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Everybody Pays: Two Men, One Murder and the Price of Truth

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Everybody Pays--Two Men, One Murder and the Price of Truth, is more than a great true story of crime in Chicago. It gets to the heart of courage and evil because the players: criminals, cops, ordinary citizens, lawyers, and their families are real human beings, not stereotypes.

What is the price of man's life? Not very much on the gritty streets of some neighborhoods.
How can a woman share her life with Harry Aleman, the hitman reputed to have killed twenty men? Amazingly enough, her experience of him is as a great husband and a devoted father to her children.

What happens to an ordinary guy and his family when he walks out of his house one evening and sees his neighbor blown apart by a shotgun? He does the "right thing" and becomes the key witness in a murder trial, but incredibly, the murderer goes free and the witness goes to prison.

The authors' knowledge of crime in Chicago, and their ability to get interviews with the key people involved in this tale of murder and justice, is what makes this book chilling, extremely poignant, and even humorous at times.

This is real life, folks, and that makes it more compelling than any T.V. series or movie you will ever watch about the "wise guys".

Harry "the Hook" Aleman was tried twice for the same murder. His resulting conviction the second time around was a triumph of justice in a town where, in the past, the insider fix, the wink, the nod, and the hand shake have settled notorious criminal trials. In Cook County, Illinois justice is like Foxfire, and the hero of this story, eyewitness Lowe, paid a price few people would pay to see a homicide cleared and a powerful hoodlum sent away. "Everybody Pays" is a classic Chicago tale, spun by two magnificent Tribune reporters who understand the soul of this great city as it resonates in every back alley jazz and gin joint from North Clark Street down to the South Side. This is not standard "wise guy" reporting. This is serious stuff that has something powerful to say about the human condition, beyond newspaper clippings about one mobster's ability to strike fear into the hearts of innocents through threats of violence and intimidation. It is not Nick Pileggi, Peter Maas or even Dan Moldea. Nor does it pretend to be. It's Kogan and Possley. Remember the names. Mark them down. They are Chicago to the bone.

Maurice Possley and Rick Kogan tell the amazing story of a man who is willing to testify against a mob hit man. In a saga that covers over 25 years and includes judical corruption, crooked cops and the only trial of a man who had once been acquited of a murder only to be retried, we get an inside peek at
Chicago's "outfit" in it's heyday.
After a fixed trial sets the mobster free, the witness watches his life sprial downward in a haze of despair, booze and drugs. A quarter century later he has a chance of redemption but it will come with a heavy price; he will have to testify again. His choice and the outcome of the book will leave you wondering, what would I have done?

On September 27, 1972, Billy Logan was murdered on his front lawn. Neighbor Bobby Lowe was an eye-to-eye witness. Hit man Harry Aleman had left his car to check on the victim when Bobby's dog leapt in front of him. For a few seconds, the two men stared at one another, Bobby in shock, and then Harry broke the spell and returned to his car, which then sped away. And Bobby's life changed forever.

Though Bobby told the police he had been an eye witness (much to his family's dismay) and had identified Harry's picture in a mug book, nothing happened. It was buried. Harry Aleman was well connected with the local mob and a nephew to one of its kingpins. Authorities estimated Harry had killed over 20 people. Four years later the case was reopened, and this is when Bobby's personal hell began. Before the trial (estimated to be a slam dunk), Bobby, his wife and three children were placed in one seedy motel after another. They had to give up their jobs, the children changed schools on a weekly basis, and they lived off fast food. The trial was a farce, Aleman was found not guilty and the Lowes entered the Witness Protection Program without adequate identification to secure a decent job. Bobby spiraled down and lost his job, his family and self-respect. Finally, he got his life back together, discarded his false identity, and regained his family. In 1997, the case was reopened again, 25 years after the crime. Bobby had no choice but to testify again.

Possley and Kogan do a masterful job in presenting this complex case without wasting a word. Bobby's character is done so well, you feel like you have known him all your life. The research and documentation are meticulous. The only mystery that remains is Harry. He was an excellent husband and adoring father that just happened to be a cold-blooded killer. I would buy another book explaining to me what made Harry tick.

Sadly, the message I received was to never, ever admit to being a witness to a mob killing. The Witness Protection program, which is devastating and mind shattering even if it worked perfectly, was a farce for the Lowe family. "Everybody Pays" is true crime and investigative journalism at its finest.
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer

On the night of September 27, 1972, twenty-five year old Bob Lowe was just out walking his dog when he witnessed the brutal murder of his neighbor, Billy Logan. Lowe, an auto mechanic and family man living in a blue-collar neighborhood on Chicago's West Side, came literally face to face with the killer, Harry Aleman, before he jumped into an idling car and sped away. It was a vicious mob hit, plain and simple. Lowe easily identified Aleman, and with the assurance of witness protection, was willing to do his civic duty and testify. As he stubbornly told the police and his frightened family, "I saw what I saw." So began Bob Lowe's twenty-five year odyssey through two murder trials, political corruption and pay-offs, disillusionment with the system, depression, petty crime, alcoholism, and finally vindication, redemption and justice..... Fasten your seatbelts, Maurice Possley and Rick Kogan are about to take you on a very bumpy, suspenseful, and compelling ride through the mean streets of Chicago during the years organized crime had a stranglehold on police, judges, and politicians at the highest levels. This is a fascinating, intricate, and intriguing page-turner, made even more so because it's all true. The writing is crisp, intelligent, and engaging, the scenes vivid and riveting, and the characterizations, brilliant. But it's Possley's and Kogan's indepth, painstaking research and great attention to detail that makes this novel stand out. Everybody Pays: Two Men, One Murder And The Price Of Truth is a spectacular and absorbing story, rich in drama and history, and told with insight, wisdom, and humor. This is a novel that shouldn't be missed and should definitely find a place at the top of every mystery/thriller and true crime fan's MUST READ list.

In an ideal world, the witness to a crime would come forward to authorities, police would arrest the bad guy, and a judge would weigh the evidence thoughtfully before handing out the proper punishment to the defendant.
But no one ever mistook Chicago for an ideal world. Mob hit men execute people for transgressions large and small, crooked cops bury the evidence and when the evidence eventually surfaces, crooked judges ignore it and their duty to the law.
This book takes us through the hell that was Bob Lowe's life after he witnessed a mob execution on Chicago's west side. The price this man had to pay for his devotion to doing the right thing is heartwrenching and inexcusable. An incredible story. Possley deserves credit for persuading Lowe (and others) to tell it, and Possley and Kogan lay the story out in a straightforward fashion, without stooping to melodrama or false sentiment. Lowe's adherence to doing the right thing is heroic, but sadly, the stronger message that comes from this book is that doing the right thing is always the best thing, especially when you have to place your trust in an inefficient and corrupt judicial system.

This is a true story, documented from police and court files, of the government's 25 year quest to bring to justice a Chicago Mob hit man who, through political and judicial corruption, was able to bribe a judge to acqiot him in the face of overwhelming evidence of guilt. The author recounts a rare event in Chicago mob history where there are two witness - one civilian, and the other the driver of the getaway car - who were willing and able to point the finger at Harry Aleman - reputed to have executed over 20 "hits" on behalf of the mob.
Using police and court files, the authors trace the development of the case from the willingness of a cohort to trade jail time for testimony, to the re-examination of the original Chicago police investigation that disclosed a perfunctory preliminary investigation of just another Chicago mob hit, to disappearing reports of an incriminating photo identification of Aleman. The fact of the photo ID (but not any report) is rediscovered when the investigation is renewed four years later by the Illinois Bureau of Investigation and the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.
The good guys, the honest cops and prosecutors, and judicial community is shocked when the trial judge, Frank Wilson. acquits Aleman in the face of strong evidence of guilt. What is more shocking and puzzling is the fact that the trial Judge had a reputation for being a tough jurist. Only later through an unrelated federal investigation of Chicago judicial corruption is it learned that Wilson reportedly took a $10,000 bribe, compliments of the Chicago Outfit, to acquit their boy. This fact results in a second trial for Aleman some 25 years later, although he has spent the intervening years in a Federal Penitentiary on various home invasion charges.
The authors trace the painful and despairing journey of the civilian witness who, guided by idealism, agreed to do the right thing and testify, believing the system was legitimate. Instead, he leaves the first trial being called a liar by the judge and watching the man who could kill himself and his family walking free.
The authors place the reader at the scene, both of the murder, in court, and in the lives of the people who are brought together in this violent period of Chicago crime. A must read for crime buffs, and those interested in an accurate, unembellished, and dramatic period of Chicago crime history.

Possley and Kogan sit you down and grip you with this extraordinary tale of a world few of us will ever encounter. The Author's experience and street smarts open our eyes to the realities and frailties of our judicial system and our society by relating this compelling true story of Ultimate Social Deviant v. Joe Average. Every reader will wonder where he would stand, or rise, or fall, if confronted with the circumstances and choices offered to us through this book. This is as much about our own soul searching as it is about telling a story. What price are any of us truly willing to pay for the lifestyle which most of us simply inherit as Americans? You can finish the book in a few hours, but it is likely to say with you for considerably longer.

Hero is a term that should be applied with great care. I don't think there is any question that Bob Lowe deserves all the accolades the word entails. For a moment, imagine walking down the street you live on with your wife and children, you are 25 years old, it is dark, and you have a dog for company. A car stops several feet in front of you, a shotgun is pointed out the window, and your neighbor is literally lifted off the ground and finally thrown down upon it as he is hit twice. The attack is particularly obscene for the killer uses shells loaded with, "Deer Slugs". This type of load will knock down a mature Deer; imagine what one will do to a person much less two.

The person Bob Lowe then came face to face with was a professional killer who took lives dozens of times. If it is possible, he was even more despicable for the manner by which he killed. A sawed off shotgun with Deer Slugs is practically a small artillery piece when used on a human. The assassin who murdered that night, Harry Aleman, murdered with no fear of consequence whether a witness was present or not, for in Chicago's history professional hit men did not go to jail. And before you decide you have heard Chicago stories before, this was not Capone's Chicago. Harry Aleman killed this night in 1972, and it would not be until 1997 that he would be found guilty of the crime.

Harry Aleman had every reason to be confident that if he stood trial he would be acquitted. Despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt, when taken to trial he sat confidently waiting for the outcome he expected, and walked away a free man.

No one advised Bob Lowe to testify, his family actively worked to keep him quiet. After all, why should he bother, this was a professional hit, and what possible motivation did he have for testifying against a professional killer? Unfortunately for Aleman Bob Lowe was unusual, he did what few had done, he did what everyone should do, he told the police what he witnessed. Few would have blamed him for keeping himself and his family safe from a professional contract killer, he chose not to, and it would be easy to argue that what he did was not worth the 25 years of hell he and his family went through.

Maurice Possley and Rick Kogan are top-flight reporters with awards and nominations that only enhance their credentials for presenting this story. If Mr. Possley's name sounds familiar it may be that you recall his role in breaking and publishing the story of John Wayne Gacy, killer of 33 people. Both men have earned their reputations while contributing to the Chicago Tribune.

I always enjoy books written by talented reporters. They communicate a story with all its detail without using one more word than they need. And when the writers are this good, there is absolutely nothing missing, you arrive at the end of the book with the feeling you know the whole story. And you are correct to feel as you do, for writers like these routinely communicate within confines and deadlines, so when they write a book it is as tight and crisp as their profession requires. This book has a wonderful cadence that will cost you the better part of a night's sleep unless you start very early in the day.

This book documents much more than murder and corruption this book documents history. Harry Aleman never expected that he would be put on trial twice for the same crime, and why should he? We are all guaranteed that we cannot be tried twice for the same crime under the protection of the rules of, "Double Jeopardy". It took 25 years longer than it should have, and went a great deal of the way toward destroying a family, but when you play games like the Harry Alemans of the world do, constitutional law will not protect you, it was never meant to protect creatures who operate as he and his cronies did.

And that is yet another reason to read this book. All the usual reasons for praising great writing are present in this work. Additionally it has a real hero, and a justice system that as twisted beyond recognition as it was, eventually and

And shocking and sad and infuriating and damning and written in that spare, muscular style that is the cold, raw, power of Chicago. No effete, literary language here, just an onslaught of vicious hooks to the head and bombs to the body; the language of people who draw energy from the brutal cold, confidence from the slicing winds, pleasure from skies black with soot and a sneering pride from living and surviving in a city that invented and perfected civic corruption. What do you do when the world is against you, when mob assassins are sliming around hunting you and your family, when corrupt cops have sold you out, when a judge is in the mob's pocket, and when it becomes horrifying clear that the price for honesty and trying to bring a mob hitman to justice is your bullet-riddled body in a pool of blood? You do what Bob Lowe did: Suffer unbelievable mental torment, turn into a drunk, hide, worry, cry, steal and watch your life disintegrate. But you also invoke the Chicago spirit that imbues natives and transplants alike. You stand steel-strong against all attackers and take every bullet, every punch, ever sellout--every blow--and you stagger forward again and again and again, and you never stop and you never quit and you sneer at all attackers that they will never break your spirit, and that if you must die, you will do so in tribute to the grey hulk on the shores of Lake Michigan: With eyes squinted, fists clenched, spirit unbroken and with fear vanquished. Possley and Kogan beautifully tell the story of one good man's battle with and victory over evil. They tell of Lowe's witnessing a mob hit and of his heroic struggle to bring the monster assassin Harry Aleman to justice. Their reporting is meticulous, and, in that unique Chicago style, fearless. Don't plan on reading this book over time. Once you start you won't put it down. You can't put it down. Read this book, and, even if you're not a Chicagoan, you too will know that you can look evil in the eye and sneer at it.