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N0KFQ > TODAY 04.03.14 17:31l 53 Lines 2315 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 14410_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Mar 4
Path: IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<JH4XSY<JE7YGF<XE1FH<N0KFQ
Sent: 140304/1527Z 14410@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.58
Mar 4, 1944:
The head of Murder, Inc. is executed
Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, the head of Murder, Inc., is executed at
Sing Sing Prison in New York. Lepke was the leader of the
country's largest crime syndicate throughout the 1930s and was
making nearly $50 million a year from his various enterprises.
His downfall came when several members of his notorious killing
squad turned into witnesses for the government.
Lepke began his criminal career robbing pushcarts as a teenager.
When he met Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro while trying to rob the same
pushcart, the two quickly became a formidable team. With
Shapiro's brute strength, the two established an extortion
business, forcing pushcart owners to pay for protection. Lepke
and Shapiro then joined Jacob "Little Augie" Orgen's Lower East
Side gang and turned their attention to bigger game.
One by one, Lepke and the gang terrorized the local garment
workers unions. They took over control of the unions and forced
kickback payments from both the members and the employers. Soon,
they had taken over the entire New York garment industry. In the
1920s, they added liquor bootlegging and gambling and later began
importing heroin and other narcotics.
Lepke assembled a large team of hired killers to enforce his
control. At one time, this team may have included as many as 250
hit men. Lepke also began to coordinate operations with the other
big crime kingpins around the nation. With Lucky Luciano, Meyer
Lansky and Dutch Schultz, Lepke virtually controlled organized
crime throughout the country. In 1935, Schultz wanted to kill New
York District Attorney Thomas Dewey, but Lepke, fearing that it
would bring even more intense scrutiny and pressure from law
enforcement, had Schultz killed instead.
In order to generate more income and keep his hit men occupied,
Lepke started Murder, Inc. in 1933. Murder, Inc. was authorized
to kill anyone (approved by the syndicate) for a profit. With his
hit squad protecting him from rivals and paid-off judges and
officers keeping him out of jail, Lepke was America's premier
criminal until he was betrayed by his own men. Reportedly, he was
able to order final hits on his betrayers from jail before his
execution.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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