This guy might be at the top of my list of most intriguing mobsters. Even more so than the New York guys. He went out to Hollywood and helped the Outfit control the movie studios in the 40's. In the 50's he went to Vegas to oversee the Outfit's casino interests. Then in the 60's he was a part of the group that was approached by the U.S. government to assassinate Castro. Imagine the secrets he took to his grave.

He was a CIA rat! Then he gets sawed in half and thrown into the ocean. Yeah real intriguing! Guy was a closet fag too! Him and Galante were an item! Just what I've heard.

Wow. Really? Where did you hear that EHI? Dang...

I heard he was an item with Jimmy the Weasel and that's who started calling him Handsome Jonny!

The guy is intriguing I will give you that. After Giancana was killed, I think Jonny knew it was coming. Supposedly Aiuppa and the new powers in Chicago let Trafficante know they would not object if he was whacked. Trafficante was the real one who took all those CIA secrets to his grave (of his own volition).

I don't know if you guys are bullshitting or not but who gives a damn if he was gay. He played a huge role during the height of the Outfit's power. I would love to hear more of his story.

Definitely wasn't gay...he banged a lot of the hottest women in Hollywood during his day. I don't know much about him because he wasn't from Chicago but I do know that he was close with Sam Giancana but not liked by Joey Aiuppa. When the Outfit's power structure changed to Aiuppa calling the shots, he had no more guardian angels from Santo Trafficante (who was ultra paranoid over the entire CIA mess).

Others think Aiuppa ordered the hit himself to ensure no Giancana loyalists remained. Here is a good read on it:

http://ganglandchicago-offthecuff.blogspot.com/2010/09/chicago-style-wings-ribs.html

See the Giancana era in Chicago is my favorite to read about, even more so than the 70's with Spilotro and the casinos. Gus Russo's books on the Outfit tells the story of how close the mob was to the presidency of the United States during the 1960 election. I love the stories about Sinatra, Giancana, and JFK. Probably why I'm so interested in Roselli.

I have a few stories saved on the Giancana/Accardo era. you may have already seen then, but I'll post them anyway.

Here's a pretty good article that kinda sums up what happened when Giancana returned from Mexico.

Hope it opens. Let me know.

http://books.google.com/books?id=5ugCAAA...ged&f=false

Here's another one from the FBI files.


http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=139578&relPageId=2

Good stuff, Gary. Thank you.

This is what I thought.

First things first: As an expert in Johnny Rosselli, having talked to many of his friends and read THOUSANDS of pages of FBI documents, trust me: he wasn't gay. He was a player in Hollywood and Vegas (both with the ladies and with the powerbrokers), was highly respected by many of the most important gangsters of his day, and was one of the most intriguing and influential figures of the 20th century. In my research, I've discovered that he was the Kennedy's personal gangster when it came to handling situations on the west coast that required tact and discretion, including setting up "parties" for JFK. Yes, he did work with the CIA, which was not uncommon for mobsters of that era, especially when their interests coincided, as they did in their attempt to oust Castro. Most of all, he was a man who eschewed violence and was known as the Henry Kissinger of the mob, settling beefs between antagonists and showing how everyone could win.

First things first, are you an expert "in"? Johnny Roselli? If so and your a guy you just proved he was gay!

And it was a joke! Done as humor.

funny joke.. ahem anyways that whole situation such a conspiracy imagine being one of these gangsters with thia much power n secrets. also i cant believe how powerful santo trafficante was and theres not even a family left out of it. this guy put more hits out then ike turner all over the country. how can such a heavy hitting family disappear.

Johnny Roselli was a lot of things, including a rat. He ratted out members of Detroit and St Louis on their Vegas activties. In addition to his work with the CIA, I think this is why he ended up in a barrel floating in the ocean.

Roselli probably would have backed gay marriages!

My two cents on why Roselli was killed. Murray Humphreys hated Roselli for how he was conducting himself and Accardo concurred. You add that with how the new street boss, Aiuppa wanted both the soldiers and capos with Giancana ties killed and that's a deadly combination. The Humphreys thing started when Roselli started partying, hanging out with starlets. He came over to a table where Humphrey's wife was sitting one night and opened with a story of him killing a civilian (he had killed the wrong guy). Humphreys was so shocked he went off fuming to Accardo. Also let's not rule out Santo Trafficante's role in the murder. He's probably the biggest enigma of all the major dons throughout history. We really don't know much about him or his crew, or even his stance on Cuba. It could have been Santo as well.

I guess the point is Roselli had ran out of friends and made far too many enemies. It could have even been the CIA.

Tony do you really think Roselli was a rat? I can see it happening. He was an aggressive guy and St. Louis and Detroit had their own little thing going on that kept cutting Chicago out.

Thanks. You just answered my question about why Accardo didn't like Roselli. I've read several articles about Accardo's dislike for Roselli, but I never read an explanation why. I thought it might have had something to do with Roselli's flamboyant lifestyle, etc.

Thanks again.

Accardo knew Roselli was a closet tag and hated him for it. Only two men I've heard been called flamboyant are Liberace and Roselli! And there's little question about each. Why do you think he was cut in half? It was a message "this is what happens to half a man"

Gotti was flamboyant.

I found a book today called Ultimate Sacrifice on google books. In the chapter on Cuba, I found some interesting facts on Roselli.

-He went really out of his way to cultivate a partnership with Carlos Marcello. Roselli was well liked by the Guatemalan army because he had exposed them to the thrill of illegal gambling. Consequently this gave him some power with Guatemalan officials. When Carlos Marcello turned up in 1956 looking for a chance to beat deportation, Roselli helped him gain a forged birth certificate from Guatemala. He also helped a Marcello-owned company gain a lot of influence within the country. In the end Marcello rewarded him with a partner share in The Tropicana Casino (Cuba).
-He held connections to just about everybody. Everybody knew Handsome Johny. In the 50's he was so powerful he was almost on the level of a don (speculation)
-Obviously his power fading as time went on and his connections were no longer useful to dons around the country

From the glamor of hollywood to the grime of chicago, mingling with latin america, running casinos all over the world and forging ties to not one but three or four dons. Honestly I can't name a mobster who was more diverse in their dealings. Flamboyant or not he was obviously very effective at whatever he set his mind to.

Sorry for the long post.

"Liberace, John Gotti at the same damn time!" "Huh!"

In 1975 Frank Church and his Select Committee on Intelligence Activities interviewed Roselli about his relationship with the secret services. It emerged from this interview that Roselli and fellow crime boss, Sam Giancana had taken part in talks with the CIA about the possibility of murdering Fidel Castro. Roselli also claimed that a CIA hit team that had been dispatched to Cuba had been "turned" and used to kill Kennedy.

The following year the Select Committee on Intelligence Activities decided to recall Roselli. Soon afterwards Fred Black called him and warned him that Santos Trafficante had taken out a contract on his life and that the "Cubans were after him".

In July 1976, Roselli left home in Florida to play golf. He never arrived at the golf course and ten days later his body was found floating in an oil drum in Miami's Dumfoundling Bay. He had been garroted. Roselli's legs had been sawed off and squashed into the drum with the rest of his body.

Jack Anderson, of the Washington Post, interviewed Roselli just before he was murdered. On 7th September, 1976, the newspaper reported Roselli as saying : "When Oswald was picked up, the underworld conspirators feared he would crack and disclose information that might lead to them. This almost certainly would have brought a massive US crackdown on the Mafia. So Jack Ruby was ordered to eliminate Oswald."

The House Select Committee on Assassinations managed to obtain the records of an FBI wire tap on Santos Trafficante. On the tape Trafficante was heard to say "now only two people know who killed Kennedy and they aren't talking."

Why does everyone overlook he was a closet homosexual? Not that there's anything wrong with that!

I can't understand why you're so hung up on some rumour you heard that defies logic and the facts. You really think a trusted gangster would have survived and prospered in the Mob for 50 years as a homosexual, closet or othewise? Just because you "heard" it or read it on some blog doesn't make it so. I suggest you study the thousands of pages of FBI surveillance files on Rosselli, as I have, and then show me where he's living a secret gay life. Good luck with that.

As for why Rosselli was killed, it was because he was about to talk to Congress about the JFK assassination, and the Mafia co-conspirator he was going to talk about, Santo Trafficante, was the one who had him murdered. Johnny knew it was coming, knew it was Santo, and told his friends about it when he came out to LA to say goodbye (yes, I've talked to those friends in depth, and none of them are gay, BTW). Johnny accepted his fate and did nothing to avoid it. He had lived the later years of his life in pain from TB, Emphysema, and Arthritis, and he was ready to pack it in.

Rosselli's murder was OKed by Chicago, which was not a big deal to them, since Rosselli was out of the picture by then. Tony Accardo never liked him, and had always been jealous of Johnny, going back to the days when Capone took a liking to Rosselli (and not in a gay way, in case you're interested).

As for him being cut in half when he was killed, it wasn't to send a message about him being half a man. Where did you get that? He was supposed to disappear. They stuffed him in an oil drum and dumped him in Dumfoundling Bay so he'd never be found! They cut him in half because they couldn't fold him into the oil drum after rigor mortis had set in. They punched holes in the barrel so the gasses from the decomposing body could escape, and the oil drum would stay at the bottom, but they didn't punch enough holes. He wasn't supposed to be found.

Can't wait for your next bad joke.

Accardo jealous of Rosselli! That's a joke. Rosselli couldn't shine Accardo's shoes.

There are different aspects to be jealous of. Maybe Accardo was jealous of Roselli because he was more of a ladies man than him...

EHI, I have to say you are a tard.

Don't think this was Accardo as much as Aiuppa. Santo wanted this guy clipped and when Giancana died, Jonny Roselli had no more friends left in Chicago. Aiuppa gave Santo the go-ahead.