Jim Vaus - Wiretapper - An Oral History

In 1962, Jim Vaus recorded his story on a 33.3 LP record titled "The House on Second Avenue." (Word Records Incorporated, Waco, Texas - W-3166-LP)

Jim Vaus tells why he became a wiretapper.


Life after turning his back on wiretapping.



Billy Graham and Jim Vaus on the sidewalks of New York.




This movie about Jim Vaus is still available on VHS tape.






James Arthur Vaus, Jr.

Additional pages...
1946 - Jim Vaus - The Wiretapper Who Left The Mob
1948 - Jim Vaus & The Hollywood Vice Queen Tap

One of the most fascinating conversion stories of the 20th century, My Father Was a Gangster tells the dramatic life story of Jim Vaus, former associate of crime syndicate boss Mickey Cohen. In this book, son Will Vaus tells the inside story of his father's nefarious activities in organized crime and describes how close his father came to losing his life in a "Sting" operation. The author then describes the dramatic transformation that took place in his father's life as a result of attending the 1949 Billy Graham meetings in Los Angeles.

This story has been recounted in Time, Life and Reader's Digest, and was chronicled in a motion picture, The Wiretapper. Now it is told from a son's perspective, a son who watched his father reach juvenile delinquents across America with the same message of hope that changed his own life.



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