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Murder, Inc.

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For other uses, see Murder, Inc. (disambiguation).

Murder, Inc. (or Murder Incorporated or the Brownsville Boys; known in syndicate circles as The Combination) was the name given by the press to organized crime groups in the 1920s through the 1940s that resulted in numerous murders on behalf of early organized crime groups in New York and elsewhere. The name was a journalistic invention.

Methods

Most of the killers were Irish, Jewish and Italian gangsters from the gangs of the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Brownsville, East New York, and Ocean Hill. In addition to carrying out crime in New York City and acting as enforcers for New York mobster Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, they accepted murder contracts from mob bosses all around the United States.

Founding

Murder, Inc. was established after the formation of the commission of the National Crime Syndicate, to which it ultimately answered. Largely headed by former mob enforcers Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel and Meyer Lansky, it also had members from Buchalter's labor-slugging gang (in partnership with Tommy "Three-Fingered Brown" Lucchese) as well as from another group of enforcers from Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York, of the late 1920s led by Martin "Bugsy" Goldstein and Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, based out of an unassuming candy store known as Midnight Rose's. Buchalter, in particular, and Joe Adonis occasionally, gave the outfit its orders from the board of directors of the syndicate. Albert "The Mad Hatter" Anastasia was the troupe's operating head, or "Lord High Executioner", assisted by Lepke's longtime associate Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro.

In 1932 Abe Wagner informed on the syndicate to the police. He fled to Saint Paul, Minnesota, and adopted a disguise to evade possible pursuit. Two killers, George Young and Joseph Schafer, found and shot him but were later apprehended. Bugsy Siegel failed to get them released.

In the 1930s Buchalter used Murder, Inc. to murder witnesses and suspected informants when he was investigated by crusading prosecutor Thomas Dewey. In one case on 11 May 1937, four killers hacked loan shark George Rudnick to pieces on the mere suspicion he was an informant (see below). On 1 October 1937 they shot and seriously wounded Buchalter's ex-associate Max Rubin. Rubin had disobeyed Buchalter's orders to leave town and "disappear" in order to avoid being summoned as a witness against Buchalter.

Dutch Schultz

Probably their most well known victim was Dutch Schultz, who made the mistake of openly defying the syndicate. In October 1935, Schultz insisted on putting a "hit" on Dewey, who was leading an all-out effort to put the mob out of business. The syndicate board overruled Schultz; they felt that killing law enforcement officers would bring too much "heat". They feared - with good reason - that Dewey's murder would inflame public outrage to new heights and result in an even greater campaign to shut down the rackets. Schultz vowed that he would ignore the board's decision and kill Dewey himself. The board decided they needed to act immediately to kill Schultz before he killed Dewey. Therefore in an ironic twist Buchalter actually saved Dewey's life, which allowed Dewey to continue his efforts to bring down Buchalter. This led Shapiro to suggest years later that Schultz should have been allowed to kill Dewey, although at the time he supported the syndicate's decision to overrule Schultz.

Hitmen Mendy Weiss and Charles Workman were given the assignment to kill Schultz. On the night of October 23, 1935, they tracked down Schultz and his associates Otto Berman, Abe Landau, and Lulu Rosenkrantz and shot them at the Palace Chop House in Newark, New Jersey. Berman, Landau, and Rosenkrantz died almost immediately, while Schultz clung to life until the following day. As the thorough Workman stayed behind to make sure they had completed their assignment and finished off Schultz in the men's room of the restaurant, Weiss escaped the scene with their Murder Inc getaway driver Seymour Schechter. Furious at being abandoned by his confederates, Workman had to make his way back to Brooklyn by foot. A day or two later Workman filed a 'grievance' with the board against Weiss and Schechter. Although he had simply followed Weiss' frantic orders to drive away without waiting for Workman, the unfortunate Schechter ended up bearing the punishment, becoming a Murder Inc victim himself a short time later. In 1944 Weiss ended up in the electric chair for another murder (see below). Workman was eventually tried by the State of New Jersey for the Schultz murder and served 23 years in prison (see below).

Demise

In January 1940, professional criminal and police informer Harry Rudolph was held as a material witness in the murder of 19-year-old minor gangster Alex Alpert. Alpert was shot in the back on a street corner in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn on November 25, 1933.[1][2] While in custody, Rudolph talked with Brooklyn District Attorney William O'Dwyer. With Rudolph's testimony, O'Dwyer secured first-degree murder indictments against Abe Reles, Martin Goldstein and Anthony Maffetore.[1][2] After the three were indicted, O'Dwyer learned from Special Prosecutor John Harlan Amen [3] that Rudolph was reportedly offered a $5,000 bribe by another prisoner, on behalf of the syndicate, to "put Reles and Goldstein on the street".[2] O'Dwyer stated that when Maffetore learned of the bribe offer to help clear Reles and Goldstein and after several talks with New York City Detective John Osnato, he decided to turn state's evidence.[2][4] Detective Osnato talked with Maffetore even though he had worked with Rudolph previously and did not put much credibility in his story since Rudolph was paid for information in other cases that turned out to be false.[5] Eventually, Maffetore decided to cooperate, stating that he was not involved in the Alpert murder, but was the driver in six gangland murders.[5] Maffetore then convinced Abraham Levine to talk. Reles was next to cooperate with the District Attorney's office.[6] Soon after the trio started talking, numerous first-degree murder indictments were issued in Brooklyn, The Bronx, and in upstate Sullivan County (Catskills).[7] Additional members of the "Combination" then were added to the list of cooperating witnesses, including Albert Tannenbaum, Seymour Magoon and Sholem Bernstein. Ironically, Harry Rudolph's testimony was never used in any of the trials, as he died of natural causes in the infirmary at Rikers Island in June 1940.[8] Abe Reles fell to his death from a room at the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island on November 12, 1941, even though he was under police guard.[9][10] The official verdict was accidental death by defenestration, but the angle of his trajectory suggests that he was pushed.

The trials

See Also

After the trials

With many of its members sent to the electric chair or prison, Murder, Inc. vanished within a few years.

  • Duke Maffetore and Pretty Levine received suspended sentences after pleading guilty to petty larceny in the theft of an automobile used in a gangland murder.[11]
  • NYPD Lieutenant John Osnato, who convinced Duke Maffetore to cooperate with the Brooklyn District Attorney's office, retired in June 1944 after 28 years on the police force. He died of a heart ailment at age 55 on November 25, 1945.[12]
  • Philip Cohen was murdered in 1949, several months after being released from federal prison. Cohen had served seven years of a 10-year sentence for narcotics trafficking. News reports indicate that he was killed on the Syndicate's belief that his first-degree murder indictment in the death of Joe Rosen was dropped due to cooperating with the police.[13]
  • In October 1950, 37-year-old Anthony Maffetore was arrested for grand larceny as a member of a nationwide auto-theft ring. He disappeared on March 7, 1951, missing a scheduled appearance in Queens County Court, and was presumed murdered.[14]
  • Albert Anastasia, dubbed in the media as the "Lord High Executioner of Murder Inc.", was himself killed in a barber's chair at the Park Sheraton Hotel on October 25, 1957, in Manhattan.[15] Shortly after Anastasia's murder, East Coast organized criminals held a meeting in Apalachin, New York, to distribute Anastasia's rackets, according to law enforcement.[16][17][18][19]

Known members

References

  1. ^ a b RELES, TWO OF GANG, INDICTED IN KILLING AS O'DWYER ACTS; Prosecutor Says Case Against Racketeers, Reputed Immune to Conviction, Is 'Air-Tight' SLAYING OF 1933 CHARGED Mother of Young Victim Has Made Almost Daily Pleas Since to Get Action,The New York Times, February 3, 1940, p.1
  2. ^ a b c d MURDER WITNESS GOT BRIBE OFFER, O'DWYER CHARGES; $5,000 Promised If He Would Clear Reles and Goldstein, Prosecutor Declares, The New York Times, March 20, 1940, p.1
  3. ^ www.NYCGangland.com
  4. ^ TRIGGER MEN BARE 'CONTRACT' MURDERS FOR BIG RACKETEERS; Dozen Killings by Brooklyn Gang Solved by Confessions of Pair, O'Dwyer Says 15 SEIZED IN ROUND-UP Penn Case Mistake Laid to Thugs Who Specialized in 'Rubbing Out' Witnesses, The New York Times, March 18, 1940, p.1
  5. ^ a b What Makes a Successful Detective; John Osnato, who cracked big cases, used his own formula: stool pigeons and common sense,The New York Times, September 10, 1944, Sunday Magazine, p.SM18
  6. ^ RELES IS TELLING STORY OF MURDERS DONE BY HIS GANG; Leader, in a Surprise Move to Win Leniency, Gives O'Dwyer Facts on Paid Killers ALSO NAMING 'EMPLOYERS' Two More Slayings Are Solved as Drive on Syndicate Takes On Added Momentum,The New York Times, March 24, 1940, p.1
  7. ^ Murder for $1 Profit Is Charged as Evidence Piles Up Against Gang; Fifteen Killings Checked With Probability That Twice as Many May Be Traced Hollywood 'Bit Man' Held,The New York Times, March 19, 1940, p.25
  8. ^ 57 MURDERS LAID TO BROOKLYN RING; O'Dwyer Asserts Crimes Are 'Solved,' but Time and Death Bar Many Prosecutions 10-YEAR PERIOD COVERED Slaying of Vannie Higgins Is Added to List--Blue Ribbon Jury Plea Is Granted, The New York Times, June 4, 1940
  9. ^ ABE RELES KILLED TRYING TO ESCAPE; Sheet Rope Fails After He Lowers Himself From 6th to 5th Floor of Hotel MOTIVE PUZZLES POLICE Informer Against Murder Ring Lived in Dread of Bullets of Former Confederates, The New York Times, November 13, 1941. p.29
  10. ^ GUARDS DEMOTED IN RELES ESCAPE; Five to Get Departmental Trials on Laxity Charge -- Mayor Orders Inquiry, The New York Times, November 14, 1941. p.1
  11. ^ 2 FREED IN MURDER RING; Minor Members of Gang Let Off With Suspended Sentences, The New York Times, April 21, 1942, p.25
  12. ^ JOHN OSNATO DIES; ACE DETECTIVE, 55; Key Figure in Solving Murder, Inc., and Rubel Ice Robbery Once Arrested Capone Broke Down "Stool Pigeon" Pounded East Side Beat, The New York Times, November 26, 1945
  13. ^ LEPKE AIDE SLAIN; GANG WAR IS SEEN; Body of Philip Cohen Is Found on Valley Stream Road, 4 Bullets in His Head, The New York Times, September 17, 1949. p.30
  14. ^ AUTO RECOVERIES TIED TO GANG WAR; Theory of a Reprisal Against Informer Held Strengthened in Case of Maffetore Belated Reprisal Seen, The New York Times, March 25, 1951, p.57
  15. ^ ANASTASIA SLAIN IN A HOTEL HERE; LED MURDER, INC., The New York Times, October 15, 1957,P.1
  16. ^ 65 Hoodlums Seized in a Raid And Run Out of Upstate Village; GANGSTER PARLEY IS RAIDED UPSTATE Meeting a Mystery, The New York Times, November 15, 1957,p.1
  17. ^ Hoodlum 'Convention' Viewed As Splitting Anastasia Rackets; GANG 'CONVENTION' TIED TO ANASTASIA,The New York Times, November 16, 1957,p.1
  18. ^ MEETING OF THUGS TIED TO ANASTASIA; But Top City Investigators Report No Definite Clue Has Been Uncovered Investigation Continues, ", The New York Times, November 19, 1957,p.24
  19. ^ APALACHIN STORY STILL UNRESOLVED MYSTERY; But the Strange Underworld Parley Has Started Investigative Furor,The New York Times, December 22, 1957,p.98
  20. ^ http://www.freeinfosociety.com/article.php?id=42
  21. ^ http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?GRid=12219&page=gr
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