"He must have done something. They don't kill you for nothing." - Chicago Gangster Ted Newberry. Rubbed out January 7, 1933

Friday, July 17, 2015

Unholy Toledo

Today in 1931 the body of "Cleveland Beer Baron" Al Jaffee, (not to be confused with Mad Magazine artist Al Jaffee) was found on a lonely Toledo road just south of the Michigan border. He wasn't by himself either. the fellers who bound, gagged and fired a couple of .45 bullets into his head figured they should send him off with a companion and so did the same to his body guard Harry "The Carpenter" Gertzlin.

A couple reasons offered for the offing were that they were trying to muscle in on the Toledo alcohol scene and that they were there to settle a situation regarding the hijacking of one of their liquor trucks. If it was the latter then I doubt they were satisfied with resolution.

*Didn't come up with that one ourselves, it's a title of book about Toledo gangsters.

2 comments:

John DuMond said...

Harry's brother was Larry "The Bodyguard" Gertzlin. Ironically, Larry was a carpenter.

Patrick Downey said...

I smell a comedy script...Vinnie Jones is Harry and Chris Kattan is Larry but the bad guys get them mixed up and...it practically writes itself. You're a genius!