Fred Samuel Goetz (February 14, 1897 – March 21, 1934), also known as "Shotgun" George Ziegler, was a Chicago Outfit mobster and a suspected participant in the

Saint Valentine's Day Massacre The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre was the murder of seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang that occurred on Saint Valentine's Day 1929. The men were gathered at a Lincoln Park, Chicago garage on the morning of February 1 ...

, in 1929.

Early life

Goetz was born in Chicago to Samuel T. Goetz and his wife Ottillie Bensel who both emigrated from Germany and moved to 1338 Eddy Street in the Wrigleyville enclave of Lake View. Ottillie bore Samuel two children: Fred and Sophie. Goetz graduated from Lane Technical College Prep High School in 1914. After graduating from Lane Tech, he went on to attend the University of Illinois and graduated in 1918 having earned a degree in engineering. Following his graduation from the U of I, Fred enlisted in the US Army and after basic training was stationed at Langley Field, Virginia, during World War I, as a pilot in the United States Army Aviation Branch where he rose to the rank of

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

Criminal career

By 1922, Goetz worked as a

lifeguard A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and CPR/ AED first a ...

at Clarendon Municipal Bathing Beach in the neighbourhood of Beach Park, Illinois, until he was charged with sexually assaulting seven-year-old Jean Lanbert by an alley near her house where she lived in Edgewater, Chicago. Goetz denied the charges and jumped bail on June 10, 1925. Four months later, Roger Bessner implicated Goetz in a failed robbery of Dr. Henry R. Gross, in which the family chauffeur was killed. On October 20, 1925, the Illinois State Attorney had a lawsuit brought against Fred's parents, Samuel and Ottillie, who scheduled some of their empty real estate property to be used as collateral for their son's bond. They would later divorce, his mother moving to 1503 Ardmore Avenue in Edgewater, Chicago, and his father Samuel relocating to Cincinnati. During the next several years, Goetz would become associates with underworld figures such as Joseph Weil and Morris Klineman, as well as participating in several armed robberies, including the robbery of $352,000 from the Farmers and Merchants Bank, in

Jefferson, Wisconsin Jefferson is a city in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, United States, and is its county seat. It is at the confluence of the Rock and Crawfish rivers. The population was 7,973 at the 2010 census. The city is partially bordered by the Town of Jeff ...

, with Gus Winkler and four others, in 1929. He lived in an apartment at 7827 South Shore Drive in South Shore, Chicago, with his wife Irene. His landlady would describe Fred and his wife as "fine people" and that Fred was a "very brilliant and handsome man".

Barker gang

After the

, Goetz left Chicago and began bootlegging operations in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. Goetz eventually became associated with the Barker-Karpis gang. He participated in several bank robberies with Alvin Karpis,

Fred Barker Frederick George Barker (December 12, 1901 – January 16, 1935) was an American criminal who, along with Alvin Karpis, co-founded the Barker-Karpis gang, which committed numerous robberies, murders and kidnappings during the 1930s. Barker was t ...

, and Doc Barker. One of the most violent of the armed robberies in which Goetz participated with the Barkers was carried out at the post office in South St. Paul, Minnesota on August 30, 1933. The robbery resulted in the theft of a $33,000 Swift and Company payroll, the murder of South St. Paul police office
Leo Pavlak
and the permanent maiming of South St. Paul police officer John Yeaman. The Barker-Karpis Gang then went on a shooting spree before fleeing the scene of the robbery. According to a report by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, "The bandits put on a

Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, bank and train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the " Little Dixie" area of Western Missouri, James and his family maintained stro ...

exhibition by shooting up and down Concord St., shooting about a dozen shots into the Postal Building and across the street. These bandits used a Thompson submachine gun and a sawed-off shotgun with which they did their shooting, and it is a miracle that no one else was shot and wounded. They appeared to be cool and reckless, not giving a damn who they shot." Paul Maccabee (1995), ''John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crooks Tour of Crime and Corruption in St. Paul 1920-1936'',

Minnesota Historical Society The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehoo ...

Press. Page 167. Goetz is alleged to have returned to Chicago and to been one of the gunmen in the October 9, 1933 murder of his former friend and associate Gus Winkler. Goetz then conspired with the Barker Gang in the 1934 kidnapping of

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

banking millionaire Edward G. Bremer. Goetz collected the ransom and released Bremer. FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover later publicly accused Ma Barker of masterminding the Bremer kidnapping. According to Twin Cities historian Paul Maccabee, FBI files on the case reveal that it was Goetz, rather than Ma Barker, who directed both the

Hamm Hamm (, Latin: ''Hammona'') is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northeastern part of the Ruhr area. As of 2016 its population was 179,397. The city is situated between the A1 motorway and A2 motorway. Hamm railwa ...

and Bremer kidnappings on behalf of St. Paul

crime boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss typically has absolute or nearl ...

es Harry Sawyer and Jack Peifer, as well as mobbed up former St. Paul police chief Big Tom Brown.Maccabee, Paul (1995). ''John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crooks Tour of Crime and Corruption in St. Paul 1920-1936'',

Press. Page 201. However, Goetz loved to brag over drinks to fellow wiseguys in Chicago pubs about his involvement in the Bremer kidnapping and even hinted about the names of his co-conspirators and the hiding place of the ransom money.

Murder

On March 20, 1934, Goetz walked outside The Minerva Cafe in the mob-controlled Chicago

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

of Cicero, and was shot in the face by a shotgun at close range. He was taken to the Frances E. Willard National Temperance Hospital, but died from his wounds. His body had to be identified by fingerprints. Goetz's expensive coupe was found in

Greater Grand Crossing, Chicago Greater Grand Crossing is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois. It is located on the city's South Side. History Etymology The name "Grand Crossing" comes from an 1853 right-of-way feud between the Lake Shore and Michigan South ...

, and it was believed to have been abandoned there by his wife Irene, who along with Fred was a wanted fugitive by the FBI. The culprit, or culprits in Goetz's murder remain unknown. The newspapers suggested that the Barker gang had murdered Goetz rather than pay him his cut of the ransom money. In his memoirs, former Barker gang leader Alvin Karpis, while insisting that the Chicago Outfit was responsible for Goetz's murder, also commented that Goetz had been, "getting kind of gabby", and might have led the FBI to his fellow kidnappers. According to FBI documents, soon after Goetz's murder, Irene Goetz spoke about her husband.

overheard her and said coldly, "To hell with George." Meanwhile, Louis Campagna, the Chicago Outfit made man and '' caporegime'' responsible for running operations in Cicero, later told his friends that Fred Goetz got whacked because, "the St. Paul Outfit", likely meaning Harry Sawyer, "put him on the spot". Fred Goetz is buried at

Irving Park Cemetery Irving Park Cemetery is located at 7777 West Irving Park Road, in Chicago. Irving Park Cemetery performed its first interment in July 1918. Some of the victims of the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre are buried at Irving Park Cemetery. Not ...

in Norridge, Illinois.

References

External links

*
"Fred Goetz"
My Al Capone Museum.

'' Time''. January 18, 1937.