Lauren Smith: How did you end up writing this story?

Cullotta

During my initial meeting with Frank, he committed to discussing his life of crime starting with his days as a juvenile thief and tough guy in Chicago, through his time as Tony Spilotro’s lieutenant in Vegas, and his stint in the federal Witness Protection Program. He also agreed to talk about his role as an adviser to Casino, in which he appeared in several scenes as a hit man. Frank promised to talk candidly about the myriad crimes he’d been involved in for which he’d received immunity or the statue of limitations had long since run. They included murder.

Shortly after the meeting I approached Huntington Press with a proposal outlining what Frank’s story would contain and the amount of detail he would provide. As an illustration, the proposal included Frank’s description of the facts behind the so-called M&M murders. They were the basis for one of the most memorable scenes in Casino, the one in which Pesci’s character places a man’s head in a vise and squeezes until the guy’s eyeball pops out. Huntington saw the book’s potential and signed on to the project. 

Lauren Smith: Was it difficult co-authoring a book with a confessed mob killer? 

Denny Griffin: The start of the project was the most difficult for a number of reasons:
 
Frank and I didn’t know each other and had to go through a feeling out process. After spending 20 years in investigations and law enforcement, I had to overcome my inhibitions about entering into a business relationship with a man who – at least for many years – represented everything I had been against. 

Our lack of familiarity with each other caused me to have to grope my way along during our conversations to avoid getting Frank upset and possibly alienating him. Would I ask a wrong question? Would I react to an answer in a way that would offend him? Would he sense through my body language, tone or expression that I found some of his previous conduct repulsive? I guess I could say that at the start I sometimes felt like I was sitting on a powder keg and hoping not to accidentally ignite it. 

Communications were a problem. For security purposes I wasn’t allowed to know Frank’s new identity, location or business. All contact had to go through a middle man – retired FBI agent Dennis Arnoldy. This was cumbersome to say the least, and proved to be unworkable.

In addition to dealing with Frank, my wife was not at all happy with me for getting involved with writing his story. While I was working on Battle a couple of things happened — annoying/threatening phone calls, suspicious persons loitering near our home — that had made her nervous about my writing true crime. Battle wasn’t even back from the printer and here I was tangled up with a hit man. 

Fortunately, these early problems evaporated rather quickly. As Frank and I developed mutual respect and trust things went much smoother. I was given a way to contact him directly – along with a stern warning by Dennis Arnoldy that I was responsible for maintaining the security of that information. I learned that Frank has a code of ethics and there is only one way to deal with him: directly and honestly. If you treat him that way you’ll gain his respect and he’ll respond in kind. He also has a great sense of humor.  As time went on Frank went from being a business associate to being a friend. 

Even my wife has experienced a transformation. The first time Frank came to our place for a meeting, as he came in one door she and our dog went out the other. But now they’re buddies. She looks forward to his calls and visits. 

Lauren Smith: What surprised you most about working with Frank? 

Denny Griffin: His candor and demeanor. Frank gave me more detail than I expected, but he did it with such nonchalance that I had to learn to listen to him very closely so as not to miss anything important. He talked about serious crimes, including killings, with no more emotion that a couple of guys standing around the office water cooler discussing the weather. His attitude reminded me of that line from The Godfather: This is nothing personal. It’s strictly business.

Lauren Smith: What was it like digging into this piece of history? 

Denny Griffin: In a word, fascinating. The mob days in Vegas are a part of Sin City’s history and organized crime history. It was a story that needed to be told. To get the true facts about those days was very exciting for me. Unfortunately, I’ve read other books about that era published as “True Crime” that leave a lot to be desired in the way of accuracy. Some would have been more appropriate as fiction. I hope the factual accounts contained in both Battle and CULLOTTA help to set the record straight.

Lauren Smith: How much research went into writing this book? 

Denny Griffin: I had done a great deal of the necessary research during my two years of writing Battle. And because I had just finished that book everything was still fresh in my mind. Even with that head start, though, it took nearly another year for me to gather all the interviews and documents I needed to finish up. 

I was lucky in that the Operation Family Secrets Trial was scheduled to start in Chicago in May. In that case 14 reputed Chicago Outfit members had been indicted for crimes that included 18 unsolved gangland murders. Two of which were the Spilotro brothers. The trial offered a great opportunity for publicity, so Huntington put the book on fast track to get it in print by June. The first copies arrived in Vegas on June 5, but the official publication date is July 1.

Lauren Smith: What’s next? 

Denny Griffin: I actually have quite a lot going on right now. I’m heavily involved in promoting CULLOTTA. In my spare time I’m trying to finish a fiction called Vegas Vixen that is about half done. Also, last July, The Vegas Mob Tour opened. The Tour is based on The Battle for Las Vegas, and takes passengers to the actual locations where many of the incidents depicted in Casino took place. Frank, Dennis Arnoldy, and I are technical consultants to the Tour. 

I’m also mulling over three appealing true crime projects. I plan to start work on one of them when things settle down. 

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