September 13: Murder, Inc.: Mysteries of the Mob’s Most Deadly Hit Squad – Author Talk with Christian Cipollini
Date: September 13, 2016
Time: 7-9 p.m.
Cost: Free for Museum Members or with Museum admission
WHO WERE THE MEMBERS OF MURDER INC.?
- Young Italian mobsters tired of warring Mob factions joined forces with Jewish gangs to end the fighting and make money.
- Mobsters, such as Harry “Pittsburg Phil” Strauss, hand-selected by Albert Anastasia and Louis “Lepke” Buchalter for their violent tendencies.
WHERE DID THE NAME COME FROM?
- Was it the press, the law or a combination of the two?
WHY DID MURDER, INC. EXIST?
- “The Mob did not exist to kill. It existed to make money and needed an arm or insurance to be sure the money kept coming in.” – Cipollini
- Murder, Inc. was that insurance.
HOW DID MURDER, INC. MEET ITS DOWNFALL?
Egos, informants, death. Buchalter was the only Mob boss who ever received the death penalty.
WHAT HAPPENED BEHIND CLOSED DOORS?
- Hear the riveting backstory of mobsters, thugs, and racketeers but ultimately assassins of Murder, Inc.
- See rare photographs, wanted posters and crime scene photos from Cipollini’s personal collection.