Dutch Schultz

Dutch Schultz, whose given name was Arthur Flegenheimer (August 6, 1902– October 24, 1935), was a New York City-area gangster of the 1920s and '30s. Born into a Jewish family in the Bronx, he made his fortune in bootlegging illegal alcohol and the numbers racket in Harlem.

Death

Schultz was shot to death on the night of October 23, 1935, at a Newark diner called The Palace Chophouse. Since fleeing New York, Schultz had converted the back room of the Chophouse into his hideout, where he held regular meetings with his associates.

Related Topics:
October 23 - 1935 - Newark

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Schultz had excused himself to go the bathroom when Charles Workman (aka "Charlie the Bug"), Emmanuel Weiss, and a third, unidentified man known to this day only by his alias "Piggy," all hitmen working for Albert Anastasia's Murder, Inc., entered the back room. Accounts of what happened next vary from person to person; what is known for certain is that Emmanuel Weiss carried a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun loaded with buckshot, and Charles Workman was armed with a .38 special revolver and a .45 automatic loaded with rust-coated bullets. It is unknown whether "Piggy" was armed, if he fired any bullets, or if he was simply the getaway driver.

Related Topics:
Albert Anastasia - Murder, Inc.

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The most widely accepted story has Emmanuel Weiss and Charles Workman opening fire on the three men they found there: Otto Berman, Schultz's chief henchman Abe Landau, and Schultz's bodyguard Lulu Rosenkrantz. In the bathroom, Schultz apparently heard the shots but had difficulty truncating his urination to come to his men's aid.

Related Topics:
Emmanuel Weiss - Charles Workman - Otto Berman - Abe Landau - Lulu Rosenkrantz

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Charles Workman opened fire with his .38. Before either of the Schultz gunners had been able to get off a single shot, Charles Workman had re-loaded his .38 twice, and all 12 bullets hit their marks: five bullets ripped through Rosenkrantz from his chest down; a total of four went through Otto Berman, into his wrist, elbow, his shoulder, and into his neck (which exited through the side of his face); and three struck Landau, in the wrist, right arm, and left shoulder (which exited the right side of his neck, severing an artery). In addition, Weiss shot Rosenkrantz twice from long range with the shotgun (ricocheting pellets even ripped apart one of his shoes), and shot Berman once in the torso.

Related Topics:
Charles Workman - Otto Berman

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Workman found Schultz in the bathroom, trying to finish up his business at the urinal. With his free hand, Schultz reached for an 8.8-cm (3.5-inch) "Chicago Spike"-style switchblade knife, the only weapon he had on him at the time; he'd been intending it to be an uneventful evening and had been planning on returning soon to the hotel room he was sharing with his wife. Before Schultz could retrieve his knife, Workman fired off two shots from his .45. The first bullet missed, while the second bullet struck Schultz slightly below the heart, ricocheting off bone and damaging Schultz's spleen, stomach, colon, liver, and gall bladder before tearing out of his back. It is likely that rust off the casing entered Schultz's blood stream in the process.

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Charles Workman returned to the back room, whereupon he discovered that Mendy Weiss had run out of the diner, followed miraculously by Rosenkrantz and Abe Landau, the latter of whom was clutching his neck to stop the spray of blood from his severed artery. Landau fired all the bullets from his .45, none of which did any serious damage to his prey. As Mendy Weiss and Piggy sped away in the getaway car, Landau sat down on a trash can outside the door of the Palace Chophouse. Rosenkrantz finally collapsed, his body ripped open from two shotgun blasts and five bullets. Workman stepped over Rosenkrantz and ran into the night.

Related Topics:
Charles Workman - Mendy Weiss - Abe Landau

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Shortly after Workman had fled, the bathroom door flew open and Dutch Schultz, clutching his side, staggered out, not wanting to be found dead with his pants unzipped on the floor of a men's room. He picked up his hat, staggered back to his seat, sat down, and slumped over the table. He called for someone to get an ambulance; Rosenkrantz dutifully pulled himself to his feet, and rather than go immediately to the phone booth near the bar, he demanded that the bartender -- who hid behind the register the entire duration of the shootout -- change his quarter for five nickels; Rosenkrantz didn't want the phone company getting twenty more cents than they were owed. Rosenkrantz deposited a quarter and called for an ambulance before collapsing against the wall of the phone booth.

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When ambulances arrived, the first man they found was Abe Landau, still sitting on the trash can, his arms dangling at his sides and blood faintly coming out of his neck. His last bits of strength were used to give the police a fake name and address before he died of blood loss.

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The next man discovered was Rosenkrantz, inside the phone booth; he was strapped to a gurney and taken away. Otto Berman, barely clinging to life, was the next to go. Police interrogated Schultz and gave him brandy while they waited for another ambulance to arrive. When he was finally loaded into the ambulance, Schultz gave the paramedics twenty dollars and asked them to take good care of him.

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At the hospital, Berman and Rosenkrantz, waiting to get into surgery, refused to speak even a word to the police until Schultz arrived and gave them the OK; even then, they provided only minimal information. Berman died four hours after he was wounded; meanwhile, Rosenkrantz was taken into surgery, where doctors found themselves unsure of where to start, considering the extent of his wounds.

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Before he was operated on, Schultz received last rites from a Roman Catholic priest per Schultz's wife's request, having converted shortly before the end of his life. Doctors performed surgery, but were unaware of the extent of damage done to his abdominal organs; he would succumb to peritonitis exactly 24 hours after being wounded. In what can only be considered a medical marvel, Lulu Rosenkrantz lasted an hour longer, dying at the 25-hour mark at the age of 33.

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Schultz's last words, influenced by a high fever and large quantities of morphine, were a strange stream of consciousness babble. They were taken down by a police stenographer, and have been used by several Beat writers, most notably William S. Burroughs. After his death, it was discovered that in addition to the woman who was the mother of his children, Schultz had also married two other women; all three came forward to try and claim his earthly possessions.

Related Topics:
Stream of consciousness - Beat - William S. Burroughs

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By receiving last rites, Schultz was guaranteed interment in the Gate of Heaven Roman Catholic cemetery in Hawthorne in Westchester County, New York.

Related Topics:
Last rites - Hawthorne - Westchester County, New York

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Schultz's life has been the basis of numerous novels and films, most of which have taken substantial dramatic license with the facts. The most famous of these works is novelist E.L. Doctorow's PEN/Faulkner award winning Billy Bathgate, which dramatizes the last three months of Schultz's life, as seen through the eyes of a young boy who briefly becomes his protege. In the 1991 film adaptation of the book, Schultz is played by Dustin Hoffman.

Related Topics:
E.L. Doctorow - Billy Bathgate - 1991 - Dustin Hoffman

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The 1997 film Hoodlum centers around Harlem numbers kingpin Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson during Schultz's time there, and the bloody turf war fought between the two men before Schultz's death. Johnson is played by Laurence Fishburne, Schultz by Tim Roth.

Related Topics:
1997 - Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson - Laurence Fishburne - Tim Roth

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