There is a new site dedicated to the almost 28 year old case of the murder of Ron Scharff and Patricia Freeman in Lakemoor, Illinois in 1981. I’ve noticed that this site gets way higher rank than the new site in regards to this case – so I want to try to take advantage of that.
Paul Scharff is a friend of my brother and I from grammar school. His father and his “barmaid” as she was called at the time, Patricia Freeman, were found dead in the living room apartment behind the P.M. Pub on June 2, 1981. At the time of the murders Ron’s best friend Jim Hager suggested Chicago Outfit member Larry Neumann as a suspect when questioned by police. Neumann was a native of McHenry County with known mob ties and a murder record (he was recently parolled after serving 16 years of a 125 year sentence).
The police decided to focus on Freemans boyfriend and Hager as suspects instead.
Frank Cullotta was the lieutenant for Tony Spilotro, a member of the Chicago Outfit – the name given to the Chicago mafia. You might recognize the story of Tony Spilotro from the movie Casino – which was based on the criminal careers of Spilotro and Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal and their association with the Chicago Mob. Joe Pesci played a character based on Spilotro, while the Frank Vincent character was based on a number of real life persons, including Frank Cullotta. Rosenthal and Spilotro were primarily responsible for the Chicago Outfits interests in the Las Vegas casinos and the “skim” money that came from them. I mention this because when you watch the movie, you will understand the gravity of the thought of these people in McHenry County – and possibly understand the reason why the case might have been covered up.
The Chicago Outfit was a pretty powerful group at the time – and it would be logical to think that people – including law enforcement in a small town – might have been a little scared.
Frank Cullotta turned government witness in May of 1982. As a condition of his turning government witness, he was required to disclose not only his actions during the time he was working with the outfit, but also the actions of those that he worked with. If he lied, his deal with the government would be terminated and he would be on his own – and face prosecution for his crimes that he had already admitted to – resulting in years of prison time.
Keep in mind, turning government witness on the mob comes with a price on your head – and it would probably be easier for the mob to kill you in prison than outside. Frank had no reason to lie to the FBI and those who questioned him.
While being debriefed by both McHenry County detectives and FBI agent Dennis Arnoldy in 1982, Cullotta mentioned a murder in McHenry County and described the murders of Paul’s father and Patricia Freeman. You can see a 2008 interview with Cullotta describing this conversation to Dennis Griffin on the official site. Frank attributed this murder to Larry Neumann.
Still, nothing was done. As a matter of fact, Cullotta says McHenry County authorities “didn’t want to hear what he was saying”, as you can see in this NBC story from December of 2008.
In early 2008, Holly Hager, Jim’s daughter and Paul’s babysitter, happened to pick up the book Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster and Government Witness, and on page 130 of that book found a description of a murder that was strikingly similar to the murder of Paul’s father and Patricia Freeman – as well as the name of the person who did it from his boss – Frank Cullotta. The person Cullotta named was Larry Neumann, a member of Cullotta’s crew – called the Hole In The Wall Gang and the same person that both Hager and Cullotta fingered for the crime in 1981-82.
Neumann died in January of 2007. He cannot be questioned about the murders (oddly, he never was questioned, even though two people pointed to him as a suspect). But the most important of evidence, Cullotta’s detailed account of what Neumann told him about the murders (both in 1982 and 2008) point to Neumann.
What do the Scharff and Freeman families want? Paul outlines their goals in this weblog entry. They want McHenry County to name Larry Neumann as the killer of Ron Scharff and Patricia Freeman. Seems simple doesn’t it? For some reason, given all the evidence, it hasn’t been for almost 28 years.
Why is this important to me? First, I’m Paul’s friend. I think he, his brother, and the Freeman children deserve justice. I am also convinced that the evidence is convincing enough – coming from Frank Cullotta and Jim Hager – that it was Larry Neumann that committed this crime.
Second, I was naive. This story was the first I heard about the “mob” so close to home. Sure, I’ve watched Goodfellas, The Godfather, and Casino, but I never imagined they existed here growing up. My parents moved us here when we were young to remove us from stuff like that. If it showed up here – and was ignored – that bothers me.
I believe that the McHenry County Sheriff owes the Scharff and Freeman families the closure of naming Neumann as the killer of Ron Scharff and Patricia Freeman. Given the testimony from those around at the time – I think they have enough evidence.
But I also feel that if this was “covered up”, as Carol Marin alluded to in the TV interview with Paul, the County owes the public an apology and an admission of guilt so that we as residents can move on. If the local government was corrupt and isn’t now – admit it. Don’t try to cover that up too. If it wasn’t corrupt, provide a credible explanation to the public how two people could be found dead in the back of a pub, with two people (one a known lieutenant in the mob turned government witness) that both say one guy did it – and 28 years later we don’t have an answer.
More than that – explain to us why two families had to suffer and wonder for so long.
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Ron the Mob reporter! Nice work you are doing here for Paul and his/Freeman families.
and to think that not even a year ago i found out that she is my grandmother.wow….