NEARLY FORGOTTEN TRUE CRIMES VOLUME 2 

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NEARLY FORGOTTEN TRUE CRIMES - VOLUME 2 tells the story of 7 crimes, and the events around them, which took place in the USA in the early 1900s and captured the attention of the American press and public at the time.

*MURDER IN DUPLICATE
Deep in the wilderness of the Washington timberlands the mutilated body of Ralph Allinson lay for months before it was accidentally discovered by a local lumberjack. A short time later police came across another decomposing body in dense undergrowth. With almost no clues to go on, only dilligent detective work and overwhelming circumstantial evidence led to the eventual capture and execution of the murderer.

*TRIP OF DEATH
Little did Phoebe Stader know that when she met with her lover William Frazer in his car one night, that she would never leave it alive. Not only that, she would not actually leave it at all for several days as her killer took off on a grisly journey that covered six states with her corpse concealed in the vehicle. An impossible situation which had to end soon - one way or the other.

*CHARLES BIRGER - GANGSTER KING OF LITTLE EGYPT
As leader of the Birger Gang, Charles Birger gained a reputation as one of the most cold blooded killers in criminal history, striking fear into the hearts of even his own ruthless gang of hoodlums. Known to have personally murdered three men at least, and ordered at least two others to be assassinated, the bloody war which erupted between him and the Shelton brothers in the 1920s claimed numerous other victims. Dynamite, machines gun, armored cars and even bombs dropped from airplanes were all used in an ever escalating conflict as South Illinois became a battleground for the warring mobsters.

*DEATH OF A MASCOT - THE SHOOTNG OF HUGHIE McLOON
For six days, racketeer, bootlegger, and killer Danny O'Leary was hunted by the police as the suspected murderer of ex-Philadelphia Aces mascot and local celebrity Hughie McLoon. Then detectives found him shot to death in his apartment with a bullet hole in his jaw and four more in his chest and shoulders - a victim of gangster's revenge or was he killed by others for different reasons? Pretty gangster's moll Jenny Brooks was a feisty, clever and tough-minded 16-year-old - did she hold the key to the mystery of Danny's murder, and even if she did, would she break the gangster’s code and tell the police what they wanted to know?

*KILLER IN THE ATTIC - THE BATMAN OF LOS ANGELES
One of the strangest stories ever was that of femme fatale Walburga 'Dolly' Osterreich and the murder of her wealthy husband Fred by her lover who'd been secretly living undiscovered in the attics of their homes for a decade. The extraordinay tale was worthy of one of the most lurid 'pulp' novels so popular in that time, and was all the more fascinating because it actually happened.

*THE MURDER OF MADELINE WHITE
The ravaged body of young Madeline White held no clue as to the identity of the monster who had brutally raped and murdered her - except for a blue silk handkerchief  thrust into her mouth to stifle her frantic screams for help.  Did it belong to the killer, and would Chicago detectives be able to use it in their attempts to track down the young girl's attacker?


*THE CAPTURE OF THE JERSEY KID
"Well, I guess I'm ready," the Jersey Kid said to his guards as he sucked deep on a frayed cigar one last time, and then shambled towards his appointment with the electric chair for the murder of George B Lee, shot to death in a $3500 hold-up. So ended the criminal career of Frank McBrien, alias John Murray, amongst a host of other aliases, who during his gang career used to boast of the slogan "death before dishonour" tattooed upon his forearm. This is the story of the events leading to his eventual capture and execution in New Jersey state prison, July 23, 1930.

Charles Birger - Little Egypt's Gangster King

As leader of the Birger Gang, Charles Birger gained a reputation as one of the most cold-blooded killers in criminal history, striking fear into the hearts of even his own ruthless gang of hoodlums. Known to have personally murdered three men at least, and ordered at least two others to be assassinated, the bloody war which erupted between him and the Shelton brothers in the 1920s claimed numerous other victims, including a woman (the wife of a policeman) who was brutally shot to death and dumped in a mine shaft.
Operating from their fortified lair, named with grim humor Shady Rest, they battled with the likes of the Ku Klux Klan and entered into a long-standing vicious gang war with their rivals (and ex-partners) the Shelton Brothers. Dynamite, machines gun, armored cars and even bombs dropped from airplanes were all used in an ever escalating conflict as South Illinois became a battleground for the warring mobsters.

   

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                                  NEARLY FORGOTTEN TRUE CRIMES - BOX SET

                                                           

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Nearly Forgotten True Crimes tells the story of 7 crimes, and the events around them, which took place in the USA in the early 1900s, and captured the attention of the American press and public at the time.

* Alma Kellner, the 8 year old daughter of a wealthy brewing family in Louisville, Kentucky, disappeared on December 8, 1909. Initially thought to be a victim of a kidnapping, her mutilated body was eventually discovered in a church cellar six months later. The church janitor, disappeared at about the same time, and after her body was discovered became the subject of a nationwide manhunt.

* Patrolman James H. Masterson was murdered in January, 1927, in a New York City speakeasy. Two of the best sleuths of the Homicide Squad, were picked for the task and were soon on the trail of the four ruthless murderers, eventually tracking them down to their mountain hideout where a deadly shootout ensued.

* Born 17th February, 1909 Irene Schroeder was the first female to go to the electric chair in Pennsylvania for murder. Together with her hapless lover, they embarked on a short lived rampage across the countryside robbing and killing as they went leaving a trail of destruction behind them.

* Terrified screams brought police rushing to a bleak and windy underpass in Fall River, Massachusetts, to find the butchered body of young and attractive Domka Peremybida. It didn't take them long to find a main suspect in Anton Retkevitch. Her inability to keep away from him, had ultimately lead to her brutal murder.

* Mild, scholarly and well respected local man Elvin Wood snapped under the pressure of mounting debts and shot to death his best friend in cold blood in a botched blackmail plan. After receiving the death sentence, and in jail waiting for his execution to take place, this is Elvin's own story and confession that led him to the electric chair.

* Alfred L. Sells was a career criminal, as hard and tough as they come. In the frame for a brutal double murder, but with only circumstantial evidence, two detectives from Los Angeles police department were given the almost impossible task of persuading Alfred to admit he was the killer. The usual third-degree techniques would not work with Alfred Sells. This story tells how the detectives adopted a totally unique and unusual approach in what was to become the "Strangest Third Degree" they'd ever attempted.

* Most people have heard of a "Ponzi Scheme". This is the story of the man this type of fraud is now named after, Charles Ponzi, and how after going on the run, one of the most intensive manhunts ever undertaken in the USA followed.

True American Crime Stories 

Special 4 Volume Box Set

Volume 1 contains:
• The Jekyll and Hyde Mob
• The Whispering Bride
• The Red Bandit
• The Master Forgers

Volume 2 contains:
• Antonio Boccadora – The Human Cat
• Frankie Yale – The “Al Capone” of Brooklyn
• A Gang War in Manhattan
• Ray Sutherland – The Terror of Mohawk Valley

Volume 3 contains:
• "Pretty Boy" Floyd - The Baby Faced Killer
• Jack "Legs" Diamond
• Waxey Gordon
• Machine Gun Kelly

Volume 4 contains:
• Dillinger - Mad Dog of the Mid-West
• Capone’s Trigger Men
• Charlie Birger – A Short and Bloody Life
• The Unknowns

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Volume 2 of my series "Public Enemies - Gangster Stories from the Roaring Twenties" is available now on Amazon Kindle here

 

Joe Masseria - The Mafia boss who 'dodged' bullets
Now known as the Genovese crime family, Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria became the leader of one of New York's five Mafia families after waging a bloody war to take it over. In 1922 he survived a point blank assassination attempt when two gunmen opened fire on him. He miraculously evaded them without a scratch - just two bullet holes in his straw hat.  Superstitious mobsters dubbed him "the man who can dodge bullets", but his luck wasn't going to last forever.....   
                                     
Louis "Lepke" Buchalter - The man behind Murder Inc
Based in New York City, Buchalter was a leading racketeer of the time and became the boss of the Mafia assassination gang eventually famously dubbed by the press as "Murder Inc".  His organization controlled many rackets in the city and it's thought that he and his partner had around 250 men under their command at one time, pulling in around US$1m per year, (equal to around 20 times that at today's value). 
Convicted of murder, he was the only prominent gang boss to eventually be executed in Sing Sing prison in 1944.       
                                                                                  
The 'Terrible Genna  Brothers' 
Out of the violent and garbage filled streets of Chicago's West Side slums, the wild Genna brothers were unparalleled in the art of murder as they smashed and crushed everyone in their path.  Operating in Chicago's Little Italy after arriving from Sicily they teamed up with the Chicago Outfit, another Italian gang. They ran afoul of other mobsters like Dean O'Banion and Bugs Moran resulting in a bloody gang war and the eventual killing of 3 of the brothers.     

                                                                                                                                                                                 Alvin Karpis - "Old Creepy" - The Last Public Enemy Number One                                               
In a ruthless career of robbing, killing and kidnapping, Alvin Karpis (Old Creepy to his friends due to his sinister smile), earned himself the title of Public Enemy #1 in which he reveled.  One of the leaders of the Barker-Karpis gang in the 1930s, he was one of the last prominent depression era gangsters caught, eventually arrested by J. Edgar Hoover himself and imprisoned in Alcatraz where he spent 26 years.
                 
Vince and Pete Coll - Killers for Hire                     
Brothers Vince and Pete Coll arrived in New York fresh from Ireland, determined to succeed. Starting as bodyguards for mobster Dutch Schultz, they graduated to hijacking booze shipments and working as assassins for Dutch. Vince became a killer feared by all, earning the nickname, "Mad Dog".  A vicious shooting war started when the Colls fell out with their boss and formed their own gang.  After Pete was murdered, Vince went on the rampage during which time around 20 of Dutch's men were killed.  Vince had to pay, and Dutch made sure he did.

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The first edition of my new series "Public Enemies - Gangster Stories from the Roaring Twenties" is available now on      Amazon Kindle here

 

 Public Enemies – True Crime Gangster Stories from the Roaring Twenties
From the era of gangsters, molls and prohibition, almost (but not quite), lost in the mists of time, these tales romp along with plenty of action and recreate the atmosphere of this exciting and dangerous era using the vernacular of the times.

You’ll have heard of most of these notorious criminals, but possibly not so much about one or two of them. All of them were real, ruthless hoodlums, and all had their "15 minutes of fame", leaving trails of death and mayhem behind them. Most did not live to an old age, and those that did were probably in jail.

Their escapades were daring and reckless and many paid the ultimate price in the end.


• Lucky Luciano –From Streetwise Kid to the Father of Organized Crime
Leaving poverty ravaged Sicily for New York with his family at the age of 10; Lucky was running his own protection racket and making a name for himself whilst still in his teens. Inevitably, he moved on to become the undisputed boss of organized crime in the USA, but it was his own ‘family’s’ involvement in prostitution which landed him a jail sentence of 30 to 50 years. It didn’t end there however as he continued to run the family affairs from prison where Lady Luck visited him with an offer he couldn’t refuse.

• Bugsy Siegel and “The Flamingo Hotel”
Through his gambling and bootlegging operations, plus numerous ruthless contract murders, Bugsy Siegel established himself as a key member of “The Syndicate” in New York. Relocating to Las Vegas with the blessing of Lucky Luciano in 1945 to expand the organizations activities, he built the famous Flamingo Club and Casino in the desert of Las Vegas using money provided by the East Coast mobsters. The hopelessly mismanaged project went way over budget, implicating Bugsy in the ‘misappropriation’ of funds and enraging his bosses – Bugsy’s day were numbered.

• Dutch Schultz – Beer Baron and Vicious Killer
From the slums of New York, Dutch Schultz rose through the ranks of crime to be named “the nation’s top gangster” by the FBI. Claiming to be a good guy simply supplying people with the beer they wanted, (illegally of course), he was also responsible for killing at least two of his own men he suspected of ‘skimming’ more of the proceeds than was due to them.

• Hymies Weiss - The Man Al Capone Feared
Earl Wojciechowski was born on Jan 25th 1898 in Chicago, but over time became known as Hymie Weiss, eventually teaming up with Dean O'Banion the leader of the North Side Gang who he succeeded after his murder in 1924. Hymie swore to avenge his friends death and waged wore on the Torrio-Capone criminal empire, even attempting to assassinate Capone himself. Violent gun battles on the streets of Chicago were regular occurrences during this period as the gangs fought for control of the lucrative bootlegging and other rackets - things had to come to a head sooner or later.

• Wilbur Underhill – The Tri-State Terror
It took a 24 man task force to bring down Mad Dog Wilbur Underhill in the end. During 12 years of rampaging through the Southwest he was sentenced to life for a murder in Oklahoma, and received another life sentence in Kansas after escaping jail in a ten man breakout and murdering a policeman. Suspected of involvement in the famous Kansas City Massacre, Wilbur began his life of crime as a burglar, and quickly moved on to armed robbery and murder.