Special Dec 22 show – Ron Scharff Updates

I’m  looking forward to my next show.  On Tuesday, December 22, Kim Kolton and I will discuss a double homicide out of Illinois. On the morning of June 2, 1981, two people were found shot to death in the living room of an apartment at the rear of the P.M. Pub, located at 238 West Rand Road in Lakemoor, Illinois.

The victims were the tavern’s owner, 37-year-old Ronald Scharff, and barmaid Patricia Freeman, who had worked her shift at the bar the previous evening. For 27 years the murders remained unsolved. And then in 2008, Paul Scharff – Ron’s son – received a phone call that his former babysitter had read a book that she believed included a segment on Ron Scharff’s killing.

The investigation was reactivated, and a little over a year after receiving that call the Scharff and Freeman families obtained a degree of closure. Tonight Paul Scharff will take us through the events that resulted in the naming of the murderer of Ron Scharff and Patricia Freeman.

You can hear the show beginning at 9 pm Eastern at www.blogtalkradio.com/dennisngriffin.

Scharff Murder Case Closed

When Mob man Frank Cullotta turned government witness in the early 80′s, he had to open his life up to the Feds.  To be a part of the Government Witness Protection and save his own neck, he had to come clean on everything he ever did, everything in detail.  One forgotten fact or a missed date meant he would be out on his own and open to those who wanted him dead.

One of the things he disclosed was the fact that another Vegas Mobster,  Larry Neumann, was most likely responsible for the unsolved double homicide of barkeeper Ronald Scharff and his waitress Patricia Freeman in  McHenry County, Illinois.  He gave great detail into why he thought this.

But McHenry County is 40 miles from Chicago, Mob central and who knows who was on the take.  But the Sheriff’s office never really went looking for Larry.  They talked to him, but that was about it.  Larry Neumann would later die of natural causes while in prison on another murder charge.

Fast forward almost thirty years later.  Frank Cullotta publishes his biography and in it talks about the murders.  This gets back to Paul Scharff, youngest son of Ronald Scharff.  With Frank’s help, he gets the case reopened.

After one year of new investigation work and help from Frank and other sources, the McHenery County Sheriffs office announced earlier this month that yes, they do believe that Larry Neumann is most likely the man who killed Paul’s father and his barmaid.

However, they stopped short of a definite “Yes”, due to the age of the case, lost files and the procedures of yesteryear are no match for the way cases are handled today. That, and the fact that the lead suspect is now deceased.  It’s as far as they can go. The Case is Closed.

So at least there is some closure for the families.  Not the way they would like it to be.  Yet it is more than they could have ever imagined had Frank Cullotta never published his life story.

Chicago News – Case Closed

The book Cullotta told me who killed my father 27 years ago

From the Amazon.com  – A Review of Cullotta

The book Cullotta told me who killed my father 27 years ago, November 20, 2008
By Paul Scharff (McHenry, IL United States)

I have never written a review for a book before, but I never had a book IMPACT my life like this one. From the book Cullotta, I discovered who killed my father and his barmaid 27 years ago.

My name is Paul and I am the eldest son of Ronald Scharff. My father and Patricia Freeman were killed in Lakemoor, Illinois in 1981 by Larry Neumann. Neumann was one of Frank Cullotta’s Hole in the Wall Gang members that my father had the great misfortune of knowing; my father’s case in still officially unsolved.

Since reading the book, I have been working to get my father’s case closed with a considerable amount of help from Frank Cullotta himself and his co-author, Dennis Griffin. My family and I are deeply grateful for their help. Frank Cullotta has been the only one in the past 27 years that has tried to bring my family and the Freeman’s any kind of closure.

Please read this book to learn more about Larry Neumann and his ability to commit multiple murders. Your opinion on this man will help get this case closed. Visit my Facebook Group “McHenry County 1981″ to follow my continuing efforts to get closure in the Ronald Scharff and Patricia Freeman case.

Copy and Paste the link below into your browser to Visit my Facebook group “McHenry County 1981″

http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/group.php?gid=33678349794

Next Page »