Diamond Jim's Casino 30 tables 118 20th St. West 661-256-1400 1 2 NLH. $40-100 buy-in. 3 5 NLH. $200-500 buy-in.

To: Craig Gronenthal <email address not displayed> Your Name: Email address: Subject: Message: Craig Gronenthal wrote on the message board: > A 30-year-old card dealer from Camarillo, described as having a hot > temper and a pile of gambling debts, turned himself in in the shooting > of a colleague, Ventura police said Saturday. > > Michael Gawlick, a dealer at Ventura's Ash Street Card Club, was > charged Friday by the district attorney's office with the murder of > 36-year-old Craig W. Gronenthal, a floor manager at the club. > > Gronenthal, a Ventura resident, was shot twice in the head at 11:30 > p.m. Wednesday as he was counting receipts after closing the club, > police said. He was also waiting for Gawlick to stop by and pay a > debt, police said. > > Gronenthal was found soon after the shooting in the "cage" of the card > room, which is in the basement of the Elks Club in downtown Ventura. A > large-caliber gun used in the shooting has not been recovered, police > said. > > Gawlick, who had worked at the club on and off over several years, > including the last seven months, surrendered about 10 a.m. Friday to a > border guard in Nogales, Ariz., after returning from Mexico, said > Ventura Police Lt. Don Arth. > > Gawlick is being held without bail in Nogales and is expected to be > extradited to Ventura within 10 days, police said. > > A military-style funeral service will be held for Gronenthal, an > ex-Marine, at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Mary Magdalen Church in > Camarillo. He will be buried next to his father, who was in the Navy, > in the Santa Clara Catholic Cemetery in Oxnard. > > At the Ash Street club Saturday afternoon, a hostess who knew both the > victim and suspect said she was too distraught to comment. But a card > player and a dealer at the Player's Poker Club on Ventura Avenue, > where Gawlick also was known, said Gawlick had several gambling > debts. > > Police said Gawlick owed money to the Ash Street club and to > Gronenthal. He had left the club Wednesday to get the "couple hundred > dollars" he owed Gronenthal, Arth said. > > Gawlick did not show up for work the next day, and friends told police > they had not seen him since the shooting. > > Sal Martinez, one of Gawlick's former employers in Rosamond in > southern Kern County, said Gawlick was fired from his casino in 1996 > after walking off the job the night of a card tournament. > > "He had some kind of temper," Martinez said. "The floor manager was > going to put him to work and he responded real nasty." > > Another Player's Poker Club employee who did not want to be identified > said that Gawlick was often quiet, but acted "volatile" when upset. > > Bob Burgum, the floor manager of Sal's Town who hired Gawlick in 1995, > said Gawlick did not have a history of steady employment and that his > then-wife worked at a fast-food restaurant to support their three > children. > > > "He didn't ever owe this club any money," Burgum said. "But I know he > was having a hard time making it." Burgum said he last saw Gawlick > when Gawlick returned to the casino last year to apologize for walking > out and unsuccessfully sought another job. > > The victim's mother, Eleanor Gronenthal, said Saturday that she had a > premonition years ago that she someday would bury one of her three > sons. About three weeks ago, she said, her youngest son said he had a > dream about Craig. > > "In his dream, he said he was jittery about going down into the card > club. And he saw yellow police tape all over the place," she said. Code: Enter the following code: (required) Consider sharing your comments with the other readers of the message board. They may benefit from your insights If you decide not to send email, post a follow up instead, or return to the original message