Peter Maheu, the eldest of Maheu’s four children and a private investigator in Las Vegas, said Tuesday, “My father was a pioneer in so much history, not just in Las Vegas but around the world — and he was proud of that.”
Peter Maheu recalled his father’s work in sabotaging the deal that had given billionaire shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis a monopoly on shipping Saudi Arabian oil.
“If you think paying $3 or $4 a gallon for gasoline today is bad, you can imagine what we would be paying if my father did not play a major role in scuttling that deal,” Peter Maheu said.
By one report, Robert Maheu was even given a license to — if necessary — assassinate Onassis.
After one meeting with Maheu, then-Vice President Nixon shook Maheu’s hand and, according to the 1986 Onassis biography “Nemesis” by Peter Evans, said: “And just remember, if it turns out we have to kill the bastard don’t do it on American soil.”
Bill Maheu, Robert’s youngest son, said his father was a man of “strong values and ethics who always acted in a manner he felt was in the best interest of his country.” Still, he believes Robert Maheu would want to be remembered for something much more basic than that.
“My father’s legacy is his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” said Bill Maheu, a retired police officer who lives in San Diego. “The historians will write the rest.”