Crook County: The Secret Double Life of a Mafia Hitman

Crooked City: Dixon, IL

Sony Music

Society & Culture, Documentary, History, True Crime

4.5 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2025

⏱️ 4 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For over 20 years, Ken Tekiela was a celebrated firefighter, husband, and father of two —but he led a secret, double life as a hitman for the Chicago mob. When the truth came out, it destroyed his family. Now, his son Kyle, host of Crook County, is left to pick up the pieces. Crook County is the shocking true crime podcast about Kenny “The Kid” Tekiela’s rise through the ranks of the legendary organized crime syndicate, the Chicago Outfit, and the lasting impact this has on a family. From iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV, welcome to Crook County. Follow the show here. To binge the full season, subscribe to Tenderfoot+. Click here for more details: https://tenderfoot.tv/plus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Crooked City listeners. This is Mark Smurling. I want to tell you about a new podcast
0:05.6	from my friends over at Tenderfoot TV. It's called Crook County, and it's a true story about a young
0:11.3	man named Kyle who came to find out that his father was not exactly who he thought he was.
0:17.6	By day, Kyle's dad was a fireman. Before more than 20 years, he was leading a double life.
0:22.6	You see, at night, Kyle's dad was a mafia hitman. Recruited into the legendary Chicago outfit
0:28.8	when he was just 17, Kenny the Kid Tequila started off as a doorman at a mob-run brothel,
0:35.5	and he rose through the mafia ranks to become one of Chicago's
0:38.4	most ruthless assassins. Now he's telling his story to the one guy he definitely owes an
0:43.6	explanation to, his son. Part true crime, part mafia story, part family saga, Crook County
0:50.7	doesn't disappoint. Check out this trailer. While you listen, search Crook County in your podcast app to follow the show.
1:04.1	I've done criminal defense now for almost 37 years.
1:07.3	It takes one guy out there to say, who's that fucking asshole Kyle who thinks he can just
1:12.2	get on a goddamn microphone on a podcast and start publicizing this shit.
1:17.7	Earlier this morning, detectives and federal agents invaded a junkyard in DuPage County just west of Chicago.
1:23.8	In keeping with the legendary MO of the Chicago mob, officials fully expected that they
1:29.3	might find corpses inside the trunk of the automobile. From IHeart Podcasts and Tenderfoot TV
1:35.2	comes a new true crime podcast, Crook County. I got recruited into the mob when I was 17 years old. Me Kenny, aka the kid.
1:47.0	I ran whorehouses and I did hits.
1:50.0	An enforcer for the legendary Chicago outfit.
1:53.0	I wanted him to know I meant fucking business here.
1:55.0	Put the gun back up to his forehead.
1:57.0	He lived a secret double life as a firefighter paramedic for the Chicago Fire Department.
	...

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