The Reporter Who Knew Too Much

by Mark Shaw

  106 In an audiotaped interview, Sinclaire explained the Kilgallen/Jill confrontation nearly verbatim to the videotaped version of the story. He added, among other details, that the confrontation had taken place “a week or three or four weeks before [Kilgallen] died before all this [with Pataky] started to bubble over.”

  107 Efforts by this author to extensively interview Jill during fall 2014 and 2015 proved unsuccessful. Before one brief conversation ended, this author asked whether she knew Ron Pataky and recalled the argument. Jill replied, “I never heard of him.”

  108 In his videotaped interview, Marc Sinclaire recalled Kilgallen calling Pataky from the “Cloop.” When asked if Kilgallen’s phones were tapped, he replied, “I think they were tapped but I don’t know how much she was using them for [her investigation]. I think she was using her phones to talk to Ron Pataky but that was the phone up in the Cloop. She slept there and she spent a lot of time there. She was alone there. She didn’t let anyone near her.”

  109 In late 2015, this author visited the Loews Regency hoping to view the same surroundings Kilgallen experienced in the 1960s. Various remodeling efforts through the years made this impossible.

  110 In his book, My Way, singer Paul Anka wrote, “[Giancana] was seen around town [Las Vegas] with one of the McGuire sisters, Phyllis, a beautiful all-American looker with a lot of hit records.”

  111 On September 16, 1964, Ron Pataky, in his Columbus newspaper column. lauded the theatrical production of “Little Me” starring Phyllis McGuire. He wrote, “You’ll love Phyllis McGuire. Young Belle’s transparent innocence [comes across] perfectly and [McGuire is] singing her numbers beautifully. I can truthfully say that I enjoyed ‘ Little Me’ more than any Kenley production of the entire summer.”

  112 In a CIA file entitled “CIA Inspector General’s Report on Plots to Assassinate Fidel Castro,” there is the notation that Kilgallen was friendly with Phyllis McGuire. According to this account, the two were seen at the Copacabana. The notation reads, “Johnny Roselli [Mafia associate of Sam Giancana] found himself facing a table at “ringside” at which Phyllis McGuire was sitting with Dorothy Kilgallen and Liberace for the opening night of singer Rosemary Clooney.”

  113 Most curious regarding Pataky’s mental state was his later career change after he was fired by the Columbus newspaper in 1980. He attended Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University where he earned a Master’s degree in Christian Counseling. This was followed by further education through a Ph.D. in Christian Counseling from Trinity Theological Seminary.

  CHAPTER 32

  To date, no one has positively identified Kilgallen’s companion, “the mystery man,” at the Regency Hotel bar during the early morning hours of November 8, 1965. Pataky swore it was not him but his inconsistent/conflicting statements blemish the account of his having been several hundred miles away in Ohio.

  One incident in particular causes confusion. This happened following Kilgallen’s most recent trip to New Orleans on October 24, 1965, 15 days before she died. Marc Sinclaire said in his videotaped interview that just before a What’s My Line? program began, “Dorothy told me that they announced over a loudspeaker connected to the dressing room that she had a phone call from Ron Pataky that he was leaving the key for her from the Regency Hotel and it would be at the desk. And she was very upset about it.” Asked why Kilgallen was upset, Sinclaire answered, “Because everybody in the studio knew she was gonna meet a man at the Regency Hotel.” Sinclaire said some of her colleagues may have known about Pataky but “not all, not the whole shebang.” Told Ron Pataky didn’t want to draw attention to himself, Sinclaire explained, “Dorothy didn’t want [their affair] known either, I don’t think, not like that. She was still a married lady.”

  According to Sinclaire, it “rattled Dorothy” to the extent that “she was so shaken up that as the show began and the panelists were introduced, Dorothy sat down too soon, and then quickly got up again, the only time that happened since the panelists started showing off their Sunday formal wear in 1954.”

  Pataky told Larry Jordan the incident “seems odd…I remember that story. They weren’t my keys. I was not there then.” Pataky later changed his mind, telling Jordan, “I was there…sitting in the audience…Dorothy liked me to attend the show and I did several times.”114

  This statement also connects with the recollection from Mark Sinclaire of speaking to Kilgallen Saturday, November 6, two days before her death. In the 1990s videotape interview, Sinclaire elaborated on the call:

  We talked for about an hour. Her life had been threatened. Finally, I said, “the only new person in your life is Beau Pataky. Why don’t you ask him if all this information that is slipping out about you is coming from him?” [Because] she was concerned where people were getting the information from. After finally, after exhausting me over what was going on, I’m the one that suggested that she confront Beau Pataky with it. I called him “Beau” because that’s what she called him. And she was dead after that. Two days later.

  In a separate audiotaped interview, Sinclaire said, “Dorothy was worried about dying.” Asked if this was when she was considering buying the gun, Sinclaire replied, “Yeah, that was two weeks before she died and then the Saturday before the Sunday, the Monday she died and we discussed it for hours on the phone and that’s when I said, ‘Well, what about Beau?’ You know we’d narrowed it down to just about everyone we could think of that was harassing and threatening her. That’s the only time I took her seriously [about dying.] and of course, it was much too late. Up until then I didn’t think anyone could touch her.”

  Sinclaire recalled that Kilgallen had also said, “You know, I have had threats on my life,” and when he asked, “by whom?” she simply replied, “People,” the only time Kilgallen ever specifically referred to those who were threatening her. After they discussed who might have been leaking her JFK investigation information, and Sinclaire mentioned Pataky, Sinclaire said, “There was a long pause and then Dorothy said, ‘maybe.’”

  Sinclaire, who stated he saw Pataky “at a distance” once at P.J. Clarke’s but never met him, said, “Strange things were afoot after the New Orleans trip.” Commenting on that trip, Charles Simpson declared, as noted, “She had obviously dug up something about the JFK assassination that someone didn’t want her to know.”

  Pataky denied Sinclaire’s account that Kilgallen had confided in him about her JFK assassination investigation. He told Larry Jordan, “...there’s a lot that Dorothy didn’t tell me. Clearly, she didn’t want to worry me. She danced around problems. She did not want to tell me, for example, that she’d had death threats.” [This comment triggers the question as to how Pataky knew of the death threats if Kilgallen did not share them with him.]

  Concerning Kilgallen’s frame of mind about Pataky, who was an aspiring songwriter, as November 8 neared, Marc Sinclaire had a definite opinion. In his interview, he said, “I would imagine that she was upset about Beau [Pataky]. I think he was the snitch, she was telling him so much [about the JFK assassination investigation], and that’s that.”

  If Pataky was indeed the “mystery man” seen with Kilgallen during the final few hours of her life, his connection to Sam Giancana “and all those guys in the underworld” including “mobsters who were involved with Hollywood,” appears relevant. As noted, Giancana was linked to Melvin Belli’s client Mickey Cohen, and to Marcello and Frank Costello. Pataky certainly could have been a logical choice if any of the underworld figures, most likely Marcello, needed to eliminate Kilgallen. Under orders to shadow115 Kilgallen by any of these dangerous men, or on his own accord, Pataky could have reported every move she was making toward her “cracking the [assassination] case wide open.”

  If this happened, if Pataky was monitoring Kilgallen, he knew she was too close to the fire, too close to exposure of those who feared her fresh evidence. He also could have known th
at she planned another trip to New Orleans in November to collect further evidence important to her continuing investigation. Perhaps she told him, as Jonny Whiteside mentioned, that she was connecting Oswald and Ruby, and, in addition, both men to Carlos Marcello. If he divulged this secret to the dangerous people who had recruited him to watch Kilgallen, a plan to eliminate her could have been set in motion.

  Targeting Ron Pataky as the one most likely to be the mysterious man Kilgallen met during the early morning hours in the Regency Hotel bar seems quite plausible. Logically speaking, who else can it be that Kilgallen was sitting “close to” as described by Katherine Stone? Pataky was the only one she was dating, the only love interest in her life at the time since she and husband Richard were at odds and Johnnie Ray was a past romance. Those closest to her, including Marc Sinclaire, Charles Simpson and Bob Bach never mentioned her interest in another man aside from Pataky.

  Perhaps most telling is that during the years following Kilgallen’s death no one has ever come forward to disclose he was the one who met her within a few hours of her death. There would have been no risk in doing so unless the “mystery man” was instrumental in causing her death.

  The potential that Pataky was the “mystery man,” the one betraying her, recalls Marc Sinclaire’s statement that he suspected Pataky was responsible for “strange events” happening during the few weeks prior to her death. If Kilgallen took Sinclaire’s advice to “confront” Pataky regarding these strange events, then it is logical Kilgallen contacted Pataky and voiced her concerns. He, in turn, may very well have telephoned her before she appeared on her final What’s My Line? program. This would confirm Sinclaire’s suspicions that Kilgallen received a call after he left the townhouse. It would also provide a reason for Kilgallen changing dresses from the long, flowing one to a more comfortable dress in anticipation of her “late date.”

  If Pataky telephoned Kilgallen after she “confronted” him, the two could have agreed to meet later. This could have given him an opportunity to dissuade her from believing he had been leaking information about her JFK assassination investigation. Perhaps the early morning hour “date” was due to Pataky flying to New York City for the rendezvous. Or perhaps he was already in the city staying at the Regency.

  * * * * *

  The Ron Pataky that Kilgallen loved at the time was not simply a mild-mannered entertainment reporter and columnist from Ohio. Instead, he was a man with a propensity for violence. The first instance happened, according to a front-page story in the Columbus Evening Dispatch on December 5, 1963, less than two weeks after the JFK and Oswald assassinations and seven months before Kilgallen began an affair with the journalist.

  The headline read, “Pataky Arrested; Slugged He Says: Party With Anna Maria Alberghetti at Friend’s Home Ends Roughly.” Beside the article appeared a photograph of the two holding hands.

  The article’s opening paragraph read, “Ronald A. (Ron) Pataky, 28, theater and movie critic for the Columbus Citizen-Journal, claimed Friday he was beaten and manhandled by police officers after he accidently cut his head at a friend’s home Thursday morning after a drinking party.” The reporter added, “Miss Alberghetti confirmed Pataky’s story of the events leading to his arrest under charges of drunkenness and resisting arrest.”

  According to the report, the melee happened at the Columbus home of jazz bandleader Alvin F. Waslohn. Pataky was quoted as saying, “As we [he and Alberghetti] were leaving, I slipped on a rug. I hit the glass on the door. It broke and I cut my head.” Concerning the allegation that he was “beaten and manhandled,” Pataky said he entered the police vehicle quietly “as an injured man being taken to the hospital for treatment.”

  Police officer Charles West disagreed, telling the reporter he and a fellow officer had to “subdue Pataky” and that West gave him “a black eye” after Pataky “threatened him and used foul language.” The report also quoted a duty patrol sergeant. He stated, “I was called to Riverside Hospital because Pataky was raising hell with the doctors and wouldn’t lie down so they could examine him.” Asked whether Pataky appeared to be intoxicated, the officer said, “Oh brother.” Officer West added that Pataky had apologized explaining that he “was emotionally upset because of some disagreement with Miss Alberghetti.”

  Author Lee Israel provided a different account of the disturbing episode. She noted Pataky was an attractive man who had relationships with several young actresses, but they were short-lived when they realized he had a drinking problem. Israel also recounted one disturbing encounter when Pataky, apparently inebriated, picked up a table and threw it across a room. The police were called with the actress, who asked not to be named, stating, “Something in Ron’s brain clicked when he drank and he went bananas,” while adding that Pataky admitted previous instances like that one including his having rammed his car into five others leading to the relationship ending.

  Israel did not identify the woman in her book but in a 1992 letter she forwarded to investigative reporter Kathryn Fauble, the author indicated the “Italian beauty” was Anna Maria Alberghetti. She told Israel she recalled Pataky being intoxicated and “violent and nutsy” while confirming he had thrown a table causing the police to arrive.

  Years later, in April 1971, according to a front-page article in the Columbus Dispatch, Pataky was involved in a bizarre incident in Ohio. The victim was National Football League running back Jim Otis. This happened during a time when Pataky was attempting to handle public relations for the Columbus Police Department.

  On its front page, the Dispatch reported:

  Suburban Upper Arlington Police are continuing their investigation of conflicting stories in a shooting incident involving a theater editor, Ronald Pataky of the Columbus Citizen-Journal, and James Otis, former Ohio State University and Celina High School football star. Police reported that no one was hurt in the shooting and that no charges have been filed. Several shots had been fired at Pataky’s residence early Tuesday.

  Pataky reported to Police that he and Otis had become involved in an argument. Otis, now a Columbus restaurant owner and member of the Kansas City Chiefs professional football team, told Police that Pataky threatened him with a blackjack and that four shots were fired at him as he left the editor’s house. Pataky also told Police that Otis had fired a shot at him.

  A follow-up article sported the headline “Pataky Faces Pistol Charge.” It read, in part:

  Ronald Pataky, Citizen-Journal theater editor. was charged with discharging a firearm Tuesday after he admittedly fired four shots after a ruckus with former Ohio State football star Jim Otis. No charges were filed against Otis, 22, of 5026 Dierker Rd.

  Otis left the house with a blackjack which he said hetook from Pataky. As he drove off, Pataky fired a .38-caliber pistol four times…Although Pataky told policeOtis fired once at him, police did not find a weapon in Otis’ possession…. Neighbors reported hearing four shots.

  At the time, Pataky was carrying an Auxiliary Police badge permitting him to arrest people while his appointment to handle public relations for the police department was pending. Because of the Otis incident, police officials revoked his temporary badge. He did not become the police department’s PR representative.

  Pataky’s possession of a blackjack is quite alarming. However, his having attempted to kill Otis is quite another matter. From the official account of the incident, it also appears Pataky lied about Otis having shot at Pataky.

  Without doubt, Ron Pataky wanted to be important, wanted to be a star like Kilgallen. He was ambitious, a social climber, a namedropper. In October 2014, he suddenly posted a photograph of himself and Robert Redford on Larry Jordan’s Facebook page. One of Pataky and Kilgallen is posted on Pataky’s website.

  To his credit, Pataky was an attractive man who wooed famous women like Dorothy Kilgallen. He took it a step further, boasting to Larry Jordan that he had “dated half the women in Hollywood.”

>   114 During an audio interview with researcher Kathryn Fauble, Pataky asked “Was What’s My Line? on the weekends? When the interviewer said “Yes, on Sunday nights,” Pataky appeared surprised as if he had no idea despite admitting he watched the show, one that aired on Sunday’s for fifteen years.

  115 Kilgallen’s friend CBS producer Marlon Swing was suspicious of Pataky stating, “Here was a new man in her life, one suddenly romancing her and prompted by somebody not necessarily himself but by some faction.”

  CHAPTER 33

  Through the years since Dorothy Kilgallen’s death, Ron Pataky agreed to several interviews. The first happened when author Lee Israel spoke to him at his home in Columbus, Ohio in the 1970s. She kept his identity secret, calling him the “Out-of-Towner,” but it was clearly Pataky.

  Kilgallen’s “last love” then permitted an interview in 1992 with an associate of investigative reporter Kathryn Fauble mentioned before. Pataky also spoke to Midwest Today publisher Larry Jordan as previously mentioned. This happened during the mid-2000s and again in early fall 2014.

  On October 22, 2014, this author telephoned Pataky in Columbus. After gaining permission to audiotape the interview, the conversation lasted for more than an hour. By design, the important aspects of his relationship with Kilgallen became the focus. This included specific subjects he had discussed with previous interviewers.