Harry "the Hook" Is Dead

Harry "the Hook" Aleman, a legendary Chicago hit man is dead at 69.  Aleman died in an Illinois prison while serving a 100 year sentence for the 1973 shotgun murder of Teamster union official William Logan. At the link you'll find the Wikipedia entry on Aleman.  Aleman may have murdered more than a dozen victims, but he wasn't saying.

The Chicago Tribune article on Aleman's death is at the second link. 

The most interesting aspect of the notice of Aleman's death is the connection to the public corruption in Chicago.  You see at one time you could buy your way out of a murder rap, and in fact Aleman bribed the trial judge, Cook County Judge Frank Wilson for the grand sum of $10,000. He was acquitted after a bench trial (meaning the case was tried without a jury.)  The defense lawyer, Charles Cooley turned snitch, and Judge Wilson blew his brains out while awaiting federal charges.  Since Aleman beat the rap on a bribe, his second trial, a jury trial, was not deemed "double jeopardy." 

Aleman was until May 15, a survivor of a wild era of union and public corruption in the Second City.