On the Coat Tales of a Gambler
A text message from Sailor: “I told you that Scarpone told me that he had killed two guys, years before I ever knew of him, and it took all his money paying his attorney to get him off. These newspaper reports of a shootout at the B.B.C. Club sound eerily similar to the story he told me, but they can’t be the same story. I left Robstown for the navy in 1970. I left town a year and three months before the shootout at the club. Maybe I should say, I escaped.”
Author’s note: In Episode 14 Sailor’s story ended with the following.
“Supposedly, his cheating eventually did catch up with Scarpone. Although I do not know about his demise, I would not be surprised if that isn’t how he met his end.”
After Sailor read the newspaper accounts in Episode 26, he asked for confirmation about the dates. We spoke by telephone about the dates, I assured him that the dates were correct, confirming the shooting in December 1971, the names of the victim, Blackwell, and when trial occurred in October 1972. The next day, Sailor sent a text message recapping our discussion, and he retold the story that Scarpone had confessed to him many years before he knew the man, in Episode 14. In a second text message Sailor seemed confused by the two accounts of Scarpone’s involvement with shooting and killing men. It was as though he could only accept the one story he knew, told to him by Scarpone in the late 1960’s.
Sailor contended that even though the old story, which he knew about, appeared to be similar to events described in the newspaper reports, he questioned how the previous version could have happened after he left Robstown. Sailor questioned, were there really four dead men killed by Scarpone or did another guy assumed Scarpone’s name. Sailor struggled to reconcile the second killings, as he recognized the location, the B.B.C. Club, and he knew the one of the victims.
I was having a feeling that the news of the second shooting was too close for Sailor’s comfort as he reflected on his life. Regarding the mystery of the verdict of the trial of 1972, I have yet to uncover further documentation regarding the outcome, nevertheless, I am not satisfied that it’s not out there somewhere. I mean, how could the trial proceeding conclude on Tuesday, October 31st, with jury deliberation following the next day, November 1st and there is no mention of it in the newspaper, nothing on the Internet?
Sailor eventually conceded that the two stories of Scarpone had to be separate events. If anything is for sure, he knew that Scarpone was known to always have a “38” and he knew that Scarpone lived a lifestyle on the edge. However, Sailor seemed to idolize Scarpone in his stories and I am not sure he accepts his reputation of being the most dangerous man in the south. As I write this, I know that Sailor often expressed how lucky he was escaping with his life. However, I do not feel that Sailor fully recognizes how close to edge he was, back in the days of his youth, when he rode around with a gangster known as one of the deadliest men in the south. I suppose time eclipses reality and escaping with our hide is all that matters, and we move on.
Hey, there is more from Sailor yet to come, and you will be surprised with the information from an unsuspected source, who will also connect the threads from Scarpone’s trial, back to the Dawon Gang. But wait, there’s even more, the mystery person is also related to one of Scarpone’s girlfriends. I am holding back on one more surprising fact, but you will have to read all about it in Episode 28 in Sailor’s own words. Even Sailor did know some of this news until after we reconnected and started to uncover more rocks.
On the Coat Tales of a Gambler continues in
Episode 28 – The Plot Thickens