Biloxi Confidential

Thomas Holcomb died in a prison in Beaumont, Texas, while serving a life sentence on April 8, 2005.

John Ransom was released from federal prison in Georgia on November 7, 2003.

LaRa Sharpe was released from federal prison in Tallahassee, Fla., on June 13, 2002.

Mike Gillich was released from prison in July 2000, after serving nine years of his sentence.

Kirksey McCord Nix, Jr. was moved to a federal prison in Florence, Colo. He continues to appeal his convictions but the appeals to date have proven to be exercises in futility.

Charles Pickering, the federal judge who presided over the Sherry murder conspiracy trials, came to national attention again when nominated for a seat on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals by President George W. Bush in 2002 and again in 2003. Democratic U.S. Senators filibustered his nomination, largely due to his anti-abortion stance, and eventually Pickering withdrew his name from consideration.

A.J. Holloway, who defeated Pete Halat in his 1993 reelection bid, was still Mayor of Biloxi in 2007. His party affiliation and political clout with the White House and the state's Republican governor allowed him to help speed the city's recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

The Dixie Mafia, if it still exists today, has been marginalized to the brink of extinction. Legalized gambling, run by huge out-of-state gaming and entertainment corporations, eliminated the monopoly mobsters enjoyed when gambling was confined to back rooms of sleazy dives along the Biloxi Strip. Members of Mike Gillich's family nonetheless profited handsomely when they sold their properties to these out-of-state companies.

The missing money that led to the deaths of Vincent and Margaret Sherry has never been accounted for.