Rosenthal murder case
The Becker–Rosenthal trial was a 1912 trial for the murder of Herman Rosenthal by Charles Becker and members of the Lenox Avenue Gang.[1] The trial ran from October 7 to October 30, 1912, and restarted on May 2 to May 22, 1914. Other procedural events took place in 1915.
History
In July 1912, Lieutenant Charles Becker was named in the New York World as one of three senior police officials involved in the case of Herman Rosenthal, a small-time bookmaker who had complained to the press that his illegal casinos had been badly damaged by the greed of Becker and his associates. On July 16, two days after the story appeared, Rosenthal walked out of the Hotel Metropole at 147 West 43rd Street, just off Times Square. He was gunned down by a crew of Jewish gangsters from the Lower East Side, Manhattan. In the aftermath, Manhattan District Attorney Charles S. Whitman, who had made an appointment with Rosenthal before his death, made no secret of his belief that the gangsters had committed the murder at Charles Becker's behest.
At first, John J. Reisler, also known as "John the Barber", told the police that he'd seen "Bridgey" Webber running away from the crime scene directly following the killing. He recanted under duress from gangsters the next week, and was charged with perjury.[2]
The investigation was covered on the front page of The New York Times for months. It was so complex that the NYPD recalled thirty retired detectives to help investigate; they were said "to know most of the gangsters".[2] One of these old-timers, Detective Frank Upton, formerly of the NYPD "Italian Squad", was instrumental in the July 25, 1912, arrest of "Dago" Frank Cirofici, one of the suspected killers. He and his companion, Regina Gorden (formerly known as "Rose Harris"), were "so stupefied by opium that they offered no objection to their arrests", according to The New York Times.[3]
People
Convicted
- Charles Becker (1870–1915), police officer involved in the murder, executed
- Francisco Cirofici (1887–1914), aka Dago Frank, gunman who was executed
- Harry Horowitz (1889–1914), aka Gyp the Blood, gunman who was executed[1]
- Louis Rosenberg (1891–1914), aka Lefty Louie, gunman who was executed[1]
- Jacob Seidenshner (1888–1914), aka Whitey Lewis, gunman who was executed[4]
Others
- William Bourke Cockran, one of Becker's defense lawyers[5]
- Martin Thomas Manton (1880–1946), One of Becker's lawyer at the trial.[5]
- Sam Paul (1874–1927), gambler and owner of the club at which the police first thought that the murder was planned.
- Jacob A. Rich (1877–1938), also known as Jack Sullivan[6] and Jacob A. Reich, testified for the defense.[7]
- Jack Rose (1875–1947), aka Baldy Rose, gambler and informant who testified at the trial[8]
- Herman Rosenthal, murdered gambler.[9]
- Sam Schepps (?–1936), also known as Schapps, mob informant who testified at the trial[10]
- Harry Vallon, mob informant who testified at the trial[10]
- Louis William Webber (1877–1936), aka Bridgey Webber, mob informant who testified at the trial[10]
- Charles Seymour Whitman (1868–1947), district attorney[11]
- Jack Zelig (1888–1912), murdered before he could testify.[12]
In popular culture
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, fictional gambler Meyer Wolfsheim mentions having been present in the Metropole with Rosenthal moments before the latter was murdered.
See also
References
- 1 2 3 "Defense Rests After Calling Some of Those Who Saw the Murder of Rosenthal". The New York Times. November 16, 1912. Retrieved 2010-11-25.
Ex-Magistrate Charles G. F. Wahle, counsel for the gunmen "Gyp the Blood" Horowitz, "Lefty Louis" Rosenberg, "Whitey Lewis", and "Dago Frank" Cirofici on trial before Justice Goff and a jury in the Extraordinary Term of the Supreme Court for the murder of Herman Rosenthal, rested the case of the defense at 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon.
(subscription required) - 1 2 "Murder Witness Recants in Fear". The New York Times. July 25, 1912. p. 1.(subscription required)
- ↑ "'Dago' Frank in the Police Net". The New York Times. July 26, 1912. p. 1.(subscription required)
- ↑ "The People of The State of New York, Respondent, v. Jacob Seidenshner, Frank Cirofici, Louis Rosenberg and Harry Horowitz, Appellants.". Reports of Cases Decided in the Court of Appeals of the State of New York, Volume 210. New York (State) Court of Appeals.
The defendants were named in the indictment as Frank Muller, alias Whitey Louis, alias Whitey Jack, alias Louis Seidenschue, alias Jack Biegel — Frank Cirofici, alias Dago Frank, alias Frank Palmer — Louis Rosenberg, alias Lefty Louie, alias Louis Marks, alias Louis Baker, alias Charles Raymond — Harry Horowitz, alias Gyp the Blood. It was subsequently ascertained that the true name of Frank Muller was Jacob Seidenshner.
- 1 2 "Becker's Lawyers Plan Final Move. Application for Federal Writ of Habeas Corpus Discussed with Condemned Man's Wife. Letter Received by H. T. Marshall from Judge Bartlett Submitted to Counsel". The New York Times. July 13, 1915. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
Mrs. Charles Becker had a long conference yesterday afternoon with her husband's lawyers, W. Bourke Cockran, Martin T. Manton and John B. Johnston, in relation to final stops in the fight to save her husband from paying the death penalty for the murder of Herman Rosenthal.
(subscription required) - ↑ "Dougherty Gets Murder Witness". The New York Times. July 28, 1912. p. 1.(subscription required)
- ↑ "Becker Witness Dies In The Bronx. Jacob A. Rich Testified at the Murder Trial as Reich and Defended Police Officer. Former 'King of Newsboys' Did Not Get 'Vindication' Until Summer of 1936". The New York Times. December 25, 1938. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
Jacob A. Rich, who as Jacob Reich or Jack Sullivan was a chief defense witness in the two trials of Police Lieutenant Charles Becker for the murder of Herman Rosenthal, died early yesterday in the Home for Incurables, Third Avenue and 183d Street, the Bronx.
(subscription required) - ↑ "Baldy Jack Rose is Dead Here At 72. Police Close File on Rosenthal Murder Case Figure Whose Testimony Doomed Becker". The New York Times. October 9, 1947. Retrieved 2010-11-25.
The Police Department's Bureau of Identification closed its file yesterday on Jacob (Baldy Jack) Rose. The lanky informer in the Herman Rosenthal murder case of 1912 died in Roosevelt Hospital on Saturday of an internal disorder. He was 72 years old.
(subscription required) - ↑ "Gambler Who Defied Police Is Shot Dead. Rosenthal Killed in Front of the Hotel Metropole Early This Morning". The New York Times. July 16, 1912. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
Half a dozen men loitered in front of the Hotel Metropole in Forty-third Street close to Times Square shortly before 2 o'clock this morning, as persons frequently loiter in that neighborhood, attracting no attention from the few persons who passed through the street or such policemen as were in the neighborhood. ...
(subscription required) - 1 2 3 "Becker Informers Now Ready To Flit. Schepps West for Vaudeville, Webber to Europe, Rose and Vallon Won't Tell". The New York Times. November 21, 1912. Retrieved 2010-12-10.
Becker's Lawyer Serves Notice of Appeal. Sam Schepps, "Bridgey" Webber, Jack Rose, and Harry Vallon, whose stories convicted Charles Becker and the four ...
(subscription required) - ↑ "Death Takes Ex-Governor Of New York. Charles S. Whitman, Hanover, Conn., Native Was Elected in 1914". Hartford Courant. Associated Press. March 30, 1947. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
Charles S. Whitman, 78, former governor of New York, died tonight.
(subscription required) - ↑ "Becker Trial Today Despite New Murder. Whitman Confident That He Can Convict Lieutenant Without Zelig's Evidence.". The New York Times. October 7, 1912. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
The murder on Saturday night of 'Big Jack' Zelig will not delay the trial of Lieut. ... Zelig was one of the State's chief witnesses against Becker ...
(subscription required)
External links
- Rosenthal murder case from the Library of Congress at Flickr Commons