Serving as the official hit squad for the early-era Italian mafia in New York City during the 1930s, Murder, Incorporated was made up of mainly Jewish gangsters and could morbidly boast a body count reaching well into the triple figures in a little over a decade of gangland prominence. With affairs in the mob enforcement wing overseen by the diminutive, but historically-lethal Louis (Lepke) Buchalter and reporting directly to “The Commission” of the notorious Five Families and legendary Jewish crime lord Meyer Lansky, the trigger-happy unit of eager thugs and sociopathic sycophants wreaked havoc on the east coast and eventually each other, cementing a legacy of viciousness and volatility unrivaled in American underworld circles.
The Murder Inc. Murder Timeline (1930-1951): Greatest Hits Version
June 12, 1930 – David (Frisco) Gordon
August 6, 1930 – New York State Supreme Court Judge Joe Crater
April 15, 1931 – Joseph (Joe the Boss) Masseria
July 11, 1931 – Irv Shapiro
July 31, 1931 – Guido Ferrari
September 16, 1931 – Joey Silvers
September 17, 1931 – Meyer Shapiro
December 31, 1931 – Louis (Crooked Neck Louie) Levine
*The first significant Murder, Inc. lieutenant to be slain by his fellow Murder, Inc. members
May 22, 1932 – Leon Goldstein
May 26, 1932 – Walter Schwall
September 13, 1932 – Jack Painter
October 27, 1932 – Sam Medell
November 20, 1932 – Frank Fabrizzio
*Killed in a brewing beef between Murder, Inc. and Jewish gangster Irving (Waxey Gordon) Wexler
March 19, 1933 – Joe Calligari and Frank Russo
March 25, 1933 – Elmer Johnson
April 10, 1933 – Max Hassel & Max Greenberg
*Waxey Gordon’s bodyguards are both killed in an attempt on Gordon’s life.
June 2, 1933 – Abe Durst
*Waxey Gordon’s driver is found in the trunk of his car in the Bronx
June 4, 1933 – William (Big Bill) Oppenheim
*Waxey Gordon’s bodyguard is killed entering his apartment building in Patterson, NJ
June 25, 1933 – Joey Kennedy
July 2, 1933 – Murray Marks
*Another casaulty of the Gordon-Murder, Inc. feud
November 20, 1933 – Alan (Al Silver) Silverman
November 25, 1933 – Alex (Red) Alpert
December 5, 1933 – Frank (Skinny Frankie) Partuese & Frank (Frankie Black) Stillo
July 20, 1934 – Willie Shapiro
October 18, 1934 – Joe (Fatty) Cooperman
March 3, 1935 – John (Spider) Murtha
September 15, 1935 – Abe Meers & Irv Amron
May 7, 1935 – Orlando (Duke) Minichelli
August 21, 1935 –Ben Holinsky & Frank Holak
*Pair of independent gangsters killed for running a kidnapping racket targeting associates of Meyer Lansky and his partners, Italian mob don Charles (Lucky) Luciano and fellow fabled Jewish racketeer Benjamin (Bugsy) Siegel
September 30, 1935 – Joe Amberg and his driver Morris (Manny) Kessler
*Murder, Inc. hit men
October 11, 1935 – Frank (Little Frankie) Teitlebaum
*Murder, Inc. hit man
October 23, 1935 – Louis (Pretty Louie) Amberg
*Murder, Inc. hit man
October 24, 1935 – Dutch Schultz, Otto (Abbadabba) Berman, Bernard (Lulu) Rosencrantz & Abe (Abie the Accountant) Landau
*Iconic Jewish crime lord Schultz, his top advisors Berman and Landau and his bodyguard are gunned down at The Palace Chop House in New Jersey
August 5, 1936 – Irving (Charlie the Chink) Sherman
September 13, 1936 – Joseph (Joe Candy) Rosen
*Murder, Inc. hit man
October 18, 1936 – August Justriano
September 26, 1936 – Irv Askenaz
*Askenaz was Murder Inc’s No. 1 getaway driver
May 25, 1937 – George (Whitey) Rudnick
July 16, 1937 – Sam Silverman
July 31, 1937 – Walter Sage
November 24, 1937 – Harry Millman
*Detroit wiseguy and Purple Gang leader murdered for butting heads with his counterparts in the Motor City’s Italian mafia
August 21, 1938 – Herman (Little Greenie) Yuran & Solomon Goldstein
*Murder, Inc. hit men
November 10, 1938 – Married couple Leon & Rachel Scharf
March 21, 1938 – Maurice (Frenchy) Carillet
January 19, 1939 – Albert (Al the Plug) Shuman
*Murder, Inc. hit man
January 28, 1939 – Louie Cohen & his brother-in-law Isadore (Whitey) Friedman
February 6, 1939 – Cesare Lattaro & Antonio Siciliano
February 9, 1939 – Felice Esposito
May 10, 1939 – Sam (Tootsie) Feinstein
May 19, 1939 – Morris (Mershie) Diamond
July 14, 1939 – Pete Panto
July 28, 1939 – Irv Penn
August 10, 1939 – Yoeli Miller
August 23, 1939 – Hyman (Little Curly) Holtz
*Murder, Inc. hit man
September 4, 1939 – Irving (Puggy) Feinstein
*Murder, Inc. hit man
October 16, 1939 – Harry Schober
October 17, 1939 – Rube Smith
November 22, 1939 – Harry (Big Greenie) Greenberg
*Murder, Inc. hit man and Bugsy Siegel’s close childhood friend
December 14, 1939 – Mike Spataro
May 14, 1940 – James (Dizzy) Ferracco
*Murder, Inc. hit man
February 6, 1941 – Benjamin (Bennie the Boss) Tannenbaum
*Murder, Inc. numbers whiz
June 12, 1941 – Murder, Inc. hit men Harry (Pittsburgh Phil) Strauss & Martin (Bugsy) Goldstein die in the electric chair
July 30, 1941 – Walter (Whitey) Krakow
Bugsy Siegel’s brother-in-law
November 12, 1941 – Famous Murder, Inc. turncoat Abe (Kid Twist) Reles dies suspiciously when he either falls or is thrown out of a window in his police-guarded hotel room
February 19, 1942 – Murder, Inc. hit men Harry (Happy) Maione & Frank (Dasher) Abbadando die in the electric chair
April 11, 1942 – Anthony (Tony Romero) Romanello
*Murder, Inc. hit man
August 3, 1942 – Morris (Morrie Dimples) Wolinsky & Bobby Greene
March 4, 1944 – Murder, Inc. leaders Louis (Lepke) Buchalter, Emmanuel (Mendy) Weiss & Louis (Brownsville Lou) Capone die in the electric chair
June 20, 1944 – Jack (The Ox) Finkel
November 4, 1944 – Enrique Diarte
*Bugsy Siegel’s partner in a drug racket is killed in Tijuana, Mexico
June 20, 1946 – Benjamin (Bugsy) Siegel
*The historic Jewish mob figure is murdered in Beverly Hills, California after angering his partners in the mob with dealings in getting the Las Vegas hotel and casino industry off the ground and his girlfriend’s sticky fingers
September 15, 1949 – Philip (Little Farvel) Cohen
*One of Murder, Inc.’s most accomplished assassins and top narcotics peddlers
March 7, 1951 – Anthony (Dukie) Maffetore
*Murder, Inc. hit man and the last body to drop of the group’s core members