Chapter 41 Section 14

In fact, it was only at this time that Lana finally got a glimpse of Joni Stepanato's "true face of Mount Lushan" through the newspaper. Johnny's full name is Johnny Jack R. Stepanato Jr., an Italian-American descendant.Jonny grew up in front of Lana in order to win her heart. His real date of birth was October 19, 1925, more than four years later than Lana.There are four brothers in the Stepanato family, and Jonny is the youngest, so he was named Little Jonny from his father.His father, Johnny Stepanato Sr., owned a large barbershop in Woodstock, Illinois, and later real estate.As of 2006, one of Johnny's older brothers, Carmini Stepanato, is still a Presbyterian pastor in Indiana.The Stepanatos lived in a large bungalow with garden walls on Brackley Street in Woodstock.

After Jonny's mother passed away, his father sent Jonny, who was not yet 15 years old, to the Kemper Military Academy in Bonnieville, Missouri in order to continue his career. In 1943, Johnny graduated and entered the United States Marine Corps directly from the military academy.During the Second World War, Johnny was sent to Pelesulfur Island in the South Pacific and Okinawa Island in Japan with the troops. In 1945, he changed his defense to China. Not long after World War II ended, Joni Stepanato retired from the army in Tianjin and stayed there to run a nightclub. During this period, he married a 27-year-old Turkish woman Sarah Judice, converted to Christianity, and got a One son, named Johnny III.Unexpectedly, in less than a year, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party went to war, and the nightclub could no longer continue. Jonny returned to his hometown with his wife and son, and then separated from Sarah and his son in 1947, and went to Southern California alone.

According to police records, Joni Stepanato's earliest contacts with the underworld were actually quite innocent.Johnny dresses well, to the point of fussiness.It happened that Mickey Cohen of the Los Angeles Mafia owned a high-end brand-name clothing store, and Jonny frequented it frequently. Strictly speaking, Jonny Stepanato cannot be regarded as a full-time mafia man. He also runs his own serious business. He has opened several gift shops, art shops, pet shops, furniture shops, car dealers, etc. Wait, was running a record store while dating Lana Turner.Johnny dated Mickey Cohen. On Johnny’s side, the two hit it off and hit it off. It was a bit of a help for a friend. On Mickey’s side, it was because of Johnny’s good looks. When meeting influential figures inside and outside the Mafia, or attending some important occasions, Mickey was always willing to take him with him.Therefore, among the gangsters of the Mafia, Jonny is a person who often shows up in public, but does not do much practical work.In other words, he often dangled in front of the police as a gangster figure, but it was difficult to pick out one or two crimes of sufficient weight.

For example, in 1949, Jonny Stepanato was arrested for "participating in multiple gang activities of the underworld" (please note that it is not "criminal activities"), the court tried it, and the jury also ruled—— "Guilty", but later he successfully appealed and was acquitted.Another example is that in 1952, Johnny was imprisoned on the charge of "possibly suspected of armed robbery". This time, the case was withdrawn before it could go to court. "Jony Stepanato" is also a name that is occasionally mentioned in many books and movies (not involving the murder in which he died).During his lifetime, in 1951, there was such a description in the book "America's Top Secret" about the Los Angeles Mafia co-authored by writers Lil Mortimer and Jack Wright: "*Suave Jonny Stepana Tor is the image representative of Mickey Cohen, and also the playboy of the family. His specific job is to receive mafia figures of a certain level who accompany visiting visitors from all over the world, and to dance with actresses or quasi-actresses..." In his Posthumously, the 1999 Oscar-nominated film L.A. Order also had a small role as "Joni Stepanato," played by Italian actor Polo Segandi.