Cleveland's Killer Celebrities, Part 1

Shondor the Brutal Killer

Not long after Birns got out, police arrested 19 people in a melee at the opening of a Euclid Avenue nightclub. Searching through the cars in the parking lot, they found Birns lying on the ground.

He had been shot, but was able to walk into the emergency room for treatment. He denied knowing who shot him.

Two months later, Rudy Duncan, 42, "ex-pugilist and night club bouncer," took his 11-year-old foster son Stanley to a movie. Afterwards, they walked to a confectionery for ice cream.

When they got into their car back in the theater parking lot, two men wearing white cotton gloves walked up alongside, one on each side. With a terrified Stanley crouching in the seat, they fired five bullets into Duncan.

Police immediate began a search for Birns. They found him, but they couldn't find evidence to tie him to the murder. He was released.

Out on the street, however, the word was getting around:

"Don't mess with Shondor Birns."

Next: Shondor the Genial Host