FBI Las Vegas teletype on the explosion of Frank Rosenthal's car (14 October 1982)

Scans 86 to 88 of the FBI Vault’s “Frank Rosenthal” file, Part 02, are a three-page FBI teletype from Las Vegas (file 183A-134 Sub XIV) to the Director, with copies to Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix and San Diego, stamped October 14, 1982. It is captioned “Gangmurs; Frank Larry Rosenthal, aka Frank Rosenthal, ‘Lefty’ - Victim; Attempted Murder; October 4, 1982; RICO,” and refers to an earlier Las Vegas teletype of October 5, 1982. The text was read from the page images. The teletype is in capital letters.

Page two says that at about 8:15 P.M. Rosenthal left Tony Roma’s Restaurant, 620 East Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas, and “as he attempted to apparently start his 1981 Cadillac Eldorado,” a bomb exploded. It says he exited through the driver’s side door, “escaping only with burns and scratches,” and that an examination by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department bomb squad and an agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms determined that an explosive device was apparently placed under the rear of the vehicle.

Page three states that the victim “is a convicted felon and for a period of time was the entertainment director at the Stardust Hotel, doing business as Argent Corporation,” until he resigned under pressure from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. It states that he “is an admitted close associate of Chicago LCN member Anthony John Spilotro, also known as Tony Spilotro,” that Rosenthal “and the Chicago LCN family have been the target of investigation for hidden control of the Stardust Hotel/Casino and the Argent Corporation,” and that for the past three years the victim’s friendship with Spilotro “has splintered for exact reasons,” where the scan ends mid-sentence. These are FBI statements in a teletype. The page is a record of an attempted killing and names no person responsible.