When former Mafia snitch Jimmy “The Weasel” Fratianno published “The Last Mafioso” in 1981, he alleged a “gangster graveyard” near a reputed Mafia winery in Rancho Cucamonga in which executed mobsters were disposed of in improvised graves in the winery’s vineyards.

Fratianno’s tale was soon disproven (the winery and vineyards were under surveillance by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department), but his fabrications diverted attention to what may be the one actual gangster grave in the area – and perhaps the reason a phantom figure is said to wander the remaining vineyards along the I-10 Freeway.

Louie crosses the line Louis ‘Russian Louie’ Strauss was rumored to have been a member of the professional assassins of “Murder Incorporated.”

He made himself known as a sort of freelance racketeer and bookmaker running the occasional gambling club, where he ran afoul of the Mafia. He attempted to blackmail Las Vegas developer and casino owner Benny “the Cowboy” Binion – a close friend of many major crime figures.

In retaliation, in 1953 Louie was picked up by some fellow gangsters for what “Nevada: A Bicentennial History” author Robert Laxalt described as “a pleasure drive to Los Angeles.”

Louie’s last drive While there is disagreement as to whether he was killed in Upland, Ontario or San Diego County, at least four mobsters were named as witnesses to his execution by Fratianno and others using the famous “Italian rope trick” — a garrote method requiring two people holding either end of a rope to strangle the victim.

However, while local Mafia leaders ran their gambling empire quietly to evade the watchful eye of authorities, there was one place not under surveillance — the planned route for the Ramona (now San Bernardino) I-10 Freeway — and today many mob historians and old timers believe that some point on that long ribbon of freeway running between Fontana and Upland serves as the despised Louie’s final resting place.

Whether or not Russian Louie’s restless spirit is the dark figure reported ranging the old vineyards remaining along the I-10 Freeway, his murder did have an impact on Las Vegas and the murder rates in adjacent states, according to Laxalt.

“A macabre aftermath to the execution of Russian Louie Strauss…was the ringing down of the curtain on any future acts of gangland vengeance within Nevada by crime bosses,” Laxalt wrote.

“It was, of all things, a purity code” and after that, transgressors would be lured outside the state’s borders “where they were considered fair game”.

So, if the dark figure wandering the freeway is indeed Russian Louie, perhaps he is just hoping to hitch a ride home to Las Vegas.