The Los Angeles Brookliers

This November in Los Angeles a man was found dead in his Century City home.  It was an apparent suicide.  The man, born Anthony Philip Brooklier in 1946, was the son of a man born under the name Domenico Brucceleri who would be known as Dominic Brooklier.

Dominic would move to Los Angeles in the 1940’s after some prison time back east.  He called himself Jimmy Regace when he was around bookmaker Mickey Cohen.  Dominic chose to walk away from Mickey Cohen and started working instead with Los Angeles mafia boss Jack Dragna.

He took part in the wounding of Mickey Cohen on the Sunset strip.  He was inducted into the Los Angeles family in a winery along with Jimmy Fratianno.  Dominic would continue to move up the mafia ladder.  He became a capo in the family and he was in charge of Orange County.  In the 1970’s he became underboss of the family and after Boss Nick Licata passed away he moved to the top spot.

He was at odds with Jimmy Fratianno who had transferred to the Chicago Outfit.  

He played Jimmy Fratianno well and asked him to take over as acting boss when he had to go away for a short sentence.  Once out Brooklier demoted Fratianno to soldier and worked to have him murdered.

He long believed capo Frank Bompensiero was an FBI informant and soon he was gunned down outside a San Diego Phone booth.

Anthony Brooklier became a lawyer in 1971 after some time at the US Naval Academy and Loyola Marymount.

He was ready to defend his father.  He was good enough to convince a jury that his father did not take part in the Frank Bompensiero murder.

He also was able to get his father a reduced sentence in another extortion case.

Dominic would die in 1984 at a prison in Arizona while serving his sentence.  

Anthony would go on to have great success as a criminal defence lawyer.

He even defended Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss and a number of high profile celebrity clients.

He died on the one year anniversary of his son’s suicide.

Another piece of Los Angeles Mafia history has gone with him.  He was never in the mafia but he knew the players from the old days.  

I kept hoping he would do a book about his father.  He also represented Mike Rizzi in the shooting of Bill Carroll over the Mustang Ranch Theatre in Santa Ana.

Rest in peace Anthony.