American mob boss
"Lepke" redirects here. For the 1975 film, see
Lepke (film)
.
Louis Buchalter
, known as
Louis Lepke
or
Lepke Buchalter
, (February 6, 1897 – March 4, 1944) was a
Jewish-American organized crime
figure and head of the
Mafia
hit squad
Murder, Inc.
, during the 1930s. Buchalter was one of the premier
labor union
racketeers
in New York City during that era.
Charles Birger
and Buchalter are the only
National Crime Syndicate
bosses to be executed after being convicted of murder. Buchalter was executed using the infamous "
Old Sparky
" electric chair after being sent "up the river" to
Sing Sing Correctional Facility
.
[1]
Background
[
edit
]
Buchalter was born to a
Russian-Jewish
family in the
Lower East Side
neighborhood of the
Manhattan
borough of
New York City
on February 6, 1897. His mother, Rose Buchalter, called him "Lepkeleh" ("little Louis" in
Yiddish
), which later became "Lepke". Louis Buchalter had one sister and three brothers; one brother eventually became a
dentist
, another brother a college professor and
rabbi
, and the third brother a
pharmacist
.
[2]
His father, Barnett Buchalter, was a Russian immigrant who operated a hardware store on the
Lower East Side
.
[3]
[4]
In 1909, when Buchalter was 12, his father died. In 1910, Buchalter finished
elementary school
and started a job selling theatrical goods. Reportedly, on the Lower East Side, he attended the
Rabbi Jacob Joseph School
, where he was an "honor roll" student.
[5]
Soon after, his mother moved to
Arizona
for health reasons, leaving Buchalter in the care of his sister, Sarah. However, Buchalter was beyond her control.
[6]
On September 2, 1915, Buchalter was arrested in New York for the first time for
burglary
and assault, but the case was discharged.
[7]
In late 1915 or early 1916, Buchalter went to live with his uncle in
Bridgeport, Connecticut
.
[6]
On February 29, 1916, Buchalter was arrested in Bridgeport on burglary charges and was sent to the Cheshire Reformatory for
juvenile offenders
in
Cheshire, Connecticut
, until July 12, 1917.
[6]
After a dispute with his uncle over wages, Buchalter moved back to New York City.
On September 28, 1917, Buchalter was sentenced in New York to 18 months in state prison at
Sing Sing
in
Ossining, New York
, on a
grand larceny
conviction.
[7]
After a transfer to
Auburn Prison
in
Auburn, New York
, Buchalter was released on January 27, 1919.
[8]
On January 22, 1920, Buchalter returned to Sing Sing on a 30-month sentence for attempted burglary.
[7]
He was released on March 16, 1922.
[8]
Rise to power
[
edit
]
Upon Buchalter's 1922 release from prison, he started working with his childhood friend, mobster
Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro
. Through force and fear, they began gaining control of the
garment industry
unions. Buchalter then used the unions to threaten strikes and demand weekly payments from factory owners while dipping into union bank accounts.
[
citation needed
]
Buchalter's control of the unions evolved into a
protection racket
, extending into areas such as bakery trucking. The unions were profitable for him and he kept a hold over them even after becoming an important figure in organized crime. Buchalter later formed an alliance with
Tommy Lucchese
, a leader of the
Lucchese crime family
, and together they controlled the garment district.
[9]
Buchalter and Shapiro moved into new and fashionable luxury buildings on
Eastern Parkway
(135) with family who were active synagogue goers (
Union Temple
and
Kol Israel Synagogue
of Brooklyn). In later years, Buchalter and his family lived in a
penthouse
in the exclusive
Central Park West
section of Manhattan.
[10]
In 1927, Buchalter and Shapiro were arrested for the murder of
Jacob Orgen
(Little Augie) and the attempted murder of
Irish-American
bootlegger
Jack Diamond
, a criminal rival. However, the charges were later dropped due to a lack of evidence.
[7]
Buchalter was described as a quiet man who for years managed to avoid the public spotlight. In conversations with his criminal associates, Buchalter preferred listening over talking. Buchalter generously compensated his gang members and took them to hockey games, boxing matches, and even winter cruises.
[11]
On August 20, 1931, Buchalter married Betty Wasserman, a British-born widow of Russian descent, at
New York City Hall
.
[12]
Buchalter adopted Betty's child from her previous marriage.
[13]
Murder, Inc.
[
edit
]
In the early 1930s, Buchalter created an effective process for performing contract killings for
Cosa Nostra
mobsters; it had no name, but the press 10 years later called it
Murder, Inc.
The Cosa Nostra mobsters wanted to insulate themselves from any connection to these murders. Buchalter's partner, mobster
Albert Anastasia
, would relay a contract request from the Cosa Nostra to Buchalter. In turn, Buchalter would assign the job to Jewish and Italian street gang members from Brooklyn.
None of these contract killers had any connections with the major crime families. If they were caught, they could not implicate their Cosa Nostra employers in the crimes. Buchalter used the same killers for his own murder contracts. The Murder, Inc., killers were soon completing jobs all over the country for their mobster bosses.
[14]
In 1935, Buchalter arranged his most significant murder: the powerful New York gangster
Dutch Schultz
. Schultz had proposed to the
National Crime Syndicate
, a confederation of mobsters, that New York District Attorney
Thomas Dewey
be murdered. Co-founder of the Syndicate and leading mafioso
Charles "Lucky" Luciano
argued that a Dewey assassination would precipitate a massive law enforcement crackdown. An enraged Schultz said he would kill Dewey anyway and walked out of the meeting. After six hours of deliberations
The Commission
ordered Buchalter to eliminate Schultz.
[15]
[16]
On October 23, 1935, Schultz was shot in a
Newark, New Jersey
tavern, and succumbed to his injuries the following day.
[17]
In 1941, Buchalter killer
Charles "The Bug" Workman
was charged in the Schultz murder.
[18]
In 1935, law enforcement estimated that Buchalter and Shapiro had 250 men working for them, and that Buchalter was grossing over $1 million ($22,000,000 in current dollar terms) per year. They controlled rackets in the trucking, baking, and garment industries throughout New York.
[7]
Buchalter also owned the
Riobamba
, a posh
nightclub
in
Manhattan
.
[19]
Downfall
[
edit
]
On September 13, 1936,
Murder, Inc.
killers, acting on Buchalter's orders,
[1]
gunned down Joseph Rosen, a Brooklyn candy store owner. Rosen was a former garment industry trucker whose union Buchalter took over.
[1]
Rosen had angered Buchalter by refusing to leave town as Buchalter demanded when, despite the absence of proof, Buchalter believed Rosen was cooperating with District Attorney
Thomas Dewey
.
[1]
At the time, no one was indicted in the Rosen murder.
On November 8, 1936, Buchalter and Shapiro were convicted of violating federal
anti-trust
laws in the rabbit fur industry in New York.
[20]
While out on bail, both Buchalter and Shapiro disappeared. On November 13, both men were sentenced
in absentia
to two years in federal prison.
[21]
The two men later appealed the verdict, but in June 1937 both convictions were upheld.
[22]
Manhunt
[
edit
]
Before they could be taken into custody, both Buchalter and Shapiro disappeared. On November 9, 1937, the federal government offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to Buchalter's capture.
[23]
On December 1, 1937, the fugitive Buchalter was indicted in federal court on conspiracy to smuggle
heroin
into the United States. The scheme involved heroin hidden in the trunks of young women and couples traveling by ocean liner from China to France, then to New York City. Lepke bribed U.S. customs agents not to inspect the trunks.
[24]
On April 14, 1938, Shapiro surrendered to authorities in New York.
[22]
However, Buchalter remained a fugitive.
Over the next two years, an extensive manhunt was conducted in both the United States and Europe, with reports of Buchalter hiding in
Poland
and
Palestine
. On July 29, 1939, Thomas Dewey requested that the City of New York offer a $25,000 reward for Buchalter's capture, citing a string of unsolved gangland murders.
[25]
On August 24, 1939, Buchalter surrendered to
FBI
chief
J. Edgar Hoover
in front of a Manhattan hotel. The surrender deal was allegedly negotiated by the columnist and radio broadcaster
Walter Winchell
.
[26]
It was later revealed that Buchalter had been hiding in New York City during his entire time as a fugitive.
[6]
After Buchalter was convicted on the federal narcotics trafficking charges, federal authorities turned him over to New York State for trial on labor extortion charges. On April 5, 1940, Buchalter was sentenced to 30 years to life in state prison on those charges. However, Buchalter was sent to
Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary
in
Kansas
to serve his federal sentence of 14 years for narcotics trafficking.
[6]
On August 20, 1940, Buchalter was indicted on murder charges in Los Angeles for the killing of
Harry Greenberg
, a mob associate of casino owner
Meyer Lansky
and mobster
Bugsy Siegel
.
[27]
However, Buchalter never went to trial on this killing.
Murder trial
[
edit
]
On May 9, 1941, Buchalter was arraigned in New York state court on the 1936 Rosen murder along with three other murders.
[28]
Buchalter's order for the Rosen hit had been overheard by mobster
Abe Reles
, who turned state's evidence in 1940 and implicated Buchalter in four murders. Returned from
Leavenworth
to Brooklyn to stand trial for the Rosen slaying, Buchalter's position was worsened by the testimony of
Albert "Tick-Tock" Tannenbaum
. Four hours into deliberation, at 2 am on November 30, 1941, the jury found Buchalter guilty of
first degree murder
.
[10]
On December 2, 1941, Lepke was sentenced to death along with his lieutenants
Emanuel "Mendy" Weiss
and
Louis Capone
.
[29]
Buchalter's lawyers immediately filed an appeal.
[30]
In October 1942, the
New York Court of Appeals
voted four to three to uphold Buchalter's conviction and death sentence. (People v. Buchalter, 289 N.Y. 181) Two dissenting judges thought the evidence was so weak that errors in the
jury instructions
as to how to evaluate certain testimony were harmful enough to require a
new trial
. The third dissenter agreed, but added that, in his opinion, there was
insufficient evidence
to sustain a guilty verdict, so the
indictment
should be dismissed altogether (failure of proof means no retrial). Buchalter's lawyers then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
[31]
The
United States Supreme Court
granted Buchalter's petition to review the case. In 1943, the Court affirmed the Buchalter conviction seven to zero, with two justices abstaining. (319 U.S. 427 (1943)
[32]
). His appeals were now exhausted.
[33]
Execution
[
edit
]
When the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed Buchalter's conviction, he was serving his racketeering sentence at
Leavenworth Federal Prison
. New York State authorities demanded that the federal government turn over Buchalter for execution. On January 21, 1944, after many delays and much controversy, federal agents finally turned Buchalter over to state authorities, who immediately transported him to
Sing Sing prison
.
[34]
Buchalter made several pleas for mercy, but they were rejected.
[35]
[36]
On March 4, 1944, Louis Buchalter was executed in the
electric chair
in
Sing Sing
.
[37]
He had no final words. A few minutes before Buchalter's execution, his lieutenants Weiss and Capone were also executed.
[37]
Louis Buchalter was buried at the
Mount Hebron Cemetery
in
Flushing, Queens
.
[38]
In popular culture
[
edit
]
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Buchalter was portrayed by
David J. Stewart
in the 1960 film
Murder, Inc.
; by
Gene Roth
,
Robert Carricart
, and
Joseph Ruskin
in
The Untouchables
television series of 1959; as well as by
John Vivyan
and Shepherd Sanders in
The Lawless Years
television series.
[
citation needed
]
The 1975 film
Lepke
, starring
Tony Curtis
, was based on Buchalter's life.
[39]
Other portrayals include the 1981 film
Gangster Wars
by Ron Max.
Buchalter was also mentioned in "
The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti
", episode eight of the first season of the popular
HBO
television series
The Sopranos
.
The poet
Robert Lowell
encountered Buchalter in prison during the 1940s, when Lowell was incarcerated for being a
conscientious objector
. Lowell described Buchalter (whom he calls "Czar Lepke") in his poem "Memories of West Street and Lepke", published in his book
Life Studies
(1959). Lowell's poem claims that prior to execution, Lepke had been
lobotomized
.
[40]
Their meeting is discussed in the 1993 film
Romeo Is Bleeding
, where Lepke says he's in prison because he killed someone and Lowell says he's in prison because he didn't kill someone.
The Making of the Mob: New York
(2015) ? Buchalter was portrayed by Evan Boymel.
[
citation needed
]
Buchalter's labor racketeering and extortion is prominently featured in
Button Man,
a 2018 novel by
Andrew Gross
partially based on Gross's maternal grandfather's career in the New York City garment industry.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
"NYC Gangland"
.
nycgangland.com
. Retrieved
February 27,
2017
.
- ^
"Lepke sentenced to 30 years to life"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. April 6, 1940
. Retrieved
9 June
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
"Louis Lepke Buchalter Part 1"
.
FBI Records: The Vault
. Retrieved
7 July
2013
.
- ^
Almog, Oz
,
Kosher Nostra
Judische Gangster in Amerika, 1890?1980; Judischen Museum der Stadt Wien; 2003, Text Oz Almog, Erich Metz,
ISBN
3-901398-33-3
- ^
Kisseloff, Jeff (1989).
You Must Remember This
(softcover ed.). New York, NY: Schocken Books. p. 56.
ISBN
0805209794
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Lepke surrenders to FBI"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. August 25, 1939
. Retrieved
8 June
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"$2,000,000 racket aim of Dewey raid"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. October 16, 1935
. Retrieved
7 June
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
a
b
"FBI Records: The Vault"
.
Louis Lepke Buchalter
. Retrieved
7 July
2013
.
- ^
Ryan,
p.118
- ^
a
b
"Lepke convicted with two aides; all face death"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. November 30, 1941
. Retrieved
9 June
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
"Lepke a gang leader who liked his privacy"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. August 13, 1939
. Retrieved
18 August
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
"Louis Lepke Buchalter"
.
FBI Records ? the Vault
. Retrieved
7 July
2013
.
- ^
"Louis Lepke Buchalter Part 2"
.
FBI Records: The Vault
. Retrieved
7 July
2013
.
- ^
The Five Families
. MacMillan. 2014-05-13.
ISBN
9781429907989
. Retrieved
2008-06-22
.
- ^
Gosch, Martin & Richard Hammer (2013).
The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano: The Mafia Story in His Own Words
. Enigma Books. pp. 223?224.
ISBN
9781936274581
.
- ^
Gribben, Mark.
"Murder, Inc.: Dutch gets his"
. Crime Library. Archived from
the original
on 2008-10-09
. Retrieved
2 September
2013
.
- ^
"Schultz is shot, one aide killed, and 3 wounded"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. October 24, 1935
. Retrieved
2 September
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
"Schultz murder laid to Lepke aide"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. March 28, 1941
. Retrieved
2 September
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
Kaplan, James (2010).
Frank: The making of a legend
. Hachette UK. p. 89.
ISBN
978-0748122509
.
- ^
"Dewey hails verdict in fur racket case"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. November 9, 1936
. Retrieved
7 June
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
"Lepke and Gurrah get 2-year terms"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. November 13, 1936
. Retrieved
6 July
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
a
b
"Jacob (Gurrah Jake) Shapiro gives up here after eluding worldwide hunt for a year"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. April 15, 1938
. Retrieved
17 August
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
"Reward is offered for Lepke, Gurrah"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. November 9, 1937
. Retrieved
9 June
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
"Three customs men held in Lepke narcotics plot"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. December 1, 1937
. Retrieved
9 June
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
"$25,000 for Lepke dead or alive now planned by Dewey"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. July 29, 1939
. Retrieved
9 June
2013
.
- ^
Rothstein, Mervyn (June 12, 1990).
"That Loathsome Winchell. A Natural for a Book"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
9 June
2013
.
- ^
"Lepke is indicted in coast slaying"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. August 21, 1940
. Retrieved
10 June
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
"Lepke arraigned on murder charges"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. May 10, 1941
. Retrieved
9 June
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
"Lepke and two aides sentenced to die"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. December 3, 1941
. Retrieved
9 June
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
"Lepke to Exhaust All Legal Appeals ? Problem of Roosevelt Action to Permit Execution Won't Arise Until Pleas Fail ? To Be Sentenced Today ? Counsel for Killer to Argue Constitutionality of His Trial in State Court"
.
New York Times
. December 2, 1941. p. 48
. Retrieved
4 March
2019
.
- ^
"Ask High Court Again to Weigh Lepke Case ? Buchalter, Weiss and Capone Submit New Review Petition"
.
New York Times
. Associated Press. March 11, 1943. p. 14
. Retrieved
4 March
2019
.
- ^
"Buchalter v. New York, 319 U.S. 427 (1943)"
.
- ^
"High Court Seals Lepke Trio Deaths - Tribunal in Washington Says Brooklyn Gang Defendants Had a Fair Trial"
.
New York Times
. June 2, 1943. p. 27
. Retrieved
4 March
2019
.
- ^
"Lepke is turned over to state"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. January 22, 1944
. Retrieved
8 June
2013
.
(subscription required)
- ^
Moscow, Warren (February 18, 1944).
"Lepke Turned Over to State by Biddle; Fate Up to Dewey ? Clemency Hearing Will Give Slayer Chance to Talk in Effort to Save Life ? Government Has String ? Power Indicated for Move to Regain Custody if Decision on Doom Is Prolonged"
.
New York Times
. p. 1
. Retrieved
4 March
2019
.
- ^
"Rehearing Is Denied to Lepke ? Fate Seen 'Entirely Up to Dewey'
"
.
New York Times
. February 25, 1944. p. 1
. Retrieved
4 March
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Richard Johnston (March 5, 1944).
"Lepke Shows Fear as He Goes to Chair"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. p. 30
. Retrieved
2014-12-18
.
(subscription required)
- ^
"Lepke and Weiss Are Buried Here ? Rites for Electrocuted Racket Chief and Aide Attended Only by Families"
.
New York Times
. March 6, 1944. p. 34
. Retrieved
4 March
2019
.
- ^
"Lepke (19750"
. TMC (Turner Classic Movies)
. Retrieved
2 September
2013
.
- ^
Lowell, Robert
Memories of West Street and Lepke
Archived
2011-03-21 at the
Wayback Machine
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Ryan, Patrick J.
Organized crime: a reference handbook
. ABC-CLIO, 1995.
ISBN
0874367468
- Nash, Arthur.
New York City Gangland
. Arcadia, 2010.
ISBN
0738573140
- Messick, Hank.
Lansky
. London: Robert Hale & Company, 1973.
ISBN
0-7091-3966-7
- Kavieff, Paul R.
The Life and Times of Lepke Buchalter: America's Most Ruthless Labor Racketeer
. Barricade Books, 2006.
ISBN
1-56980-291-2
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Administration
| Bosses
| |
---|
Adviser
| |
---|
Lieutenants
| |
---|
|
---|
Past members
| Official Members
| |
---|
Associate(s)
| |
---|
|
---|
Family events
| |
---|
Relation to other groups
| |
---|
|
---|
Bosses
| |
---|
Current members
| |
---|
Past members
| Made men
| |
---|
Associates
| |
---|
Informants
| |
---|
|
---|
Factions and crews
| |
---|
Family events
| Hearings
| |
---|
Heists
| |
---|
Scheme
| |
---|
Social clubs
| |
---|
Trials
| |
---|
Wars
| |
---|
Detectives
| |
---|
|
---|
Relation to other groups
| |
---|
|