Retired Kansas City, Missouri, Police Intelligence Unit Detective Gary Jenkins tells the story of the unsolved murder of James Ragen.

Gary Jenkins digs into an old-school Chicago Outfit story pulled from a vintage newspaper clip by legendary columnist Drew Pearson. The article centers on James M. Ragen, a key figure in the Continental Press and Racing Wire, and what happened when the Outfit decided it wanted total control of the race wire business.
This is a gritty snapshot of how Chicago’s underworld allegedly dominated legitimate businesses in the 1940s—bars, taverns, suppliers, and especially gambling infrastructure—then used violence and influence to keep it that way.
Gary returned to Chicago Outfit history after spotting an old Drew Pearson column: “A Songbird Who Sang, Murdered”
He tells how race wire services powered mob-controlled bookmaking across U.S. cities The Outfit’s push to muscle in with a competing racing wire—and the warning: don’t compete with Chicago Mob-linked figure Mo Annenberg and the money behind race wire “tolls” and kickbacks.

Outfit names mentioned in the takeover fight, including “Greasy Thumb” Jake Guzik and others from the era Pearson’s claim that Ragen gave information about mob domination in Chicago to the U.S. Attorney General Tom Clark The broad daylight attack: a fruit truck pulls alongside, and a machine gun ambush erupts at a stoplight nd James Ragen goes down in a hail of .45 bullets. The “stranger-than-fiction” twist: Ragen later dies, and an autopsy allegedly finds a tube of mercury in his stomach

Why the case remained murky: the coroner allegedly refused to pin it cleanly as murder (per Pearson’s reporting) Gary frames it as a reminder of how profound Outfit influence ran in city systems and politics.

This bonus episode connects the dots between information networks (race results), organized gambling, and the Outfit’s approach to business: control the pipeline, control the profit—and crush anyone who won’t move aside.   

Visit The Chicago Outfit-Old and Current news and articles Facebook Group for many other stories like this.  
Gary reminds everyone to check out his books and films (search Gary Jenkins on Amazon or visit his website). www.ganglandwire.com

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