood a man checking for anything suspicious. The first man recognized Ralph, patted the men down then looked toward the stairs, and nodded his head in acknowledgement to continue to the next landing. When they reached the second landing, it was the same protocol. On the third floor, two men sitting in chairs stood as the three men approached them. The formality of questioning took them but a moment. Two Genovese men were seated in the landing - chairs had been set up specifically for this meeting. One of the men knocked on the door telling Genovese that Trenchie was here. A gruff voice answered, “Bring him in.” The door opened and Trenchie was ushered into a large room that looked to be perhaps the living room when the building was still an apartment house. Trenchie immediately noticed six chairs placed evenly around a round table, five of them taken. The sixth seat, he surmised, must be for him. Trenchie paused a moment studying the men seated at the table - Genovese, Gambino, Bonanno, Lucchese and Colombo, the five heads of the New York crime families. Trenchie had been told that he would be meeting with Profaci’s successor, Joe Colombo, but he wasn’t fearful. Trenchie was acting as spokesman for the Gallo organization and besides, he was a made man, so they had to give him the respect his rank deserved. He walked toward the empty seat and was about to pull out the chair and to his surprise, the five powerhouses greeted him with extended hands. It was their way of acknowledging Trenchie as the leader of a crime family, even if only on a temporary basis. Trenchie was glad that Profaci was no longer around. He didn’t want to have to deal with him. He’d rather deal with Joe Colombo - far more reasonable. If Trenchie had figured it right, this meeting wouldn’t last long. It was in everyone’s best interest to end the war and start earning money again.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jimmy and Tarzan watched the two cousins pull out of the parking lot, following them as they began to weave their way through the Queens early morning traffic until they stopped by Trenchie’s condo building. The cousins watched as Trenchie walked out the front door and stepped into a black Chrysler which sped away. Jimmy and Tarzan followed the cousin’s rented car, keeping a short distance behind. Julius and Zeke were so busy watching the Chrysler that they never noticed the Cadillac following them.
The meeting proceeded as Trenchie thought it would. He was told by Kid Blast what the Gallo’s expected, and when it was over, the Gallo gang had become part of the Genovese family. They would continue to control all of their action and territories. The Genovese family would receive twenty percent of the profits of any and all of their activities and five percent of that money would be put aside for the council, payable quarterly. It was unanimous. There was a peace agreement. The war between the Profaci’s and the Gallo’s had officially ended and there would be no more blood shed between the families.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Thursday, June 14, 1962
The cousins were a bit miffed because they were in no position to kill Trenchie. They couldn’t kill him now because it would be suicide to try it in Little Italy. They saw the hard men standing outside the coffee shop on Thompson Street, eyeing them suspiciously, and they realized they had to make a decision. What they didn’t know was that each of the men standing outside the coffee shop were all members of the Genovese crime family and had all made their bones years ago and deciding to leave now would prevent them from being killed . . . at least for a little while. They couldn’t make up their minds whether to wait for him at The Starlight Club or go to his apartment building and wait for him there. They knew they had to do something so they made a quick decision - The Starlight Club. If he didn’t show up there, they would assassinate him tomorrow. They were in a hurry and wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. One way or another, they were determined to kill him before his wedding on Saturday.
The men drove east on Houston Street to the East Side Highway and over then over the Triboro Bridge to Queens where they’d wait for Trenchie. Tarzan followed close behind, making sure a few cars were between as buffers so they wouldn’t be spotted. These two were real amateurs. They never at any time checked their rear view mirror to see if they were being followed, probably too full of themselves with confidence to believe that anyone ever would. Tarzan who kept a safe distance behind didn’t really care if the car he was tailing spotted him. He would take ‘em out right there in the street. He had been a paratrooper in WW II and had seen a lot of action diving out of airplanes into enemy territory. He loved the action and when the war ended, he joined the Gallo’s. With them, he found a continuation of the action he craved. Now he was in a car following these guys who he considered to be the enemy, trying not to be spotted by them and to him, it was the same as being in combat. The cousins were so hell bent on seeking revenge that they really had no idea who they were messing with. This was not the same as being a drunken bully in the neighborhood bar in your hometown where guys avoided your unpleasant behavior. This was New York City where this sort of behavior quickly gets you killed.
When the meeting ended, Trenchie said his goodbye’s to everyone and got back into the Chrysler where the two Gallo men drove him back to The Starlight Club.
Tarzan pulled his Caddy into the parking lot and kept the engine running as they kept their eyes on the two men waiting in their car, staking out The Starlight Club from their position on 111th Street. It was crazy. While they were watching the club, Tarzan was watching them, and the dummies never noticed the car parked diagonally across the wide street from them. The caddy, to them, was just another car in a lot, amongst a lot of other parked cars, so the drama continued to play out.
Eventually Ralph’s car pulled up in front of the club where the front door opened and Trenchie got out. His two bodyguards slowly emerged, scanning the streets surrounding the club. Ralph spotted Tarzan’s car in the lot. He could see the exhaust from the engine and both men still seated inside of it. This alerted him that something was wrong. His eyes scanned 43rd Avenue and narrowed as he looked across 111th Street and spotted the Fairlane. Gibby had a Thompson sub-machine gun in his trunk and Ralph wanted to get back in the car to get it. His impulse was to drive alongside the Fairlane and open up on it, using the gun, but there was too much pedestrian traffic - an innocent bystander might get hurt. Trenchie and the gang made it into the club and seated themselves at a table.
Ralph spoke first. “Those two have got to be the dumbest sons of bitches I’ve ever seen.”
“Yeah,” Gibby said looking at Trenchie. “All they have on their mind is killin’ you. If it was nighttime, I’d take care of both of ‘em but not
now, too many people around.”
Ralph chimed in again. “Tarzan and Jimmy are sittin’ in their car waitin’ for them to try somethin’. I think they’re gonna make their move as soon as they see an opportunity.”
Trenchie finally spoke. “Well then … why don’t I set the bait and give them that opportunity?”
“What bait?” Ralph asked.
“I’m goin’ out for a cigarette. Why don’t you guys go out the side door facing the street and wait to see what they do? If they make a move on me, then just shoot ‘em. At least we’ll start the ball rollin’ instead of just waitin’ for this nonsense to come down. Ready?”
Before anyone could answer, Trenchie was up and out the front door lighting up.
“Julius, look at that,” Zeke said excitedly. “He just walked out and lit a cigarette. Now’s our chance.”
“I think we just got lucky,” said Julius. “Let’s do it.” The two men got out of the car and started walking toward the big man.
Three things happened almost at the same time. The cousins reached for their guns, the two Gallo men reached for theirs, and Tarzan and Jimmy flew out of their car with their guns drawn. Ralph hollered, “FREEZE!” The cousins looked in his direction and immediately opened fire on the two mob guys. Tarzan fired his Beretta 9mm automatic and the street erupted with the pop, pop, pop of gunfire. The cousins now turned their attention to Tarzan and returned fire. Jimmy, whirled around to take aim but right before he had a chance to pull the trigger, he was hit - a bull’s eye to the chest. Jimmy went down grasping his chest and yelling to Ralph, “He’s comin’ at ya Ralph. Watch out!” Ralph emptied his gun, without missing a beat, hitting Julius in the shoulder and chest. Zeke watched as his cousin fell to the ground. That was all it took. He threw down his gun and raised his hands in surrender.
Tarzan reached down to check Jimmy’s wound. A bullet had entered his chest and it appeared to have exited his back by his shoulder. Tarzan and Trenchie, working in tandem, picked him up and gingerly placed him into Tarzan’s car then sped off to Flushing Hospital. George Raft and Big Red had witnessed the entire scene. Red grabbed Zeke by the neck, dragged him into The Starlight Club and handed George his gun, telling him to kill the bum if he moved even slightly. Raft really wasn’t the gangster Hollywood portrayed him to be, but now was his chance to play one for real. Red picked up the phone and called Lieutenant Zablonski, the name Creighton had given him. He then called Doc using the words “urgent” and “emergency.” Doc lived on 42nd Street, which was only a block away. In a matter of minutes, he was inside the bar working up a plan to satisfy the police. Red liked it. He asked Ralph for his gun then he grabbed Zeke. “Now listen carefully. You can come out of this mess smellin’ like a rose or you can come out of it not smellin’ at all. Just do as we say. Julius is outside on the curb, dead. Jimmy is seriously wounded and could die. I want you to forget about any of the other guys and concentrate just on Jimmy. Here’s the deal. You and your cousin both had guns, you didn’t want to go along with this, but Julius forced you to. Jimmy spotted you as you stood in the street. Jimmy watched your cousin walk toward Trenchie to murder him and you didn’t want that to happen, but Jimmy was defenseless and needed a weapon, so Jimmy grabbed you and took your gun this gun,” and Red showed him Ralphs gun, “Which you willingly gave him because you knew Julius would kill Trenchie. As soon as Jimmy had possession of your gun, they shot it out. Julius was killed and Jimmy got hit. Tell that story exactly like I told you and I’ll make sure you live and you’ll spend very little time in court. We may be able to work it out where you don’t spend a single night in jail. Keep your cool and tell your story and you’ll be a free man, but you have to tell the story exactly the way I explained it to you. We have witnesses that will confirm your story. Now let’s go over it and in your own words tell me what happened.” Red explained to Raft that this was a close-knit community. No one would say anything when questioned by the police. They would simply say that they “didn’t see anything.”
Red reviewed the story four or five times with Zeke before the police arrived. Doc, Red and George Raft were corroborating witnesses. Red had to go easy on Zeke. He would have much preferred to kill him, but none of their guns were legal and Jimmy would have been arrested on the spot if he had been caught carrying a firearm. So Zeke was the answer. He would confirm that Julius planned to kill Trenchie and he would explain that he came with him, hoping to stop Julius from following through with his diabolical plan.
When the police arrived, Zablonski was with them. He ordered his men to cordon off the crime scene. Police guards were assigned, prohibiting anyone near the body until the crime lab boys got here. He went into The Starlight Club and asked for Red. Red introduced himself and then introduced Doc and Raft. Raft was a household name - a legendary film gangster. Zablonski just happened to be a big fan.
“Okay, tell me what happened.” Red took charge and offered the sanitized version. Then he pulled the detective aside and explained. “Make this go away and there’s a $10,000 envelope waiting for you when you tell me it’s done.” Red explained that the man seriously wounded was James Roman who had flown to New York with George Raft for the sole purpose of attending his friend’s wedding taking place tomorrow evening.
As expected, no witnesses came forth and not a soul could place Ralph, Gibby and Tarzan near the scene of the murder. Red, Doc and Raft told how Zeke tried to stop Julius from shooting Trenchie and how when he saw Jimmy coming rushing toward Julius and dodging bullets, he handed his gun to Jimmy so he could defend himself.
That evening a news conference was held at the 110th Precinct located in the northern part of Queens. This was a major media event because it concerned a major movie star. The audience was a sea of reporters from around the world. Deputy Inspector Joseph Callarota presented a brief opening statement to the press and turned the microphones over to Lieutenant Zablonski. Zablonski who explained, “Let me give you what we know and a little background information as best we know it. A suspect known as Julius Benton III, arrived in New York three days ago with the purpose of killing the man who was to marry his ex-wife this coming Saturday. He still considered her to be his wife, even though they are legally divorced. The suspect followed his intended victim, Trenchie Savanola, for two days. While at The Starlight Club, the future groom was discussing his wedding arrangements with the proprietor. At some point, he stepped outside for a cigarette break. That is when the suspect attempted to kill him. James Roman, who had just arrived at the club noticed two men with their guns drawn, rushing toward the intended victim. Roman surprised the man closest to him by wrestling away his weapon and the two men, Roman and Benton, began exchanging fire toward each other. One man was killed, the suspect Julius Benton, and the other severely wounded. James Roman is a hero. He saved Savanola, risking his own life. As we speak, Roman is in critical condition.”
One reporter asked, “What about the accomplice?”
“The accomplice has stated that he accompanied his cousin in the hopes of convincing him not to go follow through with his insane plan.”
The reporter continued, “How do we know that what he said is true?”
“We have witnesses that confirmed that he voluntarily gave his gun to James Roman so that Roman could defend himself, which as we know, he did most effectively.”
New York City’s Daily News headline read. “MOVIE STAR HERO NEAR DEATH.” The New York Times front page said, “MOB ENFORCER STAR SHOT.” The story of James Roman being shot while saving his friend’s life, zoomed around the country and the world, making international headlines in every major newspaper. The public could not get enough of Jimmy the Hat, their hero. Fans poured into the streets by the droves, holding vigils, laying flowers outside the hospital, writing letters of love and hope. His photos adorned every telephone post and police were called in to set up barricades outside the hospital.
Bernstein had followed closely the activity of his star’s fans and the sensationalism surro
unding Jimmy’s plight. Sensing a publicity moment, if there ever was one, he decided to release Jimmy’s new film The Breaking Point. It opened to record-breaking ticket sales. Jimmy’s appeal had always transcended gender. He was a man’s man, macho and tough, and every woman’s dream, a rugged, handsome knight in shining armor. Columbia Pictures was able to capitalize on Jimmy’s surging notoriety and his off-the-Richter popularity. Larry Bernstein then expedited post production on To Love a Thief. He wanted to time the release of his star’s romantic comedy with the waning ticket sales of The Breaking Point. Just as they were beginning to drop off, he released the next movie. Time was of the essence. He would then start prepping The Breaking Point for entry into the television market. He would negotiate the foreign rights to the film for millions of dollars. In the interim, he would begin working on a media advertising blitz for To Love a Thief. He was cleverly juggling his star’s newly released picture and the one nearing completion. Staying informed was crucial. The Columbia CEO had the hospital send him daily reports on the status of his star. He didn’t want another James Dean on his hands. Bernstein was philosophical about the health of James Roman. After all, he had two of his pictures in the can, ready for release, and while he earnestly wished his star would get better, he was a realist and knew that if Roman died, his profit would still be great. Either way, he and his studio couldn’t lose.
Jimmy awoke to tubes down his throat, IV’s in his arms and hands, and an ache in his shoulder the likes of none he’d ever felt. He stood up for a moment, grabbing the bedpost for balance and feeling as though the world was spinning by him. He waited for the dizziness to pass as he slowly sat down again on the hospital bed. Clarity slowly began to settle in and he reached over and pushed the call button for a nurse. His nurse rushed to his room, realizing that Jimmy Roman might need her. It must be an emergency. Instead, she was shocked to find Jimmy sitting up in bed, asking her for his clothes.