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Was her dad, at age 44, incurious or unethical when he went to work for Hensley and took his campaign financing support?
A March 26, 1977 article published on page one of the Albuquerque Journal newspaper by Robert V. Beier, titled "Ruidoso Race Track Owners Tied to Arizona Gambling" stated that James Hensley and his brother Eugene concealed from the New Mexico State Racing Commission at a May, 1953 commission hearing the fact that they had an equal partner,
Clarence "Teak" Baldwin with one third ownership interest in the Ruidoso Downs horse racing track purchase, even though the Hensleys were warned specifically by the racing commission chairman, that Baldwin was banned from any ownership role in the track:
"At the May, 1953 hearing, records show that the late Tom Closson, as chairman of the commission, told the Hensleys, "The name of Teak Baldwin keeps creeping up as we go along in what the commission conveyed to you. The commission would not have Baldwin connected in any way, shape or form down there at Riuduso Downs."
Because of suspicion of the commission about Baldwin's involvement in the track with the Hensleys, the Racing Commission asked the New Mexico State Police to investigate the three men in Phoenix. The same article states that the 1953 State Police report of the investigation revealed that the Hensley's employer between 1945 and 1953:
"[Kemper] Marley "owned a wire service formerly operated in connection with bookmaking of the Al Capone gang."
The same report listed Baldiwn as a "bookmaker for leading tracks" and said that Marley "is reputed to be the financial backer for bookies..."
The Arizona Project investigative report by www.ire.org included an article titled "Phoenix Millionaire Linked to Bolles Slaying", published in the March 23, 1977 edition of the Bucks County, PA Courier Times which reported that, in 1946, Kemper Marley, "according to police sources", joined Cosa Nostra member Peter Licavoli and several others in taking over the race-wire service for bookies in Arizona. Mobster Gus Greenbaum had originally established the wire, known as Transamerica Wire Service before 1941 for the Al Capone mob.
Police sources said that during this time, Greenbaum was sent to Las Vegas by the mob to establish hotel-casinos for them, and that the Chicago Syndicate told Marley and his associates to move Greenbaum out of the race-wire service in Phoenix.
The article also stated that the Hensley's hidden Ruidoso Downs race track business partner, Clarence Teak Baldwin, was a gambler who was one of the figures who managed the wire-service for Marley, and that he was convicted of tax evasion in 1956.
Shortly after James Hensley sold his interest in Ruidoso Downs to his brother Eugene and acquired the beer distributorship in Phoenix, an article by Associated Press appeared in the August 5, 1955 Albuquerque Journal newspaper, titled "Politicians Tee Off Over Bitter Ruidoso Race Track Situation" referring to recently elected New Mexico governor John Simms, the article subtitle reads, "Simms Appalled" and states:
"Simms has earlier declared two brothers connected with the Ruidoso track have court records and that he is "appalled" that former Gov. Edwin L. Mechem and the racing commission relicensed them in 1953."
The article describes the Henselys' May 3, 1948 sentencing and their prison terms and $2000 fine, each, according to Phoenix court records, after convictions for falsifying entries to the government on distilled liquor sales. It also advises that no New Mexico law bars convicted felons from race track ownership.
On page six in the Albuquerque Journal edition of August 13, 1955, in a column titles, "Our Slant" by Ed Minteen, Associate Editor, Minteen tells us that former New Mexico Gov. Mechem, shortly before his term ended, confered with Governor-elect Simms about the Hensleys:
"Mechem warned Simms that a bad situation could develop at Ruidoso and advised him to watch it closely. Mechem had sent investigators to Phoenix to go into the ownership angle and he also sent investigators to Ruidoso. One person trying to horn in on the ownership was barred as a result of the Mechem investigation.
The current operators, the Hensleys now under fire, were under constant surveillance during Mechem's administration. No action was taken against the Hensleys because the investigation showed that as tracks go, all laws apparently were being observed. But Mechem prodded the Racing Commission to be on the alert because he "was worried about it".
