Photograph was edited for publication purposes. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Tony Brancato moved to Los Angeles and became involved in the organized crime scene, including illegal gambling, narcotics, and bootlegging. He was a suspect in many mob murders, including that of New York mobster Bugsy Siegel, and in a botched attempt to kill Mickey Cohen. Anthony Trombino, also from Kansas City, became Brancato's partner in crime and they became known as "the two Tonys." After robbing the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, the men became wanted by the mob and the FBI. Jimmy "the weasel" Fratianno set up a meeting with the two to discuss a bank robbery. On August 6, 1951, Brancato and Trombino were found shot to death in the front seat of a car on Ogden Drive near Hollywood Boulevard. Though many mobsters were arrested, phony alibis allowed all of them to escape punishment. Over 25 years later, after entering the federal Witness Protection Program, Fratianno confessed to murdering the pair. Photograph caption dated August 7, 1951 reads "Gangland bullets last night blasted out the lives of two underworld figures--Tony Brancato, 36, black arrow, and Tony Trombino, 31, white arrow. They weer (sic) shot to death in a sedan parked in front of 1648 North Ogden Drive--almost directly across the street from the home of Al Guasti, a retired sheriff's captain free on bail pending appeal from a perjury conviction. Guasti, left, is shown with Deputy Chief Thad Brown and Detective Lieut. Bill Cummings, viewing the bodies."
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;26 x 33 cm. Photographic prints
Brancato, Tony--Death and burial Trombino, Anthony--Death and burial Dead persons--California--Los Angeles Murder victims--California--Los Angeles Murder--California--Los Angeles Shooting--California--Los Angeles Crime--California--Los Angeles Criminals--California--Los Angeles Organized crime--United States Automobiles--California--Los Angeles Police--California--Los Angeles Men--California--Los Angeles Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) Night photographs Los Angeles Evening Herald Express photographs Herald-Examiner Collection photographs
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