South Seas - Anaheim

Anaheim, California, United States

Opened in early 1957, this pre-tiki nightclub is associated with one of the most notorious Southern California mob murders from the era.

The same year as the nightclub's opening, on March 9, 1957, Leslie Simpson was robbed at the South Seas, by a small group of gun-toting outlaws. Simpson was able to identify Joseph “Little Caesar” Rosoto as one of the bandits – because of Rosoto’s distinctive limp.

Rosoto was later charged with the armed robbery of Simpson at the South Seas bar, and his trial was set for April 20, 1959.

Rosoto, a known mobster, was not about to go down on a robbery beef. The little (5-foot-1) gangster hired his bodyguard, John “The Big Fisherman” Vlahovich (6-foot-7), and Donald Glen Franklin, a burly loner, to murder Simpson to keep him off the witness stand.

Leslie Simpson was returning with his wife, Fern, to their Anaheim home early one morning (February 7, 1959) when out of darkness came a menacing figure.

A shotgun-wielding assailant ended Simpson’s life with a blast from close range. Fern saved herself by throwing up her arms to protect herself, but both of her hands were blown off.

It was a headline-making case from the beginning, but when Anaheim police detectives discovered the sinister motive for gunning down the 46-year-old Simpson, it became one of the most notorious cases in Orange County history.

With the star witness dead, Rosoto was eventually acquitted of the robbery charge.

However, Rosoto was in bigger trouble. Rosoto, Vlahovich and Franklin were arrested for Simpson’s murder. In 1960, the trio was convicted and sentenced to death.

They were once just 20 minutes from execution in 1964, but a last-hour reprieve saved their lives. Eventually their sentences were commuted to life in prison. All three were paroled in 1975 after serving only 16 years for first-degree murder.

In 1978, Rosoto was bludgeoned to death at his home in San Gabriel. No one was ever charged...

...and in the meantime, the South Seas survived, at least for a time, purchased by Viviane Laird who was already known for her other locations like the Garden of Allah, Bohemia, and The Brass Rail.

It closed not long after, though.