Leon Jordan
[1][2] Jordan was "one of the most influential African Americans in Kansas City's history"[3] and, at the time of his assassination in 1970, the "state's most powerful black politician".
[1] Leon Jordan attended Lincoln High School in Kansas City, Missouri, served in the United States Army,[3] and graduated from Wilberforce University in Ohio in 1933.
[13] A January 1966 report on the burglary by the Independence Police Department stated that the guns had later been sold through a "North End Italian fence".
Only when the Star asked questions about the missing shotgun in 2010 did a crime lab technician run a computer check that located the gun, which was recovered from the trunk of a police car and then returned to the evidence room.
This led to discovery of the missing murder weapon and some old fingerprint cards, which persuaded the KCPD to re-open their investigation into the department's oldest cold case.
[13] In trying to determine who was responsible for the assassination, the Star reported that Jordan and Freedom, Inc. had been opposed to the "North End" faction in Kansas City politics, a group under the influence of the Italian-American Mafia which had previously controlled black voting blocs.
In 1965, Jordan had punched Frank Mazzuca, a fellow state legislator who was alleged to have supported mob interests in Jefferson City, and reportedly faced death threats in the aftermath.
[11] The Star reported that police informants associated with the Black Mafia had described the killing as a favor to North End mob interests, and that it was organized by "Shotgun Joe" Centimano, owner of a local liquor store.
[12] News coverage referred to a 900-page police report finished in 2011 which concluded that mob boss Nicholas Civella had given his "blessing" to Jordan's assassination.
Jordan's papers, including extensive documentation of his service in Liberia, are collected in the library of the University of Missouri's Kansas City campus.
[6] He is the topic of a documentary called A Legacy of Leadership, directed by Emiel Cleaver and funded by a 2019 Rocket Grant from the Charlotte Street Foundation.
