By the 1960s, organized crime gangs were well and truly already becoming a presence across the north of the United States, as underworld figures fought for sole control over highly lucrative gambling, illegal alcohol, and prostitution rings. Down south, things were done a slightly different way. But even though one criminal network in particular didn’t have a strict code, this didn’t make them any less dangerous. Based out of Biloxi, Mississippi, they soon monopolized the control of many illicit activities across numerous states where big profits could be made, but only by those willing to be uncompromisingly ruthless. This is the history of the Dixie Mafia.
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Show Notes
Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley
Researched and written by Gemma Harris
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder & Erica Kelley
Suggested reading:
‘Wicked Phenix City’ by Faith Serafin, ‘Last Gangster in Austin’ by Jesse Sublett, ‘The Twelfth of August: The Story of Buford Pusser’ by W.R. Morris, and of course, ‘Mississippi Mud, Southern Justice, and the Dixie Mafia’ by Edward Humes.
Sources:
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/copy3_of_a-byte-out-of-history
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/dixie-mafia-murders-article-1.347104
https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/29/us/biloxi-s-tale-of-murder-extortion-and-racy-photos.html
https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/18/us/new-criminal-class-is-flourishing-in-sun-belt.html
https://greydynamics.com/the-dixie-mafia-bloody-cornbread-in-byzantium/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/12/us/politics/edwin-edwards-dead.html
https://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/2013/dec/02/dixie-mafia/
https://crimecapsule.com/the-dixie-mafia-the-mob-you-never-knew/
https://biloxihistoricalsociety.org/casinos-gambling-liquor-and-vice
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/11/us/north-carolina-cold-case-killing-solved/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/us/dixie-mafia-murder-durham-north-carolina.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/14/business/bright-spot-on-gulf-as-casinos-rush-to-rebuild.html
https://classic.esquire.com/article/1991/9/1/the-life-and-crimes-of-the-dixie-mafia
https://www.wgauradio.com/news/local/dixie-mafia-figure-dies/CIDmKLzoMd7Kq2gDNO2okO/
https://www.sunherald.com/news/local/crime/article271118732.html
https://www.newspapers.com/article/7861931/dj_venus_sentenced_to_20_years_on/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/277491819/?terms=venus%20blackwell%20hobbs%201983%20cocaine&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/743989518/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/743989597/?terms=dixie%20mafia&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/335000142/?terms=dixie%20mafia https://www.newspapers.com/image/335000201/?terms=dixie%20mafia&match=1
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https://www.newspapers.com/image/625295024/?terms=dixie%20mafia&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/689471334/?terms=dixie%20mafia&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/335011721/?terms=dixie%20mafia https://www.newspapers.com/image/335011761/?terms=dixie%20mafia&match=1 https://www.newspapers.com/image/335011782/?terms=dixie%20mafia