A New Jersey mobster slaying — This day in Jersey history

On October 23rd, 1935, one of New Jersey’s most notorious mob slayings took place in the Chop House in Newark. Dutch Schultz (real name: Arthur Flegenheimer) was gunned down in the men’s room by Charles Workman and Mendy Weiss. The two were hired through gangster Charles Buchalter’s Murder, Inc.

Workman intentionally used rusty bullets to increase the chance of sepsis and infection. Schultz was being prosecuted for tax evasion by District Attorney Thomas Dewey; Schultz had asked permission of the organized crime “commission” for permission to kill Dewey but the Commission unanimously denied the request. Afraid that Schultz would disobey them and thus bring the full weight of the government on them, the Commission hired Murder, Inc. to take Schultz out.

Schultz, who made his fortune through bootlegging, numbers, and murder to name a few, had been banned from New York by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, so he had set up shop in Newark. According to History.com, Schultz had consolidated his power by the elimination of “Legs” Diamond. At the time of his death, his empire was struggling as he had to devote money and time to fight the various trials he had been in for tax evasion. Workman was tried and convicted for the crime and housed in Trenton State Prison. Weiss was eventually executed for another murder.

Part of Schultz’s enduring legacy is a safe supposedly stuffed with $7 million. It is alleged to have been buried in upstate New York where people to this day look for it. The Chop House in Newark was torn down in 2008.

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