The Vice Squad

Youngstown Mob Talk presents Part 5, and the conclusion of this exclusive investigative series: Decommissioned… But New Evidence Found. This story was compiled from information contained within investigative task force files from the Ohio Attorney General’s Organized Crime Investigation Commission. Included are details about crimes which have never been publicly released. These files were provided...

These files were leaked to us by a source who wishes to remain anonymous. Part 4 of this exclusive 5-part series, presented by Youngstown Mob Talk. This story was compiled from information contained within investigative task force files from the Ohio Attorney General’s Organized Crime Investigation Commission. Included are details about crimes which have never been publicly released. These files w...

These files were leaked to us by a source who wishes to remain anonymous. Part 3 of this exclusive 5-part series, presented by Youngstown Mob Talk. In 1980, Youngstown Mob associate John Magda was found dead in a roadside dump site. His hands were bound and his face was wrapped in duct tape. For decades, speculation has run rampant about who killed him and why. Now, for the first time ever, the de...

These files were leaked to us by a source who wishes to remain anonymous. Part 2 of this exclusive 5-part series, presented by Youngstown Mob Talk. In part 1 of this exclusive 5-part series, we detailed the Youngstown Mob scene in the late 1970s/early 1980s and the previously unsolved murder of Joe DeRose Jr.. Now in part 2, we explore who killed Dominic "Junior" Senzarino, a cousin of the Carabbi...

Youngstown Mob Talk and The Vice Squad Podcast presents Part 1 of a brand new, exclusive 5-Part investigative series: From Burglars to Murders, Who Hit the Hitman Joe DeRose? This story was compiled from information contained within investigative task force files from the Ohio Attorney General’s Organized Crime Investigation Commission. Included are details about crimes which have never been publi...

James Mancini, aka "Big Jimmy" Munsene was the first notorious crime boss of Ohio's Trumbull County. Munsene controlled gambling in the county and had clubs as far away as Atlantic City, NJ before he was gunned down in cold blood, along with his nephew, in Warren on March 24, 1941. He famously went on trial for the same act of bribery on three separate occasions, even hiring the country's most fam...

On this episode, author Rick Porrello writes about his own family's organized crime history in Cleveland, Ohio as his grandfather and great uncles waged a war with their former friends and fellow bootleggers, the Lonardo brothers. It was all over corn sugar, which was used to make booze during prohibition in America.

The Vice Squad Podcast delves into one of the most daring train robberies in American history. On November 7, 1935, as the mid-west crime wave continued, infamous criminal Alvin "Creepy" Karpis and his gang pulled off a heist that shocked the nation in Garrettsville, Ohio. In this riveting episode, our hosts explore the details of the crime, the personalities of its mastermind, and the aftermath o...

There was once a place in Trumbull County Ohio, just outside of Youngstown city limits, called Halls Corners, which was "conceived in infamy!" according to Youngstown Police Chief Eddie Allen. Halls Corners was a tiny, unincorporated township created solely for the purpose of operating a casino called The Jungle Inn. A mob run establishment for years, The Jungle Inn was operated by twin brothers J...

From Cleveland to Youngstown to Pittsburgh, a serial killer wreaked havoc along the railyards from the 1920s to the 1940s. Sometimes known as "The Mad Butcher," this murderer chopped up his victims and left them for police or passers-by to find. Despite best efforts from detectives in Ohio and Pennsylvania, the killer was never caught. Not even famed lawman Eliot Ness could solve the case and brin...

On this episode we give you a condensed history of organized crime in the Mahoning Valley. Future episodes will air bi-weekly, and will dive deeper into individual criminals and crimes from the Youngstown/Cleveland/Pittsburgh region.