Things you find on the beat II

Four score and five years ago today a cop was making the rounds when he found what he figured to be a drunk face down in the snow. He went to rouse him and discovered that the man had been doing shots of a different sort, four to be exact. He took the guy the to hospital but all was for naught as the man was DOA. Finger prints showed that his name was Vincent Matoli and, according to police, he was associated with a gang of bootleggers.

Shoulda texted

Seventy-nine years ago the guy on the far left got killed here.

Imported from Detroit

No, not the new Chrysler 2oo but some gangster who was found in sack on this date back in 1927. His hands and feet were tied behind his back and a sash cord was wrapped around his neck. Identification wasn't immediately known but all his clothes contained labels from Motor City haberdashers leading authorities to believe he was one of them thar gangsters from the D.

Scarface — Boris Karloff's last strike

Life at the DGIS Institute can be challenging. When not hunkered down in research there is always an old monster movie that needs watching. Occasionally we get to incorporate the two.

Two days ago marked the forty-second anniversary of the passing of Boris Karloff, though famous as a star of the horror pictures (as my grand daddy used to say) Boris also played the roll of Bugs Moran/Hymie Weiss, err I mean Gaffney, the Northside crime boss to Paul Muni's Scarface.

So a belated tip of the hat today to Mr. Karloff

Ciro's Nephew

Twas eighty years ago today in the Bronx that Joe "the Baker" Catania walked out of a bail bond office or store, take your pick, and into a couple of shotgun blast of rival gangsters. The Baker was the nephew of Ciro Terranova and a victim of the Castellammarese war. According to Joe Valachi, Salvatore Maranzano, Valachi's boss, claimed that Catania was hijacking his liquor shipments and had to be removed. For more on the Baker and his demise check the Valachi Papers.

The price of turning

In June of 1930 Leo Noto and some others kidnapped the son of a wealthy Brooklyn baker. The boy was released after the baker paid $7,000 and promised the remaining balance. After he got his son back the baker went to the police and a trap was set for the kidnappers when they came to collect the $3000. Six of them, including Noto, were apprehended.

Noto agreed to testify against the rest of his gang and was released on a $25,000 bail. Remnants of the gang decided it would be in their favor if the turn coat didn't make it into the courtroom. On this date back in 1931 they made it so. Noto had just left his house and was crossing a vacant lot when a sedan pulled up. Two shot guns were discharged and Noto was no more.

The things you find when walking the beat

A couple of cops were walking along Thompson street on this date back in 1930 when who should they happened to stumbled upon? None other than Gabriel Nucci, 49-year old leader of the "Thompson Street gang". Who were they? Who knows, according to police they were a minor black hand unit.

Anyways there was Nucci lying on the sidewalk with bullets in his belly and back. The cops took him to St. Vincent's where he refused to say anything about the shooting. It was obvious that the end was near so they sent in a priest to administer the last rites but Nucci didn't want anything to do with him either so had him removed. He died the next morning...Nucci, not the priest.

Police guessed that the shooting was the result of either, the Thompson Street gang encroaching on another gangs territory or perhaps revenge because of a murder for which Nucci had been acquitted. The DGIS staff has a sneaky suspicion that Vito Genovese has the answers.