He was a suspect in the assassination attempt on Sheriff Buford Pusser and in the death of Buford's wife on August 12, 1967. Nix has repeatedly refused to comment about Pusser's claims that he was one of his wife's killers.[1]
In 1972, Nix was convicted of murdering Frank Corso, a New Orleans grocery executive, in a break-in at Corso's home, and began serving a life sentence without parole.[1][2]
Nix was later convicted for involvement in the 1987 murder-for-hire killing of Judge Vincent Sherry and city councilwoman Margaret Sherry, spouses, in Biloxi, Mississippi.[3] As described by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit:
While serving a life sentence for murder at Angola State Penitentiary, Nix built a criminal empire from which he hoped to earn enough money to buy his way out of prison. Although he dabbled in insurance fraud and drug dealing, Nix's primary money-making scheme was a "lonely hearts" scam designed to defraud homosexual men. Nix and his prison syndicate would place personal advertisements in national homosexual magazines. When men would respond to these ads, Nix or one of his associates would indicate that he was having financial difficulties and needed the respondent to wire money to a Nix associate outside prison. Nix acquired hundreds of thousands of dollars from this scam.
Mike Gillich ("Gillich"), the alleged "underworld boss" of Biloxi, Mississippi, aided Nix in his various schemes. Peter Halat, a Biloxi attorney, maintained a trust account for Nix. . . .
In December 1986, Halat told Nix and Gillich that approximately $100,000 of Nix's money was missing from the office trust account. Halat indicated that he suspected Vincent Sherry, Halat's former law partner and a Mississippi Circuit Judge, of stealing the money. Coincidentally, Judge Sherry's wife Margaret was a Biloxi mayoral candidate critical of Gillich's operations. The prosecution produced evidence that the three men arranged to have the Sherrys killed.
In 1991, a jury convicted Nix, Halat, Gillich, Sheri LaRa Sharpe, and John Ransom of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and it found Nix and Gillich guilty of travel in aid of murder-for-hire.[4] In 1994, Gillich became a state informant, and, in 1997, a second trial yielded convictions against Nix, Gillich, Halat, and Thomas Leslie Holcomb.[5] Nix was found guilty of racketeering, conspiracy to violate the racketeering statute, fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to obstruct justice.[4] Holcomb was serving a life sentence for carrying out the killings for pay and died in prison in 2005 at age 52.[6][7] Ransom was released from federal prison in late 2003 at age 76 and returned to the Atlanta area.[8]
kirksey, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immediately, from, article, talk, pag. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Kirksey Nix news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2023 Learn how and when to remove this message Kirksey McCord Nix Jr born 1943 is the former boss of the Dixie Mafia 1 2 Louisiana State Penitentiary from where Nix perpetrated a Lonely Hearts scam He was a suspect in the assassination attempt on Sheriff Buford Pusser and in the death of Buford s wife on August 12 1967 Nix has repeatedly refused to comment about Pusser s claims that he was one of his wife s killers 1 In 1972 Nix was convicted of murdering Frank Corso a New Orleans grocery executive in a break in at Corso s home and began serving a life sentence without parole 1 2 Nix was later convicted for involvement in the 1987 murder for hire killing of Judge Vincent Sherry and city councilwoman Margaret Sherry spouses in Biloxi Mississippi 3 As described by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit While serving a life sentence for murder at Angola State Penitentiary Nix built a criminal empire from which he hoped to earn enough money to buy his way out of prison Although he dabbled in insurance fraud and drug dealing Nix s primary money making scheme was a lonely hearts scam designed to defraud homosexual men Nix and his prison syndicate would place personal advertisements in national homosexual magazines When men would respond to these ads Nix or one of his associates would indicate that he was having financial difficulties and needed the respondent to wire money to a Nix associate outside prison Nix acquired hundreds of thousands of dollars from this scam Mike Gillich Gillich the alleged underworld boss of Biloxi Mississippi aided Nix in his various schemes Peter Halat a Biloxi attorney maintained a trust account for Nix In December 1986 Halat told Nix and Gillich that approximately 100 000 of Nix s money was missing from the office trust account Halat indicated that he suspected Vincent Sherry Halat s former law partner and a Mississippi Circuit Judge of stealing the money Coincidentally Judge Sherry s wife Margaret was a Biloxi mayoral candidate critical of Gillich s operations The prosecution produced evidence that the three men arranged to have the Sherrys killed United States v Sharpe United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit 4 In 1991 a jury convicted Nix Halat Gillich Sheri LaRa Sharpe and John Ransom of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and it found Nix and Gillich guilty of travel in aid of murder for hire 4 In 1994 Gillich became a state informant and in 1997 a second trial yielded convictions against Nix Gillich Halat and Thomas Leslie Holcomb 5 Nix was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy to violate the racketeering statute fraud conspiracy to commit wire fraud money laundering and conspiracy to obstruct justice 4 Holcomb was serving a life sentence for carrying out the killings for pay and died in prison in 2005 at age 52 6 7 Ransom was released from federal prison in late 2003 at age 76 and returned to the Atlanta area 8 Nix is currently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution El Reno 3 References edit a b c The Sun Herald The Dixie Mafia Sheriff Leroy Hobbs Drugs and Murder Gene Swearingen and Anita Lee September 15 1990 a b Dixie Mafia Prison Gang Profile Archived 2006 07 18 at the Wayback Machine a b Jenni Camhi January 17 2023 Who were key players in the Dixie Mafia era A criminal mastermind and a Biloxi mayor Sun Herald a b c United States v Sharpe 193 F 3d 852 860 61 5th Cir Oct 20 1999 Holcomb admitted killings say ex cellmates Clarion Ledger 1997 06 19 p 1 Retrieved 2023 11 04 Defendants In 1987 Sherry Murder Case Allowed New Trials wlox com 2001 02 14 Retrieved 2023 11 04 Lee Anita September 14 2017 An ice cold murder conspiracy ended Margaret and Vincent Sherry s lives 30 years ago Elkins Ashley 2006 03 12 Figure in Coast judge s slaying dies Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal Retrieved 2023 11 04 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Kirksey Nix amp oldid 1219988242, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
