Dixie Mafia
Encyclopedia
The Dixie Mafia is a criminal organization based in Biloxi, Mississippi
, and operated primarily in the Southern United States
, in the 1970s. The group uses each member's talents in various crime categories to help move stolen merchandise, illegal alcohol
, and illegal drugs
. It is also particularly well-known for violence.
, robbery
and theft
. The gang did not function with a set chain of command, but was led by whoever had the most money. Despite the informal structure, the Dixie Mafia had one rule that members were expected to obey: "Thou shall not snitch to the cops".
Unlike members of the Sicilian Mafia
, the members of the Dixie Mafia were not connected by family or country of origin. They were loosely connected individuals of many nationalities with a common goal: to make money and wield control over illegal moneymaking operations by any means, including influence peddling, bribery of public officials, and murder.
The gang became known for carrying out contract killings, particularly against former members. During its peak, from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, dozens of people were murdered (usually shot) by its members. Victims were most often murdered because they testified, or threatened to testify, against fellow members. One contract killer William Miller aka. "Blue Eyes" was said to have carried out many of the contract killings. This could never be proven due to lack of information or evidence. He disappeared and was thought to have settled down in Nashville.
"The Strip" in Biloxi, Mississippi, was home base for the Dixie Mafia, and Mike Gillich, Jr. was the group's unofficial but de facto kingpin. Of Croatian descent and from a large, poor family, he had raised himself in the city's Point Cadet section to become a wealthy entrepreneur along "The Strip". He owned a string of motels, a bingo parlor, and nightclubs that doubled as strip joints and gambling
dens. He was known and trusted by almost every member of the Dixie Mafia, especially those who trusted no one else.
Mike Gillich was also patron and protector of Kirksey McCord Nix, Jr.
, one of the gang's most notable members. In December, 1965, at the age of 22, Nix was caught carrying illegal automatic weapons in Ft. Smith, Arkansas. An old friend of his, Juanda Jones, ran a bordello there, and Nix became involved with Jones' adolescent daughter, Sheri LaRa. In later years, she would play a key role in his operations, including direct ties to the murders of Circuit Court Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife, Margaret, a former Biloxi councilwoman and mayoral candidate.
Edward Humes
, in his 1994 book, Mississippi Mud: Southern Justice and the Dixie Mafia, chronicled the Sherry murders, and the subsequent investigation of Gillich, Kirksey Nix, Bobby Fabian and others that were involved either loosely or actively in the murders. Bobby Fabian began cooperating with the FBI on the Sherry murders and was pleading with any law enforcement officials to move him out of the Louisiana State Penitentiary
(LSP) because he felt he would be murdered. Fabian was transferred out of Angola
but not a moment too soon as Dixie Mafia member (Florida Boss) Jeffery Carter had managed to be assigned to Camp-D within the penitentiary, exactly where Fabian was being housed.
LSP security obtained information from a confidential informant that Jeffery Carter was armed with a knife and that Carter was going to kill Fabian on the prison yard. Angola security immediately reacted to the information and actually spotted Jeffery Carter walking towards Bobby Fabian at which time a correctional officer ran up on Carter who was only 50 yards from Bobby Fabian and took control of Carter. Upon searching Jeffery Carter, correctional officers found a Buck knife
in the open position on Carter's person.
With the aid of his father's connections in neighboring Oklahoma, Kirksey Nix beat the weapons charges in Ft. Smith and moved on to other crimes. He was suspected in the gangland-style murder of a gambler named Harry Bennett, who was about to turn state's evidence against several Dixie Mafia members. Although Nix's involvement in Bennett's murder was never proven, this incident precipitated a string of killings that left twenty-five people dead in six states over the next four years.
Nix was a suspect in the attempted assassination of McNairy County, Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser
, and in the murder of Pusser's wife. Nix was also convicted of murdering wealthy New Orleans grocery owner Frank Corso. At the time of the murder, Kirksey Nix was believed to be employed by Darrel Ward in Clarksville, Texas. Mr. Ward was a noted associate of syndicate boss Sam "Momo" Giancana and is thought to have controlled organized crime and bootlegging throughout Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi. The Dixie Mafia was strongly connected to the State Line Mob
and its leader Carl Douglas "Towhead" White.
n states. The group operated in many large Southern cities and some of the group's criminal activities were in more obscure parts of their major areas of operation, making the group and their activities harder to pinpoint.
The Dixie Mafia committed most of their crimes in areas that lacked strong, coordinated law enforcement, particularly in small communities throughout the South. In doing so, murders, intimidation, or other criminal activities could take place with less risk of local law enforcement being able to directly link the crimes to the organization. Small town and county law enforcement agencies, especially in poorer sections of the South up to the 1990s, were usually inadequately equipped, and rarely had officers with extensive experience in the investigation of homicide
or organized crime
.
The members of the Dixie Mafia usually created small, seemingly legitimate, businesses such as buying and selling junk
or antiques. These businesses would provide fronts for the operators to buy and sell stolen items provided by others within the network. The businesses would usually operate until they aroused suspicion, then move to another location.
Many members of the Dixie Mafia were former state or federal prison
ers. Members were usually recruited while in prison; a history of violent behavior was generally a prerequisite to becoming a member. According to an article in the Las Vegas Review Journal, the gang was well-known for its violence in collecting debts owed to gambling
houses and strip
clubs.
The terms "Dixie Mafia" and "Southern Mafia" have been used interchangeably. Documented use of the two terms existed as early as 1993, when Scarfone wrote about the "Dixie Mafia" or the "Southern Mafia" working together with the "Italian Mafia" in the South. His accounts of the "Good Ol' Boy's Southern-Mafia" in Parts 3 and 4 of the article describe the group's indigenous nature. It is unclear whether or not all journalistic and literary references to the "Dixie Mafia" and the "Southern Mafia" refer to the same group of individuals. Therefore, these terms have become terms of general reference to any illegal enterprise in the Southern states
that, for cultural reasons, can expect a certain amount of support, both intended and unintended, from the local population
is home to many Dixie Mafia members. Most have life sentences without any chance of parole. Some mafia members have served a lengthy prison sentence and have been released from prison. One such Dixie Mafia member who is suspected of numerous murders around the United States (and Mexico) is Jeffery Carter. Jeffery Carter served a 20-year sentence in the Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola) for the death and sexual assault of a New Orleans prostitute. Carter has since been released from custody and resides in or near Hamilton County, Florida. Jeffery Carter was also on New Orleans Police radar in the murder of New Orleans bar owner Eugene Davis. Mr. Davis and Mr. Carter visited the 1984 World's fair
together on May 30, 1984 of which was the last night of Eugene Davis' life. Mr. Davis was found beaten to death in his French Quarter
residence just a block away from his French Quarter bar.
Eugene Davis was questioned about possible ties to Lee Harvey Oswald
and the JFK assassination. Jeffery Carter is suspected to be the Florida boss of the mafia, taking orders only from members behind bars in Angola, Louisiana (Peter Mule) and Marion, Illinois (Kirksey Nix
). Shortly after Jeffery Carter's release from the Louisiana State Penitentiary, Federal authorities were involved in an airplane chase over the Gulf of Mexico
after authorities spotted a low flying Piper Cub flying at full speed just a few hundred yards off shore. The pilot of this aircraft ignored the Federal authorities attempt to communicate. The pilot made a dangerous belly landing just yards away from the shore and was seen swimming to shore by authorities using infrared night vision. Despite all efforts to have law enforcement on the ground to locate this pilot, the pilot was never caught. The airplane was later determined to be stolen, and there was nothing illegal on board. However, law enforcement authorities believe that this low flying pilot was Dixie Mafia member Jeffery Carter. There was never enough evidence to arrest Carter as the pilot.
A 2011 NPR
report claimed some of the people associated with this group were imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit
.
Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, in the United States. The 2010 census recorded the population as 44,054. Along with Gulfport, Biloxi is a county seat of Harrison County....
, and operated primarily in the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, in the 1970s. The group uses each member's talents in various crime categories to help move stolen merchandise, illegal alcohol
Moonshine
Moonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
, and illegal drugs
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
. It is also particularly well-known for violence.
Early days
Beginning in the late 1960s, the Dixie Mafia began working as a loosely knit group of traveling criminals performing residential burglaryBurglary
Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
, robbery
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
and theft
Theft
In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
. The gang did not function with a set chain of command, but was led by whoever had the most money. Despite the informal structure, the Dixie Mafia had one rule that members were expected to obey: "Thou shall not snitch to the cops".
Unlike members of the Sicilian Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
, the members of the Dixie Mafia were not connected by family or country of origin. They were loosely connected individuals of many nationalities with a common goal: to make money and wield control over illegal moneymaking operations by any means, including influence peddling, bribery of public officials, and murder.
The gang became known for carrying out contract killings, particularly against former members. During its peak, from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, dozens of people were murdered (usually shot) by its members. Victims were most often murdered because they testified, or threatened to testify, against fellow members. One contract killer William Miller aka. "Blue Eyes" was said to have carried out many of the contract killings. This could never be proven due to lack of information or evidence. He disappeared and was thought to have settled down in Nashville.
"The Strip" in Biloxi, Mississippi, was home base for the Dixie Mafia, and Mike Gillich, Jr. was the group's unofficial but de facto kingpin. Of Croatian descent and from a large, poor family, he had raised himself in the city's Point Cadet section to become a wealthy entrepreneur along "The Strip". He owned a string of motels, a bingo parlor, and nightclubs that doubled as strip joints and gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
dens. He was known and trusted by almost every member of the Dixie Mafia, especially those who trusted no one else.
Mike Gillich was also patron and protector of Kirksey McCord Nix, Jr.
Kirksey Nix
Kirksey McCord Nix, Jr. is reputedly the former leader of the Dixie Mafia.He was a suspect in the assassination attempt on Sheriff Buford Pusser and in the death of Buford's wife on August 12, 1967....
, one of the gang's most notable members. In December, 1965, at the age of 22, Nix was caught carrying illegal automatic weapons in Ft. Smith, Arkansas. An old friend of his, Juanda Jones, ran a bordello there, and Nix became involved with Jones' adolescent daughter, Sheri LaRa. In later years, she would play a key role in his operations, including direct ties to the murders of Circuit Court Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife, Margaret, a former Biloxi councilwoman and mayoral candidate.
Edward Humes
Edward Humes
-Biography:Humes was born in Philadelphia and attended Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. In 1985 he moved to Southern California.In 1989 he received the Pulitzer Prize for specialized reporting for several investigative stories he wrote about the United States military...
, in his 1994 book, Mississippi Mud: Southern Justice and the Dixie Mafia, chronicled the Sherry murders, and the subsequent investigation of Gillich, Kirksey Nix, Bobby Fabian and others that were involved either loosely or actively in the murders. Bobby Fabian began cooperating with the FBI on the Sherry murders and was pleading with any law enforcement officials to move him out of the Louisiana State Penitentiary
Louisiana State Penitentiary
The Louisiana State Penitentiary is a prison farm in Louisiana operated by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. It is the largest maximum security prison in the United States with 5,000 offenders and 1,800 staff...
(LSP) because he felt he would be murdered. Fabian was transferred out of Angola
Louisiana State Penitentiary
The Louisiana State Penitentiary is a prison farm in Louisiana operated by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. It is the largest maximum security prison in the United States with 5,000 offenders and 1,800 staff...
but not a moment too soon as Dixie Mafia member (Florida Boss) Jeffery Carter had managed to be assigned to Camp-D within the penitentiary, exactly where Fabian was being housed.
LSP security obtained information from a confidential informant that Jeffery Carter was armed with a knife and that Carter was going to kill Fabian on the prison yard. Angola security immediately reacted to the information and actually spotted Jeffery Carter walking towards Bobby Fabian at which time a correctional officer ran up on Carter who was only 50 yards from Bobby Fabian and took control of Carter. Upon searching Jeffery Carter, correctional officers found a Buck knife
Buck Knives
Buck Knives is an American knife manufacturer founded in San Diego, California and now located in Post Falls, Idaho. The company has a long history through five generations of the Buck family from 1902 to the present day...
in the open position on Carter's person.
With the aid of his father's connections in neighboring Oklahoma, Kirksey Nix beat the weapons charges in Ft. Smith and moved on to other crimes. He was suspected in the gangland-style murder of a gambler named Harry Bennett, who was about to turn state's evidence against several Dixie Mafia members. Although Nix's involvement in Bennett's murder was never proven, this incident precipitated a string of killings that left twenty-five people dead in six states over the next four years.
Nix was a suspect in the attempted assassination of McNairy County, Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser
Buford Pusser
Buford Hayse Pusser was the Sheriff of McNairy County, Tennessee , from 1964 to 1970. Pusser is known for his virtual one-man war on moonshining, prostitution, gambling, and other vices on the Mississippi-Tennessee state-line. His story has directly inspired several books, songs, movies and at...
, and in the murder of Pusser's wife. Nix was also convicted of murdering wealthy New Orleans grocery owner Frank Corso. At the time of the murder, Kirksey Nix was believed to be employed by Darrel Ward in Clarksville, Texas. Mr. Ward was a noted associate of syndicate boss Sam "Momo" Giancana and is thought to have controlled organized crime and bootlegging throughout Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi. The Dixie Mafia was strongly connected to the State Line Mob
State Line Mob
The State Line Mob was an association of criminal elements that operated in the 1950s and 1960s at the Mississippi–Tennessee state line in Alcorn County, Mississippi, and McNairy County, Tennessee, along U.S. Route 45. The State Line Mob was involved in bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, tourist...
and its leader Carl Douglas "Towhead" White.
Dixie Mafia's locales
The Dixie Mafia's origins were in the AppalachiaAppalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
n states. The group operated in many large Southern cities and some of the group's criminal activities were in more obscure parts of their major areas of operation, making the group and their activities harder to pinpoint.
The Dixie Mafia committed most of their crimes in areas that lacked strong, coordinated law enforcement, particularly in small communities throughout the South. In doing so, murders, intimidation, or other criminal activities could take place with less risk of local law enforcement being able to directly link the crimes to the organization. Small town and county law enforcement agencies, especially in poorer sections of the South up to the 1990s, were usually inadequately equipped, and rarely had officers with extensive experience in the investigation of homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
or organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
.
The members of the Dixie Mafia usually created small, seemingly legitimate, businesses such as buying and selling junk
Scrap
Scrap is a term used to describe recyclable and other materials left over from every manner of product consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has significant monetary value...
or antiques. These businesses would provide fronts for the operators to buy and sell stolen items provided by others within the network. The businesses would usually operate until they aroused suspicion, then move to another location.
Many members of the Dixie Mafia were former state or federal prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
ers. Members were usually recruited while in prison; a history of violent behavior was generally a prerequisite to becoming a member. According to an article in the Las Vegas Review Journal, the gang was well-known for its violence in collecting debts owed to gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
houses and strip
Striptease
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...
clubs.
The terms "Dixie Mafia" and "Southern Mafia" have been used interchangeably. Documented use of the two terms existed as early as 1993, when Scarfone wrote about the "Dixie Mafia" or the "Southern Mafia" working together with the "Italian Mafia" in the South. His accounts of the "Good Ol' Boy's Southern-Mafia" in Parts 3 and 4 of the article describe the group's indigenous nature. It is unclear whether or not all journalistic and literary references to the "Dixie Mafia" and the "Southern Mafia" refer to the same group of individuals. Therefore, these terms have become terms of general reference to any illegal enterprise in the Southern states
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
that, for cultural reasons, can expect a certain amount of support, both intended and unintended, from the local population
Dixie Mafia at the Louisiana State Penitentiary
Louisiana State PenitentiaryLouisiana State Penitentiary
The Louisiana State Penitentiary is a prison farm in Louisiana operated by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. It is the largest maximum security prison in the United States with 5,000 offenders and 1,800 staff...
is home to many Dixie Mafia members. Most have life sentences without any chance of parole. Some mafia members have served a lengthy prison sentence and have been released from prison. One such Dixie Mafia member who is suspected of numerous murders around the United States (and Mexico) is Jeffery Carter. Jeffery Carter served a 20-year sentence in the Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola) for the death and sexual assault of a New Orleans prostitute. Carter has since been released from custody and resides in or near Hamilton County, Florida. Jeffery Carter was also on New Orleans Police radar in the murder of New Orleans bar owner Eugene Davis. Mr. Davis and Mr. Carter visited the 1984 World's fair
World's Fair
World's fair, World fair, Universal Exposition, and World Expo are various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All...
together on May 30, 1984 of which was the last night of Eugene Davis' life. Mr. Davis was found beaten to death in his French Quarter
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...
residence just a block away from his French Quarter bar.
Eugene Davis was questioned about possible ties to Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
and the JFK assassination. Jeffery Carter is suspected to be the Florida boss of the mafia, taking orders only from members behind bars in Angola, Louisiana (Peter Mule) and Marion, Illinois (Kirksey Nix
Kirksey Nix
Kirksey McCord Nix, Jr. is reputedly the former leader of the Dixie Mafia.He was a suspect in the assassination attempt on Sheriff Buford Pusser and in the death of Buford's wife on August 12, 1967....
). Shortly after Jeffery Carter's release from the Louisiana State Penitentiary, Federal authorities were involved in an airplane chase over the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
after authorities spotted a low flying Piper Cub flying at full speed just a few hundred yards off shore. The pilot of this aircraft ignored the Federal authorities attempt to communicate. The pilot made a dangerous belly landing just yards away from the shore and was seen swimming to shore by authorities using infrared night vision. Despite all efforts to have law enforcement on the ground to locate this pilot, the pilot was never caught. The airplane was later determined to be stolen, and there was nothing illegal on board. However, law enforcement authorities believe that this low flying pilot was Dixie Mafia member Jeffery Carter. There was never enough evidence to arrest Carter as the pilot.
A 2011 NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
report claimed some of the people associated with this group were imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit
Communication Management Unit
Communication Management Unit is a recent designation for a self-contained group within a facility in the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons that severely restricts, manages and monitors all outside communication of inmates in the unit.-Origins:As part of the Bush Administration's War on...
.
See also
- Cornbread mafiaCornbread mafiaThe Cornbread Mafia was a organized crime syndicate based in Marion County, Kentucky, first made public in June, 1989, when federal prosecutors revealed that 70 men, mostly from Marion County, but also two adjacent counties, Nelson and Washington, were arrested for organizing a marijuana...
- State Line MobState Line MobThe State Line Mob was an association of criminal elements that operated in the 1950s and 1960s at the Mississippi–Tennessee state line in Alcorn County, Mississippi, and McNairy County, Tennessee, along U.S. Route 45. The State Line Mob was involved in bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, tourist...
- Andrew C. Thornton IIAndrew C. Thornton IIAndrew C. Thornton II was a head member of "The Company", a drug smuggling ring in Kentucky. The son of Carter and Peggy Thornton of Threave Main Stud farm in southern Bourbon County, Kentucky. Drew grew up living a privileged life in the Lexington, Kentucky area and attended the private with...
- burley tobaccoBurley (tobacco)Burley tobacco is a light air-cured tobacco used primarily for cigarette production. In the United States it is produced in an eight-state belt with approximately 70% produced in Kentucky. Tennessee produces approximately 20%, with smaller amounts produced in Indiana, North Carolina, Missouri,...
—cash crop whose harvesting, warehousing, and curing technology has been adapted, with little alteration, to marijuana - cocaineCocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...