Post by hi224 on Oct 3, 2019 3:10:48 GMT
Here's a WILD unsolved midwest murder that could stand to get a bit more attention IMO, even if closure might not be possible.
Karl Lotharius was a notable bar owner in Milwaukee. Born in Germany, he emigrated to the U.S. after befriending a family of American GIs on a U.S. military base in Trier, Germany post-WWII. He later joined the American military himself, became a paratrooper, returned to civilian life, got jobs at the local power company while moonlighting as a bouncer. By the mid-70s, he had enough saved he bought his own place, a former supper club that he immediately converted into a disco called Oliver's Cabaret. Later he bought a second bar that he envisioned as more of a swanky, relaxed cocktail bar that reflected his European heritage. That place still exists in Milwaukee. It's called Von Trier.
When he turned up dead outside his house Dec. 1981 -- struck down by an ARROW -- police figured his lifestyle caught up with him. Especially since he's said to have uttered the words, "Buzzy got me" with his dying breath. Buzzy was the nickname of a much younger man who worked at one of Lotharius's two bars and was rumored to be involved with Lotharius until the pair had a falling out. Except Buzzy insists he wasn't gay, that he hadn't seen Lotharius for months before his death, and that he had no idea why Lotharius named him. Buzzy also told police he was with his girlfriend the night Lotharius died. He lawyers up and actually married said girlfriend a few weeks later. Ultimately, the DA decides the nickname Buzzy is not a unique enough identifier to hold up in court.
Now the police, who think they have their guy, have nothing else to go on. But it turns out Lotharius recently complained to the FBI that the mafia is making life hard for him because he refuses to install their vending machines inside his bars. It's outside the purview of this case, but the Milwaukee Mafia was a real organization. FBI agent Joseph Pistone goes to Milwaukee while undercover as Donnie Brasco. It was a small group, and it broke up after its head, Frank Balestreri, went to prison in the 1980s. But for a time they were around doing mafia things, like trying to establish vending machine monopolies by force if necessary. Lotharius is even said to have taken things into his own hands and threatened the mob back.
So the mob killed him right? Not so fast, because his Lotharius' love life makes this even more complicated. Lotharius was a closeted gay man whose type was basically young and gay-for-pay. His disco bar hosted a lot of enlisted Navy people, and Lotharius made one of his employee's proposition men he was interested in. Buzzy himself was a military school graduate, where he was an extra in The Omen 2, and possibly even took archery classes.
One local guy that was said to be involved with Lotharius was Mark Tagatz. This is according to one person and one person alone, a bartender that worked for Lotharius named Dave Stirmel. Offically, Tagatz had a girlfriend. We know this because after she broke up with him (for being abusive, among other things), he hanged himself outside her house and it's all there in a police report. That happened in the summer of 1982, about six months after Lotharius is killed. Tagatz's sister says he's very good with a bow, and Stirmel says Tagatz called Oliver's the night Lotharius was murdered and Lotharius declined to speak with him.
SOOO, who killed Lotharius? Was it the mob? Was it Tagatz, the reputed violent ex-lover? Did Buzzy get out of this a little too quickly and neatly? Any ideas on how this case can be definitely solved in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen?
One more thing to consider: FBI documents on Lotharius, which mostly contain his allegations about being threatened by the mob, ALSO note that an unnamed police officer once mentioned to Lotharius that it was known that Lotharius had testified before a grand jury about police corruption. Grand jury testimony is supposed to be a big secret, and Lotharius was a little freaked out the guy knew this. Lotharius mentions this to the FBI as a way of explaining why he doesn't trust local law enforcement to help him out.
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Further reading:
www.milwaukeemag.com/murder-of-a-tyrant-karl-lotharius/
www.wuwm.com/post/revisiting-notorious-murder-notorious-milwaukeean#stream/0
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One weird fact about this case is there is a constellation of murders surrounding the figures. It feels like everyone in the story has a 20 percent chance of being murdered at any given time.
- Augie Palmisano, a mobster who is said to have threatened Lotharius, is blown to bits by a bomb connected to his car starter
- Another mobster, Vincent Maniaci, narrowly avoids the same fate when the bomb wired to his car fails to explode
- Buzzy's sister, Terri Dolowy, is murdered. That case is technically unsolved, although a lot of people think they know who did it.
- Buzzy's subsequent employer, Max Adonnis (yes, he changed his name to that) is murdered at work. That murder is also unsolved, but police believe his killers WERE THEMSELVES executed.
- If people weren't getting murdered, they were party to some other crazy shit. One guy, Martin Dzelzkalns, turns up in the story as someone who got busted helping run a bookie operation out of Oliver's. He was later pardoned by Wisconsin's governor. Before all that though, he turns up in a news article for taking a girl out on a date only to be followed on a high-speed chase by her stalker ex-lover.
- Also, people that knew Lotharius say he talked about being a CIA operative. He was born in Germany, became a naturalized US citizen, and joined the US military. At a time when Germany was two separate countries and a Cold War hotspot, if the Americans were looking for intelligence in East Germany, Karl Lotharius fits the bill.
- An anonymous Wisconsin law enforcement official has authored a book that uses a fictionalized version of Lotharius' murder called The Cozen Protocol.
Karl Lotharius was a notable bar owner in Milwaukee. Born in Germany, he emigrated to the U.S. after befriending a family of American GIs on a U.S. military base in Trier, Germany post-WWII. He later joined the American military himself, became a paratrooper, returned to civilian life, got jobs at the local power company while moonlighting as a bouncer. By the mid-70s, he had enough saved he bought his own place, a former supper club that he immediately converted into a disco called Oliver's Cabaret. Later he bought a second bar that he envisioned as more of a swanky, relaxed cocktail bar that reflected his European heritage. That place still exists in Milwaukee. It's called Von Trier.
When he turned up dead outside his house Dec. 1981 -- struck down by an ARROW -- police figured his lifestyle caught up with him. Especially since he's said to have uttered the words, "Buzzy got me" with his dying breath. Buzzy was the nickname of a much younger man who worked at one of Lotharius's two bars and was rumored to be involved with Lotharius until the pair had a falling out. Except Buzzy insists he wasn't gay, that he hadn't seen Lotharius for months before his death, and that he had no idea why Lotharius named him. Buzzy also told police he was with his girlfriend the night Lotharius died. He lawyers up and actually married said girlfriend a few weeks later. Ultimately, the DA decides the nickname Buzzy is not a unique enough identifier to hold up in court.
Now the police, who think they have their guy, have nothing else to go on. But it turns out Lotharius recently complained to the FBI that the mafia is making life hard for him because he refuses to install their vending machines inside his bars. It's outside the purview of this case, but the Milwaukee Mafia was a real organization. FBI agent Joseph Pistone goes to Milwaukee while undercover as Donnie Brasco. It was a small group, and it broke up after its head, Frank Balestreri, went to prison in the 1980s. But for a time they were around doing mafia things, like trying to establish vending machine monopolies by force if necessary. Lotharius is even said to have taken things into his own hands and threatened the mob back.
So the mob killed him right? Not so fast, because his Lotharius' love life makes this even more complicated. Lotharius was a closeted gay man whose type was basically young and gay-for-pay. His disco bar hosted a lot of enlisted Navy people, and Lotharius made one of his employee's proposition men he was interested in. Buzzy himself was a military school graduate, where he was an extra in The Omen 2, and possibly even took archery classes.
One local guy that was said to be involved with Lotharius was Mark Tagatz. This is according to one person and one person alone, a bartender that worked for Lotharius named Dave Stirmel. Offically, Tagatz had a girlfriend. We know this because after she broke up with him (for being abusive, among other things), he hanged himself outside her house and it's all there in a police report. That happened in the summer of 1982, about six months after Lotharius is killed. Tagatz's sister says he's very good with a bow, and Stirmel says Tagatz called Oliver's the night Lotharius was murdered and Lotharius declined to speak with him.
SOOO, who killed Lotharius? Was it the mob? Was it Tagatz, the reputed violent ex-lover? Did Buzzy get out of this a little too quickly and neatly? Any ideas on how this case can be definitely solved in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen?
One more thing to consider: FBI documents on Lotharius, which mostly contain his allegations about being threatened by the mob, ALSO note that an unnamed police officer once mentioned to Lotharius that it was known that Lotharius had testified before a grand jury about police corruption. Grand jury testimony is supposed to be a big secret, and Lotharius was a little freaked out the guy knew this. Lotharius mentions this to the FBI as a way of explaining why he doesn't trust local law enforcement to help him out.
---
Further reading:
www.milwaukeemag.com/murder-of-a-tyrant-karl-lotharius/
www.wuwm.com/post/revisiting-notorious-murder-notorious-milwaukeean#stream/0
----
One weird fact about this case is there is a constellation of murders surrounding the figures. It feels like everyone in the story has a 20 percent chance of being murdered at any given time.
- Augie Palmisano, a mobster who is said to have threatened Lotharius, is blown to bits by a bomb connected to his car starter
- Another mobster, Vincent Maniaci, narrowly avoids the same fate when the bomb wired to his car fails to explode
- Buzzy's sister, Terri Dolowy, is murdered. That case is technically unsolved, although a lot of people think they know who did it.
- Buzzy's subsequent employer, Max Adonnis (yes, he changed his name to that) is murdered at work. That murder is also unsolved, but police believe his killers WERE THEMSELVES executed.
- If people weren't getting murdered, they were party to some other crazy shit. One guy, Martin Dzelzkalns, turns up in the story as someone who got busted helping run a bookie operation out of Oliver's. He was later pardoned by Wisconsin's governor. Before all that though, he turns up in a news article for taking a girl out on a date only to be followed on a high-speed chase by her stalker ex-lover.
- Also, people that knew Lotharius say he talked about being a CIA operative. He was born in Germany, became a naturalized US citizen, and joined the US military. At a time when Germany was two separate countries and a Cold War hotspot, if the Americans were looking for intelligence in East Germany, Karl Lotharius fits the bill.
- An anonymous Wisconsin law enforcement official has authored a book that uses a fictionalized version of Lotharius' murder called The Cozen Protocol.