Abraham Weinberg

Abraham "Bo" Weinberg (January 7, 1900 – September 9, 1935) was a Jewish[1] New York City mobster who became a hitman and chief lieutenant for the Prohibition-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 later suspect in the high-profile gangland slayings of Jack "Legs" Diamond, Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, and mob boss Salvatore Maranzano.

Abraham Weinberg
NYPD mugshot of Abraham Weinberg
BornJanuary 7, 1900
Manhattan, New York
DiedSeptember 9, 1935?
Manhattan, New York
NationalityAmerican
Other namesBo
OccupationHitman, bootlegger
Spouse(s)Anna May Turner

Background

In 1933, Schultz was indicted for tax evasion. Rather than face the charges, Schultz went into hiding and Abe Weinberg assumed control of his criminal operations. When Schultz returned from hiding, he became suspicious of Weinberg. It was rumored that Weinberg had been secretly negotiating with mob boss Lucky Luciano and Murder, Inc. boss Louis Buchalter to retain control of the Schultz organization.

On April 23, 1935, Bo Weinberg married Anna May Turner.[2] According to U.S. Census 1930 and New York Census 1925 she was born in 1915–1916, not in 1912 as in the Marriage record.

Disappearance

On September 9, 1935, Bo Weinberg left a Midtown Manhattan 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's lawyer Dixie Davis reported witnessing Schultz's 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's code phrase to indicate that Weinberg's corpse had been encased in cement and dropped into the East River.[3]

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, in which Weinberg is depicted as being dropped alive into the East River after having his feet fixed in cement
  • Gangster Wars, 1981, by Dana Goldstone
  • Hit the Dutchman, 1991, by Matt Servitto
  • Hoodlum, 1997, by Joe Guzaldo
  • Lacey, Robert. Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life. London: Century, 1991. ISBN 0-7126-2426-0
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References
  1. Vincent Patrick (April 12, 1998). "This You Call a Stick-Up?". The New York Times.
  2. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2469-W79
  3. Sann, Paul. Kill the Dutchman! Archived April 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
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