Frank Clancy was
sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
and alleged
American Mafia
The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its membe ...
associate.
An old time political boss, Clancy had recently appeared before the
Kefauver Committee
The United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce was a special committee of the United States Senate which existed from 1950 to 1951 and which investigated organized crime which crossed state borders in the U ...
and had testified that he had allowed organized crime figures to place 5,000
slot machines
A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine ( Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively ...
in his
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
. It was also claimed he had earned a percentage of gambling casinos operated by acting New Orleans crime family boss
Carlos Marcello
Carlos Joseph Marcello (; born Calogero Minacore ; February 6, 1910 – March 3, 1993) was an Italian-American crime boss of the New Orleans crime family from 1947 until the late 1980s.
Aside from his role in the American Mafia, he is also ...
, in which he maintained the right to hire employees below management position. Although Clancy's testimony did implicate Marcelo, it had relatively little impact on his gambling operations.
Clancy had apparently been talking to federal authorities regarding gambling operations in
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
but following an attempt on his life he soon stopped cooperating with authorities.
Attempt on Life and Mistaken Victim
Frank Bourg (1890–1955) was a
bank teller
A bank teller (often abbreviated to simply teller) is an employee of a bank whose responsibilities include the handling of customer cash and negotiable instruments. In some places, this employee is known as a cashier or customer representative. ...
and an apparently mistaken victim of a failed contract
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
on a mafia associate Sheriff Frank Clancy.
A longtime New Orleans resident, Frank Bourg had been hospitalized following a heart attack in April 1955 when an unidentified assailant, possibly posing as a visitor, entered his room and smashed the skull of the 64-year-old bank teller as he slept. Although evidence pointed to a
gangland slaying, police could find no evidence of criminal associations in connection other than his nearly 30 years as a local bank teller.
However, it was later theorized that Bourg had been mistaken for Sheriff Frank Clancy, who occupied the next room as a police report stated "...from the time Clancy...entered the hospital, he...had a guard outside of his door but the guard was removed-on the morning of the attack-by someone representing themselves as the sheriff's wife."
Although the gangland slayings of innocent victims usually bring considerable unwanted attention and pressure from law enforcement, Marcello's organization suffered little
retaliation
Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...
from local authorities. While a nurse's aid gave a description of a suspect, she recanted her testimony three days later.
Clancy stopped cooperating with authorities after Bourg's murder.
References
*Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clancy, Frank
American murder victims
People from New Orleans
People murdered in Louisiana