Albert Frederick Ottow was born January 1893 in Dodge County, Wisconsin to German immigrants. As a young man, he moved with his parents to the Beloit area, where he would stay most of his life.
Already as a young doctor, he ran afoul of the law. In November 1922, federal authorities executed warrants arresting five medical professionals in Beloit for supplying narcotics prescriptions to addicts illegally (probably morphine). Ottow was released on $500 bond and managed to get out of trouble and retain his license.
December 1947, Ottow received publicity after marking a 50-year man’s death due to pneumonia. At the funeral home, it was found the man had been shot through the chest and had a collapsed lung. Ottow acknowledged he had seen a mark on the man’s chest, but said it was healed before he ever reached the hospital and had happened at least months earlier. Ottow was likely correct, but it’s probably fair to say the bullet was a contributing cause.
November 1962: A case against Dr. Albert Ottow for criminal abortion, started in April, is dropped when the star witness, Beverly Jean Merrill, goes missing from a state institution. Sam Cerro was working with Ottow at the time.
July 26, 1963: Following the complaints of three women (Beverly Claire Tuggle, Delma Hammond and LeRita Long), Dr. Albert Ottow, 70, and Sam Cerro, 37, were arrested for criminal abortion. The three procedures took place September 18 and 21, 1962, and February 4, 1963. Cerro was alleged to bring the women from Madison to Ottow’s Beloit office. Ottow was released on $15,000 bond. A rumor was circulating that an abortion “ring” was operating in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, but DA William Donovan said he had no evidence of that, saying, “We are concerned here only with the three charges.” Judge Edwin Dahlberg set August 5 for the preliminary hearing.
Following the charges, Ottow’s medical license was suspended. He attempted to get it back, but this was denied by Judge Edwin Wilkie pending the outcome of his trial. The denial was on technical grounds, with Wilkie saying attorney Darrell MacIntyre had not followed the proper procedure.
August 27, 1963: Ottow collapsed in court during his preliminary hearing after complaining of a racing heart. Tests showed he had suffered a heart attack. Doctors said he needed two or three days observation. After brief delays, the hearing continued and charges went forward.
September 14, 1964: Ottow filed a motion asking that his trial be separated from that of Sam Cerro. In an affidavit, Ottow claimed that Cerro and another man, both members of the Mafia, came to his office and demanded Ottow pay $5,000 to Cerro’s attorney. DA Donovan opposed the motion, and Judge Mark Farnum denied it.
On September 30, Rockford mobster Charles Vince called Dr. Ottow. We don’t know what was discussed.
October 5, 1964: The trial was set to start, but Ottow did not show up in court, claiming to be ill. Judge Farnum dismissed the jurors for the day, and sent Dr. Robert Chancey of Beloit to go check on Ottow and see if he was fit to stand trial. In fact, Ottow was in Mercy Hospital suffering from a “cardiac deficiency.” He had high blood pressure and a nervous condition.
On October 8, Judge Farnum granted Ottow’s previous wish: his trial would be separated from that of Cerro. Cerro, who was in court at the time, “flared up” at this change. He insisted it was better for him to go on trial with Ottow, as he needed Ottow’s medical knowledge for his defense. DA Donovan also mentioned Cerro might be tied to a second abortion doctor in Milwaukee, which angered Cerro.
March 2, 1965: Sam Cerro changed his plea to guilty and on March 15 was sentenced to three years in prison for aiding and abetting abortion. 16 letters were sent to the judge on Cerro’s behalf, and three witnesses testified to his good character: social worker Anthony Tartamella, Gary Messner of Messner Inc, and attorney Robert Klabacka. Judge Farnum was not swayed.
Rockford mobster Charles Vince called a pay phone at an A&P across the street from the office of Dr. Ottow, 550 East Grand Avenue in Beloit, on March 6, 1965. The same day, Vince also called Ottow’s residence. Ottow had also at one point been the victim of extortion because of his horse gambling. The extortionist (name redacted) scammed Ottow into thinking they could defraud the Chicago Outfit out of gambling money. After the setup, the extortionist claimed that “something went wrong” and began to take payments from the doctor for a period of multiple years.
Ottow was contacted by the FBI on September 22, 1965 while investigating Rockford mobster Charles Vince. Ottow declined to talk about Vince and said he (Ottow) was not engaged in any illegal activity at the present time.
December 13, 1965: Ottow’s trial was postponed yet again because he was admitted to the hospital. Judge Gary Sclosstein ordered the trial to begin 24 hours after Ottow was released.
February 4, 1966: Ottow’s case dragged on, now before its fourth judge, Richard W. Orton. The case had been delayed so long that William Donovan, former district attorney, was now a special prosecutor – he was no longer with the office, but had been attached to the case when he was two years prior. Defense attorney Darrell MacIntyre filed a motion to dismiss, noting a recent Supreme Court case said that a criminal warrant must be signed by a magistrate rather than a district attorney. Orton denied this motion, pointing out two years’ worth of documentation that Ottow had repeatedly submitted to the authority of the court, never questioning the legitimacy of the warrant. The warrant was handled properly at the time, and only recently did the Supreme Court change the rules, which was not to handled retroactively. Furthermore, the judge said, “In my judgment, it is ridiculous to grant a continuance when records show the doctor’s ability to work and attend social events. The doctor goes to the hospital when the chips are down and pops out when the heat is off.”
February 8: MacIntyre filed a motion asking Judge Orton to disqualify himself over his “prejudicial” remarks. MacIntyre said the statement “makes the defendant’s illness a fabrication and causes the defendant to be held in ridicule and contempt in his community and before his peers… (the statement) is prejudicial to the defendant and is uncalled for, unwarranted and contrary to the Canons of Judicial Ethics.” The motion was denied. MacIntyre asked the state Supreme Court to intervene, and they declined. He next asked the federal court, and Federal Judge James Doyle declined, saying it was a state matter.
February 16, 1966: The trial began and the first witness was Mrs. Beverly Tuggle, 30, who was clearly reluctant to talk. She told how in the fall of 1962, she joined Sam Cerro and a Madison couple to Beloit. There she underwent a 10-minute examination by Dr. Ottow.
February 17, 1966: Ivan Fry testified that Marion Roberts, the president of Foamulum Corporation and his former employer, lent him money in September 1962 so that he could arrange an abortion for a friend of his, a 30-year old divorced woman. (The woman’s name was not published by the newspaper but did come up at trial.)
February 18, 1966: LaVerne Stordock, an investigator for the attorney general, testified that they submitted a subpoena to get Delma Hammond, a former General Services Administration employee, to testify. However, she had moved to San Francisco and refused to cooperate. The state of California declined to honor the subpoena. Judge Richard Orton said he would consider allowing her testimony during the preliminary hearing to be entered into trial. He soon decided he would read it into the court record himself.
A divorced woman (not identified in Madison papers, but presumably LeRita Long) testified how she met Nicolo Safina at Troia’s Bar in August 1962. Safina was then the owner of the Italian Village, and the woman was soon hired. Not long after the hiring, Safina and the woman began an ongoing affair and the woman became pregant. Safina was married and told the woman an abortion was the only alternative because otherwise he would have to get a divorce. The woman agreed, and on the day of the abortion (February 4, 1963), Safina drove her to Sam Cerro’s place of business, Dane Chemical Company on Williamson Street. The woman was upset because she was “scared to death” of Cerro and expected Safina to take her. Instead, Cerro and another man drove her to Beloit, where Dr. Ottow gave her a shot in the arm and performed a procedure she described as more painful than childbirth. She was given two bottles of pills to help with pain and bleeding. Despite this experience, she continued her affair with Safina through May.
Also on the stand that day was Nicolo Safina himself. He first declined to answer, but was then granted immunity. He recalled how at some point in 1962 he was brought a check by Sam Cerro and Ivan Fry they wanted cashed. He refused, because the name on the $700 check was Marion Roberts. Cerro then offered him $15 and Safina agreed, cashing the check and giving Cerro and Fry $685. The canceled check was on exhibit in court. Safina confirmed what the divorced woman said, that he pushed for the abortion to save his marriage and business. From the Roberts check, he knew Cerro could get an abotion for $700, but actually only paid $400; Safina said he got a good rate because he and Cerro conducted business together.
February 21, 1966: Attorney General LeRoy Dalton revealed that the abortion investigation had actually been started by a tip from Marion Roberts. Up to this point, Roberts did not want his name made public, but after tesimony mentioned his role, he decided it was best to go public. Roberts had told Dalton everything back in 1962, under the condition he would be treated as a confidential informant.
February 23, 1966: Cerro was brought to Rock County from the Oregon state prison farm to testify. According to Cerro, he collected $700 from two different women and a lesser amount from a third, and turned every dollar over to Ottow. He further claimed that he was in the room while Ottow performed the abortions, and Cerro “comforted” the women. Cerro was asked about any interaction he had with Marion Roberts. According to Cerro, on one occasion he was called by Ivan Fry, and Fry said, “I want you to speak with my boss.” He then handed the phone to Roberts, who asked how much an abortion would cost. When Cerro said the price was $700, Roberts told him he could get the job done cheaper elsewhere, possibly as low as $400. Cerro told the court that, in fact, he himself had heard that prices were lower in Fort Atkinson. Roberts did, however, lend $700 to Fry to get an abortion for a friend of Fry’s wife, and this was the check cashed by Safina. When asked if he brought a “tough looking man” with him to threaten Ottow and get $5,000, Cerro said he had asked the doctor to borrow $5,000 from an insurance policy to help pay legal fees. He did not answer the question directly. Cerro even read from a notebook on the stand that he kept to help answer questions; he said women would ask him as many as 75 questions about what to do before, during and after their procedures.
Though Della Mae Hammond refused to return to Wisconsin to testify, the court worked around that on February 23. Dr. William Hobbins confirmed that he found her to be pregnant on August 28, 1962. A handwriting expert confirmed that Hammond’s writing was on a money order she took out from the university credit union to pay Cerro. And her earlier testimony was allowed to be read int othe record, including the alleged name of the father-to-be, John Howley.
February 24, 1966: The trial shifted from the prosecution to the defense. Right off the bat, two Madison police officers were called: Stanley Davenport and Kenneth Kahlhagen. They testified that Cerro had a “poor” reputation, but were blocked by the judge from answering if Cerro had threatened any of the witnesses. The court was actively trying to get Marion Roberts to appear, but every time they stopped at his home his wife said he was out.
Already by the morning of February 25, the closing arguments were made and the jury was sent out. Ottow declined to testify on his own behalf. The defense came down hard on Cerro’s testimony, saying he “may or may not” be in the Mafia, and was “ignorant” and “illiterate.” Attorney MacIntyre said Cerro’s high school had to “graduate him or make him the janitor.” After six hours of deliberations, the jury (8 men and 4 women) found Ottow guilty on all three counts.
On March 4, Judge Orton handed down his sentence: fines and court costs of $18,000, and three years of probation. Ottow would serve no time in prison. A week later, Ottow had paid $10,000 of the total.
February 15, 1971: Ottow, a free man, was approached by Charles Vince and had $2,000 taken from him at gunpoint. This was not the first time Vince had done it, so Ottow marked the bills and alerted the FBI. Vince was arrested soon after for extortion. He went on trial in May and was found guilty by a jury after 30 minutes. At trial, it was revealed that Vince had been referring women to Ottow for years to have illegal abortions. In July, Federal Judge James Doyle sentenced Vince to two years in prison.
Dr. Ottow died October 13, 1987, aged 94.