by Jonkaro » Sat Nov 04, 2017 3:39 pm
Can't comment on the Buffa murder. Am not familiar at all with the St. Louis scene.
However, there is some possibility the Sol Turkin murder was in retaliation to the Siegel murder. The specifics, unfortunately, seem lost to history. Below I will write a biography of sorts on a long-forgotten Jewish-American crime figure, and let you all decide for yourselves what to make of it:
Immigrating from Russia in his childhood, Turkin grew up in southeast Cleveland near the Porello crime family home base of East 110th and Woodland, the site of several Prohibition-era hits. Making a name for himself to Cleveland police early on, Turkin was arrested several times for fraud and larceny in the 1920s, but did not serve any significant jail time during this period.
Around 1931, Turkin started working as a food truck driver, making produce deliveries across the United States. The FBI says Turkin, at some point, survived being shot in the left shin and right leg. The FBI also described Turkin as having a slice mark on his left cheek, most likely from a knife.
Turkin appears to have been in the business of selling stolen goods and may have been involved in drug running (heroin).
While traveling the country, Turkin racked up quite a criminal history for check fraud and impersonating federal agents. After pretending to be a government officer and defrauding a businessman of a moderate amount of merchandise, the Southern District of New York issued a federal arrest warrant for Turkin. He was on the lamb until approx. 1942/1943, and ended up serving three years at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, being released in May 1946.
Here's the part you might be interested in:
On the evening of June 20, 1947, Bugsy Siegel was shot through the window in his Beverly Hills home. The case was never solved, but Turkin, apparently an ex-employee at the Flamingo, was one of the first suspects to emerge after Los Angeles police received a tip from Las Vegas authorities.
Around 12:45 a.m. on June 22, 1947, after a night of dancing with his soon-to-be-bride, Sol Turkin also met his demise with a single gunshot to the balls. Turkin's face appeared to have been pistol-whipped. Turkin's wedding was scheduled for later on that very day. An unconfirmed report says Turkin had $630 on his person at the time his body was discovered, although this may just be a family legend, as I could not verify it.
The first mentions of Turkin hit the papers on June 23, 1947. The LA Examiner reported that a New York gangster paid 'two hoodlums' $10,000 for the murder of Siegel. One of those hoodlums is obviously Turkin.
In unwittingly referring to Tirkin,while describing the supposed Siegel hitmen, an LA Examiner excerpt found on lvstriphistory.com says,
"The two men, Las Vegas authorities believe, were tipped by a third character who had been tailing Bugsy in the Nevada City. The night Siegel left for L.A., they said, this 'character' made a long distance telephone call. The same night Bugsy lay dead ... One man [Turkin] was described as a former member of the Luciano mob and served three years in a federal prison for impersonating an officer. He was released last May."
(the authors of lvstriphistory.com appear not to know one of the hoodlums is Tirkin, as they also mention later on that police were looking into a connection between the Tirkin and Siegel murders)
The Examiner appears to have received this information before the Turkin murder, because at the end it says:
"Police believe the two left town, either by fast car or plane, immediately after the slaying."
With Turkin dying the next night, that appears to at least halfway not be the case.
Coincidentally, Siegel was said to have been reading an issue of the Examiner when he was shot.
Other papers report Turkin's murder for the first time on June 23, saying only that police suspect a link between the two murders.
Later that same day, June 23, a man named Russell Waterman was arrested for the Turkin murder. Waterman admitted to the crime, saying that he and Turkin had gotten into a physical fight over a $300 loan Turkin owed him, and he ended up shooting Turkin during the fight. Waterman said he had been holding onto three of Turkin's guns as collateral and ended up selling one. The third gun was not recovered.
If the report of the $630 being in Turkin's possession is true, Waterman's motive would seem unlikely. At the same time, I am not aware of any links between organized crime and Waterman.
So there you have it. The legend of Sol "Dutch" Turkin.
Was the report police received before his death that Turkin was the Siegel hitman legitimate? Or was it just another fraud to add to Turkin's legacy? We may never know.
Can't comment on the Buffa murder. Am not familiar at all with the St. Louis scene.
However, there is some possibility the Sol Turkin murder was in retaliation to the Siegel murder. The specifics, unfortunately, seem lost to history. Below I will write a biography of sorts on a long-forgotten Jewish-American crime figure, and let you all decide for yourselves what to make of it:
Immigrating from Russia in his childhood, Turkin grew up in southeast Cleveland near the Porello crime family home base of East 110th and Woodland, the site of several Prohibition-era hits. Making a name for himself to Cleveland police early on, Turkin was arrested several times for fraud and larceny in the 1920s, but did not serve any significant jail time during this period.
Around 1931, Turkin started working as a food truck driver, making produce deliveries across the United States. The FBI says Turkin, at some point, survived being shot in the left shin and right leg. The FBI also described Turkin as having a slice mark on his left cheek, most likely from a knife.
Turkin appears to have been in the business of selling stolen goods and may have been involved in drug running (heroin).
While traveling the country, Turkin racked up quite a criminal history for check fraud and impersonating federal agents. After pretending to be a government officer and defrauding a businessman of a moderate amount of merchandise, the Southern District of New York issued a federal arrest warrant for Turkin. He was on the lamb until approx. 1942/1943, and ended up serving three years at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, being released in May 1946.
Here's the part you might be interested in:
On the evening of June 20, 1947, Bugsy Siegel was shot through the window in his Beverly Hills home. The case was never solved, but Turkin, apparently an ex-employee at the Flamingo, was one of the first suspects to emerge after Los Angeles police received a tip from Las Vegas authorities.
Around 12:45 a.m. on June 22, 1947, after a night of dancing with his soon-to-be-bride, Sol Turkin also met his demise with a single gunshot to the balls. Turkin's face appeared to have been pistol-whipped. Turkin's wedding was scheduled for later on that very day. An unconfirmed report says Turkin had $630 on his person at the time his body was discovered, although this may just be a family legend, as I could not verify it.
The first mentions of Turkin hit the papers on June 23, 1947. The LA Examiner reported that a New York gangster paid 'two hoodlums' $10,000 for the murder of Siegel. One of those hoodlums is obviously Turkin.
In unwittingly referring to Tirkin,while describing the supposed Siegel hitmen, an LA Examiner excerpt found on lvstriphistory.com says,
"The two men, Las Vegas authorities believe, were tipped by a third character who had been tailing Bugsy in the Nevada City. The night Siegel left for L.A., they said, this 'character' made a long distance telephone call. The same night Bugsy lay dead ... [b]One man [Turkin] was described as a former member of the Luciano mob and served three years in a federal prison for impersonating an officer.[/b] He was released last May."
(the authors of lvstriphistory.com appear not to know one of the hoodlums is Tirkin, as they also mention later on that police were looking into a connection between the Tirkin and Siegel murders)
The Examiner appears to have received this information before the Turkin murder, because at the end it says:
"Police believe the two left town, either by fast car or plane, immediately after the slaying."
With Turkin dying the next night, that appears to at least halfway not be the case.
Coincidentally, Siegel was said to have been reading an issue of the Examiner when he was shot.
Other papers report Turkin's murder for the first time on June 23, saying only that police suspect a link between the two murders.
Later that same day, June 23, a man named Russell Waterman was arrested for the Turkin murder. Waterman admitted to the crime, saying that he and Turkin had gotten into a physical fight over a $300 loan Turkin owed him, and he ended up shooting Turkin during the fight. Waterman said he had been holding onto three of Turkin's guns as collateral and ended up selling one. The third gun was not recovered.
If the report of the $630 being in Turkin's possession is true, Waterman's motive would seem unlikely. At the same time, I am not aware of any links between organized crime and Waterman.
So there you have it. The legend of Sol "Dutch" Turkin.
Was the report police received before his death that Turkin was the Siegel hitman legitimate? Or was it just another fraud to add to Turkin's legacy? We may never know.