William Penn Cole was born May 11, 1908 in Hannibal, Missouri and was raised there and in Beggs, Oklahoma
around 1916, when William was 8, his father Earl Cole deserted the family and was never heard from again. William’s mother would get remarried in June 1936 to a man named Edgar W. Stutz. Stutz died in 1950.
1920, William’s only sibling Harold died at age 14.
November 15, 1935: William Cole was arrested in Milwaukee for (statutory?) rape. He was put on one year probation.
1937, married his first wife in Hannibal, Missouri and they were divorced in the early 1940s in Milwaukee. No children came from this marriage and the two lost touch.
was in the Army from December 1942 to August 1945. While in the military, attended church services but was not particularly religious before or after. He was part of the 9th Tank Destroyer Group and had a satisfactory record.
Roughly 1945-1963, operated the Taxi Inn at Edison and Juneau in Milwaukee.
July 13, 1947: married his second wife (Dorothy Alice Warner) in Milwaukee through a justice of the peace. The pair had one son (William) and one daughter.
1955, had much of his stomach removed because of ulcers
December 23, 1961: An informant said William Cole, operator of the Taxi Inn, was booking near 20th and Wisconsin.
February 27, 1962: An informant said William Cole and Steve Halmo were booking out of an apartment on 20th street rented to Ione Strom, Halmo’s girlfriend.
April 2, 1962: Agents Albery Knickrehm and Richard Thompson interviewed William Cole at his Taxi Inn (113 East Juneau). Cole denied being a bookmaker but acknowledged he knew many of the local bookies. He said he did not know how they got their odds and had heard nothing of a shakedown. He said if someone tried to shake him down, he would resist.
November 28, 1962: William Cole told SA Richard Thompson that he had repeatedly een Milwaukee Police following him and he suspected this was because of the rumor that the Mafia wanted to kill him. Cole told Thompson that through his own sources among the gambling community, he could not confirm that there was any real threat on his life.
December 10, 1962: William Cole mobed his booking to an unknown location. Around this time, rumors were circulating that Cole was going to be “hit” to make an example of him for gamblers who did not pay off to the Mafia. (It has been suggested the grave that Tony Biernat was put in January 1963 was intended for Cole.)
January 3, 1963: Richard Thompson and Albert Knickrehm spoke to William Cole (two days after the Biernat abduction). He said that Steve DiSalvo and Joe Gurera had been in his bar (Taxi Inn) recently but made no demands f him and merely had drinks. Cole denied any involvement in interstate gambling. He said he heard that a “line” was coming in from Canada, but did not know who in Milwaukee was receiving it. He denied any association with Sam Librizzi, but freely admitted knowing Steve Halmo and his girlfriend Ione Strom. The FBI asked if Cole knew anyone in Gary, Indiana (they did not reveal they pulled his phone records) and Cole said his wife’s sister lived there.
around 1963, sold the Taxi Inn and was officially unemployed. He was constantly in ill health from then on.
February 1, 1964: An investigator with the IRS called SAC Richard Baker at his home and told him they had information that a gambler (Red Becker) was testifying before the John Doe probe and they heard William Cole (and possibly partner Steve Halmo) were planning to kill him. Baker asked if the information had been passed on to police, and was told no, because this would jeopardize the informant who provided it. Baker then told the IRS agent he would pass it on, because now that he knew he could not sit on the threat. Baker contacted SA Richard Thompson, who passed it on to a Milwaukee police detective without saying it had come from the IRS. The detective said the police had received similar information – Halmo was said to want to hire men from Chicago for the killing, while Cole said he could get two local “Greek boys” to do it. How serious the threats were was debated, because Halmo had a reputation as a “flannel mouth” and talked big but wasn’t the violent sort. (Dictionary says flannelmouth is a dated term that means “one who speaks in a glib manner with the intent of deceiving or manipulating others.”
February 18, 1964: William Cole was charged with lying to the John Doe probe. He had denied being a bookmaker. In fact, he said he didn’t remember taking bets and explained he gets “blind drunk” – at the proe, he remarked, “I don’t even know how i got home this morning.” Sgt. Herbert Krusche went to Cole’s house at 2:15pm to serve the warrant and Cole refused to answer the door until 3:00.
On March 12, 1964, at William Cole’s preliminary hearing before Judge Christ Seraphim, Neil Nelson testified that he made bets as high as $1000 with Cole, the operator of the Taxi Inn Tavern (113 East Juneau). Nelson said he had gambled through Cole for the past five years. Nelson said he had known Cole since 1938, and when he (Nelson) became a bookmaker, he made layoff bets through Cole by telephone. The money between them was delivered by cab drivers and other “runners”. Cole was on trial for false swearing —he claimed during the John Doe hearings to never have been a bookmaker.
January 12, 1965: William Cole, Steve Halmo, Charles Piscuine and James I. Stecher pleaded not guilty to commercial gambling. The first three were bookies. Stecher operated pinball machines under the name Novelty Service Company.
December 27, 1965: Bobby Pick and William Cole were booking out of a building in West Milwaukee next to the police station. On this day, they were raided, and police took betting slips and $9,921 in cash.
April 17, 1967: William Cole and Arwood “Lee” Ovenshire were arrested by the IRS for not having the $50 wagering stamp.
William Cole was in the VA hospital from November 22 to December 1, 1967.
February 15, 1968: Two agents visited William Cole at his house. He said he would not talk about gambling, especially now that he was charged with failure to have a gambling stamp. He did say his health was bad and he would hemorrhage internally, which had him in and out of the VA hospital. Cole said he had most of his tomach removed 12 years earlier. He also said he was a heavy drinker, but did not think the drinking affected his health.
April 1968, William’s mother died at Leavering Hospital in Hannibal, Missouri at age 76. Cause of death was senility.
July 19, 1968: William Cole was convicted of commercial gambling, stemming from a report from undercover journalist Gene Cunningham. Cole was sentenced to one year in state prison. Four others were caught up in this sting: Arwood Ovenshire was fined $500 for commercial gambling; James Vance Foster was fined $250 for gambling; Fred Jordan was fined $100; Benjamin Otto was fined $200. Cole’s attorney, Edward Neubecker, objected to his sentence, saying it was unusually harsh for gambling. Judge Rice denied this, and prosecutor John Koenig said Cole was a “flagrant violator” – he took four bets over the phone from Cunningham, a woman he didn’t know. The judge noted that Cole paid a $1,500 fine in 1965, so obviously fines were not working.
July 31, 1968: A prison report was prepared on Cole and he was asked to explain his offense. He said, “I pled not guilty because I contend that everyone gambles. Most everyone bets o na ball game, gets in a baseball or football pool once i na while, or even puts a buck on the horses… I never called or solicited anyone; people would call me. I never forced anyone or anything like that, people just placed bets with me of their own free will. I wasn’t even a booking agent.”
January 22, 1969: William Cole was released on parole from Waupun after serving roughly 6 months of his one year sentence.
April 16, 1969: William Cole was hit with a $75,479 tax lien. The IRS claimed he had hundreds of thousands of dollars of unclaimed income from gambling during a three-month period (April-June) in 1967.
May 3, 1969: The Kentucky Derby happened and William Cole was taking bets on it. An informant later tol the FBI he had bet $100 on Arts and Letters to place and $300 on Dike to win. Arts and Letters took second and Dike third. They were beaten by Majestic Prince.
June 24, 1969: Agents went to the Kings IV from 9:00pm until 10:00pm and saw a few people, including a liquor salesman (name redacted) and William Cole, who was very intoxicated. Cole and the other man were complaining they got stood up by two women.
July 22, 1969: William Cole successfully completed his probation/parole. The FBI spoke to his probation officer. Cole had been a model candidate – he took up employment at Franklin Investment Company and appeared to avoid trouble. The officer acknowledged that Cole told him he would return to gambling once probation was over, but made no indication he was booking while on probation.
December 22, 1969: Agents spoke to William Cole at his residence (3122 South 46th Street). He declined to read or sign the form they offered about his right, but agreed to talk with them. He acknowledged knowing Frank Sansone for around ten years, and said they would often get drunk together at Fazio’s on Fifth and other places. Cole was hesitant to talk about gambling and claimed he was the only Milwaukee gambler who had ever been sent to Waupun prison. He said Sansone was probably “out of business” following a recent arrest, but likely had a partner who picked up the slack. Cole told the agents he did not want to insult their intelligence, but he wasn’t going to talk about current gambling with them after already doing prison time. Cole said he was in poor health and would likely soon be back at the VA hospital.
February 6, 1970: An agent stopped at William Cole’s house. Cole said he had been at home since Christmas because of a liver ailment and expected he would have to have surgery soon. The agent made no attempt to discuss any criminal matters.
December 22, 1970: Agent Dennis Condon interviewed William Cole, who was more talkative this time. Cole said the recent arrest of several gamblers (connected to the Machi family) had the Milwaukee gambling community feeling persecuted, when the FBI could be spending its time on stopping narcotics. Cole said Steve Halmo was probably still gambling but was not a bookie. He was unemployed and supported by his father, who promised to cut him off if he was a bookie. He said Frank Sansone is now selling building supplies and is complete legitimate. Cole said he knows Frank Daddabbo but that the gambling people don’t trust him, as he is lousy with money. Daddabbo thinks of himself as a “tough guy” because he’s Frank Balistrieri’s cousin, but everyone sees him as a “dumb punk.” Cole said that it was nearly impossible to get line information after the recent arrests but believed it still came in from Las Vegas. Lastly, Cole said he had cancer of the liver and intestines, and did not expect to live another year. Agent Condon noted in his report that Cole looked in poor shape.
September 16, 1971: William Cole and Raymond Dulski were arrested for commercial gambling, after police raided an apartment at 833 North 24th Street. Police found betting slips and other paraphernalia. From the records found, it appeared that Cole was taking in around $3,400 each day (most of which was paid back to bettors). Rumors were circulating that Cole also used apartments over Antone’s Lounge (1686 North VanBuren) and Sam Ferrara’s One Plus One (corner of VanBuren and Brady).
November 3, 1971: Agent Condon talked to William Cole at his house. Cole said he would talk about anything but gambling, but after getting warmed up he talked anyway. When asked about his recent arrest, he said he would not tell the whole story while it was in the court system, but he believed the Italians tipped off the police. Cole explained that in the early 1960s, the Mafia tried to organize local bookies and he refused to go along with it. He said Steve Halmo and himself resisted and he deserved the credit for keeping the Mafia out of Milwaukee bookmaking. They have had a grudge against him ever since, and believed they told the police where he was. Cole said he would not say who gives or receives the line in Milwaukee, but would say it came in daily from New York, Detroit and Las Vegas. Cole said he did not know when or if he would ever go to court, but after it was all over, he would sit down with the FBI and give them information of “great value” about gambling in Milwaukee.
April 18, 1972: Agents checked with the VA and found that William Cole was in the hospital. When they checked on May 26, he was still there.
My records stop there… Cole probably shows up in other files I haven’t transcribed yet. What became of his gambling arrest I do not know. The strangest thing is that despite all the complaints of poor health, cancer and excessive drinking, Cole lived until April 1992, at the age of 83!