Sunday, March 4, 1934

Went to church and Sunday school. Went over to Montgall Park and played tennis with Sunday school class. In the evening we went to 27th Street church with Pauline, Nadine and Ruth Ray. Readings.

Charles Binaggio (January 12, 1909 - April 5, 1950)

Another of the Five Iron Men of Kansas City, Binaggio rose through the ranks of the Mob to
become the boss of the Kansas City crime family. He earned his prominence in the "family" by
 making a lot of money from liquor and gambling. On July 20, 1931 Binaggio was arrested in
 Kansas City following a shootout that killed a Bureau of Prohibition agent and two others.
After questioning him, the police determined that he hadn't taken part in the shootout and
released him with a vagrancy charge.

Following his release, Binaggio was taken under the wing of John Lazia, who had established
 a political club (the North Side Democratic Club) in order to increase his mob's power. This
 led to Binaggio's involvement with the local and State political scene that would last until his death
in 1950. After Lazia was assassinated in 1934,  his underboss Charles V. "Charley the Wop"
 Carollo ascended to the crime throne. At some point it is believed that Binaggio became Carollo's
 underboss. In 1939, Carollo was caught up in a citywide clean-up campaign and he was sent to
prison for income tax evasion. This led to the rise of Binaggio to the position of the city's mob boss
 in October of 1939.


On the night of April 6, 1950, Binaggio and his underboss, Charles "Mad Dog" Gargotta (a
notorious enforcer within the Kansas City family), were called to meet some unknown persons at
the First Ward Democratic Club near downtown Kansas City. Binaggio left his driver/bodyguard,
 Nick Penna, at a tavern owned by the mob, saying that he would return in a few minutes. Binaggio
and Gargotta then borrowed a car and drove off to the Democratic Club.

Shortly after 8 P.M., residents in apartments above the Democratic Club heard several shots.
Eight hours later, a cab driver going to a nearby cafe noticed that the club door was open; he
also heard water running inside. The police were called and they found the bodies of Charles
 Binaggio and Charles Gargotta inside the club. Binaggio was seated at a desk and Gargotta
was lying inside the front door. Both men had been shot in the head four times with
separate .32 caliber revolvers.