Today marks the seventy-seventh anniversary of hoodlum Robert Weiner taking his
final bow on the Gangster City stage.
Weiner first came to attention in
1926 when he was arrested for his participation in the botched Tombs breakout by
his pal Hyman Amberg and the latter’s associates Robert Berg and Mike McKenna.
After being interrogated by Sgt. Rubberhose and Lt. Blackjack he signed a
confession stating that he supplied the guns used in the deadly break out.
He
spent thirteen months on death row because of the confession but was
subsequently released after a retrial. At the very least it seems that he was
going to act as getaway driver for the escapees.
In December of 1928
Weiner was arrested with three other bandits during an attempted safe blowing.
Since they were picked up before they actually got into the safe they only
received two years for having guns.
Weiner next shows up in custody in
1932 for his part in trying to organize a pharmacy racket. Nothing came of it.
The Weinster managed to stay out of sight until April 20, 1935 when he was
taking part in a supposed drug deal. Something went awry and Weiner pulled his
gun and fired two shots into another guy’s throat. Some one else pulled
out his roscoe and sent a .38 caliber telegram into Weiner’s windpipe.
Both bad
men were taken to Bellevue hospital where Weiner.., well, we already know what
happened to him.
"He must have done something. They don't kill you for nothing." - Chicago Gangster Ted Newberry. Rubbed out January 7, 1933
3 comments:
Thanks to your blog I'm still up at 3:30 a.m. on a Wednesday morning! A fine job you're doing...
But I have a question for you:
Were there any gangsters that saw combat during WWI?
Monk Eastman was highly decorated for his service during the war, but he didn't do much after the war except get shot to death about a year later.
Surely out of the thousands upon thousands of American soldiers that saw combat during WWI, at least a handful must have been involved in the rackets upon their return to the States, right?
Good job on staying awake. Sleep is for the weak. That's what I tell the interns anyways. Usually before I close my office door and take a nap. But to answer your question. I know other gangsters served during the war. What kind of action they saw I can't say. Wild Bill Lovett of White Hand fame, supposedly proved himself well in battle where as Legs Diamond went AWOL. I think Vannie Higgins may have served. That's all that comes off the top of my head. Perhaps some other readers can add to the list. Glad you like the blog, thanks for posting.
I'm embarrassed that I've never heard of Vannie Higgins.
I'd read an article about Matthew Ianniello the old mobster that is *possibly* still involved with that life at 92 and served in the army(received a couple medals, too) during WWII. Naturally this lead to an all night binge of Twizzlers and Slim Jims and a quest to find more veterans-turned-gangsters. For absolutely no reason.
Thanks for the reply. I may--or may not--have ordered $73.62 worth of gangster biographies(including yours--or maybe not) in an impulse buy...
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