Dixie Mafia

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Dixie Mafia
In	Biloxi, Mississippi
Founded by	Mike Gillich, Jr.
Years active	late 1960s - present
Territory	Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas and Mississippi
Ethnicity	mostly white
Membership	a few hundred, maybe less
Criminal activities	bootlegging, drug trafficking, burglary, assassination, dog fighting
Allies	American Mafia

The Dixie Mafia was a criminal organization based in Biloxi, Mississippi and operated primarily in the Southern United States, peaking in the 1970s. It was particularly well-known for violence, and was primarily a loosely-knit group that used each member's talents in various crime categories to help move stolen merchandise, illegal alcohol, and drugs, for profit.

1 The early days
2 Dixie Mafia's Locales and MO
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] The early days

Beginning in the late 1960s, the Dixie Mafia began working as a loosely knit group of traveling criminals performing residential burglary, robbery and theft. The gang did not function with a set chain of command, but was led by whomever had the most money. Despite the informal structure, the Dixie Mafia had one rule that members were expected to obey: "Thou shalt not snitch to the cops".^[1]

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.

Murder became the group's hallmark. They became known for carrying out contract killings, usually of people associated with the group. During its peak, from the early 1960s to the late 1980s, dozens of people met a violent end at the hands of its members, usually at the losing end of a gun. Victims were most often murdered because they testified, or threatened to testify, against fellow members.

"The Strip" in Biloxi, Mississippi, was home base for the Dixie Mafia, and Mike Gillich, Jr. was the group's unofficial but universally-acknowledged kingpin. Of Croatian Slavic descent and from a large family, he had raised himself from a poor upbringing in the city's Point Cadet section to become a wealthy entrepreneur along "The Strip". He owned a string of motels, nightclubs that doubled as strip joints and gambling dens, and a bingo parlor. He was known and trusted by almost every member of the Dixie Mafia, especially those who trusted no one else. In the words of one investigator of the Sherry murders, "Mr. Mike runs the criminals' post office. He's their banker."

"Mr. Mike" 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 had taken a liking to Jones' blonde, adolescent daughter, Sheri LaRa. The attraction was mutual; LaRa became increasingly infatuated with Nix. In later years she would play a key role in his operations, including direct ties to the murders of Vince and Margaret Sherry.

With the aid of his father's connections in neighboring Oklahoma, Nix beat the weapons charges in Ft. Smith and moved on to other crimes. By 1967, he was on a spree that would have deadly consequences for many who crossed his path. 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 proved, this incident precipitated a string of killings that left 25 people dead in six states over the next four years - and Nix was just getting started; his next encounter would be with an American legend.

Nix was a suspect in the attempted assassination of McNairy County, Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser and 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. ^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] Notable exceptions to that rule are Sheriff Leroy Hobbs and Chief of Police Craig Monroe.

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[edit] Dixie Mafia's Locales and MO

The Dixie Mafia's strongest ties were in the US states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, and Mississippi, operating in areas centered around Birmingham, Alabama, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Dallas, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia. Some of the group's criminal activities were located in less visible locations in their major areas of operation, making the group and their activities harder to pinpoint.^[4]^[6]

The Dixie Mafia committed most of their crimes in areas that lacked strong, co-ordinated 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 a front for the operator 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 prisoners. 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 Journal Review, 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 in the past. The use of the two terms has been documented back to 1993 when Scarfone writes about "Dixie Mafia" or "Southern Mafia" working together with the "Italian Mafia" in the South. His writings about the "Good Ol' Boy's Southern-Mafia" in Parts 3 and 4 of the article describes the group's indigenous nature.^[7]