October 24: Dutch Schultz

Arthur Flegenheimer, the New York mobster known as Dutch Schultz, age 33, was gunned down by Mafia hit men on this date in 1935, supposedly for his attempt to murder prosecutor Thomas Dewey against the wishes of his fellow criminals. Schultz was imprisoned only once, at age 18, for breaking and entering, but made a fortune bootlegging alcohol and “protecting” illegal bars during Prohibition, running illegal lotteries, extorting from restaurants and other businesses, and maintaining a variety of other rackets. He was twice prosecuted by Dewey for tax evasion but managed to avoid a guilty verdict, for which he became convinced that Jesus Christ was responsible; he had decided to convert to Catholicism and received last rites from a priest while on his deathbed in a hospital. This earned him internment in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery (Christian) in Westchester County, but his Orthodox Jewish mother made sure his body was wrapped in a Jewish prayer shawl. During his prosecutions for tax evasion, Schultz placed $7 million in cash and bonds in an airtight, waterproof safe that he buried in upstate New York. The safe has never been recovered, though treasure hunters meet annually in the Catskills to search for it.
“Dutch Schultz did . . . murder just as casually as if he were picking his teeth.” —Dixie Davis