The Springfield News-Leader from Springfield, Missouri • Page 17

i Page edilad by Laura Johnson; call 836-1199 after 5 p.m. Sunday, March 22, 1998 News-Leader 5B Missouri Ozarks Ex-police chief convicted in neighbor's shooting Law, times eroding power base of K.Cs top crime families The Associated Press The Associated Press Hi dilfj "LiTX. ..3 The Associated Press Carl J. Civella (second from left) leaves a federal courthouse after his 1983 conviction for skimming from a Las Vegas casino. Civella, who died in 1994, was a high-ranking figure in La Cosa Nostra.

N. Civella C. Civella remained free on $20,000 bond Friday pending a hearing set for Monday. After the verdict was announced, relatives clustered around Hayes. His wife of 53 years, Pauline Hayes, whimpered softly after hearing the verdict.

Jim Hayes, one of the former chiefs sons, said, "It wouldn't bother me if he was convicted on the truth. But he was convicted on lies." The family said the prosecution was "out of line" to have suggested Pauline Hayes and other witnesses lied on the stand. But Assistant Attorney General Robert Ahsens III, who prosecuted the case, didn't back down from those statements when asked what tipped the scales in the case. "The defendant was convicted by his own lies," he said. On the witness stand, Hayes disputed the testimony of Tony Coone's fiancee, Georgetta Henley, who said the two men had threatened each other before.

He also said his longtime acquaintance Dennis Cadwal-lader had lied when he testified that Hayes told him a few months before the incident that he was considering shooting Coone. The judge will hear a defense motion for a new trial May 1. If the judge denies it, they will appeal. ST. JOSEPH A former St.

Joseph police chief who said he shot a neighbor in self-defense was convicted Friday of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action. The jury in Buchanan County Circuit Court deliberated 20 hours over three days before finding James Robert Hayes guilty. The panel could have convicted him of second-degree murder. The jury was unable to agree on a sentencing recommendation, leaving the decision to Circuit Judge Patrick Robb. Sentencing is scheduled for May 1.

Hayes, 72, had admitted firing at Tony Coone, 26, last June 3 but said he drew a gun after Coone threatened his life and jabbed at him with a claw hammer. Coone died 17 days later. The confrontation occurred as Hayes drove his pickup truck past Coone, who was working on his car. Hayes was charged several weeks later. Hayes faces possible punishment on the manslaughter charge ranging from one day to seven years in prison.

The penalty for armed criminal action ranges from three years to life in prison. Hayes, who was St. Joseph's police chief from 1978 to 1989. KANSAS CITY This city's mob hierarchy reportedly once held the respect of Mafia giants like Paul Castellano and Vincent "The Chin" Gigante. It skimmed money from Las Vegas casinos.

It even gave its hometown a mob war in the 1970s and 80s, littering an otherwise quiet Midwestern metropolis with mafia violence reminiscent of New York's nastiest bloodletting. Now, fast forward to 1998. The city's La Cosa Nostra is in shambles, smashed by law enforcement's persistent pursuit of its reputed top crime family, the Civel-las. Outside the courtroom, its gambling trade has been wilted by hugely profitable casinos headed by national corporations. Its drug trade has been co-opted by a smaller and aggressive ethnic gangs.

"It's just not what it once was," says Jean Paul Bradshaw, a former U.S. Attorney whose office weakened the local mob with its success- ful prosecutions of local crime figures in the 1980s and early 1990s. One of Bradshaw's victories came against Anthony "Tony Ripe" Civella, whose uncle, Nick Civella, ruled Kansas City's mob until his death in 1983 while serving a four-year bribery sentence. Carl Civella Nick's brother and Anthony's father was a high-ranking La Cosa Nostra figure before his death in 1994 while serving a 30-year sentence for skimming $280,000 from a Las Vegas casino. Anthony Civella, reputed to have helped fill the leadership void along with William D.

"Willie the Rat" and Eastern European groups specializing in drug trafficking, book-making and petty crimes, authorities say. Those problems lay on top of the city's burgeoning organized methamphetamine trade, pushed largely by loosely-banded, middle-class whites. "The color of the landscape has definitely changed," said Monte Strait, who heads the FBI's Organized Crime Squad in Kansas City. "The flavor of organized crime in this area is different than what it used to be." Cammisano after Nick's death, was released from prison in 1996 after serving four years in a pharmaceutical scam. He had earlier served time for bookmaking and racketeering.

Some say Anthony Civella's fraud conviction in 1991 served notice that prosecutors were actively chasing the Kansas City mob, and that the local "LCN" short for La Cosa Nostra, or "Our thing" would never be the same. Once dominated by a nationally feared, tradition-laden LCN, organized crime in the city has become a disparate blend of Asian, Hispanic Deaths Donald James Sater, 64 MOUNT VERNON Mr. Donald James Sater, Mount Vernon, died Thursday in his home. Services will be at 2 p.m. today in First Baptist Church with burial in Miller Memorial Gardens, Miller, under direction of Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home.

Buell G. Scott, 86 MANSFIELD -Mr. Buell G. Scott, Mansfield, a laborer, died at 3:15 a.m. Saturday in Mansfield Nursing Home.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday in Clinkingbeard Funeral Home with burial in Ava Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 5 p.m. today in the funeral home. Dortha Mae Silvey, 83 THEODOSIA Mrs.

Dortha Mae Silvey, Theodosia, a homemaker, died at 1:35 p.m. Friday in Gainsville Healthcare Center. Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday in Ragan-Thieme Funeral Home, Ava, with burial in Longrun Cemetery, Longrun. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m.

today in the funeral home. Nora Redfearn Squibb, 93 Mrs. Nora Redfearn homemaker, died at 3:23 a.m. Wednesday in St. John's Regional Health Center.

Services were at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Wilson-Brim-Daniel Funeral Home, Ash Grove, with burial in Friday in his home. Services will be at 1 p.m. Monday in Greenlawn Funeral Home North with burial in Bishman Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m.

today in the funeral home. Berniece Rephlo, 72 BILLINGS Mrs. Berniece Rephlo, Billings, a retired teacher, died at 6:02 p.m. Thursday in St. John's Regional Health Center, Springfield.

Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Monday in St. Joseph's Catholic Church with burial in the church cemetery under direction of Meadors Funeral Home. Prayer service will be at 7 p.m. today in the funeral home.

Yeakley Chapel Cemetery. Kelsey Wynns, 75 EXETER Kelsey Wynns, Exeter, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, died at 7 a.m. Friday in his home. Services will be private at a later date under direction of McQueen Funeral Home, Wheaton.

Other Deaths Listed below are notices of recent deaths of present or former residents of southwest Missouri. More details will be published when information becomes'available. Mr. Burl Owen Caffey, 85, Lebanon, died Saturday in Balanced Care Lebanon North. Arrangements will be announced by Holman-Howe Funeral Home.

Dr. Carl DemehL 84, Springfield, died at 1:21 p.m. Saturday in his home. Arrangements will be announced by Herman Lohmeyer Funeral Home. Mrs.

Margaret Russell, 74, Branson, died Saturday in her home. Arrangements will be announced by Whelchel Funeral Chapel, Branson. Mrs. Marjorie Thompson, 67, Sweetwater, Texas, formerly of Bolivar, died Friday in her home. Arrangements will be announced by Butler Funeral Home, Bolivar.

Mr.DavidLee White, 47, Republic, died at 1:41 p.m. Saturday in Cox Medical Center North, Springfield. Arrangements will be announced by Meadors Funeral Home, Republic. Continued from 4B Rose Johnson, 97 Mrs. Rose Johnson, Springfield, a retired minister, died at 5:10 p.m.

Thursday in Maranatha Village. Services will be March 31 in Will-' mar, with burial' in Fairview Cemetery. Local arrangements are under Greenlawn Funeral Home North. Wendell B. Melton, 65 STRAFFORD Mr.

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