After 40 years, could we finally have the answer to who killed civil rights activist Leon Jordan? The Kansas City Star reported yesterday that, of course, the mob had Jordan killed.
Here's the story that local civil rights advocate Alvin Sykes gave the Star (and he should know because he's been briefed twice by police): Mob boss Nick Civella signed off on Jordan's killing, "which allegedly was carried out by black assailants connected with Joe
Centimano, a low-profile mob associate."
Civella, who ran the Kansas City crime family, and Centimano are both dead. Why would they want Jordan dead? The former Kansas City cop and the co-founder of black political Freedom Inc. practiced "bare-knuckle politics" and "his 'truculent manner' had angered influential people in the worlds of crime and politics."
Jordan was shot to death in the street outside of his tavern, the Green Duck (2548 Prospect Avenue) around 1 a.m. on July 15, 1970.
Star stories from last summer suggested a mob connection to the killing, which remained a cold case "despite eyewitnesses, fingerprints, numerous suspects and the recovery
of the murder weapon."
The Jackson County prosecutor's office is reviewing the 900-page case, and Jackson County prosecutor Jim Kanatzar has called the case an "active investigation." But, at this point, who knows if charges will be filed.A police report obtained by The Star showed that the shotgun used to
kill Jordan may have made its way into the hands of organized crime
several years before the murder.
In addition, police informants at the time said Centimano -- known on
the street as "Shotgun Joe" -- may have provided the gun and recruited
the killers in what now appears to have been a complex murder plot.
a service weapon for the last 33 years. Police reopened the case from there, leading us to yesterday's news and a long wait while prosecutors review 900 pages of documents.
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