J.J. Maloney, 59, murderer and journalist
T.E. Goodell
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Joseph John ``J.J.'' Maloney, a murderer who became a
journalist after his release from prison and worked on an award-winning prison
series for The Kansas City Star, has died at 59.
Maloney died Friday at his mother's home in St. Louis. The cause of death was
being investigated by the St. Louis Medical Examiner's office.
He had been working as the editor of Crime Magazine, a Web-based journal
featuring crime stories by him and others.
In 1960, Maloney was convicted of the murder of a 74-year-old man who was
beaten with a pistol during a botched break-in. At 19, Maloney was sentenced to
life in prison.
In 1961, while he was in solitary confinement at the Missouri State
Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Maloney started writing poetry and sent some of
his work to Thorpe Menn, then book editor of The Star. The two corresponded and
Maloney began writing book reviews and poetry for The Star in 1967.
After his parole in 1972, the newspaper hired Maloney as a consultant on a
prison series that won an American Bar Association Silver Gavel and Kansas
Bar/Media Award.
On later assignments, Maloney delved into labor racketeering and organized
crime infiltration of the city's River Quay area.
Maloney left The Star in 1978 and two years later went to work for The Orange
County Register, where he wrote about the Freeway Killer case.
He also published a collection of poetry, ``Beyond the Wall,'' plus two novels
and a collection of short stories.
He is survived by his mother.
Brad Ferguson
<tgoo...@aol.com> wrote:
But not, unfortunately, by his victim.
I'm sorry, but I just see too much of this kind of thing. Maloney
killed somebody -- purposefully beat him to death with a gun -- and he
drew a life sentence. (He served twelve years, whch I guess means the
state of Missouri though Maloney was a cat.)
I concede Maloney seems to have been rehabilitated. What did he do
about making restitution to the family of his victim?
seddy
Maloney
"Brad Ferguson" <thir...@frXOXed.net> wrote in message
news:040120001551086181%thir...@frXOXed.net...