If you place a dollar on the rail, the dancers linger and flirt a moment longer before moving on to the next guy. Some dancers wear black--teddies, garters and such--but the effect is not one of mourning. Ask employees about the late Horace Joseph McKenna--their purported boss, gunned down in mobster fashion Thursday in his limousine at the gate of his Brea horse ranch--and they are less than effusive. So you leave the Bare Elegance, its watchful management and hulking bouncers. At another strip joint a dancer helps explain how McKenna could live such a lavish life style.
Through attorneys, Woods and other owners-of-record have denied a conspiracy exists. Investigators also suspect untold illicit profits through drug dealing, prostitution and money laundering. Warrants and affidavits unsealed Wednesday--the day before McKenna was killed--as well as a visit to the Bare Elegance provides a glimpse into a world that many people never encounter and few patrons understand. It is also a major source of revenue. A popular woman can make hundreds of dollars per shift for herself and for the club, sources say.
The dispute, sources said, involved the size of the house cut. Homicide investigators are now probing reports that McKenna may have tried to purchase the Mustang Club in Santa Ana in , before its owner, Jimmy Casino, was killed by gunmen.
The possibility of a relationship between the deaths of Casino and McKenna is just one of many possible leads, authorities say. Among those employees was Robert Berg, who was chauffeuring the limousine in which McKenna was killed. One employee refused to talk even with an offer of confidentiality. Anything I say will get back to him.
Her primary reaction, she said, was one of relief. The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. De Los. Times Everywhere. For Subscribers. All Sections. LA Times Studios. Live Stream. Times Store. About Us. Special Supplements. Share via Close extra sharing options. Big Mac is dead, but at the Bare Elegance, life goes on without so much as a moment of silence.
