Spot on the Spot

October 1, 1933 marked the demise of one Joseph "Spot" Leahy. Spot was said to be one of the last of New York's infamous Gopher gang and the toughest man in Hell's Kitchen. Though he gathered a bit of press in his day, he never grew into a gangster of stature. Spot got his drinking money from bully work, such has strong arming for gangster Larry Fay. In addition to his other interest, Fay owned a fleet of taxi cabs. Leahy and others would keep rival taxi drivers from popular stops, allowing only Fay's drivers to pick up the fairs. He also had ties to a bootleg gang lead by Alfred "Dutch" Handel that operated on Mahattan's west side.

Leahy boasted at one time that gangsters Legs Diamond and Vannie Higgins were afraid to operate in the Hell's Kitchen district on Manhattan's west side because they didn't want to deal with him. In addition to a handful of underworld killings, in 1931 he arrested for beating his wife to death but managed to beat the rap. 

The knife was Spot's weapon of choice and it was by the knife that he was dispatched. Before sunrise, Spot was entering a hallway that would take him to a speakeasy. Someone came up from behind and slashed his throat a number of times.

Joseph "Spot" Leahy

What Is The Law? No Spill Blood

During the summer of 1935, semi-powerful Brooklyn racketeer Joseph Amberg (Joey A to his fellow gangsters) took it upon his self to to rid gangland of one Hy Kasner, a hoodlum who had crossed him in some manner. Together with two of his henchmen, Jack Elliot and Frankie Teitlebaum, Amberg snatched Kasner from the streets, killed him, stuffed him in a sack and dropped him in a sewer. Business as usual in Brownsville back in the 1930s.

It was Amberg's hope that the sack containing Kasner would wash out to sea and his disappearance would be but a mystery. Unfortunately for the gangster, it popped up near shore and what was left of Kasner was fished out. Soon the names of Kasner's killers traveled the underworld grapevine. This proved problematic for Amberg because Kasner was an associate of both Albert Anastasia and Louis Capone, the director and assistant director of Murder Inc. 

A Syndicate hearing was called to decide what to do about the Amberg affair. Anastasia and Capone argued that Amberg and his murdering cohorts should themselves be removed for taking Syndicate law into their own hands. Amberg had friends in high places though, namely Joe Adonis and Bugsy Siegel who argued that Amberg should get a pass.

In the end, Adonis and Siegel were overruled and a contract was put out on Amberg. Chosen for the job was Murder Inc. hitman Harry "Happy" Maione, Mafia guy Phil Mangano, and another guy known as "Red" Pulvino. The location chosen for the hit was the Brownsville garage where Amberg parked his car.

On September 30, 1935 Amberg's chauffeur Morris Kessler pulled into the garage with his boss. As the two men stepped out of the car the hit squad approached the men and told them to face the wall. Assuming that they were the victims of a robbery, the men complied. Amberg however, turned and noticed Maione and said, "It's-" before he could get more out the men were cut down by shotgun blasts. Once they were on the ground, one of the men ran up and fired a bullet into each man's head. Murder Inc. justice had been served.

Joe Amberg

Iron Man

In the early hours of September 29. 1932, Aaron "Iron" Barger's bullet-riddled corpse was found in an automobile on Chicago's south side. What constitutes riddled? Nine bullets in the head and body. He was also tortured before giving up the ghost. Unlucky him.

Barger was a suspect in the Evergreen mail robbery from 1928. His brother's garage was used as a hide-out for the bandits. We are told that Barger turned states evidence, and was exonerated while the two masterminds of the job, Frances Keating and Tommy Holden were sent to Leavenworth.

Who riddled Barge? Police speculated that his torture and death were a result of his attempting to muscle in on the Southside beer racket, which at the time was the battle ground for the Spike O'Donnell and Danny McGeoghegan gangs. It was also mentioned that he was involved with a ring of auto thieves and may have had a falling out.

Aaron "Iron" Barger

Train In Vain

Back in 1931 the NY Central Railroad had an elevated train running up Park Avenue. On the evening of September 24, as the train was passing between 132nd and 133rd Streets, a neighborhood resident saw a man fall from the passing locomotive. (another witness stated the body was tossed out of an auto) At first it was considered a freak accident that somebody fell from the train. During the autopsy however, it was discovered that the man had been shot behind the left ear with the bullet exiting his right cheek. It was the first gangster one-way train ride.

Finger prints determined that the dead man was ex-convict David Mazzer who had an extensive police record dating back to 1912 when he was sent to Sing Sing on a seven year rap for robbery. This was followed by numerous arrests and a few more stints in Sing Sing. He was last in police custody on October 11, 1930 when he was shot and wounded trying to escape the NYPD who had picked him on behalf of the Philadelphia police after he jumped bail in that City following his capture after cracking a safe. After recovering, he managed to beat the rap in Philly but was wanted in New Jersey at the time of his death.

David Mazzer

Jersey Justice

September 22, 1931 saw the demise of Philadelphia gangster Joseph "Big Lally" Wlaigovitz. Big Lally was known as bandit who robbed gambling joints and disorderly houses in New Jersey. In addition to about twenty arrests, he had tenuous ties to gang boss Mickey Duffy who was bumped off less than a month earlier in Atlantic City.

One of the many theories regarding his murder was that he was killed for trying to muscle in on some of Duffy's rackets. Whatever the reason, the Big Lally was sitting in the passenger seat of car when, seemingly, two gunman fired a number of shots into the back and side of his head. Afterwards he was dumped in ditch on the outskirts of Bridgeport, New Jersey.

Joseph "Big Lally" Wlaigovitz

The Bell Tolls No More

Four days after Meyer Shapiro was rubbed out. Another Brownsville gangster, Benjamin "the Bell" Meyerson was gunned down in Brooklyn. Though Meyerson was a known associate of the Shapiro brothers, most newspapers speculated that he was was probably killed by associates of a gambler named Max "Coco" Prince, who was shot the previous year. Meyerson was out on bail awaiting a hearing. The New York Daily News however, stated his murder was a result of those who bumped of Shapiro simply cleaning house.

Whatever the reason, Meyerson got his on September 21, 1931, when, after spending a portion of Yom Kippur praying in a synagogue, he agreed to meet a woman on a Brownsville street. As they walked a car pulled up and two men jumped out. Running up to the couple the opened fire and two bullets struck Meyerson in the head. Mortally wounded, the gangster staggered a few steps and collapsed. The woman he was walking with disappeared in the crowd as the gunmen escaped.

Benjamin the Bell Meyerson

Code Red

Edward "Red" Patterson was said to be a one time follower of Brooklyn waterfront gang leader Wild Bill Lovett. By 1932 he was known as a "petty and ambitious beer runner." His demise was the result of trying to force his beer into bars that were already buying from Anthony "Little Augie Pisano" Carfano.

On September 3, the ambitious bootlegger was in a speakeasy when some gunmen came in and opened fire. A bartender got in the way and caught the fatal dose of lead while Patterson was only wounded. His rivals caught up with him a few weeks later as he was exiting a second story room in a boarding house on September 20, 1932. As he stepped from the room somebody shot him in the back of the head twice. Once he was down, the gun was pressed to his skull and two more shots were fired. Red was out of the beer business.

Edward Red Patterson