Meyer (1908–1931), Irving (1904–1931) and William Shapiro (1911–1934), collectively known as the Shapiro Brothers were the leaders of a group of
Jewish-American mobsters from
New York City and based in
Williamsburg
Williamsburg may refer to:
Places
*Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia
*Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City
*Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California
*Williams ...
. Well established in the local garment industry, long dominated by
Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro and
Louis "Lepke" Buchalter since the 1927 death of
Jacob "Little Augie" Orgen, the two began to move against them in the summer of 1931. As the two sides battled for the garment industry in Brooklyn, Irving and Meyer Shapiro were killed by
Joseph and
Louis Amberg
Louis "Pretty" Amberg (1897 – October 23, 1935) was an American mobster. Along with his brothers
Joseph and Hyman Amberg, they competed against Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro, Louis "Lepke" Buchalter and the Shapiro Brothers for control of Brooklyn ...
; Irving was gunned down near his apartment on July 11, and Meyer was found shot to death in the basement of a tenement building on Manhattan's
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally an im ...
on September 17, 1931. Three years later, on orders from Buchalter, Willie Shapiro was finally killed by
Murder, Inc. members
Martin "Bugsy" Goldstein and
Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, supposedly being buried alive in a sandpit in the marshland of
Canarsie
Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin and East 108th Street; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Aven ...
by Reles, the Amberg brothers, and
Frank Abbandando
Frank Abbandando (July 11, 1910 – February 19, 1942), nicknamed "The Dasher", was a New York City contract killer who committed many murders as part of the infamous Murder, Inc. gang. His preferred killing method was to stab his victims thr ...
and
Harry Maione on the night of July 20, 1934.
Reles would implicate Buchalter in the murders during talks with District Attorney
William O'Dwyer after agreeing to become a government informant in 1941. His later testimony would result in the conviction of Buchalter and the rest of Murder, Inc., who were all eventually sentenced to death.
References
*Sifakis, Carl. ''The Encyclopedia of American Crime'': Second Edition Vol. II (K–Z). New York: Facts On File Inc., 2001.
Further reading
*Downey, Patrick. ''Gangster City: The History of the New York Underworld 1900–1935'', Barricade Books 2004, 2009
External links
*
*
*{{Find a Grave, 19632, Willie Shapiro
Murdered Jewish American gangsters
People murdered by Murder, Inc.
Deaths by firearm in Manhattan
Premature burials
People murdered in New York City
Male murder victims
20th-century American Jews