July 13, 2026

The Gulf Coast Dixie Mafia

The Gulf Coast Dixie Mafia
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Season 1

Jim dives deep into the shadowy world of the Dixie Mafia—the ruthless Southern crime network that terrorized the Gulf Coast with drugs, gambling, corruption, and murder. From their strongholds in Biloxi, Mississippi, and operations reaching into Louisiana, these loosely connected criminals operated with impunity for decades.
At the heart of the story is one of their most infamous schemes: the "Lonely Hearts" scam run straight from Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Dixie Mafia kingpin Kirksey Nix Jr., serving life for murder, orchestrated the massive extortion racket from behind bars. The money flowed through a Biloxi law firm, but when funds went missing, Nix's paranoia led to a deadly betrayal. His alleged associates, including lawyer-turned-mayor Pete Halat, allegedly pointed the finger at Halat's law partner, Circuit Court Judge Vincent Sherry, and his wife, prominent Biloxi city councilwoman Margaret Sherry. On September 14, 1987, a hitman executed the couple in their own home in a cold-blooded double murder ordered from Angola. We'll unpack the Louisiana ties—the web of corruption that protected the Dixie Mafia, the investigation that finally brought down key players like Nix, Halat, and others, and the shocking betrayals that exposed it all. This is a tale of greed, deception, prison power, and how one scam shattered lives on the Gulf Coast.

Chapters:
04:55 Crime and Corruption
09:02 Carnival Massacre
20:27 Violence Expands
24:45 Gillich’s Rise
25:55 Lonely Hearts Scam
34:11 Murder Over Missing Money
36:28 The Sherry Double Murder
43:16 Federal Trial Unfolds
47:33 Aftermath and Legacy

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WEBVTT

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Hey everyone, Welcome back to Exposed Scandalous Files of the Elite.

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I am your host, Jim Chapman, and today I'm going

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to take you into the shadows of one of the

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most notorious and misunderstood criminal networks ever to operate in

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the American South, the Louisiana based Dixie Mafia. Now, in

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order to do that, I want you to imagine this.

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It's nineteen eighty seven. A prominent judge and his wife

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are gunned down in their quiet Biloxi home. The killings

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aren't random. They're ordered from a prison cell hundreds of

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miles away in Louisiana, a man serving laws life at

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Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. He isn't just surviving behind bars,

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He's thriving, running an extortion empire, pulling strings that reach

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every courtroom, city hall, and underworld across state lines. Now,

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this isn't the Italian Cosa Nostra mob with its commissions

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made men and omerta codes. It's something much more raw,

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more chaotic, you might say, sloppy, but in many ways

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even more dangerous. Because this organization didn't play by anyone's

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rules but its own. The Dixie mafia, which was also

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referred to as the Cornbread Cosa Nostra, was a loose

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network of white Southern criminals who thrived from the nineteen

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sixties through the nineteen eighties, and they had deep roots

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in operations right here where I'm recording in Louisiana. And

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in this episode, I'm going to walk you through it

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all how the network's first formed in the back and

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vice districts of the Gulf Coast, the key figures who

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rose to power and refused to let prison walls stop them,

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and the shocking crimes that terrorize community, even the high

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profile trials that finally brought some of them down, and

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what life behind bars really looked like for the men

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who once thought they were untouchable. Now, I'm gonna keep

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this strictly focused on the history the facts in the

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Louisiana connections that often get overlooked in most of the

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reports that I have read or listened to. And I'm

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gonna start at the beginning. So the story of the

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Dixie Mafia doesn't have a single founding father moment like

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the Italian mafia. It grew really organically in the decades

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after prohibition in World War II, across Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia.

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In Texas. You had a generation of men, many with

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roots in bootleg or military experience, who would see opportunity.

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Now in Louisiana, this area was prime for this type

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of organization. New Orleans had been a port city. It

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had a vibrant underworld, if you will, and Baton Rouge

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and the surrounding parishes offered a more rural hideout and

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easy access to the interstates for moving goods and people discreetly.

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The Gulf Coast Corridor from Biloxi to Lake Ponta train

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became a natural artery for this network, and by the

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early nineteen sixties, what started as small time gambling operations

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moonshine runs, maybe some stolen good rings that would start

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to coalesce. There weren't highly structure families with bosses and underbosses.

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Think of it more like a loose group of thugs

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who would share protection, muscle, and connections. And they were

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a very bold group. They would commit many in plain sight.

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And what fueled it well several things. First, this was

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post war and the economy in the South it wasn't good.

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You had a legal gambling you had prostitution, bootlegging, filling

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the gaps left by dry parishes and restrictive laws. In Second,

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there was a deep seated distrust of federal authority in

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many circles, and that was a mindset that framed criminal

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enterprise as a form of resistance against that. And Third,

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and maybe most importantly, corruption Local sheriffs, judges, and politicians

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could be bought, they could be intimidated, and they could

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be partnered with in places like Biloxi's Strip, in parts

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of Louisiana's more rural parishes, the line between a lawman

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and an outlaw would often blur. Now by the early

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nineteen seventies, the network had grown and spread further out.

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Drug trafficking, especially marijuana and cocaine, would come through the

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Gulf ports and that would become a big business. The

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Dixie Mafia would pull a page from the Italian's playbook

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and they would start extorting businesses. Arson would be used

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to settle scores with rivals or collect insurance, and murder

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for hire emerged as a service for those who needed

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problems to just kind of, you know, disappear. Louisiana would

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play central role, not only as a territory, but as

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a hub, New Orleans would provide the connections needed to

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have access to bigger players, and rural areas would offer

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places to lay low. And then there was Angola, Louisiana

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State Penitentiary. Now, what should have been the end of

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the road for many of these guys became just another headquarters.

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And we'll go deeper into that later, but it's worth

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noting early on the men who ended up there didn't

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always see prison as a finish line. Some saw it

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as a cost of doing business, and they kept right

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on doing it behind bars. Now, before we move into

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the key players who defined this area, I want to

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set one thing straight. The Dixie Mafia wasn't a single

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monolithic organization. That's why many who covered it found it

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so hard to unpack. It was more like a brand,

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a name that stuck to various crews and individuals who

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shared a Southern identity, a willingness to use violence in

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a network of contact. Some operated primarily in Texas or Georgia,

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and others, like those tied to the Biloxi, Mississippi scene.

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They had strong Louisiana ties, and the victims these were

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often ordinary people. They were just caught up in the crossfire,

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business owner squeezed for protection, money, witnesses who may be

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new too much, or sometimes you'd have rivals who would

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just get in the way. The human cost was real,

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and it's important to keep that in mind as we

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go along. So I got a lot of grind to cover.

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Let's get into it. And as I told you, these

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seeds were planning it in the nineteen fifties, they took

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root in the sixties, and after prohibition ended, the bootleggers

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and gamblers didn't just disappear. They adapted. In Louisiana, that

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adaption happened in the smoky roadhouses along Highway one ninety

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and then very rural parishes like Livingston Parish, the parish

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i'm recording out of right now, neighboring Tanjibhoa Parish, and

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New Orleans. And this is not an organization with a

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godfather at the top.

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It's just a.

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Web of independent operators who knew each other and enforced

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their own brand of street justice. Now investigators and researchers,

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they often traced Dixon Mafia's early momentum to Biloxi, Mississippi,

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and at this time in history, Biloxi, y'all, is not

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what it is today.

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Today.

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It's dominated by beautiful casinos like Beau Ravige in the

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Hard Rock Casino and many others. But back then, downtown

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Bluxi was simply known as the Strip. It had shady clubs,

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it had bars, gambling dens because gambling was very much

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illegal as of that time, and they also had a

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lot of prostitution rings. And these businesses they would operate openly.

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They were protected by local officials, but the influence would

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flow kind of both ways across state lines Louisiana. As

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I told you, it would offer easy access for moving

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stolen goods, drugs, and even fugitives. And that quick access

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to Interstate ten and Lake Poncha Train. It would make

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the logistics of all this really easy. Rural communities, they

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will provide the safe houses and the methods to stay low. Now,

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all of this would create an environment where the crews

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of the Dixie Mafia could thrive. And we're gonna get

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to February eighteenth of nineteen sixty nine. It's just before

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Mardi Grass season. In about fifty carnival workers, families who

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had traveled the circuit. They were on games they were

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on rides, fortune telling booths all the things. They had

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set up camp near Covington, Louisiana, which is in Saint

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Tammany Parish, near the shores of Lake Pontcha Train, which

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let me digress quickly. I want to tell you about

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Lake Pontcha Train. This ain't a lake in the middle

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of the neighborhood, y'all. Lake Poncha Train covers six hundred

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and thirty square miles. It's located in parts of six

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Louisiana parishes, including Saint Tammany, or Lean's Jefferson, Saint John

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the Baptist, Saint Charles, and Tanjapehoa. And this lake was

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formed over four one thousand years ago, and its access

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is really throughout all these parishes. And you can even

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now access it via the Diversion Canal through Livingston Parish,

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So you can literally take a boat from my parish

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in Livingston and go all the way to New Orleans

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without ever.

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Having to get off the boat, but back to it.

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In nineteen sixty nine, these carnival workers they had gone

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into New Orleans for an evening, right they're going to

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go party. They left behind about two dozen people, mostly women,

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and children at these camp sites at what was known

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as Skibo Trailer Court, and these carnival folks, they're known

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to carry large amount of.

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Cash for their trivels.

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They were always on the move, so they didn't bank anywhere.

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Back in the late sixties, you didn't have the internet, right,

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If you didn't have a bank that you actually went

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to and deposited your cash, you kept it on you.

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And they had a ton of it on them at

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all times. Now, for bad actors like the Dixie Mafia,

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this is pretty tempting. So sometime after dark, at least

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five masked and heavily armed men descended on this trailer

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park and they're dressed in military style fatigues. They're carrying

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handguns and rifles, and they moved with coordinated precision and

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they rounded up these campers at gunpoint. Now, victims were

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forced to lie face down, and some were even chained

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and padlocked to trees and trailers using heavy locks and

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heavy chains that these attackers had brought with them. And

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what followed was a night of sheer violence. The gunmen

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systematically broke into at least ten trailers, ransacked them for valuables,

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and they would collect roughly twelve thousand dollars in cash

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and jewelry. Now, this is a huge amount of money

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in nineteen sixty nine money, and as large as that was,

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some speculate the victims may have lied about the total

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that got stolen from them to avoid tax issues on

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the earnings, meaning the real take could have been much

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higher than that twelve thousand dollars. So the violence escalated

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when the attackers zeroed in on a lady by the

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name of Margie George. Now, Margie George was a forty

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four year old fortune teller often referred to as the

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Gypsy Queen, and these attackers were convinced she was hiding

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a safe with even more money. So the man demanded

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this combination to this safe and Margie George, she refused

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to give them that combination. So, in an act of

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sheer brutality, one of the attackers he takes a hatchet

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and he literally split her skull wide open, and she

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died on the scene. And the sheer savagery of that murder,

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hacking a woman to death in front of terrified witnesses,

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many of these children, that shocked even the most hardened

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investigators investigating this case. Then a month later, Gary McDaniel,

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a non associate with ties to the Dixie Mafia, he

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suddenly gets found dead. Now, his killing was widely believed

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to be connected to the carnival workers incident, with many

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speculating it was retaliation tied to the overt violent nature

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of this crime, and possibly that the carnival workers somehow

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figured out this guy was involved and got to him

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before the police did.

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So.

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After this incident, obviously it will become a major deal

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in the papers of the time. And that didn't do

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anything but help the Dixie Mafia, because what is that,

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that's notoriety. People who are bad actors. They want to

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be involved with people that are getting let's say, words

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in the price about their horrible attacks. So by the

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early nineteen seventies, that network had kind of professionalized in

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its own rough way, and drug trafficking would become a

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major revenue. Stream marijuana big deal. It would come through

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those golf ports from South America, and they would use

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both land and water to transport that through Lake Pontra

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train as well as transport that down I ten. Cocaine

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would follow later and gambling operations would expand from back

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room poker games to full scale illegal casinos in some

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parishes prostitution rings. They would also operate out of motels

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and clubs that doubled as meeting spots for the Dixie Mafia.

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And it was Louisiana's unique geography that would play a

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huge role. You got to remember, we got a lot

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of swamps here, and we got a lot of vyues here,

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and that provides perfect hiding spots for stolen cars, weapons,

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and even bodies. New Orleans established connections would help as well.

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They would kind of work with the Italian mafia, which

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had a presence in New Orleans when needed. They would

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give the Dixie Crews additional muscle and access, and in

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baton rouge in surrounding areas, protection rackets would target bars, restaurants,

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and construction businesses. Either pay up or face broken windows, fires,

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or worse. Now, what made these early formations so effective

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was the lack of rules. Unlike the Italian mobs, the

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Dixie Mafia in Louisiana they could partner with someone in

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say Mississippi, for a big score, and then they could

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go solo on smaller jobs. Loyalty was based on money

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and mutual benefit rather than a blood oath like you

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would take in the New York Mafia. Betray that trust, however,

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and the consequences would be swept and they would be violent.

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checkout for thirty percent off. Corruption was the glue that

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00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:34.559
would hold the Dixie Mafia together. However, and if you

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live in the Deep South like I do, it is

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pretty well known that in several Louisiana parishes and Mississippi

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00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:45.920
coastal counties, sheriffs and deputies were on the take. Some

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00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:49.920
actively would participate, others would just kind of look the

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other way. This allowed open vice districts, if you will,

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to flourish in Biloxi. Figures like Sheriff Leroy Hobbs would

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be come symbols of this entire era. There were a

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lot of men who allegedly would use their badge to

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hide what they were really doing until heat from the

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Feds would finally force change. Now in Louisiana, most early

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00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:18.519
participants in the Dixie Mafia did it for the reasons

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you would think money. Most of these guys came from

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working class families. They were hit hard by shifts in agriculture, oil,

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00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:33.400
booms and bust and limited opportunity in the Dixie Mafia

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would offer fast money, respect on the streets, and a

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sense of power. You also have veterans returning from Korea

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and Vietnam, and sometimes they brought combat skills and really

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a hardened worldview that would translate well when involved in

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the criminal underworld. So I'm going to digress again, and

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we're going to revert back to nineteen sixty seven before

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we really get into the heart of this, and to

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00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:03.839
tell you a pretty shocking story that, although not related

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00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:07.000
to the Louisiana faction of the Dixie Mafia, it does

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relate to a prominent figure during that time that you've

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00:19:10.839 --> 00:19:15.279
definitely heard of, and his name is Martin Luther King. So,

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according to accounts detailed by FBI informants, the White Knights

283
00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:24.160
of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi, they were led

284
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by Samuel Bowers. They had long wanted to kill doctor

285
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Martin Luther King, and after an earlier nineteen sixty four

286
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contract failed to materialize, they turned to criminal networks that

287
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they had worked with for weapons and for bombing, and

288
00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:44.359
in the spring of nineteen sixty seven, while at a

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federal penitentiary in Levenworth, Kansas, inmate Leroy mcmahonnon approached a

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00:19:51.079 --> 00:19:56.160
fellow prisoner, Thomas Nissan about a lucrative contract. What was

291
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the offer a share of one hundred thousand dollars to

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00:19:59.640 --> 00:20:04.400
assay fascinate Martin Luther King. This money originated from the

293
00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:09.119
KKAK in the Dixie Mafia was offered the contract. Now,

294
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while this specific nineteen sixty seven contract did not result

295
00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:17.880
in an attempt on doctor King's life at that time,

296
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it really paints a picture of how this network was

297
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quickly gaining respect from other more high profile organizations in

298
00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:30.400
the criminal underworld. So, by the nineteen seventies, the Dixie

299
00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:34.559
Mafia had matured in what started as scattered crews would

300
00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:39.039
evolve into something that could coordinate multi state operations. You

301
00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:43.079
had bank robberies, armored car heist and large scale drug

302
00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:47.920
shipments that would become common with these guys. Contract killings

303
00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:50.839
would emerge as a service industry.

304
00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:52.000
Within this network.

305
00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:57.480
And they were just running rampant at this time, and

306
00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:01.359
this was the type of thing that really cause concern

307
00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:05.680
with not only police, but with your everyday citizen. Now,

308
00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:09.720
one pattern that repeated across Louisiana was a willingness to

309
00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:15.759
target citizens, business owners who refused what they called protection payments,

310
00:21:16.279 --> 00:21:21.039
witnesses preparing to testify. No one was off limits to

311
00:21:21.079 --> 00:21:25.480
the Dixie Mafia. They were very unpredictable, and they were

312
00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:29.359
very feared, and you just never knew when a seemingly

313
00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:33.839
minor dispute would escalate. So that brings me to Kirksey McCord.

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00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:37.920
Nicks Junior and Kirksey was born in nineteen forty three

315
00:21:37.960 --> 00:21:41.240
in Oklahoma, and he came from a family with some prominence.

316
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His father was actually a well known judge, but young

317
00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:49.000
Kirksey he chose a very different path than his dad.

318
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While his father was busy upholding the law, Kirksey was

319
00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:56.559
busy breaking the law. By the late nineteen sixties and

320
00:21:56.680 --> 00:22:00.680
early nineteen seventies, he had become deeply embedded in the

321
00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:05.079
Dixie Mafia, and in nineteen seventy two he gets convicted

322
00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:10.799
for the murder of Frank Corso in Louisiana. Now, Corso

323
00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:14.480
was a well to do New Orleans grocery executive. On

324
00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:16.799
the night of the murder, Nicks, in at least one

325
00:22:16.839 --> 00:22:21.480
accomplice targeted Corso's home in a planned robbery and Frank Corso.

326
00:22:21.640 --> 00:22:26.200
He was a successful businessman and these attackers apparently believed

327
00:22:26.200 --> 00:22:29.759
there would be a significant amount of cash or valuables

328
00:22:29.799 --> 00:22:34.039
inside his home. During the home invasion, Corso was shot

329
00:22:34.119 --> 00:22:38.240
and killed. The brutality and the calculated nature of that

330
00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:43.200
crime would absolutely shock the New Orleans area. Prosecutors would

331
00:22:43.240 --> 00:22:46.920
present evidence that next was directly involved in the planning

332
00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:51.200
and execution of the break in witnesses, physical evidence, and

333
00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:55.279
circumstantial evidence would tie him to the scene and the

334
00:22:55.319 --> 00:22:58.079
motive of quick money. Now, this is in an era

335
00:22:58.200 --> 00:23:02.640
when home invasions were becoming a tactic for Dixie Mafia

336
00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:08.000
affiliated crews. So Nicks was convicted of murder and he

337
00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:13.119
gets sent to life without parole in Louisiana State Penitentiary

338
00:23:13.160 --> 00:23:17.160
in Gola, which for most men, a life sentence inside

339
00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:21.759
LSP and and Gola would mean fading into obscurity, but

340
00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:26.799
Nicks treated it as a new headquarters. Now, Kirksey Knick's

341
00:23:26.839 --> 00:23:30.599
conviction would mark a turning point for the Dixie Mafia.

342
00:23:31.079 --> 00:23:34.359
While it removed Nicks from the streets, it would elevate

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00:23:34.519 --> 00:23:38.880
his status within the Dixie Mafia. He had proven willing

344
00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:42.000
to kill during a bank robbery, and that reputation would

345
00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:45.240
follow him inside the wall. From Angola, he would start

346
00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:50.519
cultivating relationships and schemes that would define the next phase

347
00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:54.000
of his criminal career. So Nicks didn't just survive in prison,

348
00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:58.640
he thrived. He would get loyalists both inside and outside

349
00:23:58.680 --> 00:24:03.000
of prison. He would run schemes, coordinate criminal operations, and

350
00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:08.119
maintain influence over those operations on the street. His ability

351
00:24:08.359 --> 00:24:12.400
to operate from inside of one of America's toughest prison

352
00:24:12.759 --> 00:24:17.559
would earn him legendary and feared status. And Nicks he

353
00:24:17.720 --> 00:24:22.440
was a master manipulator. He understood psychology, he understood leverage,

354
00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:26.559
and he understood the power of fear. And associates on

355
00:24:26.599 --> 00:24:30.759
the outside they would handle the logistics while he called

356
00:24:30.759 --> 00:24:34.759
the shots on the inside, whether it was visits to

357
00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:39.440
him in prison, messages that would get smuggled outside the prison,

358
00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:44.839
monitored phone calls, whatever. And he always kept money flowing

359
00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:47.720
for the Dixie Mafia. And that brings me to Mike

360
00:24:47.880 --> 00:24:52.839
Gillich Junior now Mike was born in nineteen thirty in Biloxi, Mississippi.

361
00:24:53.240 --> 00:24:55.920
He was born to a working class family who relied

362
00:24:55.960 --> 00:24:59.960
on Gulf shrimping and fishing for income, and in nineteen

363
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:03.759
seen fifty one he gets married. He eventually has three kids,

364
00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:06.680
and it was in the nineteen sixties that he goes

365
00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:10.920
into business for himself. He built and managed a network

366
00:25:10.920 --> 00:25:17.839
of motels, nightclubs, gambling operations, and strip clubs on Biloxi's Strip,

367
00:25:18.039 --> 00:25:21.599
with two in particular, one called the Golden Nugget and

368
00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:26.039
another called the Dream Room, becoming very prominent and successful

369
00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:29.000
spots in that area. And it was during the nineteen

370
00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:34.079
seventies that Gilich emerged as the de facto kingpin. As

371
00:25:34.119 --> 00:25:37.000
a matter of fact, people would call him the godfather

372
00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:41.240
of Biloxi. So was Nick and Gillich that came up

373
00:25:41.319 --> 00:25:45.599
with a way, even with Nicks being in Louisiana State Penitentiary,

374
00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:49.440
to scam their way into a massive amount of money,

375
00:25:49.880 --> 00:25:54.079
and that scam would forever be known as the Lonely

376
00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:57.839
Heart's Scam, so by the men. In nineteen eighties, Kirksy

377
00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:00.920
Knicks Junior had already been serving a lowe at Angola

378
00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:04.440
for the murder of a New Orleans grocer, Frank Corso,

379
00:26:04.599 --> 00:26:08.119
as I told you about, and Nicks had tons of

380
00:26:08.119 --> 00:26:11.599
influence by this time on the inside corrupt guards on

381
00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:15.599
the payroll, fellow inmates as foot soldiers, and he had

382
00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:20.400
that massive network on the outside that actually included lawyers, girlfriends,

383
00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:22.880
and operators like Mike Gillich Junior.

384
00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:26.119
So Nix's big scam idea well.

385
00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:30.079
He decided he wanted to exploit the personal ad sections

386
00:26:30.119 --> 00:26:34.039
of gay magazines and newspapers. Now, in the nineteen eighties,

387
00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:40.039
before widespread Internet dating, Lonely Heart columns were a lifeline

388
00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:43.160
for a lot of gay men seeking connection in a

389
00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:47.559
world that was often hostile toward gay men. At this time,

390
00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:51.599
the mid nineteen eighties, the AIDS crisis was at its height,

391
00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:56.519
the stigma of being gay extremely high, and people weren't

392
00:26:56.559 --> 00:26:59.200
open with the fact that they were gay like they

393
00:26:59.240 --> 00:27:03.440
are today. Nix and his crew they saw dollar signs

394
00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:05.480
and opportunity in this.

395
00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:07.319
So the scam all.

396
00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:12.319
Started with access, and Gola wasn't exactly wired for business calls.

397
00:27:12.440 --> 00:27:17.319
Inmate had limited or no phone privileges for personal use.

398
00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:21.200
But Nix had money and he had connections. He and

399
00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:24.519
his associates they would pay off guards, they would get

400
00:27:24.599 --> 00:27:28.640
favors for this, and he would get unsupervised access to

401
00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:33.599
prison telephones. Reports say Nix was making at least eighty

402
00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:36.880
calls a day at the height of his operation, and

403
00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:40.799
they would target publications like The Advocate, No, not the

404
00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:45.400
Baton Ridge newspaper, but a leading national gay magazine at

405
00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:49.240
that time, along with other outlets that ran personal ads.

406
00:27:49.319 --> 00:27:54.079
And these ads were warded carefully to sound sincere and appealing.

407
00:27:54.440 --> 00:27:57.640
Here's an example of an actual ad from a lonely

408
00:27:57.720 --> 00:28:03.319
heart scam. Quote some fit inmate early thirties seeking mature

409
00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:08.160
stable men for friendship and possibly life together upon release.

410
00:28:08.599 --> 00:28:12.079
It's lonely in here, write me at PO box and

411
00:28:12.119 --> 00:28:15.119
it would put the PO box number, and that was

412
00:28:15.160 --> 00:28:18.920
to a Biloxi address, And sometimes they would really lean

413
00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:24.039
into the prison angle. Another actual ad would read quote

414
00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:27.759
reformed bad boy looking for a second chance with the

415
00:28:27.880 --> 00:28:31.680
right guy. In other times it would be more flirtatious,

416
00:28:31.880 --> 00:28:35.359
like quote summer fun and more let's connect and the

417
00:28:35.400 --> 00:28:38.200
return of dress. Was never the prison. It was a

418
00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:43.519
PO box always in Biloxi, Mississippi. Why because that territory

419
00:28:43.720 --> 00:28:47.519
was covered by Gilich's faction of the Dixie Mafia, and

420
00:28:47.559 --> 00:28:53.240
he provided the entire logistical backbone his clubs, his motels,

421
00:28:53.640 --> 00:28:56.599
and the associates made sure the mail was picked up,

422
00:28:57.000 --> 00:29:01.680
responses were handled, and money flowed smooth without raising red

423
00:29:01.720 --> 00:29:05.319
flags locally. Now, once a man responded to the ad,

424
00:29:05.559 --> 00:29:09.440
and many did, the real work began. The scammers would

425
00:29:09.480 --> 00:29:13.759
reply with personalized letters, and these weren't generic form letters.

426
00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:18.240
They were tailored to build a relationship the respondent, an

427
00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:22.279
inmate they were paying, or someone on the outside. Would

428
00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:28.000
share personal details, childhood stories, dreams for the future, complaints

429
00:29:28.079 --> 00:29:32.240
about prison food, loneliness of confinement.

430
00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:32.880
All the things.

431
00:29:33.400 --> 00:29:37.000
And it was just bullshit designed to play on the

432
00:29:37.160 --> 00:29:42.400
sympathy for being gay in prison and Gola is and

433
00:29:42.839 --> 00:29:46.720
was a notoriously tough place for gay people, and the

434
00:29:46.839 --> 00:29:50.319
letters would describe this in detail, and they were trying

435
00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:53.839
to manipulate these gay men into feeling sorry for them,

436
00:29:54.279 --> 00:29:57.400
play on their emotions and start sending them money. And

437
00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:01.559
then came the visuals. Sexually sugg just of photographs were

438
00:30:01.680 --> 00:30:05.039
enclosed with the mailings, and these, in reality were never

439
00:30:05.240 --> 00:30:10.680
of an actual inmate. Instead, they were muscular models, anonymous

440
00:30:10.759 --> 00:30:14.960
men who fit the fantasy procured by these letters, and

441
00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:20.960
the combination would be extremely effective. Heartfelt words plus provocative

442
00:30:21.000 --> 00:30:25.119
images would hit both the heart and the sexual appetite.

443
00:30:25.640 --> 00:30:29.440
And as that correspondence continued over weeks or months, what

444
00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:35.400
happens well trust builds. The inmate would express deepening feelings, quote,

445
00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:38.359
You're the one I've been waiting for. I can't wait

446
00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:41.640
to hold you when I get out. Victims would pour

447
00:30:41.720 --> 00:30:45.680
their hearts out in return, sharing personal details that could

448
00:30:45.839 --> 00:30:49.000
later be used against them, and it's at this point

449
00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:53.799
that the con turned criminal. Once that victim was emotionally invested,

450
00:30:54.240 --> 00:30:58.519
that's when the money started. Always framed as temporary hurdles

451
00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:02.640
to their happily ever action after common pitches would include

452
00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:06.119
legal fines or fees that had to be paid for

453
00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:11.039
before parole, or they needed commentary, or they needed bribes

454
00:31:11.079 --> 00:31:14.319
for better treatment on the inside. They would say they

455
00:31:14.359 --> 00:31:17.200
needed travel money so the inmate could come straight to

456
00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:21.039
the victim upon their release. They would say they need

457
00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:24.880
moving expenses for setting up that new life together, or

458
00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:28.480
they needed medical bill money, all these things and the

459
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:32.200
amounts would vary. They'd get five hundred dollars here, one

460
00:31:32.200 --> 00:31:36.319
thousand dollars there, sometimes more. Payments at that time were

461
00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:40.799
directed via Western Union money orders or checks to a

462
00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:44.119
control to dress and nicks. He had a girlfriend on

463
00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:47.599
the outside. She was a local pretty blond from Biloxi.

464
00:31:47.640 --> 00:31:51.480
In her name was Laray Sharp. She was also listed

465
00:31:51.480 --> 00:31:55.039
as a pairalegal, but she carried no such license. But

466
00:31:55.160 --> 00:31:58.839
she did work at a powerful law firm in Biloxi

467
00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:02.920
called the Hallett and Sherry Law Firm, and she would

468
00:32:03.000 --> 00:32:07.039
play an extremely critical role in this story. She would

469
00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:09.799
collect the mail from the po boxes, she would handle

470
00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:13.920
deposits into the firm's trust account for this scam, and

471
00:32:13.960 --> 00:32:17.680
she would coordinate with Gilich's crew. Now, some victims were

472
00:32:17.799 --> 00:32:22.519
hit with a secondary extortion. After sending that money. They

473
00:32:22.599 --> 00:32:25.599
might receive a threat quote, if you don't send more,

474
00:32:25.720 --> 00:32:29.119
I'll tell everyone about us. And again, y'all, this is

475
00:32:29.240 --> 00:32:33.359
the nineteen eighties for closeted men. That fear was powerful.

476
00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:37.279
Police reports from that era would show some victims did

477
00:32:37.319 --> 00:32:40.440
come forward, but they would be dismissed because of the

478
00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:43.559
nature of the ads. I mean, you go in there

479
00:32:43.559 --> 00:32:46.240
and you say I've been given an inmate money and

480
00:32:46.319 --> 00:32:49.759
I'm a gay guy, and the police likely are not

481
00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:52.599
going to feel too sorry for you. So this scam

482
00:32:52.759 --> 00:32:56.359
ran strong for at least four years through nineteen eighty nine,

483
00:32:56.839 --> 00:33:00.960
and Nix and his crew targeted men nationwide, estimating the

484
00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:05.759
scam produced over a half million dollars serious cash in

485
00:33:05.839 --> 00:33:09.880
the nineteen eighties hundreds of victims. Now, many sent small

486
00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:13.400
amounts and then they would stop, and others were milked

487
00:33:13.599 --> 00:33:18.079
for thousands over month. The operation was sophisticated enough to

488
00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:24.519
have multiple personas running simultaneously, different fake identities with different

489
00:33:24.559 --> 00:33:29.759
PO boxes, all in Biloxi and inside Angola. Nicks was

490
00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:34.640
not alone fellow Dixie Mafia inmates and associates like Bobby

491
00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:38.519
Joe Fabian. They would help write letters, make calls, and

492
00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:43.279
manage logistics, and the prison environment itself would become an asset.

493
00:33:43.720 --> 00:33:45.400
The isolation would make.

494
00:33:45.240 --> 00:33:48.880
That fantasy stronger, and the corruption allowed the phones and

495
00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:52.799
contraband to flow. Now, what really made the scam ultra

496
00:33:52.920 --> 00:33:56.960
successful was who these gay men were on the outside.

497
00:33:57.119 --> 00:34:02.680
Many were closeted professionals, teacher, businessmen, government workers who if

498
00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:06.559
this shit got out, they would be ruined professionally, So

499
00:34:06.759 --> 00:34:09.280
most of them would just cut their losses and they

500
00:34:09.320 --> 00:34:12.239
would never report this to anybody. Now, let me tell

501
00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:14.400
you about the owners of that law firm that was

502
00:34:14.440 --> 00:34:18.519
collecting these checks that Laray worked at. There was a

503
00:34:18.599 --> 00:34:21.719
lawyer by the name of Pete Hallett, and there was

504
00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:26.199
also his partner, which was a prominent judge in Biloxi

505
00:34:26.320 --> 00:34:30.480
by the name of Vincent Sherry. And by late nineteen

506
00:34:30.519 --> 00:34:35.480
eighty six things were rolling. Hundreds of thousands had been

507
00:34:35.559 --> 00:34:41.719
raised by this scheme. Then disaster Nick. He would discover

508
00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:45.760
that a large chunk of this money, reportedly over one

509
00:34:45.800 --> 00:34:51.000
hundred thousand dollars, was missing through reports from Gillage, So

510
00:34:51.039 --> 00:34:54.000
he got paranoid, who stole my money? So the long

511
00:34:54.039 --> 00:34:57.119
and short of this is Pete Hollett knew about everything

512
00:34:57.320 --> 00:35:02.320
and was deeply involved, but that law and judge Vincent Sherry,

513
00:35:02.679 --> 00:35:06.880
he had zero idea of anything about this scheme that

514
00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:11.119
was going on. And when Nick started asking questions in

515
00:35:11.199 --> 00:35:14.880
a ploy to save his ass, Pete the lawyer, he

516
00:35:15.039 --> 00:35:18.880
blamed all the missing money on Vincent Sherry, the judge,

517
00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:23.159
stealing it. And because Pete had conveniently kept Vincent Sherry's

518
00:35:23.280 --> 00:35:28.039
name on bank accounts and safety deposit boxes associated with

519
00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:32.519
the missing funds, that like it appeared credible. So believing

520
00:35:32.639 --> 00:35:36.079
Cherry had stolen from them, the Dixie Mafia ordered to

521
00:35:36.320 --> 00:35:40.239
hit on a judge in Biloxi. So let me review

522
00:35:40.760 --> 00:35:43.320
where we're at during this point of the story, because

523
00:35:43.320 --> 00:35:46.280
I've given you a lot of names. You have Kirksey Knicks,

524
00:35:46.519 --> 00:35:50.320
he's inside LSP and Angola and he's running things on

525
00:35:50.360 --> 00:35:54.239
the inside. You have Mike Gillich Jr. And he's running

526
00:35:54.280 --> 00:35:57.639
things for the Dixie Mafia on the outside. Then you

527
00:35:57.719 --> 00:36:02.639
have Nix's girlfriend in the fake paralegal Laray Sharp. She's

528
00:36:02.840 --> 00:36:06.400
helping Nix on the outside with collecting the money. You

529
00:36:06.519 --> 00:36:11.000
have lawyer Pete Hollett and he's on the outside laundering

530
00:36:11.079 --> 00:36:14.960
that money. And you have law partner and judge Vincent

531
00:36:15.119 --> 00:36:18.400
Sherry caught in the middle, not knowing a damn thing.

532
00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:22.000
And at this point a hit has been put out

533
00:36:22.320 --> 00:36:25.719
for his death by the Dixie Mafia over one hundred

534
00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:29.639
thousand dollars they believed that he stole. So this hit

535
00:36:29.719 --> 00:36:32.039
gets put out and the price tag for that double

536
00:36:32.119 --> 00:36:37.159
murder was reportedly around twenty thousand dollars, and Nicks coordinates

537
00:36:37.239 --> 00:36:41.400
with his trusted lieutenant on the outside, Mike Gillich, who

538
00:36:41.519 --> 00:36:45.519
was tasked with arranging the actual killing, and on the

539
00:36:45.599 --> 00:36:50.079
evening of Monday, September fourteenth, nineteen eighty seven, a guy

540
00:36:50.159 --> 00:36:53.760
by the name of Thomas Leslie Holcombe, who was a

541
00:36:53.840 --> 00:36:57.679
hit man from Texas. He enters the Scherry home in

542
00:36:57.760 --> 00:37:01.400
Biloxi now Vincent Sherry. He was in the den or

543
00:37:01.440 --> 00:37:05.000
the living area, and he gets shot at close range,

544
00:37:05.119 --> 00:37:08.719
reportedly just two feet away, with a twenty two caliber

545
00:37:08.840 --> 00:37:12.400
pistol with a suppressor on it. Margaret Sherry, his wife,

546
00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:16.159
was in the bedroom, probably undressing for the evening, maybe

547
00:37:16.199 --> 00:37:19.480
preparing for bed. And we know this because she only

548
00:37:19.519 --> 00:37:22.280
had one ear ring in her hand and the other

549
00:37:22.440 --> 00:37:25.000
was still in her ear She was pulling her earrings

550
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.000
out at this point. She was shot four times point

551
00:37:29.039 --> 00:37:31.800
blank in the head. And you have to wonder why

552
00:37:31.920 --> 00:37:36.159
kill them both? And this is multifaceted. First, it speaks

553
00:37:36.239 --> 00:37:40.039
to a major difference between the Italian mafia and the

554
00:37:40.079 --> 00:37:43.440
Dixie mafia. The Italian mafia had a lot of rules,

555
00:37:43.760 --> 00:37:46.440
and one of those was you don't mess with family

556
00:37:46.519 --> 00:37:49.840
when it comes to hits. Now, this is something they

557
00:37:49.880 --> 00:37:53.920
would absolutely never do. They would have waited till the

558
00:37:53.960 --> 00:37:58.119
guy was alone and no other family members were around

559
00:37:58.320 --> 00:38:02.119
or involved. It was a mood that the Italian mafia

560
00:38:02.199 --> 00:38:06.880
lived by. But that wasn't like the Dixie mafia. Remember,

561
00:38:06.960 --> 00:38:10.400
they had no rules, but there was also another piece

562
00:38:10.440 --> 00:38:14.159
to that Margaret Cherry was going to run for mayor

563
00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:18.000
of Biloxi, and in this time in history was when

564
00:38:18.039 --> 00:38:22.320
those giant casinos that you see now they were seeking

565
00:38:22.400 --> 00:38:25.599
approval from the state of Mississippi and also the city

566
00:38:25.599 --> 00:38:29.360
of Biloxi to be built, and she would have played

567
00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:32.840
a big role in that had she been mayor. And

568
00:38:32.880 --> 00:38:36.360
it was no secret that she was actually campaigning against

569
00:38:36.400 --> 00:38:41.159
the casinos coming to Biloxi, Mississippi. So some theorized it

570
00:38:41.199 --> 00:38:43.599
was kind of like a bonus for the Dixie Mafia

571
00:38:43.719 --> 00:38:48.440
because of course they wanted the gambling casinos to themselves.

572
00:38:48.559 --> 00:38:52.480
They had illicit gambling there. They didn't want legal gambling

573
00:38:52.559 --> 00:38:55.920
because it meant less money for them. So that's possibly

574
00:38:56.000 --> 00:39:00.320
the reason why both people were killed. Now, these murders occur,

575
00:39:00.679 --> 00:39:03.960
and believe it or not, that Sherris are not discovered

576
00:39:04.039 --> 00:39:08.480
for two days when Judge Vincent Sherry did not show

577
00:39:08.559 --> 00:39:12.159
up for court, his employees call his law firm and

578
00:39:12.199 --> 00:39:16.480
who answers the phone, but none other than Pete Hollett.

579
00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:21.159
Well already told you that Pete was deeply involved with

580
00:39:21.239 --> 00:39:24.039
the Dixie Mafia and that he was aware of this

581
00:39:24.199 --> 00:39:27.079
hit being put out as a matter of fact, it

582
00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:30.400
was his bullshit story that caused the hit. But of

583
00:39:30.440 --> 00:39:34.199
course he plays dumb on the phone. He acts surprised

584
00:39:34.280 --> 00:39:37.039
that the judge did not show up for court, and

585
00:39:37.079 --> 00:39:40.920
he does something that, looking back on this now seems

586
00:39:40.960 --> 00:39:44.039
pretty obvious and what have been kind of out of character,

587
00:39:44.119 --> 00:39:46.960
and that is he takes a junior lawyer with him

588
00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:49.760
to go check on the sherrys now. The reason he

589
00:39:49.800 --> 00:39:52.599
did this was so he would have a witness that

590
00:39:52.639 --> 00:39:56.119
they were dead when he got there. But he didn't

591
00:39:56.239 --> 00:39:58.679
tell the guy that, of course, he just said, hey, man,

592
00:39:58.719 --> 00:40:01.719
I want you to ribe with me because the judge

593
00:40:01.719 --> 00:40:05.519
didn't show up for court. So they arrived and Pete

594
00:40:05.840 --> 00:40:09.840
he is insistent on this junior lawyer going and knocking

595
00:40:09.920 --> 00:40:11.400
on the door of the house and he says, you

596
00:40:11.440 --> 00:40:13.679
could do that, and I'm gonna go talk to the

597
00:40:13.719 --> 00:40:17.960
neighbors and see if they've seen anything. And why did

598
00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:21.159
he do that, Well, it's because he knows what's in

599
00:40:21.199 --> 00:40:22.960
that house and he didn't want to be the one

600
00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:26.360
to discover the bodies and put any sort of arrow

601
00:40:26.440 --> 00:40:29.000
on himself, so he has the other guy do it.

602
00:40:29.119 --> 00:40:30.079
So the guy goes to.

603
00:40:30.079 --> 00:40:32.480
The door when he knocks on the door. It's actually

604
00:40:33.280 --> 00:40:36.800
halfway ajar, so it opens up. And at that point

605
00:40:36.840 --> 00:40:39.840
he calls Pete up to the front door and he says, hey, man,

606
00:40:39.880 --> 00:40:41.800
I'm knocked on the door and it's like open, And

607
00:40:41.840 --> 00:40:45.079
Pete plays dumb and he says, oh, they never leave

608
00:40:45.119 --> 00:40:47.880
their doors open. Something's not right. Let's go in there

609
00:40:47.880 --> 00:40:50.920
and look. Both of them proceed into the house and

610
00:40:50.960 --> 00:40:54.920
they find the Sherry's dead and they call police. Now,

611
00:40:55.360 --> 00:40:58.320
initially the police, they can see a lot of theories

612
00:40:58.360 --> 00:41:01.159
here as to why the people were killed. You got

613
00:41:01.159 --> 00:41:03.639
to remember, this is a judge. He's made a lot

614
00:41:03.679 --> 00:41:06.400
of enemies, He's put a lot of people in jail.

615
00:41:06.480 --> 00:41:10.039
So they're thinking, was this some sort of guy who

616
00:41:10.159 --> 00:41:12.280
got sentenced to prison and he got out and then

617
00:41:12.320 --> 00:41:15.440
he went and killed the judge? Did this have something

618
00:41:15.480 --> 00:41:18.440
to do with the casinos being built in Biloxi? And

619
00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:21.159
they just had no idea. But they knew one thing

620
00:41:21.239 --> 00:41:24.840
for sure, it was a professional hit because there was

621
00:41:25.039 --> 00:41:28.920
no evidence at all on the scene. Nothing, It was clean.

622
00:41:29.519 --> 00:41:32.199
And they also knew it wasn't a robbery because nothing

623
00:41:32.360 --> 00:41:34.960
was taken, and these people had money and they had

624
00:41:34.960 --> 00:41:37.280
a lot of valuables in that house. None of it

625
00:41:37.400 --> 00:41:40.760
was touched. So local law enforcement they worked the case,

626
00:41:40.880 --> 00:41:44.119
but the progress is slow. Biloxi had a history of

627
00:41:44.199 --> 00:41:48.440
corruption and ties to the Dixie Mafia underworld, and some

628
00:41:48.599 --> 00:41:53.519
officers and officials were compromised or they were intimidated and

629
00:41:53.679 --> 00:41:57.719
leeds would dry up. For nearly two years, those murders

630
00:41:57.800 --> 00:42:00.960
remained unsolved and the community lived with the fear that

631
00:42:01.000 --> 00:42:05.119
the killers were still out there. There was just nothing there, y'all,

632
00:42:05.159 --> 00:42:09.119
no evidence, nothing other than a broken silencer and a

633
00:42:09.119 --> 00:42:13.119
weapon that the police found much later on. But behind

634
00:42:13.159 --> 00:42:17.360
the scenes, the FBI was aware because they had been

635
00:42:17.440 --> 00:42:21.760
working the Lonely Heart scam and they were monitoring kirksing

636
00:42:21.880 --> 00:42:25.960
Nicks and his calls in and out of Louisiana State

637
00:42:26.039 --> 00:42:30.559
Penitentiary in Gola, and in nineteen eighty nine they opened

638
00:42:30.639 --> 00:42:34.280
up a formal investigation and they would get some breakthroughs.

639
00:42:34.920 --> 00:42:38.559
They would get phone records which would show massive numbers

640
00:42:38.599 --> 00:42:42.280
of calls between Gola and Biloxi, over three hundred in

641
00:42:42.400 --> 00:42:47.159
some periods, and that would link Nick's sharp Gillich in

642
00:42:47.199 --> 00:42:52.199
that law firm. They would also find money trails via

643
00:42:52.320 --> 00:42:55.519
Western Union from the gay guys that would send the

644
00:42:55.599 --> 00:43:00.519
money right. They would also get victim statements from tall targets.

645
00:43:00.960 --> 00:43:04.239
These gay guys would come forward in some cases and

646
00:43:04.239 --> 00:43:07.239
they would give statements of what was going on, and

647
00:43:07.280 --> 00:43:11.239
they had some informants that would actually pretend to be

648
00:43:11.480 --> 00:43:15.239
gay guys, and that's how they kind of exposed that

649
00:43:15.360 --> 00:43:19.800
whole lonely heard scam. So in nineteen ninety one, a

650
00:43:19.960 --> 00:43:26.840
major federal trial targeted Kirksy Knicks, Mike Gilitch, Scharie Laray Sharp,

651
00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:31.800
and others, and the charges would center around wire fraud, conspiracy,

652
00:43:31.880 --> 00:43:35.480
and travel in the aid of murder for hire related

653
00:43:35.519 --> 00:43:40.199
to those shared killings and Nicks, Gillich, and Sharp. They

654
00:43:40.280 --> 00:43:44.239
get convicted in this trial on key counts. Sentences would

655
00:43:44.280 --> 00:43:48.599
include additional time for Next because he was already serving

656
00:43:48.719 --> 00:43:53.400
life in prison. Mike Gillich would get twenty years because

657
00:43:53.440 --> 00:43:58.360
he cooperated in these cases, and Sharp would also get

658
00:43:58.400 --> 00:44:02.199
prison time. However, this trial did not fully resolve the

659
00:44:02.320 --> 00:44:07.000
murder conspiracy regarding Pete Hallett. They didn't have a whole

660
00:44:07.000 --> 00:44:10.719
lot of evidence on all lawyer Pete. So in nineteen

661
00:44:10.840 --> 00:44:13.920
ninety one, when all these people were convicted, it was

662
00:44:14.039 --> 00:44:18.519
really just a partial victory. Yes, they disrupted the scam

663
00:44:18.639 --> 00:44:22.159
and they put key players behind bars. But the full

664
00:44:22.239 --> 00:44:26.159
story of the Sherry murders required more. And the turning

665
00:44:26.239 --> 00:44:31.960
point would come when Mike Gillich, facing another sentence, decided

666
00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:36.079
to cooperate more fully. And this is in nineteen ninety four.

667
00:44:36.559 --> 00:44:41.519
His testimony would implicate Pete Hallett, who incidentally became the

668
00:44:41.559 --> 00:44:43.719
mayor of Biloxi, and I'll tell you about that.

669
00:44:43.599 --> 00:44:45.159
In a minute. It's going to blow your mind.

670
00:44:45.400 --> 00:44:47.920
But he would also state in open court the role

671
00:44:48.000 --> 00:44:51.920
of Thomas Holcombe as the shooter. This new information leads

672
00:44:51.960 --> 00:44:55.760
to a nineteen ninety six indictment with dozens of counts

673
00:44:55.840 --> 00:45:01.719
against Nicks, Hallett, Holcombe, Sharp and others. Charges included rico charges,

674
00:45:01.840 --> 00:45:04.920
murder for hire, and a slew of other shit. And

675
00:45:05.119 --> 00:45:10.039
these trials would unfold in nineteen ninety seven and Hattiesburg, Mississippi,

676
00:45:10.440 --> 00:45:13.920
and draw huge media attention. Now, as far as the

677
00:45:13.960 --> 00:45:18.480
prosecution's case, Mike Gillich would serve as the star witness.

678
00:45:18.840 --> 00:45:23.079
He would describe how lawyer Pete had stole that scam

679
00:45:23.159 --> 00:45:27.119
money and blamed it on Judge Sherry and participated in

680
00:45:27.280 --> 00:45:31.320
planning that hit. He also outlined the twenty thousand dollars

681
00:45:31.320 --> 00:45:36.840
contract and also outlined how the gun was transported to

682
00:45:36.920 --> 00:45:41.559
the triggerman. They also had financial records to back that up.

683
00:45:42.159 --> 00:45:45.880
Of course, they have witnesses and ballistics and all the things.

684
00:45:46.719 --> 00:45:48.079
And as far as.

685
00:45:48.000 --> 00:45:53.360
The defense, lawyer Pete, he challenged the credibility of informants

686
00:45:53.400 --> 00:45:55.519
because you got to think about it. These are all

687
00:45:55.639 --> 00:45:59.039
crooks saying that you did something wrong, so you're going

688
00:45:59.079 --> 00:46:00.079
to challenge that.

689
00:46:00.719 --> 00:46:01.920
But in the end.

690
00:46:02.000 --> 00:46:07.039
Everybody gets convicted again, but this time on conspiracy of murder.

691
00:46:07.119 --> 00:46:09.639
So it's worth pausing for a second because I want

692
00:46:09.639 --> 00:46:14.559
to work back to that mayor stint for lawyer Pete. So,

693
00:46:14.679 --> 00:46:17.960
while the investigation for the Sherry murders was unfolding, in

694
00:46:18.039 --> 00:46:21.760
the background, one of those central figures Pete Hallett. He

695
00:46:22.360 --> 00:46:26.199
was elected and served as mayor of Biloxi. He was

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00:46:26.239 --> 00:46:29.679
elected in nineteen eighty nine, which is two years after

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00:46:29.760 --> 00:46:33.480
the murder of his former law partner Vincent Sherry and

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00:46:33.639 --> 00:46:36.679
Margaret Sherry, and he took office at the time when

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00:46:36.719 --> 00:46:40.280
the city was still kind of reeling from those double murders.

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00:46:40.320 --> 00:46:43.920
Can you imagine that? And during his term he positioned

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00:46:43.960 --> 00:46:48.000
himself as a reformer and community leader. He focused on

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00:46:48.159 --> 00:46:52.960
economic development and tourism and cleaning up the city's image,

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00:46:53.199 --> 00:46:57.599
and was involved in efforts to revitalize the downtown area

704
00:46:57.880 --> 00:47:02.000
of Biloxi. The FBI investigation into the Sherry murders and

705
00:47:02.079 --> 00:47:06.519
the Lonely Heart scam was actively progressing during this period,

706
00:47:07.000 --> 00:47:11.440
and he reportedly was managing aspects of Nick's affairs on

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00:47:11.519 --> 00:47:15.760
the outside. So obviously his political career it would end

708
00:47:15.800 --> 00:47:19.840
after one term. He didn't seek or win reelection in

709
00:47:19.960 --> 00:47:24.679
nineteen ninety three, and of course, just a little while later,

710
00:47:25.239 --> 00:47:32.079
he gets indicted and convicted of conspiracy involving all of

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00:47:32.079 --> 00:47:35.199
that ship with the Sherry murders. So what happened to

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00:47:35.239 --> 00:47:38.639
these folks? Well, Kirksey Nicks, believe it or not, he's

713
00:47:38.679 --> 00:47:42.199
still alive. He's eighty three years old, but he's no

714
00:47:42.280 --> 00:47:45.239
longer in Angola. He is now at the Federal Correction

715
00:47:45.440 --> 00:47:50.239
Institution in Elreno, which is a medium security federal prison

716
00:47:50.360 --> 00:47:55.079
in Oklahoma. Thomas Leslie Holcombe, the trigger Man, he died

717
00:47:55.119 --> 00:47:59.199
in prison in two thousand and five. Pete Hollett, he's

718
00:47:59.239 --> 00:48:00.239
still alive.

719
00:48:00.239 --> 00:48:01.079
And a free man.

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00:48:01.280 --> 00:48:05.000
He was actually released in twenty twelve. He's eighty three

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00:48:05.079 --> 00:48:08.880
years old, and following his release, he spent time working

722
00:48:08.960 --> 00:48:12.840
as a church handyman in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, before returning to

723
00:48:12.880 --> 00:48:15.239
private life with his family, and to this day he

724
00:48:15.320 --> 00:48:19.239
maintains his innocence, publicly claiming he had no knowledge or

725
00:48:19.280 --> 00:48:21.880
involvement in the plot to kill his law partner. How

726
00:48:21.880 --> 00:48:26.079
about Laray Sharp, the former girlfriend of Dixie Mafia leader

727
00:48:26.159 --> 00:48:29.239
Kirksey McCord next junior, Well, she's been out of prison

728
00:48:29.280 --> 00:48:32.960
for twenty years and she lives a quiet private life

729
00:48:32.960 --> 00:48:36.280
in Florida. She's seventy one years old and has never

730
00:48:36.360 --> 00:48:41.360
done an interview, never since a release. Mike Gillich Junior,

731
00:48:41.760 --> 00:48:45.920
the mafia kingpin for the Dixie Mafia. He passed away

732
00:48:45.920 --> 00:48:49.760
from cancer on April twenty eight, twenty twelve, at the

733
00:48:49.800 --> 00:48:52.840
age of eighty two. He only served nine years in

734
00:48:52.960 --> 00:48:56.320
prison due to his willingness to cooperate with the Feds

735
00:48:56.760 --> 00:49:00.840
and another interesting thing about his family that the apple

736
00:49:00.960 --> 00:49:05.480
doesn't fall far from the tree. His son, Mike Gillich

737
00:49:05.639 --> 00:49:09.559
the Third, in November of twenty twenty two, was investigated

738
00:49:09.639 --> 00:49:13.400
after police were notified by a New Orleans hospital that

739
00:49:13.480 --> 00:49:16.599
a twelve year old girl disclosed sexual abuse by a

740
00:49:16.639 --> 00:49:21.280
family member. Forensic interviews revealed that Gillich the Third had

741
00:49:21.320 --> 00:49:25.519
been sexually abusing this young girl for five years, beginning

742
00:49:25.559 --> 00:49:29.119
when she was seven years old. Gillich the third was

743
00:49:29.199 --> 00:49:32.960
the boyfriend of the child's mother, and the abuse primarily

744
00:49:33.000 --> 00:49:36.000
occurred when the child would visit and the mother was

745
00:49:36.039 --> 00:49:39.360
away at work. So, following a three day trial in

746
00:49:39.440 --> 00:49:43.320
Harrison County, Mississippi, a jury deliberated for three and a

747
00:49:43.360 --> 00:49:46.719
half hours before finding him guilty, and he was sentenced

748
00:49:46.760 --> 00:49:50.360
to fifteen years in prison with three years suspended. He

749
00:49:50.480 --> 00:49:55.360
is still incarcerated today, and today that old strip in

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00:49:55.480 --> 00:49:59.800
Biloxi is transformed. Illegal gambling dens had given way to

751
00:50:00.119 --> 00:50:05.360
regulated casinos that bring tourism and major economic activity. The

752
00:50:05.440 --> 00:50:09.320
Dixie Mafia as it existed in its heyday is largely

753
00:50:09.360 --> 00:50:13.639
a thing of the past, broken by prosecutions, aging out

754
00:50:14.159 --> 00:50:18.679
and changing times, but its legacy linger and for us

755
00:50:18.719 --> 00:50:22.360
in Louisiana and across the South, the history is a reminder.

756
00:50:22.400 --> 00:50:26.679
It shows the dangers when crime goes unchecked, the importance

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00:50:26.719 --> 00:50:31.159
of clean law enforcement and a clean justice system, and

758
00:50:31.280 --> 00:50:34.440
the long reach of prison based crime. It all show

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00:50:34.559 --> 00:50:39.440
shows the resilience of justice when good people, investigators, prosecutors

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00:50:39.800 --> 00:50:42.840
refuse to stay silent. Now, if you enjoyed this one,

761
00:50:42.920 --> 00:50:44.760
please share it on your social media.

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00:50:45.079 --> 00:50:45.920
It really helps.

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00:50:46.039 --> 00:50:49.000
Drop us a review, share your thoughts, and if you

764
00:50:49.000 --> 00:50:52.039
would like to join the family on Patreon and get commercial,

765
00:50:52.039 --> 00:50:55.639
free early releases, bonus episodes, and more, check us out

766
00:50:55.679 --> 00:51:01.039
patreon dot com. Slash exposed podcast files and until next

767
00:51:01.079 --> 00:51:04.360
time for exposed scandalous files.

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00:51:03.960 --> 00:51:07.559
Of the elite. I'm your host, Jim Chapman. Much love,