TWINKLE, TWINKLE -- COINCIDENCE? OR MIND CONTROL MURDER?
Rumor Mill News received this email today from a reader:
Hi Rayelan,
FYI, thought you might like to know, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" played from an ice cream truck Mon night Tues AM 12AM - 1AM on the Sci Fi Channel TV Series about a man who can turn himself invisible. The music played early in the show around 12:15AM in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Hope this was a coincidence!
Is it just a coincidence that a gangland style high profile murder took place shortly afterwards?
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA717INXIC.html
Feb 7, 2001 - 06:01 PM
Miami Subs, SunCruz Casino Ship Founder Ambushed, Shot Dead
By Adrian Sainz
Associated Press Writer
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Police are investigating whether the fatal ambush-shooting of Miami Subs and SunCruz casino founder Gus Boulis was connected to some bitter business disputes, including one where he allegedly threatened one of SunCruz's new owners.
Boulis, 51, died Tuesday night, shortly after being shot on an isolated road, apparently by a hit man, police said Wednesday.
A driver suddenly stopped in front of Boulis' BMW and then a black Ford Mustang, driving in the opposite direction, stopped next to him. The Mustang's driver then fired three or four shots at Boulis. Both cars then sped off.
"Whoever committed the homicide had planned to shoot him," Detective Mike Reed said. "They knew the travel routes. They knew what they were doing."
Boulis, shot multiple times, managed to drive onto a busy street before crashing into a tree in front of a Miami Subs restaurant.
Police and rescue workers found him slumped in the driver's seat of the BMW. He was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead.
Reed said there are no suspects.
"Anyone who's had a past with Mr. Boulis ... we'll be talking to," Reed said. He said the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies are being asked for assistance in identifying Boulis' enemies.
In recent weeks, the Greek citizen had been embroiled in a series of suits, countersuits and one restraining order over his $147.5 million sale last September of SunCruz to a group headed by Washington, D.C., attorney Adam Kidan.
Boulis founded SunCruz in 1994 with one boat. Today it operates casino boats from nine Florida ports and Myrtle Beach, S.C., allowing passengers to gamble once they cross the three-mile limit marking international water.
Federal prosecutors forced Boulis to sell the company and fined him $2 million for violating a law prohibiting foreigners from owning and operating certain vessels in the United States.
Boulis filed suit recently, claiming that Kidan and his partners had bounced checks, failed to repay $2.5 million in operating funds he left with the company and broke a contract provision requiring them to return 5 percent of the business if they failed to get financing for $30 million of the purchase price.
Kidan received a restraining order against Boulis in December after claiming Boulis had attacked him during a meeting. According to an affidavit filed by Kidan, Boulis "jumped up from his seat and attacked (Kidan) in the face and neck and kicked his body."
A month earlier, Boulis threatened to have Kidan beaten or killed, the affidavit said.
David Hughes, SunCruz's chief executive officer, said in a statement that company officials were "shocked" by the slaying. SunCruz spokesman Joe Weber said police have not interviewed Kidan or anyone else connected with the company.
Boulis was also being sued by Dewayne Williams, a one-time partner in the SunCruz boat in South Carolina. Williams said that Boulis cheated him out of his share when he sold the company to Kidan's group.
William Scherer, Williams' attorney, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday.
Boulis was also being sued for child support payments and alimony by a former girlfriend, Margaret Heren. She is the mother of his two children, ages 5 and 7. In 1997, she received a restraining order against Boulis, saying he punched her and threatened to kill her and the children.
"Not withstanding some of the problems they had and the lawsuits between them, he'll be missed by her and her children," said Peter Ticktin, her attorney. "He loved his children and they loved him."
Heren has not been interviewed by detectives, Ticktin said.
Boulis' attorneys issued a statement Wednesday saying his company, Atlantia Holdings, would offer a $100,000 reward for his killers' arrest and conviction.
Boulis grew up poor in Kavala, Greece, but became one of South Florida's wealthiest and most powerful businessmen.
In 1968, as a young fisherman, Boulis jumped ship in Canada and took a job in a Mr. Submarine sandwich shop in Toronto. Soon, the owners offered him control of one of their stores and, eventually, a share in the company.
The company was sold in the late 1970s and Boulis moved to the Keys. Bored with early retirement, he opened a Mr. Submarine in Key West in 1983 and, in 1989, began Miami Subs, which gained local fame for selling $99 bottles of Dom Perignon champagne along with its sandwiches.
He often sold franchises to friends and other Greek immigrants without requiring a down payment.
Nathan's Famous, the New York hot dog chain, purchased Miami Subs in 1999, with Boulis receiving $4.2 million. The chain now has 150 restaurants in 12 states, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
"We're all just deeply saddened," said Jerry Woda, Miami Subs' senior vice president. "We knew he was a controversial figure, but a lot of the good things he did did not show up in the media. He was a guy that gave you the shirt off his back."
AP-ES-02-07-01 1753EST
