Born on August 6, 1901, was American mobster & crime leader, Dutch Schultz.

 Born on August 6, 1901, was American mobster & crime leader, Dutch Schultz.

Dutch dropped out of school in the 8th grade to help support himself & his mother. He worked as a feeder & pressman for the Clark Loose Leaf Company, Caxton Press, American Express, & Schultz Trucking in the Bronx between 1916 & 1919. When Schultz began working at a neighborhood night club owned by a small-time mobster, he started robbing craps games, before turning to burglary. Eventually he was caught breaking into an apartment & was sent to the prison on Blackwell's Island (now called Roosevelt Island). Schultz's mugshot, aged 18, was published in the 2010 book New York City Gangland. He proved to be such an unmanageable prisoner, that he was transferred to a work farm in Westhampton, Long Island. After he was recaptured following an escape, he had an extra 2 months added to his sentence.

     Shultz was released on parole on December 8, 1920, & went back to work at Schultz Trucking. With the enactment of the Volstead Act & the start of Prohibition in the United States, the shipping company began smuggling liquor & beer into New York City from Canada. This led Shultz to start associating with known criminals. It was also during this time that he became better known as "Dutch" Schultz. Following a disagreement, he left Schultz Trucking & went to work for their Italian competitors. In the mid 1920s, Schultz had begun work as a bouncer at the Hub Social Club, a small speakeasy in the Bronx owned by a gangster named Joey Noe. Noe was impressed with Schultz's ruthlessness & reputation for brutality when he lost his temper, & he made him a partner. Together they soon opened more illegal drinking joints around the Bronx. Using their own trucks to reduce high delivery costs, they brought in beer made by Frankie Dunn, a brewer in Union City, New Jersey. Schultz often rode shotgun to guard the trucks from hijackers.

     Schultz & Noe soon had to deal with the brothers John and Joe Rock, who were already running a bootlegging operation in the Bronx. Initially the brothers refused to buy beer from Noe & Schultz, but eventually John, the elder brother, agreed to cooperate; but his younger brother Joe refused. 1 night the Noe-Schultz gang kidnapped Joe, beat him & hung him by his thumbs from a meat hook. They then allegedly wrapped a gauze bandage smeared with discharge from a gonorrhea infection over his eyes. His family reportedly paid $35k for his release. Shortly after his return, he went blind. From then on, the Noe-Schultz gang met little opposition, as they expanded across the entire Bronx. Bootlegging during Prohibition made Schultz very wealthy. The Noe-Schultz operation, which had begun to flourish in the Bronx, soon became the only gang able to rival the network of Italian crime syndicates that became the Mafia's 5 Families. When the gang expanded from the Bronx over to Manhattan's Upper West Side & the neighborhoods of Washington Heights, Yorkville, & Harlem, they moved their headquarters to East 149th Street in The Bronx.

     But this brazen move led to a bootleg war with New York's Irish Mob, led by Jack "Legs" Diamond. Diamond was known for leading a rather flamboyant lifestyle. He was a very energetic individual; his nickname "Legs" derived either from his being a good dancer or from how fast he could escape his enemies. His wife, Alice, was never supportive of his lifestyle but did not do much to dissuade him from it. Diamond was a womanizer; his best known mistress was showgirl & dancer Marion "Kiki" Roberts. The public loved Diamond; he was Upstate New York's biggest celebrity at the time. In the early hours of October 16, 1928, Noe was shot several times outside the Chateau Madrid, a speakeasy at 231 West 54th. Although seriously wounded, he managed to return fire. A blue Cadillac was seen hitting some parked cars & losing 1 of its doors, before speeding away. When police found the car an hour later, they discovered the body of a Louis Weinberg (no relation to Schultz gang members Abraham "Bo" Weinberg & George Weinberg) in the back seat. Noe's wounds became infected & he died on November 21. Schultz was left angry & distraught by the loss of his friend & mentor.

     Retaliation started a few weeks later, when Arnold Rothstein, a kingpin in the Jewish mob, was found fatally shot, near the service entrance to the Park Central Hotel on November 6, 1928. Although George "Hump" McManus supposedly killed Rothstein, over a bad gambling debt, Schultz is believed to have ordered the killing, in retribution for Noe's death. This theory is supported by the fact that the 1st person McManus rang after the killing was Schultz's attorney, Dixie Davis. Schultz's trusted lieutenant, Bo Weinberg, then picked up McManus & drove him away from the murder scene. McManus was later cleared of the killing. On October 12, 1930, Legs Diamond was shot & wounded at the Hotel Monticello on Manhattan's West Side. 2 gunmen forced their way into Diamond's room & shot him 5 times, before fleeing. Still in his pajamas, Diamond staggered into the hallway & collapsed. When asked later by the New York Police Commissioner how he managed to walk out of the room, Diamond said he drank 2 shots of whiskey 1st. Diamond was rushed to the Polyclinic Hospital in Manhattan, where he eventually recovered.

     On December 30, 1930, Diamond was discharged from Polyclinic. After recovering from his wounds, he left New York for a lengthy stay in Europe. During his absence, his gang was forced to leave the city. When he returned home, Diamond began carving out a new territory for himself in Albany. On April 27, 1931, Diamond was again shot & wounded, this time at the Aratoga Inn, a road house near Cairo, New York. After eating in the dining room with 3 companions, Diamond walked out to the front door. He was shot 3 times & collapsed by the door. A local resident drove Diamond to a hospital in Albany, New York, where he eventually recovered. On May 1, while Diamond was still in the hospital, New York State Troopers seized over $5k worth of illegal beer & alcohol from Diamond's hiding places in Cairo & at the Aratoga Inn. In August 1931, Diamond & Paul Quattrocchi went on trial for bootlegging. That same month, Diamond was convicted & sentenced to 4 years in state prison. In September 1931, Diamond appealed his conviction.

     On December 18, 1931, Diamond's enemies finally caught up with him. Diamond had been staying cheap Albany rooming house at 67 Dove Street, in Albany, New York, while on trial in Troy, New York, on kidnapping charges. On December 17, Diamond was acquitted. That night, Diamond and his family & friends were at a restaurant. At 1 a.m., Diamond went to visit his mistress, Marion "Kiki" Roberts. At 4:30 a.m., Diamond went back to the rooming house & passed out on his bed. 2 gunmen entered his room around an hour later. 1 man held Diamond down, while the other shot him 3 times in the back of the head. That ended Diamond’s “9 lives” There has been much speculation as to who was responsible for the murder; likely candidates include Schultz, the Oley Brothers (local thugs), the Albany Police Department, & relatives of Red Cassidy, another Irish American gangster at the time. According to William Kennedy's O Albany, Democratic Party Chairman Dan O'Connell, who ran the local political machine, ordered Diamond's execution, which was carried out by the Albany Police.

     The following are Dan O'Connell's own words recorded during a 1974 interview by Kennedy & appear on pages 203 & 204: “In order for the Mafia to move in they had to have protection, and they know they'll never get it in this town. We settled that years ago. Legs Diamond [...] called up 1 day & said he wanted to go into the 'insurance' business here. He was going to sell strong-arm 'protection' to the merchants. I sent word to him, that he wasn't going to do any business in Albany & we didn't expect to see him in town the next morning. He never started anything here. Prior brought him around here [...] but brought him around once too often. Fitzpatrick finished Legs. O'Connell added that William Fitzpatrick (a police sergeant at the time & later chief) & Diamond were "sitting in the same room & (Fitzpatrick) followed him out. Fitzpatrick told him he'd kill him, if he didn't keep going.” Given the power that the O'Connell machine held in Albany & its determination to prevent organized crime, other than their own, from establishing itself in the city & threatening their monopoly of vice, some accept this account of the story. For those believing this theory, Fitzpatrick's promotion to Chief of Police is said to have been a reward for executing Diamond. In 1945, Chief Fitzpatrick himself was shot & killed in his own office by John McElveney, an Albany police detective. Detective McElveney was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. He was released in 1957, when his sentence was commuted by Governor W. Averell Harriman. On December 23, 1931, Jack “Legs” Diamond was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Maspeth, Queens. There was no church service or graveside ceremony. Family & spectators numbering 200 attended Diamond's interment; no criminal figures were spotted. On July 1, 1933, Diamond's widow, Alice Kenny Diamond at the age of 33, was found shot to death in her Brooklyn apartment. It was speculated that she was shot by Diamond's enemies, to keep her quiet.

      Diamond’s death didn’t fix Schultz problems, as he also had to deal with internecine conflicts within his own gang. In 1930, 1 of Schultz's enforcers, Vincent Coll, demanded to be made an equal partner. This was because Schultz gang members received a flat salary, instead of the customary percentage from the take, a unique arrangement compared to other major gangs in organized crime. When Schultz refused, Coll formed his own crew, with the ultimate goal of murdering Schultz & taking over his territory. In the bloody gang war that followed, Coll lost his older brother Pete & earned the nickname "Mad Dog" from the press, after a child was killed during a botched assassination attempt committed by his gang. In February 1932, Coll was lured into a trap. While he was taking a call in a drugstore phone booth, gunmen entered the store & machine-gunned him to death. The killers may have included Edward 'Fats' McCarthy & the brothers Bo & George Weinberg.

     With the end of Prohibition, Dutch Schultz needed to find new sources of income. His answer came with Otto "Abbadabba" Berman & the Harlem numbers racket. The numbers racket, the forerunner of "Pick 3" lotteries, required players to choose 3 numbers, which were then derived from the last number before the decimal in the handle (total amount bet) taken daily at Belmont Park. Berman was a middle-aged accountant & math whiz, who helped Schultz fix this racket. In a matter of seconds, Berman could mentally calculate the minimum amount of money Schultz needed to bet at the track, to alter the odds at the last minute. This strategy ensured that Schultz always controlled which numbers won, guaranteeing a larger number of losers in Harlem & a multimillion-dollar-a-month tax-free income for Schultz. Berman was reportedly paid $10k-a-week (equivalent to just over $162k today).

     Along with the policy rackets, Schultz began extorting New York restaurant owners & workers. Schultz, working through a hulking gangster named Jules Modgilewsky, also known as Julie Martin, made deals with the leaders of Waiters Local 16 & Cafeteria Workers Local 302, to extort money by forcing restaurant owners to join the Metropolitan Restaurant & Cafeteria Owners Association, an employer association that Schultz had founded. Those who refused to join the Association were faced with exorbitant wage demands from the unions, followed by strikes & stink bomb attacks. The Metropolitan Association then stepped in, to arrange a settlement of the strike with a sweetheart contract for low wages, contingent on the employer joining the Association. Martin/Modgilewsky successfully extracted 1000s of dollars of tributes & "dues" from the terrorized restaurant owners for Schultz.

      During Schultz's tax trial he began to suspect that Martin was skimming from the shakedown operation; Schultz had recently discovered a $70k disparity in the books. On the evening of March 2, 1935, Schultz invited Martin to a meeting, at the Harmony Hotel in Cohoes, New York. At the meeting, at which chief enforcer Bo Weinberg & mob lawyer Dixie Davis were also present, Martin belligerently denied Schultz's charges & began arguing with him. Both men were drinking heavily as the argument continued, & Schultz sucker-punched Martin. Finally, Martin admitted that he had taken $20k, which he believed he was "entitled to" anyway. Dixie Davis related what happened next: “Dutch Schultz was ugly; he had been drinking & suddenly he had his gun out. Schultz wore his pistol under his vest, tucked inside his pants, right against his belly. 1 jerk at his vest & he had it in his hand. All in the same quick motion he swung it up, stuck it in Jules Martin's mouth & pulled the trigger. It was as simple & undramatic as that, just 1 quick motion of the hand. Dutch Schultz did that murder just as casually as if he were picking his teeth.” As Martin contorted on the floor, Schultz apologized to Davis for killing someone in front of him. When Davis later read a newspaper story about Martin's murder, he was shocked to find out that the body was found on a snow bank with a dozen stab wounds to the chest. When Davis asked about this, Schultz replied, deadpan, "I cut his heart out."

     In the early 1930s, U.S. Attorney Thomas Dewey had set his sights on convicting Schultz, for non-payment of federal taxes. Schultz was indicted in New York in January 1933 & became a fugitive. (Dewey subsequently left the Justice Department, 1st for private practice, then as a state-appointed Special Prosecutor & D.A.) Schultz surrendered in Albany, New York, in November 1934. This was part of his plan, to have his trials moved from New York City to upstate. His 1st tax evasion trial, in Syracuse, ended in a hung jury, with many speculating he'd bribed the jurors. He would face retrial in Malone, New York. With the case going to a 2nd trial, Schultz quickly set about presenting himself to the townspeople of Malone, as a country squire & good citizen. He donated cash to local businesses, gave toys to sick children, & performed other charitable deeds. The strategy worked, as he was acquitted of tax evasion in late summer 1935. The mayor of New York, Fiorello La Guardia, was so outraged at the verdict, that he issued an order that Schultz should be arrested on sight, should he return to the city. As a result, Schultz was forced to relocate his base of operations across the Hudson River to Newark.

     As the defense costs to fight his tax case mounted, Schultz had found it necessary to reduce the commission he paid to those running his policy rackets, to bolster what he called the "Arthur Flegenheimer Defense Fund." That tactic angered the runners & the games' controllers, who, despite being threatened with violence for showing any dissent, hired a hall, held a mass protest meeting, & declared a strike of sorts. Very quickly the cash flow dried up, & Schultz was forced to back down, which permanently damaged the relationship between his gang & their associates. Bo Weinberg, Schultz's chief lieutenant, was so concerned about the amount of money that Schultz was taking from the rackets, to fund his legal defense, that he sought advice from New Jersey mob boss Longy Zwillman, who put him in touch with the Sicilian-born gangster Charlie "Lucky" Luciano. The deal that Weinberg wanted, was to retain a percentage & keep overall control of the Schultz gang. But Luciano planned to break up the gang's rackets & territory among his own associates, once Schultz was convicted of tax evasion. Believing that a guilty verdict was a foregone conclusion at the 2nd trial, Luciano & his allies implemented their plan to take control. Their plan met little resistance, because of the ongoing bad feelings over the attempted pay cuts & the support of Weinberg. But after Schultz was acquitted, he quickly arranged a meeting with Luciano, through the Commission, to clarify the situation. Schultz even converted to Roman Catholicism to cozy up to Luciano. Luciano placated Schultz with the explanation that they were just "looking after the shop" while he was away, to ensure that everything ran smoothly & that full control of his rackets would be returned to Schultz, once the heat died down. Publicly, Schultz was forced to accept that version of events, because of the ongoing attention from law enforcement agencies & Thomas Dewey, now a Special Prosecutor appointed by LaGuardia. A month after his acquittal, his own chief lieutenant Bo Weinberg was never seen again, after he had walked out of a midtown Manhattan nightclub.

     Schultz had proposed to the National Crime Syndicate, a confederation of mobsters, that Dewey be murdered. Luciano argued that a Dewey assassination would precipitate a massive law enforcement crackdown. The Commission later voted unanimously against the proposal. An enraged Schultz said he would kill Dewey anyway & walked out of the meeting. The Murder, Inc. leader Albert Anastasia approached Luciano with information that Schultz had asked him to stake out Dewey's apartment building, on 5th Avenue. Upon hearing the news, the Commission held a discreet meeting to discuss the matter. After 6 hours of deliberations, the Commission ordered Louis “Lepke” Buchalter to eliminate "The Dutchman." Schultz was shot on October 23, 1935, while he was at the Palace Chop House restaurant at 12 East Park Street in Newark, New Jersey, with Otto Berman, his accountant; Abe Landau, his new chief lieutenant; & his personal bodyguard, Bernard "Lulu" Rosenkrantz. While Schultz was in the bathroom, 2 Murder, Inc. hitmen named Charles "The Bug" Workman & Emanuel "Mendy" Weiss entered the establishment. Workman & Weiss entered the back room of the restaurant, where they fired numerous times at the Schultz gang members. Berman collapsed immediately after he was shot. Landau's carotid artery was severed by a bullet passing through his neck, & Rosenkrantz was hit repeatedly at point-blank range. Nevertheless, despite their injuries, both gangsters rose to their feet, returned fire, & drove the assassins out of the restaurant. Weiss jumped into the getaway car & ordered the driver to abandon Workman. Landau chased Workman out of the bar & emptied his pistol at him but missed. After Workman had fled on foot, Landau finally collapsed onto a nearby trash can.

     Witnesses said Schultz staggered out of the bathroom, clutching his side, & sat at his table. He called for anyone who could hear him to get an ambulance. Rosenkrantz rose to his feet & demanded that the barman, who had hidden during the shootout, give him some change. Rosenkrantz called for an ambulance before he lost consciousness. When the 1st ambulance arrived, medics determined Landau & Rosenkrantz were the most seriously wounded & needed to be taken immediately to Newark City Hospital. A 2nd ambulance was called to take Schultz & Berman. Berman was unconscious, but Schultz was drifting in and out of lucidity, as police attempted to comfort him and get information. Because the medics had no pain relievers, Schultz was given brandy to relieve his suffering. When a 2nd ambulance arrived from Newark City Hospital, Schultz, gave an intern in the ambulance $3k in cash, because he thought he was dying & said that it was not going to do him any good where he was going. After surgery, when it looked as if Schultz might live, the intern was so worried that Schultz would come back for his cash that he handed in the money. Landau & Rosenkrantz refused to say anything to the police, until Schult