The Sad Story of Wallace Abraham and the Rockford LCN

[cavita]

Wallace Harry Abraham was born May 19, 1935 in Rockford, Illinois and perhaps his problems later in life could be traced to the drowning death of his father Carl on June 19, 1950 which Wallace and three others witnessed as they were in the rowboat when it capsized, killing Carl. On February 12, 1952 at the age of 16 Wallace married a girl by the name of Eva in Dubuque, Iowa and it is not known if the two eloped or if the parents approved of the marriage or not but the couple made their home in Rockford. Just a month later on March 14th Wallace was arrested for minor drinking, drinking in a prohibited place and reckless driving along with 21-year-old John Clark.

Over the next ten years, Wallace would lose his driver’s license on and off for various driving offenses and it is not known where he worked during this time but in March 1962 he was arrested for deceptive practices and was given a year of probation however, that December Wallace had filed for bankruptcy with debts of $7,404.80 and assets of $1,263. By June 1963 it is noted that Wallace was employed at the Auburn Street Tap which had put him into contact with the Rockford LCN. The tavern was owned by Nick Vince and Anthony Zacharia, both associates of that criminal organization. Nick was the brother of Charles Vince, Rockford LCN member and the tavern had been busted for gambling numerous times over the years. It was around this time as well that Wallace came into contact with Sebastian “Knobby” Gulotta. Gulotta was a gambler and associate of the Rockford LCN and was being groomed by the organization for membership and he was also the nephew of Anthony Zacharia.

By September 1966 after fourteen years of marriage and five children, Wallace and his wife divorced. This probably put more of a financial strain on Wallace and may have contributed to his heavy drinking and gambling problems. By October 1967 the Rockford newspapers reported that Wallace Abraham had gone into a partnership with Sebastian Gulotta in the Plantation Restaurant at 2520 Kilburn Avenue. Just a few short months later in March 1968 Wallace found himself arrested again, this time for serving alcohol after hours at the restaurant. By this time, Sebastian Gulotta had become a made member of the Rockford LCN by participating in the murder of Charles LaFranka in January 1965. Gulotta had also inherited the large bookmaking operation in Rockford from Phil Emordeno and was handling thousands of dollars in bets a day just from this business.

By November 1968 it appeared that Abraham had bought out Gulotta and became the sole owner of the Plantation. Gulotta had become involved with some siding and home improvement company in Beloit, Wisconsin but his bread and butter were the floating gambling games in the Rockford area, bookmaking and dice games though he did later admit that he would like to have ownership of the Plantation again.

On August 9, 1969 Wallace married again, this time to 34-year-old Carole Richmond and the two made a home on the outskirts of Rockford on Auburn Road and it was reported that in late February and early March 1970 Wallace had been gambling in Las Vegas with an unnamed individual and that he had lost a considerable amount of money which was getting to be an all-too-common story for him.

On March 24, 1970 Carole Abraham heard the garage door go up at the house about 3:30 a.m. and assumed Wallace had come home so she fell back to sleep. Around 4:45 a.m. not seeing Wallace in bed, she went to check in the garage and saw he was in the car which was running and the door of the garage closed. According to FBI files, when she got no response from him, she called an unnamed individual who came over and then that individual called the Sheriff’s Department.

A detective on the Sheriff’s Department stated he believed the circumstances surrounding Wallace’s death were mysterious and unexplained and that he did not rule out the possibility of homicide. He said he based that primarily on the knowledge that Wallace was a heavy gambler.

The coroner ruled that Wallace’s death was a result of carbon monoxide poisoning from auto exhaust fumes. The autopsy reflected no evidence of bruises or beating prior to his death and that his blood alcohol level was .18 percent with a heavy percentage of carbon monoxide in his lungs.
Various sources stated that on the entire evening just hours before he died, Wallace was drinking heavily at the Plantation Restaurant and that he was with Anthony Zacharia that evening. One source in particular said that Wallace had left the restaurant alone at 2 a.m. and that either Rockford LCN members Sebastian Gulotta or Charles Vince and Anthony Zacharia had found Wallace passed out in his automobile behind the body shop that was adjacent to the restaurant and they then brought Wallace to his residence.

Apparently, another source had told Assistant State’s Attorney Philip Reinhard that Wallace had a gambling debt and had allegedly borrowed $8,000 from Sebastian Gulotta in order to pay that debt. He also stated that several days before his death, Wallace had an argument with Gulotta because of the debt and that Gulotta was going to take back the Plantation Restaurant.

Several months after Wallace’s death, Ed Vetterneck, owner of the Feather Club across the street from the Plantation Restaurant told investigators that right before Wallace’s death he had loaned some money to Wallace to bail him out of some financial difficulties. Vetterneck stated he had now backed another individual in an effort for them to acquire the Plantation Restaurant. Vetterneck also stated that Gulotta told him he (Vetterneck) would have problems if anyone else gained ownership of the Plantation. Vetterneck said he stood to lose some money in the event the potential buyer he backed did not gain ownership of the Plantation and said it was his understanding that Anthony Zacharia and Sebastian Gulotta were apparently making some moves in an effort to regain ownership of the Plantation. Vetterneck ended the interview by saying it looked to him like “the hoods are trying to take over this town.”

It was surmised by the State’s Attorney’s office that perhaps Wallace committed suicide because of his financial difficulties and indebtedness to others. The Assistant States Attorney pointed out, however, that this was the third death involving carbon monoxide in the past few years in which heavy gamblers allegedly committed suicide in Rockford. In my eyes what most likely occurred was a crime of opportunity. Perhaps after leaving the Plantation Restaurant, Anthony Zacharia and either Charles Vince or Sebastian Gulotta saw that Wallace was slumped over in his car passed out and they took him and his car to his residence with another car following. They most likely left his car running in the garage while they moved him to the driver’s seat and closed the garage door. Problem solved and this left Sebastian Gulotta and his uncle Anthony Zacharia to regain ownership of the restaurant.

[eboli]

I wonder if his second wife knew something was up? I find it very suspicious that he was late; she heard the garage door open and didn't get up from bed to see if it's him or not after a couple of minutes.

[Villain]

Thanks Cavita. I think the scheme is obvious, meaning this guy was too wasted and became an easy target for a carbon monoxide "hit" so it can look like a suicide. But we can never rule out the possibility of suicide because of his huge debts, although the information regarding he seeing a CN member before his death always makes the situation quite suspicious...

[cavita]

Thanks Cavita. I think the scheme is obvious, meaning this guy was too wasted and became an easy target for a carbon monoxide "hit" so it can look like a suicide. But we can never rule out the possibility of suicide because of his huge debts, although the information regarding he seeing a CN member before his death always makes the situation quite suspicious...

Yeah there was a heavy gambler years ago by the name of Ghinazzi that allegedly hung himself but many people claimed it was a murder made to look like a suicide. I guess no one will ever know the truth on this one too.

[Villain]

Thanks Cavita. I think the scheme is obvious, meaning this guy was too wasted and became an easy target for a carbon monoxide "hit" so it can look like a suicide. But we can never rule out the possibility of suicide because of his huge debts, although the information regarding he seeing a CN member before his death always makes the situation quite suspicious...

Yeah there was a heavy gambler years ago by the name of Ghinazzi that allegedly hung himself but many people claimed it was a murder made to look like a suicide. I guess no one will ever know the truth on this one too.

Huge debtors and heroin junkies were/are always easy targets for elimination since both types are usually known for ending their own lives aka suicide and overdose