We think of 1940s America as a simpler time, but even then there were grisly murders, disappearances
and mob hits, some of which have become legendary in the annals of crime, and a number of them
remain unsolved to this day. Murder, Inc. gangster Benjamin Bugsy Siegel made his fortune from bootlegging, prostitution
and murder for hire. In a more bizarre scheme, he tried to sell an explosive known as Adamites to Italian dictator
Benito Mussolini's military, but for all his notoriety, no one knows for sure who gunned
him down in Beverly Hills, California in 1947. Segal was in California on business and to visit his daughters, who lived with his former
wife, Esta. After dinner with a handful of friends and business partners, Segal returned to the house
of his mistress, Virginia Hill, who'd left for Paris after a lover's quarrel
There a gunman shot him twice in the face and twice in the chest
Police struggled to narrow down the suspect list. Segal had a long list of enemies
He had construction debts related to his Vegas casino, and East Coast mobsters like Salvatore
Lucky Luciano hated him, as did Virginia Hill's family for mistreating her
The cost overruns for the Flamingo were due mostly to excessive skimming by Bugsy Siegel
But the lead suspect was murder-incorporated honcho Mike Lansky. In 1947, an FBI informant
claimed Lansky had identified the killer as Virginia's brother Chick. But in 2014
Robbie Sedway, son of Siegel's bookkeeper Moe Sedway, and his wife B. told LA Magazine his
mother's lover Matthew Panza killed Siegel before Siegel could kill Moe. Moe had reportedly ratted
to Lansky about Siegel's financial issues, so it seems Lansky was happy to see Siegel go
one way or another. In 1947, fashion designer Vera West, who worked on now-classic universal
films such as The Bride of Frankenstein and The Killers, was found dead in her pool by
photographer Robert Landry. Police found two notes addressed to Jack Chandler. The first one read
This is the only way. I am tired of being blackmailed. And the second one said
The fortune teller told me there was only one way to duck the blackmail I paid for 23 years — death
A medical examiner determined that she probably drowned, but the Los Angeles County coroner refused to sign the death report
The blackmail was likely a reference to whatever scandal triggered West's move from New York to California in 1924
The likeliest suspect was her husband, Jack C. West, who gave conflicting accounts about his whereabouts on the night of her death
He also claimed there was no blackmail, but said her behavior had been erratic
Vera's friends, however, suspected her death was a murder made to look like a suicide
The investigation was full of holes and left unanswered questions. Police never established whether Jack Chandler and Jack West were the same person
nor did they ever identify the blackmailer or the fortune teller. Suicide didn't explain how the hydrophobic Vera ended up in the pool
She was afraid to even go near it alone. And then the big question, why did Jack West demolish their house and disappear without a trace
The case is considered cold, but the mystery remains intriguing. The body of Elizabeth Short, dubbed the Black Dahlia, was found in Los Angeles in 1947 by a
mother walking with her child on the street. Short had been brutally murdered. She had suffered
blunt force head trauma, had both sides of her mouth slit, and had been severed in half at the
waist. The only evidence was the body. The killer had scrubbed it clean. The troubled Short had
left Massachusetts for California as a minor, where she was arrested for underage drinking in
1943. By 1947, she was a regular at Hollywood nightclubs and other fancy joints. According to
local resident Vera French, who took Short in at one point, she amassed a laundry list of suitors
and boyfriends. French said one of Elizabeth's exes had threatened to kill her for moving on to
other men. Los Angeles Police Department officer Myrtle McBride gave an account that agreed with
French's, adding that a girl resembling Short had approached her on the street for help with a
violent ex, although McBride was not able to identify her with certainty. The case is still
cold, complicated by bizarre false confessions. However, observers noted that whoever cut up
her body very likely had medical training. In 2016, retired Los Angeles police detective
Steve Hodel told The Guardian that his father, Dr. George Hodel, had done it, although it's
impossible to say for sure since much of the original evidence is gone In 1943 Italian socialist and journalist Carlo Tresca a fierce critic of Mussolini was gunned down to New York City At the time of his death people suspected everyone from
Mussolini and Italian fascists, who had a warrant out for him, to American communists. He had that
many enemies. But in mid-20th century New York, where there was murder, there was often the Cosa
Nostra. In fact, future Bonanno family boss Carmine Galante was believed to be the shooter
He was head of the Bonanno crime family. Known as the cigar, he was widely feared for his cruelty
Gallante spent some time in jail as a suspect in the murder, but he was released without charges and the case was never closed
Tresca was likely the victim of an alliance between fascist Italy and Cosa Nostra Kingpin Don Vito Genovese
Tresca had stymied Mussolini's activities in America for years. Despite Mussolini's anti-mafia campaign during the 1920s
the dictator grew close to Genovese, who functioned sort of like his American fixer
So when Tresca hindered Mussolini's influence among Italians in America, he also ran afoul
of Genovese. In fact, Tresca allegedly threatened to expose a drug ring Genovese ran out of Italy
Though it seemed Genovese had Tresca killed, both out of self-interest and as a favor to Mussolini
Lucky Luciano quipped in 1961 that when Mussolini had a problem, Genovese would take care of
it for him. One of those problems, Luciano said, was Tresca. The Texarkana Moonlight Murders were two double and one single murder that took place near
Texarkana, Texas between March and May of 1946. Teenagers Richard Griffin and Polly Ann Moore were
removed from their car, shot in the head with a .32-caliber pistol, and returned to the vehicle
The following month, a second pair of teens were dragged out of their car and shot, again with a .32. A third murder hit the news in May when Virgil Starks was shot in his home
His wife survived with two bullets to the face. In Starks' case, the killer used a .22
but left similar tire tracks at the scene. Police believe the crimes were related
A third couple, Jim Hollis and Mary Jean Larry, who survived a similar attack in February
reported an assailant wearing a burlap sack and armed with a gun, likely a pistol, which
he used to whip Hollis. Like at least one of the murdered women, Larry had been sexually assaulted, another detail
the attacks had in common. The killings caused panic in Texarkana. When dark came, the kids came in
People didn't go downtown too much. They were frightened. Gun sales skyrocketed, and women took their children to hotels whenever their husbands
were out of town. Police never confirmed the killer's identity, but Texarkana native and author James Presley
nephew of the Bowie County Sheriff who investigated the murders, told Texas Monthly that the killer
was likely a man named Ewell Sweeney, who was incarcerated on car theft charges in 1947
The case, however, is officially cold. Sisters Anne and Margaret Richards were granddaughters of Tennessee hotel mogul Joseph
Richards. The sisters, who were white, along with Leonard Brown, a black teenager who worked for
them were murdered in their Oliver Springs mansion in 1940 in a cold-blooded killing that
brought together crime and race in the Jim Crow South. It's been over 75 years, you know, and people are still reluctant to talk about it
Initially, law enforcement suspected Brown of killing the sisters in a murder-suicide
The killer had positioned the gun to make it seem like Brown had killed himself after shooting the
women. Witnesses added that Brown had left the house of the family that owned the murder weapon
the same morning, suggesting he'd stolen the gun. With this evidence, the sheriff closed the case
and declared Brown guilty, but there were doubts. Brown was known as a good kid who was afraid of
loud bangs, and he'd been shot in the forehead from above, an unlikely trajectory for a self-inflicted
gunshot wound. In 2000, a man reported seeing two other men leave the mansion on the day of the
killing. After the men threatened him, the witness skipped town. Based on his testimony
law enforcement exonerated Brown and tied the killing to a property dispute the woman had with
their cousin, Mary Sicknett, who had lost a property case against a pair years earlier
But all the suspects are dead, including one suspect who was shot to death by another
reportedly to prevent him from talking to the police. Boyle heiress Georgette Bauerdorf was found dead in her bathtub in 1944, wearing only her pajama top
The Los Angeles Police Department initially suspected an accident because her valuables were untouched apart from a missing But when they found a medical bandage stuffed down her throat they realized she been murdered Beyond the bandage her body was bruised her skull punched in and her knuckle bones shattered She put up a fight
Police searched Bowerdorf's diary for clues. The journal contained the names of soldiers
she'd been involved with, and they became suspects. Police suspected Corporal Cosmo Volpe
who was witnessed aggressively pursuing Bowerdorf and getting between her and other men on the dance
floor at the Hollywood canteen, where she worked. But police released him after his alibi checked out
Sergeant Gordon Adland, who hitched a ride with her and became the last person to see her live
was also exonerated after questioning. According to retired Los Angeles police detective Steve
Hodel, the biggest clue may be the medical bandage found lodged in her throat, a kind that hadn't been
available in the area for over 20 years. Without mind, Hodel has suggested that the killer was a
medical professional, similar to whoever murdered and dismembered Elizabeth Short. Lewis Allen, a pure food activist and college chemistry professor, was murdered at his house
in Westfield, Massachusetts in 1940. He lived in a respectable home with his wife, ran a lab
and taught classes at what is today Westfield State University. One night in May, after an
argument with an unidentified person at his door, Allen was shot twice in the face and twice in the
body. His killer was never caught. Sensational theories surfaced to explain Allen's killing
accusing everyone from Nazis who wanted his patents for food preservations to a food industry
angry at his promotion of pure food standards, and even the mafia, which had supposedly targeted
Allen for being a government informant, according to Westfield historian Bob Brown. However
according to Brown, none of these had any basis in fact. They were just grand conspiracy theories
that sprang up amid intense national coverage after law enforcement failed to solve the crime
Brown hints at two alternative possibilities. Allen had a reputation as a womanizer and may
have had relationships with his female students. Given that the murder began with an argument
it's possible Alan ran afoul of a father, husband, or boyfriend of one of these women and was killed
in a crime of passion. Or maybe he was killed by someone who'd lost money by investing in a company
Alan had promoted. Either way, the killing remains unsolved 84 years later
Margaret Treese was a war widow and divorcee who moved to Iowa after divorcing her second
husband in West Virginia. One morning in 1947, two workers found her dead in a Davenport, Iowa park
According to the Esterville Daily News, she was found naked, badly disfigured
and covered with tattoos, which led her killing to be dubbed the Tattoo Murder Case
Her killers had shown no mercy, stabbing her at least 10 times and even running her over with a
car. Police quickly turned their attention to Treese's social circles, which included a handful
of men with whom she appeared to have been romantically involved. Treese was also known
as a regular at the taverns on Davenport's Skid Row. Witnesses said she was last seen outside a
Skid Row bar getting into a car with three men. In 1956, however, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported
that an unidentified woman who described herself as an acquaintance of trees had seen her just a
few hours before her death in a car with two men. According to the news reports, both men were
known police figures. Police never ascertained a motive and no one was ever charged. At this point
the perpetrators are likely dead. In the 1930s, the Brooklyn waterfront was a haven of mob activity
According to Tom Folsom's The Mad Ones, Crazy Joe Gallo, and The Revolution at the Edge of the
Underworld, mobsters like Gallo got their start there, enforcing kickback schemes, roping workers
into rigged numbers games and directing them to Mafia loan sharks to cover their losses
Tired of their tactics, Italian longshoreman Pete Panto attempted to rally people against
the Cosa Nostra in July 1939. He disappeared a week later. Panto's fate was confirmed in 1941 when his body was found buried in a New Jersey lime pit
According to a Time Magazine story from 1952, Panto had run afoul of none other than Humberto
Anastasio, better known as High Lord Executioner Albert Anastasia, who ruthlessly ran the New
York waterfront. Within the mafia, Anastasia was recognized as a ruthless, unflinching killer.
According to the outlet, New York Mayor Bill O'Dwyer, at the time a Brooklyn prosecutor
had promised to bring the killers to justice. Unfortunately, Murder, Inc. hitman Abe Reles, the city's star witness, conveniently took
a fatal fall out of a window before trial This was of course Mayor O account Time however revealed that O had buried a conversation between two of Anastasia men discussing Panto killing and directly implicating the capo Furthermore Anastasia was never questioned
the first thing any good detective would have done. So although Panto's murder is technically
unsolved, everyone knew he was behind it. 21-year-old Texarkana native Virginia Carpenter
was supposed to start school at the Texas State College for Women in Denton. Instead
she disappeared after a taxi dropped her off in front of her dorm on the night of June 1, 1948
After Carpenter vanished, police immediately went to see the last person to see her
taxi driver Edgar Zachary. He told police Carpenter met two men in a car in front of her
dorm when he dropped her off at 9.30 p.m. She knew them and said they were going to help her
with her luggage, so he went home. However, years later, Zachary's wife testified that he didn't
come home until 2 or 3 a.m. If true, why did he lie? But the driver passed his polygraphs and was
released without charges. If Zachary was being truthful, then the men were probably the kidnappers
Their identities are unknown, since all suspects named over the years are dead. But there's one more chilling detail that might provide a clue. Virginia Carpenter knew three of
the Texarkana Moonlight murder victims, a statistically near-impossible coincidence considering Texarkana had a population of nearly 25,000 in 1950. One theory is that the Texarkana
killer tracked her down and killed her too. But since those crimes also remain unsolved
it's impossible to know. Carpenter was presumed murdered and declared legally dead in 1955
though her body was never found. Walter Krakauer, better known as Whitey Krakauer
was one of Bugsy Siegel's hitmen and was involved in the 1939 slaying of underworld figure Harry
Big Greeny Greenberg. According to Murder, Inc. by Burton Turkis, a law enforcement officer
involved in prosecuting members of the outfit, Krakauer and several other hitmen ambushed
Greenberg as he returned to his California home after an evening drive. But Krakauer didn't live
much longer. Burton writes that the authorities scrambled to get any witnesses and informants
into witness protection before Siegel could clip them too. Krakow was one of those people
of interest, with Burton suggesting the FBI was willing to offer him a deal if he talked
Unfortunately for investigators, Krakow was gunned down on New York City's Lower East
Side in August 1940. Siegel was arrested as a suspect in all of the killings, especially
the Greenberg hit, along with an associate named Frank Harbo, who was also charged with
murder. However, Siegel got lucky. Government star witness A. Relez, a partner of Krakow
fell at a window to his death in 1941, so Siegel's case was dismissed due to lack of evidence
Carbo's case ended in a hung jury despite multiple witnesses identifying him with certainty as the
killer, so he walked too. Thus, although Krakow's murder was probably on Siegel's orders to prevent
him from turning informant, officially his case remains unsolved. Detectives Ferdinand Socha and
Joseph Lynch were members of the New York City Police Department's bomb squad. They were called
to disable a suitcase bomb at the 1939-1940 World's Fair, which blew up and killed them
New York City saw a spike in political violence in the 1930s, including bomb attacks thanks to
conflicts between local communists and the German-American Bund, a pro-Nazi German-American organization. Because the bomb had been found in the British Pavilion, police immediately suspected
the Bund, which had also been accused of trying to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge. But investigators
came up empty despite a $26,000 reward. Without any clear connection to the Bund
the only suspects left were the British themselves. NYPD officer and historian Bernard Whelan told
Atlas Obscura that Hitler was desperate to keep the United States out of Europe in hopes of
avoiding a larger war he could not win. Thus, it wasn't in the Bund's interest, if they represented
the Nazi Party's strategy, to carry out attacks against American targets. American public opinion
was either mostly pro-German or anti-interventionalist, and terrorism risked gutting that. The British, however, wanted American involvement in Europe as soon as possible
According to one theory, British intelligence might have false-flagged the U.S. with a terror
attack on American soil that could be blamed on Hitler's supporters of America. As compelling as the theory is, it of course remains mere conjecture to this day