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The Place Was Built As A Mafia Gambling Joint
The Beverly Hills Supper Club was
built in 1937 by Pete Schmidt, who
fronted for the
Cleveland mob.
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The Real Owners
The
owners were M. B. Dalitz, Samuel
Tucker, Louis Rothkopf, Morris Kleinman, all midwest gangsters.
Senator Roth's committee
investigated
the payroll
records.
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The Las Vegas Of The Midwest
This complex sat on 78 acres, it was a casino and
entertainment. All the Vegas acts played here.
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New Owners
In
1969 a mystery man pays $400,000 to
buy it from the Cleveland's Jewish mobsters. He in turn put the deed
in the Abraham Schilling family's name.
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The 1975 Beverly Hills Club
From 1970 to 1977 the Abe Schiller turn the
club into the most famous nightclub
in the Midwest. They packed in 3,000 a night. It was
surrounded by Indianapolis.
Columbus, Louisville, Charleston, etc.
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Fire Starts At The Worst Time
The club is packed on a Saturday night, when a
raging inferno
traps hundreds. Most died from smoke inhalation.
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The Screams
The people that escaped could hear the screams of the people
being burned alive.
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There Were 165 Bodies
They had to use a local guard armory as a morgue.
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The Mysterious Electricians
The Day of the fire two men posing as electricians spent the
morning in the electrical area where the fire started.
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He Saw The Men
David Brock, 48, was a busboy who
was preparing the Zebra Room for a small wedding party that night.
About 10:30 a.m., he came across two men working in the electrical
room, and ceiling. They had no name tags and said they were working
on the air conditioning, he said.
"They were agitated I kept coming in," Brock said. "They would tell
me to go away and come back."
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Others
Saw The Same Thing
Six others saw
these mysterious workers, but all received threats.The only one
talking is Shirley Baker Turner, who was a 21-year-old banquet
waitress at the club.
After the fire, she claims she was a mother of two receiving death
threats to keep quiet about what she saw at the club.
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Most Suspect The Moe Dalitz's Gang
Most arson occurs in the middle of the night, but this was done
on Memorial day, the busiest day of the year. The Jewish
mobsters like
Dalitz had a especially vengeful
streak. It was rumored that Schilling wouldn't sell, or there was a
disagreement, but whatever there was a message sent.
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The Site Was Bulldozed
After the fire the community just bulldozed everything into the
club's giant basement. Today people are
finding old casino equipment,
artifacts, and the bones of unaccounted employees.
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Place Is A Shrine
This is a magnificent piece of property, but no one will touch
it. It is a cross between a memorial and a haunted gravesite.
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