Little Shop of Horrors

In the fall of 1926 Eugenio Orgento opened a quaint little shop. It wasn’t stated what Orgento's store sold, but, most customers were interested in what could be found behind the counter as opposed to the shelves.  In the four months that he was in business Eugenio received numerous liquor violations.


Ah, but competition can be fierce. Eighty-five years ago on this date Eugenio was put out of business, for good. The building’s janitor was making his rounds and as he was performing his duties in  Orgento’s  quaint little shop, there, in the rear, he found Eugenio's body. the proprietor had been stabbed to death.

That was fast!

Now available on Amazon and Createspace.

Legs Diamond is the most comprehensive biography yet written on New York's most famous Prohibition era gangster. The book covers Legs' youth in Philadelphia, his ascension through the New York underworld, which resulted in his becoming an international celebrity, and his inevitable demise in a cheap rooming house. Along the way, the many myths and untruths that have been written about Diamond over the years are corrected.

Detailed in the book are:

- Full accounts of all four attempts on his life.

- The war between Diamond and his one time protégé Dutch Schultz, which resulted in the almost assassination of Legs' brother Eddie.

-The famous Hotsy-Totsy murder case.

- Diamond's ill-fated trip to Europe to purchase drugs.

-His bid to monopolize bootlegging in New York's Greene County.

-The death of his brother Eddie.

-New information on Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll and his possible partnership with Diamond.

-Jack's final night.

-The origin of the nick name Legs.

-His relationship with Ziegfeld showgirl Kiki Roberts

And much more.

Now available

The DGIS Institure is happy to announce that:

Legs Diamond: Gangster is now available through Createspace. 

Legs Diamond is the most comprehensive biography yet written on New York's most famous Prohibition era gangster. The book covers Legs' youth in Philadelphia, his ascension through the New York underworld, which resulted in his becoming an international celebrity, and his inevitable demise in a cheap rooming house. Along the way, the many myths and untruths that have been written about Diamond over the years are corrected.

Detailed in the book are:
- Full accounts of all four attempts on his life.
- The war between Diamond and his one time protégé Dutch Schultz, which resulted in the almost assassination of Legs' brother Eddie.
-The famous Hotsy-Totsy murder case.
- Diamond's ill-fated trip to Europe to purchase drugs.
-His bid to monopolize bootlegging in New York's Greene County.
-The death of his brother Eddie.
-New information on Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll and his possible partnership with Diamond.
-Jack's final night.
-The origin of the nick name Legs.
-His relationship with Ziegfeld showgirl Kiki Roberts
And much more.

As of right now it is only available through Createspace. It should be available on Amazon within the week. In the coming weeks it will be available through other sales channels.

The world is yours. Enjoy your weekend.

One door's open slay

T'was just about 6:00a.m. on this date back in 1927 when Richard Lubey crossed the threshold into his apartment after a long night of managing his speakeasy. At the ripe old age of six and twenty years Lubey had many a crime attributed to him, crimes like gun possession, robbery and counterfeiting.


Anywho-ville, his wife who slumbered in the next room, heard him enter and begin to disrobe. First his coat and then his vest. But before anymore articles of clothing could be removed there was a rapping, some might say a gentle tapping, a tapping at the apartment door. "Tis some gangster," Lubey muttered, "tapping at my apartment door. Only this and nothing more."

Mrs. Lubey heard him answer the door but paid no attention to the conversation he had with the early morning visitor. Ah, but she would from here on remember what happened next in that bleak December, when from the underworld came forth a member who came to settle a bootlegging score. A bullet lodged above her bed which first passed through her husband's head, her husband who now lay dead, dead upon the foyer floor.

Don't mess with the police

If there is one thing we here at DGIS keep harping on it's; don't mess with the police. Especially if you're in the early Twentieth Century. 24 year old James Stevens, a member of Brooklyn's Sanford Street gang did not heed this advise.

It started two weeks previously when off duty police officer Francis Walsh was on his way home from a friends house. Hearing a gunshot he ran to the scene and arrested a young man named James Rubianto. James' friend, the aforementioned James Stevens, was on hand and verbally taunted Walsh. Walsh told Stevens to butt out. Stevens then threatened to "plug" the officer.

Two weeks later, this date in 1913, Walsh stepped out of his building an started on his way to work. A guy approached him and told him that Stevens was in a doorway a couple of blocks away and said that he was going to get Walsh that night.

Walsh decided to settle things that morning. He went to the building where Stevens was but was met at the door by Rubianto. The latter tried to bar his entrance so the officer arrested him. As they were exiting the building Stevens fired two shots from inside.

Rubianto made a break for it and Walsh gave chase. Meanwhile Stevens ran from the building. Another cop, responding to the shots, turned the corner and saw Stevens taking aim at Walsh and yelled to his brother officer. Walsh spun around and plugged Stevens in the abdomen with a shot. Steven's ran a half dozen steps and dropped dead.

Labor pains

Benjamin Levinsky was twenty-nine years old when murdered on this date back in 1922. He first came on to police radar when he was a wee lad of nine and sent to a juvenile asylum in 1902 for “incorrigibility”. He was arrested five years later as a pickpocket and also served terms for both petty and grand larceny.

He was involved in a labor dispute on the union side of a garment manufacturer and as he was entering the shop he was shot just under the heart and in the stomach by William Levine alias Willie Lipschitz, a nineteen year old gunman with previous arrest. Levinsky’s family hired an attorney because it was their belief that he was killed by clothing contractors because he was a, “Thorn in their side.” The police however thought that that entailed far to much paper work so chalk up the murder to a falling out between fellow gangsters.

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks

Frank “Skinny” Partuese & Frank “Blackie” Stillo have the destinction of being New York’s last gangland victims of the Prohibition Era. On this date back in 1933 “Blackie” had just parked his car when two gunmen came up from behind and started blasting away as they advanced up the side of the automobile. After firing about ten shots the gunmen fled. Hit a number of times, “Skinny”,  managed to get out of the passenger seat and run up Prince Street before dropping dead. “Blackie”  made it out of the car and collapsed in the gutter. He was still alive when found and sent to the hospital where doctors said he would die. Blackie appears to have had a bit of the Yogi Berra in him because, as he was being transported to the hospital he was quoted as saying, “I don’t know why I should get it, but I had it coming to me.”

Friday finale

Peter Gioe is one of those mystery victims. Other than he was an importer there is nothing else known about him but somebody wanted him out of the way and succeeded in this quest back on this date in 1925. It appears that he was set up by somebody he knew because he pulled up in front of a building and as he was getting out of his car two men emerged from a doorway and shot him in the head.