Gus Winkler (March 28, 1901 – October 9, 1933) was an American gangster who headed a
Prohibition-era
In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a nationwide constitutional law prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, an ...
criminal gang specializing in armed robbery and murder for hire with
Fred "Killer" Burke. Winkler was a senior associate of
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, tha ...
boss
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
and is considered a suspect in the
St. Valentine's Day Massacre
The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre was the murder of seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang that occurred on Saint Valentine's Day 1929. The men were gathered at a Lincoln Park, Chicago garage on the morning of February 1 ...
. Winkler is believed to be the first member of the
National Crime Syndicate
The National Crime Syndicate was the name given by the press to the multi-ethnic, loosely connected, American confederation of several criminal organizations. It mostly consisted of and was led by the closely interconnected Italian-American Mafia ...
to be murdered for talking to the FBI.
Early life
Winkler was born August Henry Winkeler to Bernard J. Winkeler (September 28, 1862- November 23, 1928) and Mary K. (June 1, 1862- March 5, 1923) in
Lemay, Missouri
Lemay is a census-designated place (CDP) in south St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 16,645 at the 2010 census.
History
Lemay was named after Francois Lemai, who operated a ferry boat across the Meramec River in the e ...
of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
descent; he was a brother to Clara (April 21, 1895 – June 23, 1987), Jacob C. (1893-1961) and Anna C. (1890-1960).
In September 1917, at the age of 16, Winkler enlisted in the
U.S. Army Ambulance Corps and served on the
Western Front with the
91st Infantry Division. After his return to America, Winkler joined up with the notorious
Egan's Rats
Egan's Rats was an American organized crime gang that exercised considerable power in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1890 to 1924. Its 35 years of criminal activity included bootlegging, labor slugging, voter intimidation, armed robbery, and murder ...
gang. It was during this time that he first became associated with
Fred "Killer" Burke and
Bob Carey, among others. Winkler later confessed to his wife Georgette to participating in the "one-way ride" murder of auto thief Wesley Smith in July 1923. After the heart of the Egan gang went to prison for mail robbery in November 1924, Winkler and his pals signed on with the
South City
South City is a condominium in Kolkata, India. It is situated at Prince Anwar Shah Road in Jadavpur. It is also close to the Jodhpur Park and Tollygunge areas of the city. Most of the recent real estate development in Kolkata has taken place ...
-based
Cuckoo Gang
Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...
. Winkler, Burke, and
Milford Jones were captured in downtown
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
on June 5, 1925 after a high-speed chase and shootout with the
St. Louis police. Within a year and a half, Winkler moved to
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
and briefly aligned himself with
the Purple Gang
The Purple Gang, also known as the Sugar House Gang, was a criminal mob of bootleggers and hijackers comprised predominantly of Jewish gangsters. They operated in Detroit, Michigan, during the 1920s of the Prohibition era and came to be Detr ...
that was under control of
Abe Bernstein
Abe Bernstein (c. 1892 – March 7, 1968) was a Detroit-based Jewish-American organized crime figure and leader of the infamous Prohibition-era Purple Gang.
Early life
Born in New York City, Abe Bernstein and his brothers Joseph "Bill Bugs", R ...
.
Partnership with Al Capone
After arousing the ire of
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
by kidnapping a Detroit gambler, Winkler and his pals hired out for freelance work from Capone and the
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, tha ...
in exchange for releasing the gambler unharmed. Capone and Winkler cultivated a close friendship and the Chicago mob boss used Gus and his friends (Fred Burke, Bob Carey,
Raymond "Crane Neck" Nugent
Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...
and
Fred Goetz
Fred Samuel Goetz (February 14, 1897 – March 21, 1934), also known as "Shotgun" George Ziegler, was a Chicago Outfit mobster and a suspected participant in the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, in 1929.
Early life
Goetz was born in Chicago t ...
) for special assignments. Capone jokingly referred to the men as his "American Boys." Circumstantial evidence and testimony from Georgette Winkeler indicates that Winkler and his crew may have participated in the July 1928 murder of Brooklyn gangster
Frankie Yale
Francesco Ioele (; January 22, 1893 – July 1, 1928), known as Frankie Yale or Frankie Uale, was an Italian-American gangster based in Brooklyn and second employer of Al Capone.
Early life
Yale was born in Longobucco, Italy, on January 22, ...
and the
St. Valentine's Day Massacre
The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre was the murder of seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang that occurred on Saint Valentine's Day 1929. The men were gathered at a Lincoln Park, Chicago garage on the morning of February 1 ...
. The American Boys were also implicated in the murder of
Toledo police officer George Zientara on April 16, 1928, who was shot dead in the aftermath of an American Express armored truck heist. Winkler himself enjoyed Capone's complete confidence, even after Fred Burke was publicly named as a suspect in the massacre and the discovery of the murder weapons. Winkler often told people that he worked as a 'contractor' which might have played on the undertone of the word and his career as a
contract killer
Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may b ...
.
Later criminal career
The fallout from the Valentine's Day massacre proved to be the undoing of the American Boys as an Outfit sub-group. Fred Burke was eventually captured and imprisoned for the
first degree murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...
of Police Officer Charles Skelly in
St. Joseph, Michigan
St. Joseph, colloquially known as St. Joe, is a city and the county seat of Berrien County, Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,365. It lies on the shore o ...
, Bob Carey was exiled from Chicago after attempting to blackmail a friend of Capone's, and Crane Neck Nugent vanished without a trace. Gus Winkler, along with St. Louis gangster John "Babs" Moran, was severely injured in a car accident in
Berrien County, Michigan
Berrien County is a county on the south line of Michigan, at the southwestern corner of the state. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 154,316. The county seat is St. Joseph.
Berrien County is included in the Niles- Benton Harbor, MI Me ...
on August 3, 1931. While Winkler survived, the crash cost him one of his eyes. While in his hospital bed, Winkler was accused of planning and taking part in the September 1930 robbery of
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
2 million from a bank in
Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...
. While Winkler hadn't done the robbery, he knew who did and claimed he could convince the actual thieves to turn over the loot.
After this assurance, Capone reluctantly put up Winkler's $100,000 cash bond. After his release, Winkler did indeed deliver as promised. By the next year, Gus Winkler had carved out a lucrative position as the Outfit's boss of the former territory of
Bugs Moran
George Clarence "Bugs" Moran (; Adelard Leo Cunin; August 21, 1893 – February 25, 1957) was an American Chicago Prohibition-era gangster. He was incarcerated three times before his 21st birthday. Seven members of his gang were gunned dow ...
's
North Side Gang
The North Side Gang, also known as the North Side Mob, was an Irish-Polish-American criminal organization within Chicago during the Prohibition era from the early 1920s to the mid-1930s. It was the principal rival of the South Side Gang, also ...
, after
Teddy Newberry requested his assistance.
Under Frank Nitti
The beginning of the end for Gus Winkler began upon Capone's 1931 imprisonment for
tax evasion
Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...
. With
Frank Nitti
Frank Ralph Nitto (born Francesco Raffaele Nitto, ; January 27, 1886 – March 19, 1943), known as Frank Nitti, was an Italian-American organized crime figure based in Chicago. The first cousin and bodyguard of Al Capone, Nitti was in charge of ...
now in charge of the Outfit, Winkler was left taking orders from
Italian-American
Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, w ...
gangsters who didn't trust him. Nitti and other more old school Outfit mobsters had never agreed with Capone's decision to assign positions of trust and authority to non-Italian gangsters like Gus Winkler. After Teddy Newberry paid for Nitti to be shot and nearly killed by
Chicago Police Department
The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind t ...
Detective Harry Lang in December 1932, fellow gangster
Ralph Pierce plied Newberry with alcohol until he admitted the truth about his own involvement. In response, Nitti ordered Newberry's murder.
Angered by Winkler's insistence on subtracting pensions for his deceased crew members families from North Side Outfit street taxes, Nitti demoted Winkler and put Ralph Pierce in charge of the North Side instead.
Assassination
In the summer of 1933, Gus Winkler was observed making visits to the Bankers Building office of
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
Special Agent in Charge Melvin Purvis
Melvin Horace Purvis II (October 24, 1903 – February 29, 1960) was an American law enforcement official and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent. Given the nickname "Little Mel" because of his short, frame, Purvis became noted for leadi ...
. When the news reached him, Nitti was enraged. In reality, Winkler, who had been infuriated by the unnecessary violence of the
Kansas City Massacre, was helping the FBI's manhunt for fugitive perpetrator
Verne Miller
Vernon C. "Verne" Miller (August 25, 1896 – November 29, 1933) was a freelance Prohibition gunman, bootlegger, bank robber and former sheriff in Huron, South Dakota, who, as the only identified gunman in the Kansas City massacre, was found ...
. To Nitti, however, talking to the Feds about anything at all was a death penalty offense.
On the afternoon of October 9, 1933, while entering the beer distribution office of Charles Weber at 1414 Roscoe Street, Winkler was hit by a number of shotgun blasts fired by unknown assailants hidden in the back of a green delivery truck. Winkler died a half-an-hour later after arriving at a local hospital. He was buried at Park Lawn Cemetery in St. Louis.
Winkler was one of the first casualties of a half-year-long purge where Frank Nitti eliminated the last of the so-called American Boys; including one of Winkler's alleged killers,
Fred Goetz
Fred Samuel Goetz (February 14, 1897 – March 21, 1934), also known as "Shotgun" George Ziegler, was a Chicago Outfit mobster and a suspected participant in the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, in 1929.
Early life
Goetz was born in Chicago t ...
. Gus's wife, the former 'Georgette Bence' (1898-1962), later wrote her memoirs in which she detailed her life with the notorious gangster.
Other
On February 29, 1960, while at his home in
Florence, South Carolina
Florence is a city in and the county seat of Florence County, South Carolina, United States. It lies at the intersection of Interstates 20 and 95 and is the eastern terminus of the former. It is the primary city within the Florence metropolit ...
, former FBI agent Melvin Purvis died from a gunshot wound to the head fired from a
.45 automatic given to him by fellow agents when he resigned from the Bureau. The FBI investigated his death and declared it a suicide, although the official coroner's report did not label the cause of death as such. A later investigation suggested that Purvis may have shot himself accidentally while trying to extract a tracer bullet jammed in the pistol. Later investigation revealed that the pistol that had taken Purvis's life had once belonged to none other than gangster Gus Winkler; the gun is believed to have been confiscated from Winkler during his debriefing at the Bankers Building in the summer of 1933.
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Taking Care Of Winkler: The Last of the Independentsby John William Tuohy
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winkler, Gus
1901 births
1933 deaths
Al Capone associates
American gangsters of German descent
American people of German descent
Gangsters from St. Louis
Chicago Outfit mobsters
People murdered by the Chicago Outfit
Prohibition-era gangsters
Depression-era gangsters
Mafia hitmen
People murdered in Illinois
Male murder victims
Deaths by firearm in Illinois
Murdered American gangsters
United States Army personnel of World War I
Child soldiers in World War I