Resides in Orange Cove, CA. Biloxi's Tale of Murder, Extortion and Racy Photos, https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/29/us/biloxi-s-tale-of-murder-extortion-and-racy-photos.html. My father found it easier to pay the small fee to keep the boxes than close them out as he had hopes of one day retiring to KY. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Like I said, the results of those associations had tragic consequences for the Sherrys, whose daughter later told Judge Pickering she forgave Gillich for his role in the murders. Citizens for a Better Kenner busts Mayor Yenni and his shit house executive pay plan. Sherri Sharpe. I am Phyllis Cook- My brother and dad were murdered by the Dixie Mafia cowards also. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rediscovering Lost Values. 371 for conspiracy to violate the fraud-by-wire statute 1 and the murder-for-hire statute, 2 and for substantive wire fraud violations. They were loosely connected by a willingness to commit any crime, from extortion to murder, as long as there was money to be made. 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. Red State America: Awash in Childrens Blood. My dad was Judge Sherrys active bailiff- I explained all of this to Beth Sposito. Interesting since they sent BPD and HCSO to Kentucky to witness my opening of two bank boxes my father had there since he had recently been in KY. One he had jointly with his mother who lived there and one was jointly with an aunt who never had children. I do understand where your information came from and it is wrong. He was both patron and protector to Kirksey Nix, the groups former leader. Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Homes in Biloxi confirmed Gillich's death. He, John Ransom, Kirksey McCord Nix Jr. -- a Dixie Mafia figure who was serving life in a Louisiana prison during the plotting -- and Nix's girlfriend, Sheri LaRa Sharpe, were convicted in 1991 on a federal conspiracy charge. Thomas Leslie Holcomb, the triggerman in the 1987 Sherry murders, died April 8, 2005, while serving a life sentence in federal prison in Beaumont, Texas. If so moved he is certainly welcome to comment on this post. Looking for Lara Sharpe? IRS Agent and White Western club member. Theyre public figures there.. Gillich died in April. They have come to see the trial of Kirksey McCord Nix Jr., a convicted killer; his former girlfriend Sheri LaRa Sharpe of St. Francisville, La. 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. 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. Mahoney told the newspaper he thinks Halat was taken to a halfway house near Hattiesburg, Miss. Out of fear my father kept quite about my brothers murder and went along with the Police saying it was suicide until November 27. Their bodies would not be found until two days after the hit by Biloxis soon-to-be mayor Pete Halat, who was also Vincents law partner. These supporting players included: (1) Mike Gillich, Jr., owner and operator of the Golden Nugget, a night club and strip joint in Biloxi, Mississippi; (2) John Ransom, a parolee from a Georgia prison; (3) LaRa Sharpe, Nix's girlfriend and a paralegal; (4) Peter Halat, mayor of Biloxi and . Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Homes in Biloxi [] Advertisements The 1980s were also a period of transition on the coast and no place symbolizes that transition more than the City of Biloxi as the illegal gambling and the flesh trades gave way to legalized gambling. Locals that remember the events real time such as myself often wonder why it was never updated. Margaret Sherry - 1987. wife of Vincent Sherry; Russell Raymond Ervin - 1990. The deceased Frank Corso was not a mafioso! John Elbert Ransom, a Nix associate from Georgia, was released from a federal prison in Georgia on Nov. 7, 2003. 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. Gillich was released from prison in July 2000, after serving nine years of a 20-year sentence, and died of cancer in April 2012. IRS Agent and White Western club member. Yes he was friends with all the gamblers on the Gulf Coast and it cost him and my little brother their life. Do you know the history of any other key players from the Dixie Mafias reign in Biloxi? As he was making his getaway from Corso's home, Corso . 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. The DA makes money as the debt collector, and it doesnt cost the casinos a penny. [4] Margaret Sherry - 1987. wife of Vincent Sherry Russell Raymond Ervin - 1990. Sherry and Halat had been law partners starting in 1981. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. 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. The men who responded to these ads were wooed and asked to wire money to one of Nixs associates. Find Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok profiles, images and more on IDCrawl - free people search website. Gillich was convicted in 1991 of conspiring to kill Circuit Court Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife, former Biloxi councilwoman Margaret Sherry. Im not going to stop fighting for justice for my dad and brother and I hope you will not. Find 24 people named Lara Sharpe along with free Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok profiles on PeekYou - true people search. http://www.murderedinmississippi.com. Sheri B Lara, 63. Fabian testified that Nix ordered the Sherry slayings because Halat had convinced Nix that Vincent Sherry had stolen some of Nix's proceeds the scam. Those were in fact the kinds of clients on which the Halat & Sherry law firm had seemed to thrive. Holcomb, former Biloxi Mayor Pete Halat, Nix and Sharpe were convicted in the second Sherry trial in 1997 for their roles in the murders. His establishments included motels, a bingo parlor and nightclubs that doubled as strip clubs and gambling dens. Mrs. Sherry was shot four times in the head by the same .22-caliber pistol, authorities said. But, more than simply viewing their criminal defense work as just a job, Pete Halat and Vince Sherry seemed to move comfortably among the figures of Biloxis shadowy underworld. Sherri Sharpe. I have so much information I was unaware I had until I went through my dads things.. This guy was facing federal drug charges and got off on probation. All of the same great people, writers and editors but now with more firepower. The libel suit was dismissed in August 1987. This story was originally published January 17, 2023 7:00 AM. There was no sign of forced entry to the house. When: 9 p.m., Wednesday, Dominick Dunne's "Power, Privilege and Justice" will feature the Sherry murder case in a segment called "Biloxi. The advice that one should not fool around with drug addicted, alcoholic lesbian and/or hetero (or bisexual) strippers is as good today as it was in the late 1980s, when Judge Sherry and his wife were killed. Harvey agreed last August to pay the $3 million back, less a 20 percent discount, and delivered an initial installment of $150,000 in Mississippi. Mr. Fabian said that when members demanded an explanation from Mayor Halat, he told them the money had been taken by his law partner at the time, Mr. Sherry, who became a judge shortly afterward, in July 1986. Cook was convicted for helping arrange the 1987 slayings. Seemingly is a good word because after entering Angola prison Nix began running lonely hearts scams targeting gay men, which was pure evil genius as scamming people with something to hide (in this case being in the closet) minimized the risk the victim would complain to the authorities. After convictions in both Sherry trials, Nix was transferred to a maximum-security federal prison in Florence, Colorado. When money came up missing, Halat blamed Sherry, who had by then left their Biloxi law practice for his Circuit Court judgeship. The truth is going to be told. The nickname comes from Biloxi's long history of illicit gambling. Pete Halat and Nix's girlfriend Sheri La Ra Sharpe. View Source Share Save to Suggest Edits Memorial Photos Flowers Memorials Region North America USA California San Joaquin County Escalon The FBI, working closely with several anonymous informants who had been involved in the lonelyhearts scam, learned that much of the money was being funneled through a woman named Sheri LaRa Sharpe. http://www.murderedinmississippi.com. As the show points out, Margaret Sherry had intended to run for the office. Heres the plan. Im always interested in well-to-do people, and they were well-to-do. Laura, Please let me say I do not know who this SugarBaby is. occupied by LaRa & Nix This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. When is a good time for you? The governments been on a wild goose chase, attorney Jim Rose, who represents Nix, said in his opening statement. a 12-year sentence for manslaughter at a Hardwick, Ga., prison. 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. Back to the story being out there, one of Anita commenters posted 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. While the sign in card listed both my father and Peter Halat as able to go into the box, Pete was the only person that ever signed into the box ( I know, I have a copy of the sign in sheet) which he did with some regularity, at times weekly until their deaths; one month after the murders, the box was closed. You claim to be related to a lot of people. I am very sorry for your loss and admire your tenacity in seeking the full truth regarding their murders. Harvey had been spotted committing the most serious of sins gambling at another companys casino. Please see https://gofundme.com/murdered-in-mississippi, Seeking Justice For Ronnie & [emailprotected], Reward offered for any information on the unsolved murders of Ronald Wayne Anderson & Lt. Dan Anderson murdered in Gulf Port, MS. But he was convicted along with the others: Mike Gillich Jr., 61, who operates Biloxi's three strip clubs; John Ransom, 64, a reputed enforcer for the mob, and Sheri Lara Sharpe, 36, who worked as a legal aide. Those convicted of mob-related crimes in the aftermath of his killing included Mike Gillich Jr., John Ransom, Kirksey McCord Nix Jr., Sheri LaRa Sharpe, and former Biloxi mayor Pete Halat. Although he did some things in his lifetime that I know he later came to regret, he experienced a religious conversion later in life, Nicholson told the newspaper. The ensuing investigation into the Sherry murders eclipsed a decade, and would unveil ties between the murders and the corruption that gripped the Gulf Coast in the 1980s. These rumors are, however, tainted by political motives: he was the target of a smear campaign by his Republican opponents. Nix, 48, whose father and namesake was a chief judge of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, is serving life without parole for the 1971 murder of a New Orleans grocer. See United States v. Sharpe, 995 F.2d 49 (5th Cir. . Sheri LaRa Sharpe News Figure in 1987 Dixie Mafia slaying of 2 dies at 82 May 10, 2012 Monica Land 0 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. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Mayor Halat has vehemently denied any link to the scheme or the slayings, and called Mr. Fabian's story 'an outright lie.". 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. Local Mississippi breaking news and weather from CBS 12 News WJTV, your Jackson, MS news leader. I followed the link in your article and I see where your information came from. Sherri Sharpe. in late 1960s my grandfather was stationed in Japan. Convictions in Louisiana. She said she did not sleep a single night in the 10 years after her parents death, until Halat was finally convicted for his role in plotting the murders of his friends and neighbors. Each had. Is there anyone who may have any information on this case There was a girl named Cathy (last name unknown) who said she was present when Ronnie shot himself, Then there was a young man named Jeff Dennis Bass who stated he was with my brother when he shot himself We know it was murder.. I do not want to bring up old memories of hurt but I feel I have the proof after all of these years as to who murdered Judge Sherry and Margarett- They also murdered my dad on April 18, 2003 because he was getting old and starting to expose them. He is said to have been involved in more than 50 murders during the 1960s and 1970s. 1993) (" Sharpe I"). Thanks. Shes on parole. I ever open till like a month ago. The authorities had hoped to find massive sums of scam money in the boxes. Nix ordered the hit from prison after Halat, his co-conspirator, took hundreds of thousands of dollars from him and blamed it on Vincent. The story that unfolded over the next ten years turned out to be more complicated than anyone would have first imagined, with big money at stake, prominent individuals working with career criminals to pull behind-the-scenes scams. His funeral service will be private, said funeral director Whitney Lang. "Peter Halat knew somebody was going to die, and better Sherry than him," Mr. Fabian said. denied, 510 U.S. 885 (1993). He was a vile man by most of the accounts I have read and I simply cant fathom your family being able to forgive him for his involvement. These podcasts, movies and books relive the Dixie Mafias reign on the Gulf Coast, Second man dies in murder-suicide at Biloxi home, police say, Bubbly, radiant 19-year-old LSU student fatally struck by car, officials say, Vets family tried to get police intervention before she killed 2 MS Coast police officers, Its time to vote for Sun Heralds MS Coast Athlete of the Week for January 17, Who were key players in the Dixie Mafia era? The events real time such as myself often wonder why it was until! Free Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Better Sherry than him, '' Mr. Fabian said interested. Rumors are, however, tainted by political motives: he was friends with all the on! 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