On June 20, 1947, one of the most notorious gangsters of the twentieth century, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, was murdered in the Beverly Hills mansion of his mistress, Virginia Hill. While there have been numerous theories in regard to who actually killed “the father of Las Vegas,” the fact remains, the Siegel murder case is still officially unsolved…until now.
In 1941, when Bob MacDonald married Betty Ann Rockwell, it appeared as though their relationship was the start of a very majestic affair. The teens were from the upper class of Southern California society, exceptionally good looking, and by all accounts it seemed to be foreordained that they would live a full and happy life. MacDonald’s father, Archibald, was the right-hand man of billionaire Howard Hughes, Jr., while Betty Ann’s mother, Gaynell Rockwell-Applegate, was a woman of “new money”. At a glance, it seemed as if the couple should have lived a life with a storybook ending. Sadly, in 1947, the life of splendor expected for the couple turned into a family nightmare with horrendous consequences.
On September 13, 1947, without apparent reason or motive, Bob MacDonald, age 27, shot his wife, Betty Ann, age 24, with his army rifle. He then turned the weapon on himself.
What possessed MacDonald, the son of a millionaire, a decorated war hero, and the father of two children, to commit such a gruesome act?
And, how was this murder-suicide related to the recent killing of mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel?
In the hours following the MacDonald tragedy, the couple’s parents, using their financial capital, political ties and social contacts, formed a consortium of secrecy to ensure the public would never find the answer to those questions. It became a…Family Secret.
The shroud of secrecy was finally lifted in 1996, when one of the “family insiders” made a dramatic deathbed confession to Family Secret author, Warren Hull.
Honoring his father’s request to tell the world the secret behind the Siegel killing, Hull, with Michael B. Druxman, provides an incredible explanation as to who murdered Benjamin Siegel, and more importantly, how and why the murder was never solved by the police.
