The Beatles:
Resolving The Paul Is Dead Controversy
by
R.E. Prindle
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| The Album |
Sometime around or after the death of Tara Browne in an automobile accident in 1966 the rumor that Paul McCartney of the Beatles had died being replaced by a double began to circulate. The rumor itself, of course, is a fact that has been a center of controversy since 1966 although it didn‘t bloom in full until 1969 when a Detroit DJ spread the rumor through the colleges via UofM.
For my part I dismiss the notion that Paul did die and can find no solid evidence that the post-accident Paul is a double. Still the rumor calls for explanation especially in connection with the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s that depicts the demise of the whole group while it is reborn as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The reborn group is surrounded by the pictures of, one presumes, the lonely hearts.
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| Who Can Explain These Things? |
I can’t say that I have the solution for the rumor to be sure. What I offer here is a plausible explanation based on an interpretation of the social situation created by the phenomenal success of the Beatles. That success was too great a burden for the band members to bear. If anything caused the breakup of the band that overwhelming success was a principal cause. The success far exceeded the capability of any one of the members, in other words the whole was greater than its parts. But, to recreate the environment to some extent let us consider the members of the whole entourage.
At the base we find, I think, the notorious London criminals the Kray Twins,. Ronnie and Reggie. Their gang that they called The Firm terrorized the London of the Sixties.
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| David Bailey Portrait Of Reggie And Ronnie Kray |
The Kray twins were born in 1933 making them seven to twelve during the war years. They experienced all the bombing and hardship of the war years as well as the post-war deprivation of rationing through 1954. They came from London’s East End rising through the crime ranks in the fifties to finally come into their own from 1960 to 1968. A short reign but one that coincided with the golden age of English rock and roll. The rockers were born mainly in 1942-43 making them nine or ten years younger than the Krays but still close enough in age. The rockers missed the war but faced the deprivations of the post-war years. These were character forming years for both the Krays and the rockers, primarily for us the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
The Krays were heavy handed protection racketeers moving into gambling. They, especially Ronnie, were enamored of the NYC and Philadelphia Mafia families. The Mafia families had many singers and performers under their control most notably at this time Judy Garland. When Garland performed in England the Mafia used the Krays for protection. Thus the Krays got used to associating with certain celebrities which they found exhilarating.
It was suggested to Ronnie by the Mafia that the Krays suborn English acts much as the Mafia had done with the US performers. For a good visualization of the process the 1958 film The Girl Can’t Help It is an accurate fictionalized account. The movie even features a couple of Mafia groups such as Teddy Randazzo And The Gumdrops. Right! We’d never heard of them either. Even the Mafia couldn’t promote them to fame.
Who better for the Krays to begin to build their stable than the premier English group, the Beatles?
The front line protecting the performers is always their management. The groups or singers themselves are artists not businessmen. As artists their concern is their art. They have to concentrate on their art to be successful. To realize the benefits of their art is a business. Hence managers who are businessmen enter in. The artists must trust the businessmen who are nearly all crooks so the artists were born to be fleeced. In the case of the Beatles producing all those millions and millions, they were a manager’s dream. Plus the hangers on.
Enter Brian Epstein, the manager and Robert Fraser, art dealer and hanger on.
Just as background the English managerial caste, as well as the US, were with very few exceptions Jewish and homosexual. In the late fifties and early sixties there were no groups, there were solo singer acts. These guys in most cases were not artists they were just kids off the street. Managers like Larry Parnes cast their eyes over good looking guys on the street and selected the ones that appealed to them such as Cliff Richard and the various Furys and Storms. They taught them a little stage presence, got them a good song, usually from a Jewish homosexual songwriter, put a band behind them and ballyhooed them into stardom.
Being Jewish they looked at the goi boys as so many cash cows and so they were. As Bob Dylan famously sang in Ballad Of Thin Man, ‘Give me some milk or go home.‘ However much was made from the singers efforts most went to the managers and pittances to the boys. But, then they were only created creatures, mere employees anyway.
The Beatles were dedicated artists who had a fairly long apprenticeship learning their craft in a tough environment in the red light district of Hamburg Germany. They not only developed a sound but Lennon and McCartney became a most prolifically successful songwriting team. That’s where the real money in records is and that’s where the Beatles got skinned the worst.
So they had talent but without management the talent would die on the vine. Enter manager Brian Epstein who saw their potential and acted. He was a Jewish homosexual flake but without him the Beatles would probably have become unemployed layabouts rather than wealthy rock and rollers. Brian Epstein’s rock and roll empire was born on the Beatles backs.
Brian had a couple weaknesses, drugs and gambling, other than his homosexuality that was then illegal, a crime, hence to be carefully concealed. Combined with the temptation of all those millions, there’s a recipe you’ll never find again.
Another character in the story is the avant garde art dealer Robert Fraser, also known as Groovy Bob, impeccably English but homosexual and a drug addict and, sure enough, an inveterate gambler. Fraser spent the first couple of years of the Sixties in the NYC art scene. There he was heavily influenced by Andy Warhol, less impeccably American, homosexual, but as far as we know free of the vices of gambling and drugs.
Fraser was also involved in the burgeoning Satanist scene that would take prominence beginning in 1966. He was involved with the American Satanist Kenneth Anger and through Anger the literary influence of the English Satanist Aleister Crowley and San Francisco’s Anton La Vey.
Wanting to be with it, Groovy Bob created a sort of salon for the young rock and rollers. Apparently the whole crowd, Beatles, Stones, Marianne Faithfull, Jimmy Page and the rest all hung out at Groovy Bob Fraser’s. Bob always had a plentiful supply of the best drugs.
To supply him with those drugs enter the young ambitious criminal, Spanish Tony Sanchez. Tony worked the gambling joints of the West End for the early fifties criminal Albert Dimes, an Italian. Dimes was a huge man, a fearsome enforcer, who successfully weathered his times until he died in his nineties. Either no or little jail time too.
Spanish Tony recorded his life in the Sixties in his two books, Up And Down With The Rolling Stones and I Was Keith Richards’ Drug Dealer. The latter is an updated edition of the former with additional material so the two are similar but not identical.
Tony met Groovy Bob in a bar before going to work his shift. The friendship developed and Tony began to hang at Fraser’s becoming acquainted with the Beatles, Stones and Marianne. Tony had access to drug suppliers.
Groovy Bob Fraser was the frivolous sort who found the minor details irrelevant. Thus while losing heavily in the Kray’s West End gambling joint, Esmeralda’s Barn, he paid for his losses with checks drawn on air. Any check may bounce once but Groovy Bob’s were the super balls of checks, they just kept bouncing.
I don’t have to tell you this irritated the Krays. They threatened grievous bodily harm. Bob appealed to the incipient criminal Spanish Tony to try to straighten things out. Dimes was Tony’s introduction to the Krays and according to him he worked out an agreement but Groovy Bob, well, honestly, just couldn’t find the money.
At the same time Brian Epstein had gambled and lost, gambled and lost, gambled and lost. One surmises that he made inroads into those Beatles millions that would have been difficult to explain in court. His contract with the group would expire in 1967 at which time it wouldn’t have been unreasonable for the Boys to call for an audit of the books. Not being businessmen and trusting Brian implicitly they probably wouldn’t have but the guilty Brian couldn’t count on it. Under pressure from the Krays to turn the Beatles over to them, probably suffering the pangs of guilt and befuddled by drugs, Brian either committed suicide in the summer of ‘67 or he was erased by other interested parties.
In the interim the Krays were increasing the pressure to get the Beatles from him. They had a sit down with Brian in a homosexual bar to force the issue. Brian patiently tried to explain to them that management was no bed of roses; there were a million nagging little details, heartbreaks and frustrations.
Maybe so. The Krays had earlier broached the subject of taking over the Beatles to the UK crime kingpin Arthur Thompson of Glasgow. He had advised them against it pointing out they were criminals who as a caste gave little thought to business details as did Groovy Bob Fraser and besides when it got out that the Beatles were criminally controlled it might kill their popularity. The Krays brushed the latter objection aside but paid attention to the former.
Now, the Krays had an associate named Laurie O’ Leary who had a clean record and could therefore function above ground and obtain licenses to manage clubs and an older brother Charlie who also had a clear record who could learn the management skills and establish a talent agency. That should take care of both of Arthur’s objections.
Bear in mind that part of the deal Tony worked out was that Groovy Bob was to work to bring the Beatles over to the Krays. There was a large homosexual ring recruiting young boys from orphanages for their criminal pleasure. This ring involved some notorious people of the period. One was the homosexual Tom Driberg. Driberg had made himself familiar with Mick Jagger who he tried to recruit as a politician. A fellow called Lord Boothby seemed to be the guiding light of this group. The group also included Ronnie Kray and members of the so-called Music Mafia including disc jockeys and many of those presiding over the music scene. As events have recently shown those involved in the music industry were heavily into pedophilia. How they link up to the Krays’ invasion of group management isn’t clear but I’m sure there is a connection.
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| A Picture Of Kevin MacDonald, 29 year old advertising executive according to caption.
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A Beatles fan who wishes to remain anonymous sent me a package of press clippings dealing with Kevin MacDonald. The interview below appeared in the Evening Standard of 7/28/66. Kevin MacDonald Associates included himself Terry Howard and Bruce Higham. The interview gives some idea of the nature of the enterprise.
But the ultimate fascination of Sybylla's lies in its interest to the amateur sociologist. The three founders Terry Howard, Kevin MacDonald and Bruce Higham, all young professional men in their twenties who arranged bankers and backers to support their dream, claim that their club symbolizes a social revolution personified by the linkup between Marshall Field's great grand daughter, Miss Sibylla Edmonstone and Beatle George Harrison whose respective spheres of fashionability assured the club's success.
If the success needs an explanation it gets one from the most eloquent of the founders, 28 year old advertising executive Kevin MacDonald, a great-nephew of Lord Northcliffe, who was lyrically evangelical as what Sibylla's is doing for Britain when he told me using finger clicking for punctuation: "Sibylla's is the meeting ground for the new aristocracy of Britain (click) and by the new aristocracy I mean the current young meritocracy of style, taste and sensitivity. (click) We've got everyone here. (click) The top creative people. (click) The top exporters. (click) The top brains. (click) The top artists. (click) The top social people. (click) and the best of the PYPs (swingingese for pretty young people.) We're completely classless. (click). We are completely integrated. (click) We dig the spades man. (click)
Relationships here go off like firecrackers. Everyone here's got the message. (click) Can you read it, man?"
I confess to having originally looked upon the above statements of Mr. MacDonald as complete gibberish. However, although it may be due to the heady atmosphere of Swallow St., after three nights of Sibylla's I now admit to being converted to something near to Mr. MacDonald's doctrine.As to MacDonald's death, the newspaper account state simply that it was a suicide from the tenth floor of a building that MacDonald had apparently never visited before. He was defenestrated.
It was said by finger print experts from Scotland Yard that he had been hanging from a window. Suicide is possible but defenestration is a favorite murder method of criminals such as the Krays.
MacDonald who was seeing a psychologist is alleged to have been depressed but as I read the above the guy was an A-head and probably on the down side of elation when his psychologist saw him. We do now have some idea of who MacDonald was. By the way advertising executive is a generous way of describing someone with no clients.
At this point MacDonald and others decided to open a club for the 'hipoisie' called Sibylla's. They chose to open on Swallow St. in Piccadilly. The street was a Kray hangout with three clubs already in existence. While the choice of street seems strange it may have been deliberate. In addition to all the other tops MacDonald had the top gangsters. The scene had a fascination with gangsters. David Bailey the famous fashion photographers had celebrated the Krays in his photographs so possibly Kevin thought he could play with fire and not get burned.
In addition the three mob clubs on the street a Kray associate, Laurie O' Leary was chose as the manager. He was fresh from managing the bars at the Krays gambling joint, Esmeralda's Barn.
While O' Leary professes a sort of innocence in regards to his connection to the Krays he quite clearly was operating under their umbrella. It seems probable that the club was formed and the ownership group was formed to put pressure on the Beatles through Harrison. MacDonald doesn't seem to have known the Beatles but Brown was very close to both the Beatles and Stones.
Probably pressure was put on both to force them to work on Harrison to bring the Beatles in. The two either failed or refused to do so. MacDonald, the first to go, was obviously thrown to his death from a rooftop as a first warning. When that was ignored Tara Browne died in an equally suspicious way in a late night car crash. This is important because Lennon and McCartney wrote A Day In The Life included on their Sgt. Pepper’s album to describe it. It was probably this song that gave some sort of credence for Browne replacing a dead McCartney.
The only witness to the crash was Browne’s companion in the car, a tiny Lotus, a girl named Suki Potier. While there are a plethora of details circulating about the accident such as Browne was racing McCartney down the street at 106 miles an hour, there would have been no witnesses to confirm this save McCartney and Potier and neither have anything substantial to say.
The Lotus is said to have hit a van. The wreck of the Lotus certainly indicates a very high speed yet we have no picture of the van to indicate how the crash occurred. By van is meant I suppose what we USers would call a panel truck or something equivalent to a SUV.
While Browne was killed Miss Potier escaped the really horrendous looking crash with nothing but a few bruises. This seems incredible. As the picture shows the roof is torn off the car while the hood or bonnet is driven up. The window on her side is intact. At the very least her head should have broken the windshield. It would seem probable that she would have been thrown through it or over it. The timing of the roof ripping off would have been important there.
The question is, was there an accident or was Browne killed and the accident staged. The intent of his death may have been meant as a second warning to the Beatles to surrender. So, now, why was the Paul Is Dead rumor circulated. Perhaps the first two warnings having failed Paul was targeted as next. Of course that would have been counter productive.
But if one connects the Paul Is Dead rumor to the Sgt. Pepper’s cover a possible Kray involvement through Groovy Bob Fraser is possible. The cover of Sgt. Peppers had been assigned to a Dutch commune called The Fool and had actually been completed, but Fraser persuaded the ‘Boys’ to switch to a group of his friends who then came up with a cover depicting the whole group as dead and buried.
The symbolism of the cover had never really engaged my attention till recently. On the lower right corner is a rag doll wearing a Rolling Stones sweater. The aspiring gangster and Fraser friend Spanish Tony Sanchez now indebted to the Krays through his association with Fraser had been hired by Keith Richards of the Stones as his factotum and drug procurer at a salary of 250 pounds a week as recorded in his Up And Down With The Rolling Stones and I Was Keith Richards Drug Dealer thus putting a Kray agent in the Stones. A coincidence perhaps but a mighty good paying job. I have no evidence but it is likely that Tony was forced on Keith by the Krays.
At any rate on this bizarre, less than hip cover, the Beatles are dressed in their Sgt. Pepper’s garb standing looking down at a grave labeled Beatles. Surrounding them are pictures of a band of lonely hearts, mostly dead people. So, what is the message? Join up or your group will be dead for real? In fact Paul’s Mini was involved in a crash but it was being driven by his factotum while bringing drugs to a party Paul was attending. It was likely thought that Paul was driving.
What is clear is that Fraser was unable to pay his gambling debts and had to make some move to show he was cooperating. The cover could be a very discreet attempt to show the Krays he was working on it. As he was involved in the Redlands bust of 1967 and sent to prison that at least got him off the street for a period of time. Then the Krays were busted in May of 1968 perhaps removing an immediate threat. Fraser chose the time after his release to vanish in India perhaps to avoid punishment.
Brian Epstein, dazed and confused, by his drug taking, continuing to rack up gambling debts was making his situation worse. He was probably deep into money that contractually belonged to the Beatles. In other words he had embezzled or misappropriated vast sums.
In a desperate move to generate more cash, perhaps, he had opened a Fillmore type rock emporium that would be competing with the Roundhouse. He also apparently attempted to sell his firm NEMS to RSO the Robert Stigwood Organization. As he was giving NEMS up for the fire sale price of 500,000 pounds it would seem that he was desperate for a way out.
Post-Sgt. Peppers the Krays seem to have been no closer to annexing the Beatles than before. Epstein died on August 27, 1967 from an apparent drug overdose. He intended to spend that weekend with friends at his home but suddenly changed his mind and left to return to London. No one knows what happened in London or who he may have met. It’s possible the Krays called him and commanded a meeting. A sort of now or never thing. He returned home, locked himself in his room and died in bed. Never. The door was broken down the next morning when he was found dead in his bed.
The Krays themselves were arrested in May of 1968 and never released spending the rest of their lives in prison, or, in Ronnie’s case, Bedlam.
Prior to the Krays’ arrest in May the Beatles chose February of that year to visit the Maharishi in India thus out of the country for those months.
Spanish Tony continued with Keith Richards after the Krays were sentenced although his relationship became more strained. The Krays are said to have had influence in the underworld from prison so Keith may not have thought it wise to dismiss Tony at that time. The relationship was ended in 1976 when Tony was refused backstage entry at a concert.
When Reggie Kray died at the end of the century thus leaving Tony without any protection Tony is said to have died in 2000 also.
There is a chance his death was merely rumored. There are people who think he is still alive. I have comments from a T. at the end of my essay Who Is Spanish Tony Sanchez. The email address purports to be from Spanish Tony. My email to the address went unanswered. You may read T.’s comments and see what you think. I think it is likely that Tony is still out there. Maybe actually in Spain where all good English criminals seem to go.
If anyone has definite proof of Tony’s demise don’t hesitate to communicate the fact.
There you have it. To my mind there is no question that the man killed in the car crash was Tara Browne. I find it improbable to impossible that McCartney died somehow or was killed with his being replaced by Browne after plastic surgery while the Paul Is Dead story didn’t actually gain credence until 1969.
The murders of MacDonald and Browne have to be explained. The above is my attempt to do it. More information is certainly a desideratum.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Faithfull, Marianne: An Autobiography with David Dalton: 1994, Cooper Square Press Edition, 2000
Fry, Colin: The Krays, The Final Countdown, 2001, Starlyte Limited, Reprinted 2006
Fry, Colin: The Krays, A Violent Business, 2011, Mainstream Publishing Co.
Hodkinson, Mark: Marianne Faithfull, As Tears Go By, 1991, Omnibus Press.
Hodkinson, Mark: Marianne Faithfull, As Years Go By, 2013, Omnibus Press
Kray, Charlie with Colin Fray: Doing The Business, 1993 John Blake Pub. 2011 Edition
Kray, Reggie, with Peter Gerrard: Reggie Kray's East End Stories, 2010, Sphere
O' Leary, Laurie: Ronnie Kray, A Man Among Men, 2001, Headline Book Publishing
Oldham, Andrew Loog: Stoned, 2000, Seeker and Warburg, 2001 Vintage Edition
Oldham, Andrew Loog: 2Stoned, 2002, Seeker and Warburg, 2003, Vintage Edition
Oldham, Andrew Loog: Stone Free, 2012, Escargot Books
Sanchez, Spanish Tony: Up And Down With The Rolling Stones, 1979, Da Capo Press
Sanchez, Spanish Tony: I Was Keith Richards' Drug Dealer, 2003, John Blake
Thomas, Donald: Villain's Paradise, A History Of Britain's Underworld, 2006 Pegasus
Umland, Rebecca and Sam: Donald Cammel, Life On The Wild Side, 2006, FAB Press
Vyner, Harriet: Groovy Bob, The Life And Times Of Robert Fraser, 1999, Faver and Faber
Numerous blogs but most prominently The Beatles, Conspiracy, A Dandy In Aspic, Invanddis and Another Nickel In The Machine, all outstanding blogs.
March 20, 2013 at 3:44 am e I know it says in the end of his book “I Was Keith Richards’ Drug Dealer” that he died in 2000, but do you really think Tony is dead? Keith was very concerned about the release of this book, and asked Tony not to do it. I recall the ending of this book having two of Keith’s goons mess Tony up during a visit to Keith’s hotel room, and something about Keith flashing guns to Tony asking him which one he wanted. Personally, I think Tony collected his royalties and vanished. Think about it… Tony’s main connections in the criminal underworld died before he “died”. His only protection at that point was to take the money and run. He is/was a slippery guy with far more street smarts than anyone who befriended him. I wouldn’t put anything past him.
March 20, 2013 at 4:25 am e I have no positive information on Tony although I read that he spent his advance in fine style and went bust which I think likely as he was a dopehead.
He did lose his protection when the Krays peeled off by 2000 so it’s possible that at that point Keith may not only have threatened him but did him. I’m not sure I’ve got an adequate notion of what dying peacefully is but a hot shot would do that.
If Tony’s still hanging in there he’s seventy which isn’t that old. I wouldn’t put it past him. If he is alive time for volume II.
March 20, 2013 at 2:26 pm e I find it peculiar that some rock-and-roll historian hasn’t at least found Tony’s death certificate (to the best of my knowledge). Although he wasn’t a Rolling Stone, he was a major part of their history, and is responsible for popularizing their personal life. He is, in fact, a part of rock-and-roll history. One could argue that saying Tony “passed peacefully away” may be more metaphorical than literal (i.e. the Tony Sanchez that we knew, was at that point, “dead”).
There is a guy floating around on the internet named Nick Dominguez who claims to be Tony’s great grandson or grandson (not sure which). He claims to have a vast number of never before seen pictures carried through the family. Of course, anyone could say such a thing, but anything is possible I suppose. In any event, Nick confirmed in several posts on other website(s) that Tony is in fact dead.
On the other side of the coin, Tony WAS sexually involved with an exotic dancer/prostitute who was an injection drug user, was quite the opportunist when it came to females with drug debts, and also became an injection user himself. All of this was going on in the early to mid 1970′s when everyone was still blind to “safe practices”. Who knows what health issues he may have developed from this. Like you say, rumor has it that he blew his book royalties on drugs which may also have contributed to his “death”.
March 21, 2013 at 3:18 am e I agree that it’s time for some serious research to be undertaken, especially with so many still alive. There is no reason to speculate on Tony’s death when a certificate must be available…somewhere.
Tony’s wife may still be alive to be interviewed with her view of things. Her and his children are most likely living while if his grandson has scads of pictures, post a few on the internet as a teaser and if nothing else put together a three or four hundred pager with an on demand publisher like Blurb and make some money.
If you know Nick’s websites pass them on, I haven’t found access yet.
We weren’t blind to ‘safe practices’, we didn’t need them until the Magic Dick airline steward got back from Africa and spread AIDS all over San Francisco. Even then you had to be a fairie, straights didn’t get AIDS.
So as Tony appears to have been straight no worries that anti-biotics wouldn’t have resolved.
A lot more work on Tony, Bob Fraser, Chris Gibbs, the Crowley crowd, and Tara Browne among other peripheral players is much needed. The main problem is some might get their feelings hurt, so for those who dally, if you did it, you did it. Walk like a man my son.
March 21, 2013 at 11:42 pm e I guess I should have been a little clearer about the 1970′s and “safe practices”. I was more implying that heroin addicts probably wouldn’t be in the state of mind to do anything safely. There are plenty of things that can go undetected for years and cause serious complications. Also, there is medical evidence suggesting that people had contracted HIV well before it became a “well known” problem. Anything is possible really.
People have suggested to Nick Dominguez that he make a website with these never before seen pictures, but he was hesitant from what I recall. He has since deleted his YouTube channel so contacting him would be hard. He could have just made the whole thing up, which wouldn’t surprise me really.
I have both of Tony’s books. I will glance through them again and see if I can find any information which may be relevant to finding out who his wife and/or relatives are.
What would really be useful is if someone compiled all known information about Tony and started a Wikipedia page.
March 21, 2013 at 11:51 pm e What’s the other Sanchez book?
March 22, 2013 at 10:11 am e The first one was “Up and Down With The Rolling Stones” and the second one was “I Was Keith Richards’ Drug Dealer”.
The second is basically a re-hash of the first, with the addition of some previously untold stories and maybe some pictures not included in the first.
March 22, 2013 at 4:30 pm e Oh, Keith’s Dealer. That was published in 2003 by Blake three years after Tony’s alleged death. Assuming the death report accurate that means Blake was just exploiting the situation to sell a few extra copies.
Any changes would have been made by him at his discretion and thus suspect. As Tony would have had noting to do with the edition no weight can be given it.
March 25, 2013 at 12:27 am e It could have been re-worked by Tony in the years before his death. For argument sake, lets say this book was actually finished up shortly before his death. After he died, the publishing company likely had to work out various legalities with Tony’s estate before releasing it, which could have taken several years to do.
March 25, 2013 at 1:24 am e Sure, it’s all speculation without any additional information. Something tells me though that Blake didn’t worry a lot about Tony’s estate. There’s something though. Did he have any assets when he died and did he even have a will.
Any idea where he died. Every once in a while I come across some English movie where English criminals move to Spain and track each other down. Great scenery. I didn’t understand what the situation was until I read up on the Krays and then it all came clear.
What do you know about the London criminal scene? Anything?
March 25, 2013 at 1:52 am e Everything is speculation, no doubt. Even if Tony didn’t have a will or anything to his name, there is no doubt that his surviving family members might have surfaced for a cut of the pie from his new book, since someone would have had to collect his royalties. And, if Tony did die intestate, things would be further complicated for them from a legal standpoint, which might explain the delay of the book until almost three years after Tony’s alleged death.
No idea where he died.
Interesting fact: It was either in his second book, or in Keith’s new book, that Tony’s father owned an Italian restaurant in England somewhere. I wonder if it still exists…
As for what I know of the criminal scene in London, I’m not an expert, but I have knowledge of it. Feel free to pass along any suggested reading.