Federal prosecutors dropped those charges and Gillich was the chief prosecution witness when Sherry's former law partner, former Biloxi Mayor Pete Halat, and three others were convicted in 1997. His funeral service will be private, said funeral director Whitney Lang, who declined to comment further on Monday. He was trying to earn enough money to buy his way out of prison. ? CARZOLI . Jan. 30BILOXI Novelist, journalist and television show host Dominick Dunne takes on Biloxis most notorious murder case Wednesday night on his Court TV show, Power, Privilege and Justice.. http://www.murderedinmississippi.com. (AP) _ Vincent Sherry and his wife were shot in cold blood after prisoners heard the state judge skimmed money from a scheme in which inmates bilked their homosexual pen pals, federal prosecutors say. There was lots of cross pollination between the two. Reward offered. As he was making his getaway from Corso's home, Corso . See Photos. A Tool of God book. These people are scum and need to know it. Peter J. Halat, Jr. is an American politician and lawyer who served as the twelfth mayor of Biloxi, Mississippi. Mahoney told the newspaper he thinks Halat was taken to a halfway house near Hattiesburg, Miss. See United States v. Sharpe, 995 F.2d 49 (5th Cir. In 1985 he gave his active practice in private law to take the Govonors appointment for Judge. He was then to make $100,000 payments every month for the rest of the year, when the balance would be due. Nix was suspected of killing Buford Pussers wife and wounding Buford. Each had. Biloxi's Sherry murders will be featured on Court TV. There is a good chance they had ties in Paducah, KY, back in the late 1950s and early 60s. The authorities had hoped to find massive sums of scam money in the boxes. Thomas Leslie Holcomb was given the handgun with a homemade silencer which he used in the killings by Kirksey Nix's girlfriend Sheri LaRa Sharpe, who in turn had received the gun from an enforcer for the Dixie Mafia named John Ransom who told her to give the gun to Holcomb for the hit on Mr. and Mrs. Sherry. According to court testimony, Halat knew about the murder plot against the Sherrys and failed to notify law enforcement. Marcus Wright speaks, Timeless counsel from our revered Dr. Rev. BILOXI- (AP) Mike Gillich Jr., a former Biloxi striptease lounge owner who helped plot the 1987 Dixie Mafia murders of a judge and the judge's wife, has died. Hi Anite Lee The real truth is going to be told. So savage has the atmosphere become, Blessey said, that he is the subject of constant rumors of the most lurid sort, including suggestionspublicly rejected by the policethat he was linked to the unsolved, hit-style slayings of a Biloxi judge and his politically active wife in 1987., http://articles.latimes.com/1988-12-21/news/mn-662_1_city-council. The prosecutors indicated in trial statements that Mr. Halat was the target of a continuing investigation into the scheme, but they have refused to talk about any inquiry related to him when questioned outside the courtroom. If convicted, the four defendants could face up to 30 years in prison and fines exceeding $1 million. We now have access to an enormous amount of additional research information Gillich was released from prison in July 2000, after serving nine years of a 20-year sentence, and died of cancer in April 2012. Former U.S. Attorney George Phillips, whose office first prosecuted the case, is also featured. [emailprotected]. Some honest people have come forward and shared information that I feel is credible. The prisoners would place personal ads in The Advocate, the national homosexual news magazine, Mr. Fabian said, and use various ploys to get money from the men who responded. Other Voices | Tom Callaghan: How Bad Do We Want It? Mr. Armistead has never said publicly what he did to get the 46-year-old Mr. Fabian to talk about the crime and the detective did not return several telephone messages seeking comment. John Ransom, Kirksey McCord Nix Jr., Sheri LaRa Sharpe, and former Biloxi mayor Pete Halat. This much is clear, gambling at Harrahs in New Orleans is not much different from the old days gambling with the local Dixie Mafia. I followed the link in your article and I see where your information came from. My brother and daddy were both murdered by these cowards and their deaths ruled as suicide due to the massive cover up by law enforcement then and now. But due to my fathers involvement in all this I was stopped seeking information. Shes on parole. Peti-tioner, a Biloxi attorney, who was aware of Nix's scam, All rights reserved, SpaceX Agrees to Have Starlink Avoid Interfering with Astronomical Work, Elon Musk Files Bid to Move Shareholder Fraud Trial to Texas, SpaceX to Raise $750 Million at $137 Billion Valuation. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Sheri LaRa Sharpe was released June 13, 2002, from a federal prison in Tallahassee, Fla., after serving five years for obstruction of justice. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. A Tool Of God Sherry Sheri Bahm's psychic journal illustrates the growin. It is my understanding that Kirksy McCord Nix will soon be rejoining Mule and the gang at Angola again. Please correct this fact! Neither contained anything and both had last been gone into to be inventoried upon my grandmothers and great aunts deaths some years earlier. 371 for conspiracy to violate the fraud-by-wire statute 1 and the murder-for-hire statute, 2 and for substantive wire fraud violations. Vince was often the one who banked the money for Nix. Nix and Nix's girlfriend, Sheri LaRa Sharpe, were . Curious. Decided: October 20, 1999 Before POLITZ, JOLLY and DUH, Circuit Judges. On Dec. 15, Federal marshals closed two of Mr. Gillich's strip clubs, saying they were being used for drug dealing. Neither the federal government or the state government or any court in this land will be able to prove the premise upon which the prosecution is based in Hattiesburg, Halat has said. See Photos. And now, four people are awaiting sentencing in Federal District Court in Mississippi for their roles in planning the scheme or the deaths of the judge and his wife. UGH. Email or phone: Password: . The house in o.s. I certainly remember this SCANDAL from when I was younger, but I certainly didnt understand it all then, and I am having a tough time understanding it now. One such ploy was to tell stories of inmates in jail on false charges who needed only a few hundred dollars to gain their freedom. []. I ever open till like a month ago. The casinos modern enforcer is the district attorney. Here is a look back into the Dixie Mafias history through two well-known members and their two most notorious victims. Circuit Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife, Margaret, were slain in their Biloxi home on Sept. 14, 1987, in a plot involving a lawyer, a Louisiana prisoner and a strip club owner. Several seemingly promising leads led the authorities to mob figures who refused to talk. As for organized crime members in the South, United States Attorney George Phillips said in a recent interview, "We certainly hope this deals them a major blow, but I don't have any illusions that this is the end of the Dixie Mafia. Harvey, like so many folks caught up in the old line vices, has an obsessive compulsive disorder: compulsive gambling. My mother graduated high school in Japan. History. Both Gillich and Salisbury were charged with bribery of a witness. Copyright (c) 2007, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022). Aaron Broussards ghost is alive and well at Kenner City Hall, BREAKING: Louisiana Ethics Board files charges against, a link to an extensive account of the murders and history of theDixieMafiososthat felt free to greenlit a sitting Circuit Court Judge written for TRU TV and for those with some time to kill is also a must read, after a life of crime that culminated in the hit on Italian Mobster Frank Corso, Sir James over at the T-P wrote a column yesterday, John Harvey, a car dealer from Mississippi, who owes $1.5 million to Harrahs, https://gofundme.com/murdered-in-mississippi, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, Please Support Journalism in the Public Interest, Other Voices | Tom Callaghan: DeSantis Stars; Pelosi Exceeds; Trump Irrelevant, Other Voices | Tom Callaghan: Still Catholic Despite the New York Times. When I identified the alleged perpetrator from a police line up and disclosed info. And Lynn, I totally believe you are right- The money was taken by Pete Halat- I tried contacting you many times with the new information concerning the murders of your mom and dad. The deceased Frank Corso was not a mafioso! Sharpe, 36, who once worked in Sherry's law office, pleaded. BILOXI, Miss. Halat was elected mayor 1989 and lost a re-election bid in 1993. For three weeks, spectators have packed the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering Sr. When money came up missing, Halat blamed Sherry, who had by then left their Biloxi law practice for his Circuit Court judgeship. The story is out there and by story I dont mean Mississippi Mud, the Sherry family sourced book which unfairly IMHO impugned former Biloxi Mayor Gerald Blessey due to his prior history of locking horns politically with Margaret Sherry when she was on the city council. Includes Address (5) Phone (5) Email (4) See Results. Gillich turned government witness after being caught in taped telephone conversations urging his girlfriend, Frances Salisbury, to pay a trial witness to change his testimony. ", See the article in its original context from. That was a violation of a clause in his repayment deal. Halat told WLOX-TV that he had absolutely nothing to do with the murders of Harrison County Circuit Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife, Margaret, in 1987. Bradford OKeefe Funeral Homes in Biloxi [], Copyright @ 2022, The Mississippi Link - Site Designed by No Regret Media, Mike Epsy: Statment of Candidacy for United States Senate, KATRINA: Jordan family reflects on unforgettable experience, Remembering Katrina: I didnt plan to evacuate, Amber Alert: Two year old Myra Lewis is missing, Cover Mississippi, kickoff campaign launches this Friday at Metro Mall, Mississippi Link Exclusive: Sgt. You will also find information about the World Chess Championship - including game mode and prize money. If possible, please provide information about who will be the casters and whether the stream will have the live feed of Carlsen and Nepo. In the meantime, Pete Halat continued his mayoral campaign and became the 12th mayor of Biloxi, Mississippi. occupied by LaRa & Nix From its 17th-century French origin through the mid-1950's, when a Senate panel counted more than 300 gambling establishments in Biloxi and surrounding Harrison County, officials were unable or unwilling to suppress it. The phone number they obtained for her turned out to be the number of the Halat & Sherry firm. But when he turned up with the second installment, Caesars declared the deal was off and he would have to cough up pronto or face prosecution. Vince, particularly, seemed fascinated by this underground culture, according to accounts. I know more and you do about the Miss Dixie Covers with Judge Vincent Sherry. A career criminal arrested 20 times by age 40, the younger Nix is a reputed leader of the Southern underworld known as the Dixie Mafia. ALSO KNOWN AS SAXON TALES SAXON CHRONICLES IN THE USA AND THE WARRIOR CHRONICLES AND SINCE. Members were not united by heritage and had no known hierarchy or oath. "To those who supported us -- and there are so many -- words are inadequate to express the depth of our gratitude. To those who have been unsupportive and always wanted to believe the worst, we refuse to wallow in your clouded judgment," Brandyn Halat Skeen said. Glen Joseph Cook, 71, a former police officer and strip-club owner, was released from prison in 2012. One access was with Lara Sharpe who borrowed money on at least one occasion and told Nix who decided she did not need to enter the box. Gillich was released from prison in July 2000, after serving nine years of a 20-year sentence. Gillich said he and Nix arranged the murders because of missing profits from a prison scam run by Nix. Sentencing by Federal District Judge Charles Pickering in Hattiesburg is set for Jan. 14. Please contact me on any info you have on Frank Corso he is a family member and I have never heard of any Italian macie ties [emailprotected]. The Sherrys oldest daughter, Lynne Sposito, was a persistent figure in the murder investigation. In the 1980s, Bobby Joe Fabian, Dixie Mafia kingpin Kirksey McCord Nix Jr. and other inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola began running lonely-hearts telephone scams that mainly targeted homosexual men who sent thousands of dollars, thinking they were helping young men get out of minor scrapes with the law and join them. For those of you with an interest in this subject, which inspired several books and at least one documentary, Anitas story is a must read along with the reader comments as the descendants of the felons involved remain firmly in denial. The truth is going to be told. Yesterday, Sun Herald reporter Anita Lee did a "subsequent event" update of those still living that were involved in the murder conspiracy involving Circuit Court Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife Margaret way back in 1987. Indeed it stated that you even hugged Gillich. Instead, we chose to persevere and overcome an injustice that no family should ever have to experience.". SHERI LARA SHARPE A. Whatever it was in Vinces case, it kept him and his wife in a comfortable lifestyle; one about which Margaret couldnt have complained too much, even if she disapproved of the ways her husbands clients likely came by their money. The murders were set up by Biloxi striptease lounge owner Mike Gillich Jr., a friend to Halat and Sherry, and a longtime acquaintance of the Louisiana inmates. As a result of this new information a grand jury issued a fifty-two count indictment against Nix, Holcomb, Halat, and Sheri LaRa Sharpe ("Sharpe"). These were prominent people, said Dunne, who has covered the O.J. the new Fibromyalgia Treating by RedOrbit! in late 1960s my grandfather was stationed in Japan. If you want their case reopened Please help me do so. BILOXI, Mississippi -- Mike Gillich Jr., a former Biloxi striptease lounge owner who helped plot the 1987 Dixie Mafia murders of a judge and the judge's wife, has died. The echos of this Dixie Mafia inspired hit still reverberate across the Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans to this day. See Photos. Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Homes in Biloxi confirmed Gillich's death. The couple, Vincent Sherry of the Second Mississippi District Circuit Court, and his wife, Margaret, were found dead in their home in a quiet north Biloxi neighborhood on Sept. 16, 1987. I have never heard of him. . My dad protected me from all the court dates and drama as best as he could to protect me. One dead, one in critical condition in Biloxi murder and attempted suicide, coroner says, Biloxi man sentenced to 20 years for manslaughter, Murder warrants issued for Alabama teens in killing of man in MS Coast casino parking lot, Alabama man sentenced in shooting of Moss Point police dog and trying to escape from jail, Gulfport police searching for armed and dangerous man connected to murder case. Slabbed ISSN 2572-1437 is the copyrighted property of Slabbed New Media, LLC 2007-2021. Gillich died in April. Peter J. Halat, Jr. (born July 27, 1942) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the twelfth mayor of Biloxi, Mississippi.