Blackie Sullivan
Frequent mob target John Sullivan, more commonly known as “Blackie”, and later “Blackie the Sieve”, was born on March 3, 1905. Later newspaper reports alleged that he sometimes used “John Paul Jones,” which they said was the name of his stepfather.
Note: The FBI File notes can be found here: https://kingsridgemedia.com/MM/blackie-sullivan-fbi-file-notes/
John “Blackie” Sullivan
Arrests
Although primarily a Chicago/Milwaukee figure, Sullivan first made headlines at 17, when he was arrested in Los Angeles on August 24, 1922 for suspicion of burglary. Charges were apparently dropped or never filed, however, as he was released.
Throughout the 1920s-30s, Sullivan was arrested a string of times in Chicago. First in June 1924 for robbery, and sentenced to ten years in Pontiac State Prison. He was transferred to Joliet State Prison and paroled in May 1929. Sullivan was arrested in May 1930 for conspiracy. He spent one day in the county jail before being returned to prison for the parole violation. He was re-paroled in July 1930 and discharged March 1, 1931. Sullivan was arrested for burglary in January 1932 but the charges were dropped. He was arrested for “V.S. #155 Chap #38” in September 1932 and was fined $25.
Sullivan was arrested for robbery in March 1934 in Chicago, but charges were dropped. He was arrested for robbery again May 28, with charges again dropped. A third arrest for robbery came on June 13, which yet again was dropped. Sullivan’s luck ran out when he was arrested for armed robbery in June 1934 and sentenced to life in Joliet prison. He was paroled on February 4, 1941.
Sullivan was picked up in Chicago on “general principles” on February 6, 1942 and March 9, 1944. He was called in for an investigation on February 16, 1945.
Sullivan, still on parole, was arrested on March 9, 1945 in Grand Crossing, Illinois by Sgt. John Sullivan (coincidentally). The ex-convict denied that he had stolen anything recently. He was hauled in for investigation on August 11, 1945 and June 14, 1946. He was discharged from parole on August 13, 1946, but called in yet again for investigation on October 7, 1946.
Sullivan Shot
Sullivan was shot and wounded January 27, 1947 outside the Torch Club on North State Street. He walked out of the club accompanied by two women, and recognized men he knew to be enemies. Sullivan tried to duck behind his automobile, but took a .38 bullet to the stomach. Police found his gun in the back seat of his car. At the hospital, Sullivan confessed that he knew who his assailants were, but declined to name them. Hospital staff said he was abusive and had attempted to flee.
John Golding, an associate of Sullivan’s, was shot and killed on February 14, 1947. Another ally, John Williams, was killed by Chicago Outfit associate Red Fawcett (who was soon also killed).
The home of Alderman John Duffy was bombed in March 1948. Police suspected Sullivan. An upholstering firm was bombed in April 1948. A few days before, Sullivan had threatened the owner.
Sullivan Shot Again
Sullivan was shot May 3, 1948 by a .45 slug at the corner of 73rd Street and Yale Avenue. His assailants were in a new car and fired twice — once into Sullivan’s car window and once towards Sullivan as he fled through a schoolyard. The second bullet shattered his right arm, and he was forced to take refuge inside an apartment building. From there, police took him to St. George’s Hospital, where doctors said his arm might have to be amputated and he was put under police guard. The newspaper pinned the shooting on Sam “Golf Bag” Hunt.
Slot Machines
Police rummaged through Sullivan’s pockets and found paperwork indicating that he had made considerable headway as an independent slot machine dealer… unfortunately, he was working in territory claimed by the Chicago Outfit. A slot machine was in his trunk.
The police picked up Harry Walsh for questioning, who had previously accused Sullivan of paying too much attention to his wife Muriel. They found Walsh in bed and he said he had been at a movie. Muriel Walsh took a lie detector test. She had known Sullivan for three years and had gone on several dates with him, but had not seen him in three months. She was released, but on her way out was served with a summons from her husband seeking custody of their 6-year old son Lawrence.
By May 7, Blackie was healthy enough to stand trial and was booked on charges of possessing a slot machine for gambling purposes. The next day, St. George’s Hospital received calls saying that an attempt might be made on Blackie’s life. He was transferred to Southtown Hospital and put under police watch. The charges were deferred to June 16, but Sullivan did not appear in court.
Two gas company employees were in a prairie on August 12, 1948 when they found a wallet belonging to Sullivan containing Sullivan’s drivers license, canceled checks and other personal papers. Police found more papers four blocks west. They believed Sullivan had finally been killed.
Getting a tip, detectives telegraphed police in Rochester, Minnesota. They confirmed that Sullivan was a hospital patient there. Sullivan spoke with the Chicago Tribune and claimed not to know how his wallet and papers ended up in the prairie. He said that he had left the Southtown hospital about a month ago and went to Rochester in order to have surgery performed on his shattered shoulder.
At this point, he began to spend more time in Milwaukee and less time in Chicago. Sullivan, in 1948, had planned to buy the Show Boat with Milwaukee mobster John DiTrapani acting as the front man, but was pushed out of Milwaukee by police on August 27, 1948, after being found at a hotel, and began staying at a cottage near Okauchee Lake, Waukesha County.
Sullivan Shot Again
Sullivan was picked up from a downtown Milwaukee tavern by four men on September 16, 1948. They drove him out to Waukesha County where he was badly wounded. He was hit with a blunt object before being dumped in a ditch; a bullet entered his cheek and shattered his jaw. One bullet hit Sullivan in the right arm, which was still in a cast from May. Another bullet was said to have missed Sullivan and hit one of the gunmen in the stomach.
A woman came by and saw Sullivan in the ditch. “At first I thought he was wearing a red sweater,” she said. “Then I saw it was blood. We thought he had been run down by a car. We stopped and he said, ‘I’ve been hurt. Will you take me to a doctor?’ We put him in a car and took him to Dr. Watry at Dousman.” Surgeons said the wound was not serious.
Waukesha County DA Homer Williams placed Sullivan under guard and potential arrest for obstruction of justice. Williams told the press, “I have not determined yet whether or not charges will be placed against Sullivan because of his physical condition. He refuses to say whether he knows the men or where he got into the car. All he says when we try to learn their identity is, ‘I’ll settle this in my own way.’ He says he was ‘framed’ into taking the ride.” This was due not only to Sullivan being a victim, but also the fact that if charges were pressed the county would be responsible for Sullivan’s medical bills. The attending physician said that Sullivan was “just about good enough for release” and described his condition as “satisfactory.” He received blood transfusions from two police officers.
John DiTrapani and Mike Albano
Sullivan later told Williams, “I saw (John DiTrapani) in the bank at Third and Garfield and I waited in the door and when he turned and saw me, he turned white. I said, ‘Hey, Grease Ball, how much money did you get to take me and dump me?’ He got $20,000 and Joe Alioto got $20,000. I wanted to know who paid the dough. (I was picked up) at 128 West Vine Street. We drove to the place on Kinnickinnic Avenue where they give you service in the car. We went and had a sandwich there. Then Johnny drove down to the Best Equipment Company. Next thing Johnny picked up two workers. Fellows in overalls and they had to work on a tavern in Delafield while he drove to Racine. We drove out Bluemound and then we came to Delafield and turned off on a gravel road and a wire went around my neck. My head was pulled down and after giving me a terrific beating I was shot in the head. Before I got out I asked Johnny to help me, and when I looked, he had my left arm and he said, ‘Give him another one quick.’ They fired once more. I was dragged approximately 50 feet. Johnny drove off with the other fellows in the car, and I walked.”
On September 29, Blackie’s slot machine trial was again delayed, this time due to his recent injuries. The Illinois court date was now set at November 26.
The Milwaukee office of the FBI received an anonymous letter on November 1, 1948 informing them that DiTrapani and Mike Albano were the ones who tried to kill Blackie Sullivan. Albano was brought in for questioning. He had a scar on the right side of his face that he claimed to get as a child when he fell on a wheelbarrow. Albano had no criminal record, but was believed to have been a Prohibition bootlegger. Authorities let him go when he denied knowing Sullivan.
Lake County police wanted to find Blackie and call him in for questioning in June 1949 after an alleged gambling hangout in Fox Lake, Illinois was bombed, but he couldn’t be found.
Sullivan Shot Again
Blackie was shot at — again! — on October 7, 1949. This was the fourth attempt on his life in the last two years. Sullivan and Edith Johnson were getting out of a car near her apartment on Vine Street. One shotgun blast came from a nearby Ford. Another man got out of the car and fired three revolver shots. No one was hit, but windows at a grocery store and nearby residence were shattered.
On October 11, Milwaukee police escorted Sullivan outside of city limits and made him promise not to come back — they told him they did not want him murdered in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee Police Chief Polcyn said on November 18 that Sullivan had pointed to a photo of his assailant in a rogues gallery album, and Polcyn asked the DA for a warrant against a Chicago tavern keeper. The next day, Sullivan denied that he named anybody. He told the press, “I’ve never met Polcyn… Polcyn sent a guy named (George) Sprague to see me but I gave him a lot of air.”
Slot Machine Charges
Chicago police picked up Sullivan on October 11, 1950 for his slot machine trial. When brought to court, Sullivan looked a mess. Once weighing 250 pounds, he was now nattily dressed and toothless. Sullivan told authorities he was living in Eau Claire but came to Chicago to have a prescription filled for his wife.
The Illinois state attorney’s office escorted Sullivan to the state line on October 13 and dropped him off in Wisconsin. He was acquitted of his slot machine charges on the promise that he would stay out of Illinois.
Sullivan Badly Injured
Sullivan was found badly injured on July 7, 1951 outside his home on South Layton Boulevard, with a fractured skull and broken collarbone. Police suspected he was beaten by three hoodlums, but he swore that he had fallen down the stairs. He was arrested for vagrancy and a violation of the narcotics laws. Sullivan was sent to the Mendota State Hospital for an apparent narcotics addiction.
Milwaukee police raided Sullivan’s home on July 16 after getting a call from a pharmacist. They found twelve sticks of dynamite, twelve detonating caps and thirty feet of fuse. Police speculated the dynamite might be from the same stock that was used in an attempted bombing of Joe Alioto‘s Kilbourn Hotel in March 1950 and a successful bombing of George Ebner’s bookie joint in Kenosha in October 1949. Edith Sullivan was arrested for narcotics when she went to pick up Sullivan’s Demerol prescription with forged papers. Also in the house were more prescriptions for Demerol and Nembutal, as well as a .38 revolver and cartridges. Edith told police she found the dynamite while cleaning out the attic of her old apartment on West Vine. Police instructed the Mendota State Hospital not to inform Sullivan of his wife’s arrest — they feared his “intense personality” and attachment to Edith and their daughter might cause him to attempt an escape.
By July 24, Judge Harvey Neelen declared that Edith was not a drug user. She was given a two year suspended sentence. Sullivan was released from Mendota on August 1 by his own request after doctors concluded he was not an addict.
Chicago Police picked Sullivan up as he was leaving a restaurant at the corner of Cornell and 79th on August 8, 1951. They charged him with disorderly conduct “for his own protection”. Sullivan said he had come from Burlington, Wisconsin for medical treatment.
Milwaukee
Chicago Judge Raymond Drymalski dismissed a disorderly conduct charge against Sullivan on August 10, 1951. Drymalski advised Sullivan to “go back to Milwaukee.” Captain Adolph Kraemer of Milwaukee said that if Blackie came back, he would be arrested for vagrancy.
On August 24, 1951, Edith Sullivan was charged with larceny for not returning a rental car within the 48 hours as agreed upon. The complaint came from the Milwaukee Hertz. Police suspected she might have traveled to Elkhorn, Wisconsin to meet her husband, who had been ordered to stay out of Chicago and was also banned from Milwaukee after being fired upon by three shotgun blasts.
On September 11, 1951, Sullivan began a six-month stay in the Milwaukee County jail for vagrancy. He was picked up after a bartender was suspicious of his identity and called police. The DA urged the jail sentence, saying Sullivan was “the most shot at man we have ever had here. He is a menace to the community.” Sullivan protested, “Can I help it if I am being shot at?”
Sullivan was arrested in his wife Edith’s hotel room at the LaSalle Hotel on January 22, 1952. Edith worked at the hotel and Blackie came in through a rear door, unobserved by staff. He was put in jail because he had been ordered to stay out of Milwaukee. Upon arrest, Sullivan had on “gaudy sports clothes,” a thick black mustache and was about 20 pounds heavier from the last time he was arrested. “Good living?” asked the detectives. “Yes, and regular exercise,” Sullivan replied.
John DiTrapani Murder
Sullivan was brought in for questioning on March 18, 1954, following the murder of John DiTrapani. Sullivan said he was working as a boiler maker and lived with his wife and two children. Sullivan said he had not seen DiTrapani since 1949 when they ran into each other at the Home Savings Bank and said hello (or Hey Grease Ball). They had also both been called in to Captain Kraemer’s office in 1949 when someone had put a bomb in the Kilbourn Hotel.
Police brought Sullivan to the station on April 14, 1954 to question him a second time about the DiTrapani murder. Sullivan offered to take a lie detector test, but requested the police stop harassing him, as it was interfering with his job. If the police continued to detain him without charges, he would file a restraining order against them.
Sullivan’s Death
Sullivan died following surgery on April 18, 1956, at age 51, in the Milwaukee County General Hospital. He suffered “surgical shock” and his reaction was intensified by the amount of scar tissue on his body from prior assassination attempts, particularly around his stomach.