It was a sad day for the Chicago crime syndicate when 66-year-old Murray “The Camel” Humphreys was found dead of a heart attack in his 51st floor apartment at Marina City. It could have been from the stress of being arrested, just hours earlier, on charges of lying to a federal grand jury.

Following the indictment on November 23, 1965, FBI agents arrived at Marina City and broke into Humphreys’ apartment after he would not let them in. They took from Humphreys a loaded revolver. Humphreys had been released from custody around 5:00 p.m. after posting ten percent of a $4,500 bond. His brother called the fire department at 8:59 p.m. Fire fighters arrived and tried to revive Humphreys, but he was pronounced dead at 9:31 p.m. by Dr. R. B. Robbins, who lived in the building.

Ten-year-old boat thief foiled before he reaches Cleveland

It seemed like the perfect crime to a ten-year-old. After school, steal a boat from Marina City and sail it back to Ohio.

William Blasio, who missed friends he had to leave behind after moving to Chicago that summer, almost made it to Lake Michigan. On December 1, 1965, he picked out a 16-foot boat with outboard motor. Someone at Marina City saw him take the boat and the coast guard was alerted.

He was turned over to his mother.

(Above) Marina at Marina City in Chicago. Looking east from west end. Jefferson Beach Yacht Sales office at left.

Bingo! Police!

On Tuesday night, March 21, 1967, about 200 people affiliated with transportation industries gathered at Marina City, probably in one of the restaurants, for a bingo party. That number increased slightly when the police arrived.

They confiscated game equipment and arrested one person, the editor of a publication called College of Advanced Traffic, which had sponsored the game. Charles Ohanian, age 42, was charged with being the keeper of a gambling establishment.

Sad, strange tumbles from towers

With decidedly mixed results, people have jumped from the residential towers.

In the last days of the 1960s, a 25-year-old man, in what may have been a hazing stunt, jumped about 40 feet from the first parking level of the west tower into the icy Chicago River. He did this twice.

Edwardo Fortuna, who lived on Kenmore Avenue, told police he had been told by “club members” to jump in the river five times or face physical harm.

After the first jump, a Marina City employee found Fortuna back on the parking ramp. He was given dry clothes and asked to leave. But ten minutes later, Fortuna was being fished out of the river by Frank Chavez and Tommie Scott.

June Fleck was 39 years old and engaged to Martin Richards, age 36, who lived in the east tower. Sadly, on May 19, 1967, Fleck fell to her death from the balcony of Richards’ 50th floor apartment.

On June 20, 1973, Sandra Easton, a 42-year-old computer programmer said to be despondent over the death of her mother, fell from her apartment on the 52nd floor of the east tower. It was her second attempt. She fell through the canvas roof of the ice skating rink and landed on the surface of the rink. It’s unknown exactly what happened, but she reportedly had tried to do this two years earlier.

On January 10, 1976, a 25-year-old man, Kenneth Parvin, who was not a resident, fell from the 57th floor of one of the towers.