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Last Days of Buster Balestrere and Joe Gurera

8 min read

Buster Balestrere and Joseph Gurera both grew up in Kansas City at a time where the Mafia had infiltrated local politics. Both came from families with Mafia roots. As adults, they married two Marchese sisters, making them something like brothers-in-law. By the 1960s, they were often mentioned together and considered to be good “enforcers” for the mob in Kansas City.

When Frank Balistrieri took over Milwaukee around 1961, he soon had the pair “imported” to work for him to put fear in the local bookies and make sure they pay up. Buster was a distant cousin of the Balistrieri family (the names are spelled different but have the same origin), and also related through marriage. His sister Mary was married to Peter Balistrieri, Frank’s brother. His sister Katherine was married to John Picciurro, Frank’s uncle. It was a very tangled web of blood and marriage.

Although the pair apparently did a good job as enforcers, they were not well-received in Milwaukee. Other Mafia members were offended that they were passed over for the job by two outsiders. The sudden presence of two men with a violent history showing up in Milwaukee also caused police and FBI pressure to increase dramatically. There was constant surveillance and questioning of the two and their primary contact in Milwaukee, Steve DiSalvo. They would claim to be in the asphalt business or dry cleaning but never did any work. Finally, in January 1963, when Gurera was linked to the disappearance of Kenosha jukebox distributor Tony Biernat, the heat was too much and the pair moved back to Kansas City in March 1963.

Gurera would make occasional visits to Milwaukee after, and always brought heat with him. On September 4, 1963, FBI agent John Holtzman spoke with Frank Balistrieri at Gallagher’s, asking him if Joseph Gurera was in town. Balistrieri was annoyed at being asked, but conceded he would probably know and did not believe Gurera was around. Balistrieri said the FBI was “wasting time” in investigating him when they should be looking into the “Irish politicians” who let prostitution, narcotics and other awful things happen in Milwaukee. When asked if he could provide specifics, Balistrieri said he would not tell the FBI or law enforcement about any crime unless it was a matter of national security like Communism. Balistrieri wanted to know what he did to get the FBI’s attention and they would not say, but returned to the topic of Gurera. When asked if Balistrieri brought Gurera to Milwaukee, Balistrieri claimed he did not even know Gurera’s full name until he arrived in Milwaukee and was introduced by Buster Balestrere. He said Gurera moved to Milwaukee to put his kids in a new school. Gurera was unable to find a job or a house, so he moved back to Kansas City.

Buster Balestrere was interviewed by the FBI at Peppino’s Pizzeria in Kansas City on November 7, 1963. He said he had been harassed by the police in Milwaukee and things were published about him being involved in criminal activity that were not true. Balestrere appeared to be bitter and used profane language when mentioning the Milwaukee police. Balestrere said he returned to Kansas City of his own volition and was not ordered to do so. He was now happily working for his brother James, who owned Peppino’s. Balestrere said the interview from FBI agents could be seen as a continuation of the harassment he received in Milwaukee, and if it continued he may have to quit his job to avoid embarrassing his brother. When asked about Joseph Gurera, Balestrere said he was operating a pizzeria and laundromat in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Around April 1964, Joseph Gurera suffered a heart attack. In December 1964, he was reported to be very sick.

Side note: September 24, 1964: Charles Lindberg Pierson, after being arrested for armed robbery, told the FBI about the murder of Teamster Floyd Hayes on June 11 outside a bowling alley in Kansas City. According to Pierson, the killers were John Calderone and Carl DeLuna, and one of the guns used was sent to them from Milwaukee by Buster Balestrere. That gun came from a Wisconsin sporting goods store theft. I don’t know enough about Kansas City generally or this murder specifically to really comment on it beyond the basic facts. Hayes was suspected of siphoning off between $50,000 and $200,000 from Teamsters funds, and at the time of his death he was a cooperating witness with a federal grand jury looking into Teamsters corruption. Hayes was so afraid of being murdered, he had a remote starter installed on his car to prevent being bombed. I have no doubt the Mafia killed him, but specifically who or if Buster was involved, I have no idea.

Buster Balestrere was arrested in Kansas City on August 9, 1965 on gambling charges stemming from a John Doe in Kenosha. He refused to waive extradition and a hearing was set for September 7. He did not attend. In February 1966, when his brother-in-law John Picciurro died in Milwaukee, he declined to attend the funeral because he suspected the John Doe arrest warrant would be served on him if he entered Milwaukee.

April 26, 1966: With an extradition warrant issued for his arrest, Buster Balestrere surrendered voluntarily at Kenosha.

May 24, 1966: SA George Lueckenhoff stopped in the Nothing Special bar (3323 Main Street) to talk with Buster Balestrere. Buster acknowledged he had surrendered to a gambling charge in Kenosha. He felt he could have fought extradition, but it wasn’t worth the trouble because the charge was “political” and had no basis. Asked to explain what this meant, Buster said the charge was for “public consumption” and nothing more. Since he was 15 years old, law enforcement routinely harassed him and felt he had knowledge on organized crime that he did not have. This was just one more time, and he had nothing to say to the people in Kenosha. Buster told the agent he had no issues with being courteous and speaking with law enforcement, but he would not talk about other people. He said he was trying to distance himself from those in Kansas City with a bad reputation.

January 27, 1967: The Kansas City FBI considered pursuing Buster Balestrere as an informant. Over the past several months, he was speaking more freely with Agent Lueckenhoff and it was felt he may be vulnerable.

May 1967, Buster Balestrere was fined $500 and $287 in court costs (to cover his extradition hearing) by Judge Morton when he pleaded to a reduced charge of gambling. Newspapers called Balestrere the “gambling kingpin” of Racine and Kenosha. Whether Balestrere knew it or not, by pleading guilty, he now made himself ineligible for a liquor license – even in Missouri – making it harder to run a tavern or restaurant.

June 23, 1967: An agent spoke to Buster Balestrere in Kansas City. Most of what was talked about doesn’t matter for Milwaukee, but Balestrere did say Joseph Gurera recently had another heart attack.

Joseph Gurera’s funeral was held December 31, 1967 and January 1, 1968. Virtually every Kansas City mobster attended. Were any Milwaukee guys there?? His death at age 42 was largely under the radar – Milwaukee newspapers did not report it until July, at which point they alleged he had confessed to his role in the Biernat murder in his final days. (I doubt this.) One article also identified Joseph “the Viper” Guarniere as a Biernat killer, which I also find unlikely. For much, much more detail on the Biernat murder, please see my book Shallow Grave.

Agent Russell Girsch stopped by the Wander Inn (4222 East Ninth) to speak with Buster Balestrere in March 1971. Buster said he had expected a visit because he was recently at Joseph Balistrieri’s funeral in Milwaukee and saw police officers writing down license plate numbers. He said he had been harassed by police since he was 16 years old when he was caught selling a pint of whiskey. Buster said his brother owned the Wander Inn and his wife was the license holder because Buster could not get a license. He was still very involved because his wife knew nothing about ordering supplies. Buster was also upset he had to curtain off the dance floor because bands were too expensive. He said because of law enforcement harassment, he could not get a job. The agent asked if he could get a laboring job, and Buster said he had too many accidents. He said one time he was helping a kid fix a car and the kid squirted something into the carburetor – this caused a fireball to flare up and burn Buster’s face. He again expressed anger with law enforcement and said he had served overseas in World War II as part of the Fourth Infantry and received an honorable discharge – he felt this discharge was as good as a presidential pardon and he shouldn’t have his youthful mistakes held against him. Buster acknowledged knowing Milwaukee Phil Alderisio for a long time, back when Phil was a boxer, and would still get updates from Phil as he moved through the prison system. He said Kansas City was going downhill and the good old days were when Tom Pendergast was in charge and there was no robbery or rape in the city. He admired Adlai Stevenson, but said the Kennedy family was awful, especially Bobby Kennedy.

October 26, 1971: Agent Russell Girsch again met with Buster at the Wander Inn. Buster was drinking and said he would chat, but would not discuss anything about organized crime. He introduced his wife to the agent, and said she was working more as a waitress because they couldn’t afford to hire one. The customers were mostly elderly. Buster went on a rant about the government and how it fools the people. He said a statistic called alcoholism the greatest social evil, but this was nonsense – it was manipulated because police would blame alcohol for bad driving when it was really someone on pills or dope. He said the government did many things undercover the people would not approve of, and suggested that the government should round up pimps and dope dealers and shoot them, and then tell the American people a fabricated story about what happened to them. He knew this was strong language, but explained that he had kids of his own and would personally kill anyone who tried to hook them on dope or pimp them out.

Girsch stopped back briefly in April 1972, and Buster said his life was uneventful. He knew that Milwaukee Phil had recently died in prison and that was all he had to say.

By mid-1973, Buster moved to Las Vegas where he ran Antonio’s Delicatessen in the Tropicana Shopping Center for his brother James. By 1974, he was working as a bartender for the MGM Grand. There was no indication he was involved in any Mafia activity in Vegas.

Buster Balestrere died in April 1977 at the age of 58. His funeral was well attended by Kansas City mobsters, as well as some men from Milwaukee (most notably Peter Balistrieri). Based on conversations at the funeral, the FBI determined that Buster was well respected in the Mafia even if he had not been active for some time. Buster left behind his wife, one son, and three daughters. (His daughter Jody passed in 2006, his wife Rose passed in 2020.) Although Buster often compalined of being broke, his children apparently fared better – he has multiple doctors among his descendants.