Abraham "Bo" Weinberg (January 7, 1900 – September 9, 1935) was a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

mobster who became a

hitman Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

and chief lieutenant for the

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

-era gang boss Dutch Schultz. As Schultz expanded his bootlegging operations into Manhattan during Prohibition, he recruited Abe Weinberg and his brother George into his gang. Abe Weinberg would become one of Schultz's top gunmen during the Manhattan Bootleg Wars and was a suspect in the later high-profile gangland slayings of Jack "Legs" Diamond, Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, and mob boss Salvatore Maranzano.

Background

In 1933, Schultz was indicted for tax evasion. Rather than face the charges, Schultz went into hiding and Weinberg assumed control of his criminal operations. When Schultz returned from hiding and won acquittal on the charges against him, he became suspicious of Weinberg, as it was rumored that Weinberg had been secretly negotiating with mob boss

Lucky Luciano Charles "Lucky" Luciano ( ; ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian gangster who operated mainly in the United States. He started his criminal career in the Five Points Gang and was instrumental in the ...

and Murder, Inc. boss Louis Buchalter to retain control of the Schultz organization. On April 23, 1935, Bo Weinberg married Anna May Turner. According to the 1930 U.S. Census and the 1925 New York Census she was born in either 1915 or 1916, not in 1912 as stated in the marriage record.

Disappearance

On September 9, 1935, Bo Weinberg left a

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

nightclub and was never seen again. Conflicting reports emerged about the manner of his death. Gangland lore held that Schultz had personally executed him with a .45 automatic in a Midtown hotel room, while Schultz' lawyer Dixie Davis reported witnessing Schultz' bodyguard Lulu Rosenkrantz shoot Weinberg in the back of a car after a night of drinking; Davis later maintained that the shooting could have been accidental. Schultz himself informed Weinberg's brother George that "We hadda put a kimono on Bo," Schultz' code phrase to indicate that Weinberg's corpse had been encased in cement and dropped into the

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

.Sann, Paul. Kill the Dutchman!

In popular culture

Bo Weinberg would be portrayed in the following films: *'' Billy Bathgate'', 1991, based on the 1989 historical fiction novel of the same name by E. L. Doctorow; portrayed by

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting (TV series), Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining ...

, in which Weinberg is depicted as having his feet encased in cement before being dropped alive into the East River. *'' Gangster Wars'', 1981, by Dana Goldstone *'' Hit the Dutchman'', 1991, by Matt Servitto *'' Hoodlum'', 1997, by Joe Guzaldo

References

External links

Birth record
Birth record on FamilySearch.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Weinberg, Abraham 1900 births 1930s missing person cases 1935 deaths 20th-century American Jews Missing gangsters Missing person cases in New York City Murdered Jewish American gangsters Murdered American gangsters Jewish American gangsters People murdered in New York City American gangsters of the interwar period Russian Jews

Background

Disappearance

See also

In popular culture

References

Further reading

External links